Conversation With My Kids

This morning, on the way to the babysitter....

 

Girl Twin:  Mama, when we're five, can we do whatever we want?

 

Me:  NO!

 

 

Actually, what I should have said is, "You mean like you do now?"  I finally convinced her that they have to wait until they're 30 to do whatever they want. #winning

 

 

 

If it was up to them, they would eat cupcakes and Cheetos for every meal! This is from their Easter party at school last week.

An Apology

Today, I felt like I needed to write an apology. To my blog. You see, it's been very neglected lately and it's feeling quite abandoned.

 

The downslide started back around mid-November when Girl Twin had her tonsils out. I got wrapped up in taking care of her, not sleeping as much, and got really tired. Then it turned into busy time at work, so I just decided to take a "holiday hiatus" on the blog. After the break in December, I figured it would be a great time to get started on the blog makeover that I'd been putting off for forever.

 

I needed time to research some designs, find someone to make the changes and find an artist to help me carry out my ideas. By then, the blog had been in limbo for so long that I just got lazy. Now, with the start of April, I'm finally ready to get back in the groove. I'm on the work list for a new design and I have just seen the first draft of my new header today. 

 

Poor blog, I know how you've missed downloading and displaying the photos of my family. I know you are wondering what's happened to Fergie's eye. I know you are longing to hear the ridiculous things that my kids are saying to each other. I know you just want me to sit down and TYPE SOME WORDS, DAMMIT!

 

I'm getting there. It won't be long, I promise. Pretty soon you won't look like a random generic Blogger template anymore. You will look pretty and fresh and happy!

 

I can't wait.

Weekend Visit Bliss

A couple of weekends ago, we were so excited to get a visit from TP and Piper! We hadn't seen them since Christmas because of so much snow and Big Sis's ice skating lessons; it was way too long between visits.

 

We had hoped to take Piper to our favorite park, but it rained on Friday and Saturday. We ended up at the park Sunday after they left, when it was beautiful, warm and sunny (of course).

 

The kids had so much fun playing. Piper loved on Fergie. And we got to have lunch at The Catfish Hole! Oh, and Saturday night, we took the kids to play at Fun City. It was a busy visit, but we loved it!

 

I cannot believe that Piper is growing so fast. She's a sweetie and a lot of fun. Her mama must be doing something right.

 

Big Sis Brag: Smart, Pretty and Almost Grown!

Big Sister's school hosted its annual Daddy-Daughter Dance at the end of February. Although she's had the chance to go for the previous two years, she had not been the least bit interested until this year. Much to our surprise, Big Sis came home one day and said she wanted to go to the dance!

 

The theme this year was Hollywood Red Carpet, so she and I set out to find the perfect dress for the night. After a brief glimpse of what her teenage years will be like --GOD HELP US-- we finally settled (and agreed on) the most beautiful dress for my little Hollywood lady.

 

I rushed home from work on that Friday night to get her prettied up for the big date with daddy. (He cleans up nicely, too.) They left home in the middle of a beautiful snowfall, both smiling and giggling. After dancing the night away with her second grade buddies, daddy even took her out for a post-dance taco dinner.

 

I'm so proud of my sweet baby girl and how much she's changed in the last few years. She's happy, friendly and has such a kind heart for others. And she's quite a pretty girl, too!

While I'm bragging, I'll just add something that her teacher told us at school conferences last month. They have been taking reading and math tests periodically to check their progress and make sure they are on track with the proper grade levels.

 

On the last test period, Big Sis increased her reading score by 27 points (from the end of first grade). The teacher said this is the largest point gain that she'd ever seen on a test!!  She's now reading on level with the middle of third grade. As you can imagine, this makes me so happy. We love reading together.  But now we need to spend as much energy on improving math, where she is riding the line at barely average. I guess the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree.

March 1st Snow Fun!

We had a snowy weekend (again) here in Northwest Arkansas. It started on Friday afternoon and snowed pretty much non-stop until late Saturday night. We got about 2.5 inches with a nice layer of ice on top.

We would have had more fun playing outside on Saturday when the snow was softer, but it was also only about 20 degrees. Mama hates to be cold, which the kids know. So Saturday, we opted to stay inside snuggling and cooking all day. 

When the temps were around 33 on Sunday morning, I happily suggested that we head outside to play before the snow melted. After half an hour of bundling up, off we went! I couldn't believe that even Fergie loved playing out in the snow! The ice on top made it too hard for building a snowman, but we made a few snowballs and took a walk around the block for fun. Too bad we don't have a hill in our neighborhood for sledding!

After playing outside for a bit, we came back in to have some hot chocolate and call Nanny to wish her a happy birthday.

Conversation With My Kids

A recent trip to the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks on a warm February weekend.

Last week's Razorback basketball game gave us the opportunity to introduce our kids to one of the best and most popular players in U of A history, Corliss Williamson. During halftime of the game, the school honored Corliss by hanging a banner in the arena. I have a particularly fond place in my heart for Big Nasty because we were in school at the same time; I spent many, many hours waiting in the cold just to get into the building to watch him play.

As Lee and I explained to the kids his nickname, "Big Nasty," there was a lot of giggling going on. I suppose it does sound like a funny name to a bunch of little kids who talk about poop and farts all the time. I could tell they were really not impressed. 

The next day, Lee and the twins picked me up for lunch. I took Boy Twin into the bathroom to wash up before lunch. As he jammed his paper towel into the trashcan, he jubilantly declared, "I slam dunked it, just like Big Stinky!" 

I'm so glad they enjoyed our history lesson. 

Keeping An Eye on Fergie

 

 

 

The last couple of weeks have been rough on us. Little Princess Fergie VII took a hard hit to the eye when she was playing ball with daddy; we immediately knew something wasn't right. Lee took her to see the vet the next day, where she diagnosed Fergie with glaucoma and said the pressure in her eye was dangerously high.

 

Fergie has been back two more times for a checkup on the eye. At our last visit, the vet confirmed that she would likely never regain the vision in her right eye. The pressure had come down, but not enough to stop the pain. We are treating her eye with drops and giving her pain pills. If we can get the pressure to go down and stabilize, then the doctor feels like we can permanently treat her with drops going forward. However, if the pressure is not manageable, then they will probably have to remove her eye. Of course, we are hoping it doesn't come to that.

 

I've done a little studying and it seems that secondary glaucoma can be caused by an eye injury. The vet said there is a thin mucous lining in the back of the eye that got pushed to the front of her eye when she got hit, thus blocking her vision. Surgery may be an option, but it's not guaranteed to restore the vision either.

 

We are just so sad about the whole situation. It was completely an accident and Fergie was doing what she loved the most--playing ball with dad. Luckily, she's handling it like a champ. She still wants to play and go outside and wrestle with the kids. Our baby is going to be nine years old in June and it's hard to think that's getting old for a doggy.