Chain of progress

She made it, she made it! Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah!

My sister, CarCar, is THIRTY-TWO WEEKS, ONE DAY Pregnant! That's 32 wks 1/7 day prego! People, I do not think you realize what a huge HUGE milestone this is. CarCar has had scare after scare with this pregnancy, although talking to her on the phone one would never know. She is cheerful, smiling, happy, hopefully, grateful, thankful, and blessed, and would rather talk about you than about her. Can you believe that she has been on BED REST since 12 weeks?! For those that don't know what "Bed Rest" is - it's not cleaning the house, or sewing fabulous items for the babies, or scrapbooking, (or even blogging all day long) - Bed Rest is L A Y I N G down; it's being a V E G E T A B L E, limiting all movements. And Carly has had to do this for 20 weeks, while her husband, Spencer, is in double full-time Medical School (80 + hours a week).

CarCar, my sweet little CarCar. She truly understands the gift of these two little miracles that she's carrying. These girls have given Car & Spencer (as well as all of us) some "hold-your-breath" moments. BUT, Carly is a fighter, and so are her babies. Carly has an absolutely amazing Obstetrician; one who calls Carly at home to see how see is doing - talk about fabulous bed-side manners! and he is just as invested in Carly & these babies as Carly & Spencer are.

I am looking forward to this coming week when Carly gets to snip of another BLACK LINK in her chain as she successfully advances to being 33 weeks prego!

The Leprechaun left a pot of gold!

Mary-Gail said, "A pot of What?!!"

The Leprechaun left Reese a Pot of Gold! My sister, JoJo, made "Leprechaun Traps" with her four littles last night. Reese brought over one of those traps to show me and the girls, and wouldn't you know it - that little Leprechaun got away! "But not before he wrecked the whole house!" Reese said. "He threw the cushions off the couch, opened the cupboard doors and kitchen drawers, and he even pee'd in the toilet - GREEN PEE!" to which all three little girls laughed their full heads off. Green pee, huh? Good job JoJo, Good Job.

JoJo bought these shirts for the girls for St. Patrick's Day -

she's always thinking of me and my littles.

Rebecca paused her solo-game of baseball long enough to get a picture;

& Mary-Gail looks like she has a "giant Daddy footprint bow" (her words) on her head.

Reese showed Mary-Gail the little doorway entrance into the house she made for the Leprechaun; he slept on the Barbie bed Reese put in there, but decided he had to go home,

so he left a note behind...

Reese found a Pot of Gold in her homemade Leprechaun house, along with lots of taunting notes :)

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Pappy came over for "Pappy DayCare" and showed the girls that a Leprechaun had stopped by his house too! Only Pappy didn't let his Leprechaun escape - Pappy caught the Leprechaun and stuck him to a box. Then Pappy got all of the Leprechaun's gold, which turned out to be marshmallows - Lucky Pappy!

Holidays with kids are so much fun!

(Yes, those are Popsicles in the girls' hands. Where the Leprechaun brought everyone else fun things, he brought us colds, coughs, sore throats, and FEVERS of 102. So, yes, at 10:30 am we're having Popsicles...)

Pappy DayCare consisted of making sugar cookies and frosting/decorating them, AND discovering all things Saint Patrick's Day (Shamrocks, Leprechauns, rainbows, pot-of-gold, Ireland...) Pappy better be careful, his temporary daycare job might just become permanent full-time. Thanks again, Dadda, for filling in until we figure out what we're going to do! Loves to you!

The Leprechauns are coming!

Found these in the kitchen...

Becca & Mary-Gail have been saying things like, "There's a witch up there - we better run! Ahhhh!" or "Oh no! The tiger's gonna get me. Run! Ahhhh!" So in lieu of Saint Paddy's Day, Lovey and I created our own saying, "The Leprechauns are coming! Ahhhh!" And do you know, those silly Leprechaun have walked all over our girls...

Found more Leprechaun prints on the wall!

We hope to catch those sneaky little Leprechauns, because as you know, catching a leprechaun means you get his pot of gold! Have a great & "lucky" Saint Patrick's Day!

...even the fountain @ the White House!

Did you know the shamrock was used to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish people?

(photo's & info from wikipedia)

O P I's "Pink Flamenco"

Oooh, it looks so good!

It was "paint nails" day on Sunday, and we needed a SPRINGY color.

I thought OPI's Pink Flamenco would do the trick - it sure brightened up our moods

Becca just can't stop looking at her lovely "paint nails."

Book Reviews!

