Long Time....No Blog.....

Well hello everyone!

I know it's been forever since I've found some time to write a post. And no, I don't have the time right now either, but I'm doing it anyway because I'm rebellious and stuff.

So, let's do a quick update shall we?

1) February 2nd was my one year blogoversary! Yep, I completely missed it...'cause I was busy. So, happy late blogoversary to me I guess! I know you're supposed to do some sort of special post on your first blogoversary, and tell all kinds of stuff about yourself, but seriously, I can't think of anything that I haven't already told you all...so, I'm going to join the masses who have been participating in the "Ask me anything" extravaganza. So, you all can ask me anything you like, and I'll answer...I promise...unless you ask me something I don't want you to know, LOL!

2) You may recall that last year for Valentine's Day, I got a dishwasher. This year, you'll never guess what I got...

That's right, David finally pooped in the potty! (Yes, it was actually a picture of him with his poopies, but I "PhotoShopped" it to make it bloggable) The last frontier of potty training has been conquered, and we are now officially a BIG BOY!!! We even go out of the house in our big boy pants! Yippee!! Yahoo!! And Hallelujah!!!

3) I had my 6 month checkup with my kidney specialist last month, and I finally got a decent report back. For those of you who are new, I have this kidney disease which requires that I take medication 5 times a day, and get regular kidney function and bone density tests done. I have the Type I--Distal RTA version. Anyway, I've been having to go up to Dallas every 6 months for testing and adjusting of my medication. We have been working for over a year, trying to get the levels just right. While they are not yet quite what we were at first shooting for, my doctor has decided that we're good enough, and we're going to stick with 5 pills a day, and I can wait a whole year before I have to go back and be re-tested! Here's what I didn't know...the medicine can cause me to get a different kind of kidney stone than I normally get because of the disease, so they don't want to give me too much of it. And that leads me to...

4) I currently have a kidney stone...sigh. I've been having pain off and on for about a month, but in the past two weeks, it's pretty consistent which just leads me to conclude that I do have another stone...ugh! If you wouldn't mind praying that it would pass on it's own, I'd appreciate it. I'm not in the mood for another surgery right now, and besides, I'm too busy, and I can't afford it. Which leads me to....

5) My husband is wearing a specialized brace on his left hand because he apparently had an old injury to that hand that had built up calcium deposits, and then he somehow knocked said deposits off leaving the area inflamed and causing him so much pain that he couldn't even turn a doorknob. I took him to the Urgent Care Center over the weekend, and they thought it might be broken, but referred him to an Orthopedic Specialist. The Specialist is the one who came up with the above diagnosis and gave him the special brace and prescribed a week of steroid treatments. If the steroids work and the pain goes away, he doesn't have to go back, but if it doesn't, he goes back to the orthopedist next week to try something else. So, while you're praying, if you could just pray that the steroids work, that would be just great! You see, I'm normally the one who racks up the medical bills around here, and he's using up all my medical fund money for himself!

6) Let's move on to happier things shall we? Let's update on the kids! The oldest three are all taking gymnastics, which by the way is my favorite of all their activities. At gymnastics, there are no parents allowed. So, I sit in my van, put a movie on for the little boy, and I READ A BOOK for 45 uninterrupted minutes! It's heaven I tell you, heaven.

And baseball season officially starts this weekend. We've been having practice all month, but the first tournament in this weekend. I only have Benji playing this year, so I'll get to attend every game and not have to feel bad about missing someone else's!

7) Finally, the annual cake show was this weekend, and I know I told you all that I was going to enter the diaper bag cake this year, but I didn't enter anything because it's just been so busy around here trying to keep up with school, and me being in pain and all with this kidney stone. However, I did get to meet Tracye in real life! She and I met here on the blog, and since she lives only a couple of hours from here, I invited her to the cake show, and not only did she come, she entered the competition! She entered this cake...(and yes, she checked first to make sure I wasn't entering mine)

Isn't that amazing? Can you believe she didn't win anything with that cake? I'm telling you, the competition is fierce at those shows! In the next few days, I'll post some pictures of some of my favorites and what prizes, if any, they won.

8) Finally, I've been reading some really good books lately that I thought I'd recommend to you all. I absolutely LOVED "The Christmas Blessing" by Donna VanLiere. It is the sequel to "The Christmas Shoes" and it's filled with the miracles of God, and running...two of my favorite things! I've also just finished another Angela Hunt book titled "The Note". It was very different from "Doesn't She Look Natural", but it was really, really, good. I've been told it's a movie too, so I'll have to check that out. Next on my list is "The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs. It comes recommended by Barb so I'm really looking forward to reading it. I've also been invited to join in a blog book tour, so I'm going to jump at the chance, and I'm sure I'll have lots of book reviews and giveaways to go along with that coming soon!

So, that's it for now. I've been sitting here on my behind for way too long. I have not yet mastered the 10 minute post a'la Barb. I really need to learn how to write one of those, LOL!