Tuesday is Library Day for the girls and me. And do we ever look forward to Tuesdays! Becca & Miguel get to participate in Story Time, and Reese gets to join the class for older kids. We love the Library - the teachers, the songs, the acts, the puppet shows, and the coloring pages we get afterwards. Becca in particular has a sweet little crush on Mr. Dallin! She calls to him and gets all flustered when he responds; and Becca gets worried when he disappears to do the puppet show. I had to take a picture of Becca & Mr. Dallin in October during "H" Halloween Week. Despite the look on Becca's face, she is thrilled. Trust me, she is!

These are the books we checked out the end of January. I love children's books, and seem to never pass up a chance to snag one (or three) at Target, Walmart, Burlington Coat Factory, where ever! Remember this post? I was devastated that I wasn't reading enough to my littles, so I quickly changed that: 2 years ago I went on-line and won a bid on E-Bay for 110 books (oh, that was a sight!) and since then I've joined two on-line book clubs and haven't stopped collecting. I recently piggy-backed on my niece's Kindergarten class' book order and placed an order for me and my Kuties. We have quite the book collection. Most of the books we've purchased or checked-out from the library have been huge hits (we've been re-enacting Goldilocks and the Three Bears since October!), and eventhough there are thousands upon thousands of children's books, "greatest hits" might be hard to come by, so I'm going to share our greatest hits from last check-out.

Top L to R: The Zoo I Drew; Bathtime for Biscuit; Possum come-a-knockin;

Duck! Rabbit!; Supersister!; Do Pigs Have Stripes?; Duck on a Bike;

First the Egg; The Pencil.

The Zoo I Drew

Zoo animals from A - Z. There's even an animal for the letter "U" and "X." Fantastic rhyming, each animal has its own page, and a great way to remind your littles of their ASL signs for animals. R&MG liked to make-up the sounds for the animals (like Iguana). Mostly the sounds R&MG made were roaring and meowing. Does an Iguana meow?

Bathtime for Biscuit

We heart Biscuit! These are easy readers, or "my first reading" books. In this book Biscuit is silly and gets dirty with his friend, Puddles, instead of taking a bath. The pictures are simple, and the sentences are too. We have all the Biscuit books - all of them - Woof!

Possum come-a-knockin

A sneaky possum comes knocking on the front door and the whole family gets involved. Great rhythm with this book - I snapped my fingers as I read it to help the girls hear and feel the cadence of the book. Lots of repetition, and be sure to read in a super red-neck accent - it makes it more fun and silly. (Also check-out the author's other book - Cooties in my Hair - that one Rebecca requested every night while we had it checked out).

Duck! Rabbit!

This book was too "senior" for my 3-year olds, but Lovey & I liked it. The illustrations are a play on image on the front cover - do you see a Duck? or do you see a Rabbit? The story line follows that throughout the book, placing the same picture that's on the cover, in either a "Duck" scenario/landscape, or a "Rabbit" scenario/landscape.

Supersister!

This little girl is just SUPER when it comes to helping her mom. She even thinks of ways to hellp her mom while she's at school. Everything this little girl does is super. Rebecca is the ultimate SuperSister! (When you read "Supersister" throw in the music theme from "Batman" and it's perfect!)

Do Pigs have Stripes?

These are the types of questions throughout the book - helps your young reader think. The illustrator only draws a portion of the animal, and then the author asks a question. You have to check it out. After reading this book Rebecca commented on the striped shirt I was wearing and said, "You're not a pig - pigs don't have stripes!" Thanks Becca.

Duck on a Bike

That crazy David Shannon thinking a duck can ride a bike! This duck rides a bike through the farm showing off for the farm animals, and each animal craves a bike of their own to ride. It's fun to throw-in sound effects of the duck vroom-ing through the barn and the interpretation of each animal's voice as they respond to that "showy duck."

First the Egg

Are you sure it's not the Chicken that came first? Each page has a cut-out that "turns" into something else as you turn the page. Plus, it's a great book to encourage your child to think about the picture, and then finish the sentence based on what he/she sees. This is how we've always read books our girls, and once we've read the book a few times, our smarties will finish the sentences. Read this book!

The Pencil

Sweet little book. I need to buy it! This little pencil draws a family and then decides the family needs color, so the pencil draws a paintbrush, and then the pencil decides he drew too much and so he creates...an Eraser! Oh no! R&MG love anything about drawing, painting, coloring, so I knew this book would be a hit.

And lastly...

These 3 little mice have kept themselves hidden from the C-A-T, but when they see 3 giant bottles of paint, they decide to jump in! This books introduces the Primary colors and shows what can happen when you mix one color with another one. This book is a BIG BOOK - no really, it's a BIG BOOK!

We're off to the Library again this week to participate in StoryTime, see Mr. Dallin, and check out more books from my growing book list (sadly my work schedule cast a rainy shower on our Tuesday routine, and although we've been to Story Time @ the library, we haven't had time to check out books). I hope to add more "Book Reviews" later this week!

Poor, pitiful Pixie

This poor little girl has been stuck in diapers. Isn't her face the saddest ever?

Our Vet says our 9-year old Pixie needs a Hysterectomy, that most older female dogs who haven't been spade contract Uterine Infections, and most likely Pixie will contract another one unless we schedule her for surgery. Lovey & I did try to spade Pixie: I took her & ArlaMae to the SPCA in Charleston to get spade. Pixie didn't pass the "breathing test" - so the clinic wasn't able to space Pixie. At that time it wasn't really a big deal for us. But after Pixie's blood work confirmed the uterine infections, and poor Pixie's humiliation from being in diapers (discharge from the infection), we're re-thinking everything. I just don't know where the $460 is going to come from for Pixie's surgery.

Does this look "Normal" to you?

I didn't think so. This is the tooth that I had to see an Endodontist for this time last year ($1,000 appointment!). Since last March, my bottom gum has been infected off-and-on, and I've been on several series of antibiotics trying to clear it up. The antibiotics didn't work - I could still slide my finger up my gum and puss would come out (gross, I know). Last week I made an appointment for a Periodontist, commonly known as a "Gum Gardener."

My appointment was on Wednesday, and I warned the Periodontist that I had a small "worn-like growth on my gum/tooth." And he replied, "That's something I've never seen before - let's take a look!" And then the Gum-Gardener slid his scrapper-pick instrument in my mouth and proceeded to "rake my gum."

Oooh, the pain! He scrapped off the "worm," which was some funky calcium build-up, and revealed my infected gum. I feared the worst: tooth extraction, gum graft, & a $2,000 dental implant. Well, the news wasn't that bad - I don't have to have a dental implant...yet. I do, however, have to have a BONE GRAFT & a GUM GRAFT. Sadly the X-ray showed significant bone loss and consequently gum loss.

I'm having these fabulous grafts done on March 22nd. I'm a little frustrated about this whole situation; I am ridiculous about brushing and flossing my teeth, and gargling with the purple Listerine (daily), I just don't understand why this happened to my teeth. But, I'm following my mantra for 2010: "Come what may and love it." And I will - I'm planning on eating whatever I want until March 22nd, because I won't be able to eat for a week after the procedure!

Spring-time in the Rockies...

there can be snow one day...

And two days later it's all gone...

We're welcoming Spring with open arms!

"This is my Daddy"

Tony took the girls with him to run errands yesterday. He loves toting Becca & Mary-Gail around the neighborhood, running to the post office & to the bank and everywhere in-between. Yesterday both girls fell asleep - SOLID - during the errands. Tony said he tried as he could, with rubbing their heads, legs, jostling them...but they wouldn't rouse. Tony had one last errand to run - the Bread Thrift Store - and Mary-Gail woke up just in time to accompany Tony inside.

Lovey said Mary-Gail ate-up the one-on-one time with him: she was all smiles and beamed as she held his hand. Lovey told Mary-Gail she could pick out a treat for herself, and to choose a treat for Becca-Becca. You would have thought Mary-Gail won a huge prize! Lovey said her eyes lit up and she took her time choosing their treats. She finally settled on a Coconut Frosted Zinger!

Mary-Gail was in heaven! Lovey told her they needed to pay for her treat before she could eat it, so when they got to the cashier, Mary-Gail said, "Hey Lady! Hey Lady! Here's my money for my treat." And then Mary-Gail said to everyone in the store, "This is my Daddy. We're shoppin'." The cashier ate-up Mary-Gail (not surprisingly). Then Mary-Gail turned to a little girl in line and asked her, "Hey Girl, Hey Girl - is that your Mommy? This is my Daddy."

Well Mary-Gail, guess what? You're Daddy is my Lovey. And you are my baby girl - forever!

Little Miss Smarty Pants

The girls and I + dogs went for a long walk this morning. The sun was shinning, the sky was true-blue and was dotted here and there with fluffy, white clouds.

Reese & Mary-Gail were holding hands, I was holding Becca's hand and leading the doggies with their leashes in my other hand. I said to Becca,

Me: "Becca, look at those big clouds in the sky."
Becca: "I know. I already saw them."

Me: Humm, you must see everything, little miss smarty pants.
Becca: I am little miss smarty pants.


Careful what you say around my littles - they may spit it right back at you. I love though, I really do.