It Was The Girliest Birthday EVER!!!! Part Two

With the first day of The Girliest Birthday Ever over and done with, there was only the second day of girliness left to tackle! Since the girl’s birthday is in January, having birthday parties at the park is a difficult thing to accomplish. Although most of January was in the 70’s and occasional 80’s here, deep in the heart of Texas, you just never know what the weather will do. One year we planned an outdoor party because the weather had been so nice, and when the birthday party day arrived, it was cold and rainy…so, we quit planning outdoor parties. But that’s always what she wants…

Fortunately, the week of her birthday, the 70’s left us for the 30’s and 40’s, and I was able to defend my decision not to plan a party at the park! My consolation to the girl was to allow her to choose one friend and take the two of them to The Party Image for an afternoon of pampering…girly style! It was fabulous!

The place is only for girls 17 and younger. When the girls walked in, they were given pink satin robes to put on over their clothes, and little slipper socks to put on their feet.

We couldn’t afford the whole spa experience, so I let Maddie choose just a few of the activities that would fit in our budget. She chose to get their fingernails and toenails done (polish only-not the full mani-pedi) and get fancy hairdos.

They got their hair done first. They got to choose from four different styles, and then the styles were adapted to fit their hair length. (Maddie’s was a tad too long for the style she chose and her friend’s was too short for her choice.) They have high school girls that do all the pampering, and the girl they got was so much fun. Her name was Julie and she was the only girl in a family of 4 as well, so she and Maddie just talked and talked and talked!

Then it was on to the nail room! I was absolutely thrilled to see the polish selection available for them to choose from. At our house, we have rules about what colors are appropriate for little girl’s hands and feet, and I wasn’t sure if her friend had the same rules, and what I would do if she picked out a red polish or a blue or green color! I didn’t need to worry, all the colors were pastels and they only had lavenders, pinks, and pearl colors…the lady that owns the place is one smart cookie!

So, they got to listen to Hannah Montana while getting their finger nails painted and just look at these chairs they sat in to have their toes done! Aren’t they fabulous? I tell you, it was 7 year old girl heaven. When they were all done, they got to take a picture on the chaise lounge, and the birthday girl got a copy to take home with her.

And, as if that weren’t enough…they got to keep every.single.thing. they used on them!!! They got to keep the hair brushes (which folded up into a hair clip, by the way), the hair accessories used in their fancy hairdos, they got to choose two different nail polishes (one for fingers and one for toes) and they got to bring both home, as well as toe separators, a nail file, and a rhinestone temporary tattoo…just for fun! And guess what else? They put Maddie’s picture in a zebra gift bag and threw in a package of temporary jeans tattoos as well! They put the bag with her other presents and just told her it was her birthday present from them! She was sooooo thrilled!

Are you wondering what jeans tattoos are? Yeah, I figured… They work very much like regular temp. tattoos, except that you get it wet, hold it onto your jeans for 20 seconds, peel away the backing, and voila, you have a design on your jeans. Then when you put the jeans in the washer, it dissolves away! There are 20 or so tattoos in the package, but so far she has only sported a rose and a pansy on her right back pocket.

So, the whole experience was totally worth the money, and I plan to save up for the next time so she can get the whole mani-pedi experience and invite more friends. It was a totally FABULOUS day, and the perfect finish to the Girliest Birthday EVER!

It Was The Girliest Birthday EVER!!!! Part One

Last week, the girl celebrated her 7th birthday! She had been wanting a locket (for her WHOLE life) and she had asked off and on about getting her ears pierced, so we decided to buy her a locket and then surprise her with a trip to the mall to get her ears pierced! It was quite the momentous occasion, and she couldn't believe it when we got to the store in the mall and told her she was getting her ears pierced. She kept looking all over the store for a locket to buy with her allowance. (We were having dinner later, and were going to give her the locket then...so she had no idea!) I think she might originally have thought we brought her there to find a locket. The whole ear piercing thing took her totally by surprise. It was SO much fun to watch her face! Since she's little, they had two technicians do her ears at the same time...just in case she freaked out after the first one and wouldn't do the second!
She did great, although I really wish I had snapped a picture of her face when they actually pierced her ears. I didn't want the flash to distract them, so I took the picture just before they did it, but her face was priceless! As you can see, she was perfectly fine as soon as they were finished. It's kind of hard to see the beautiful pink (of course) cubic zirconia earrings in this picture, so I took a close up...you're welcome. And here she is with her daddy, who is wrapped completely around her little seven-year-old finger! I'm actually including this picture for two reasons; a) it's a good picture, and b) to show off hubby's new glasses!!! He's handsome in them don't you think? He really wanted another round pair like he had before, but the salesclerk, the kids, and I won out and I think we did a darn good job! Actually, it was the salesclerk who found them. She had a really great eye and if it hadn't been for her, I'm not sure he ever would have tried these on...thank you Mam! Yes, her name was Mam. It's a Thai name, and I absolutely LOVED hearing my husband (who was not raised in the south and has never used the word "ma'am" that I know of) call this woman "Mam"! And finally, because I know you're wondering...here's her cake. I know, the bow is not up to my normal 3-D bow-making standards, but that is because the girl wanted a flat bow, not a puffy bow. Thankyouverymuch.