This has undoubtedly been the longest winter i can remember down here...longest and coldest, although we're thankful for no big ice storms leaving us without power...like last year!
That is a budding back yard tree, with a very red bird in it...there are fat pregnant robbins all over, and we heard a couple of tree frogs start to sing. That, and the hiway covered in mating skunks carcasses (makes driving erratic at best as you try to dodge them) lets me know we are almost done with the winter blues! YAY!
We've been hibernating..today is the first nice day in months..but still a little chilly, and everyone has been recouping from yucky bugs...so we're still laying pretty low.
funny stuff...i forced molly to try some candy, today. It simply amazes me that a child would not like candy! Aubrey Jo yells "TANNY!" everytime she see gramma! Molly has nothing to do with it. She got some Fun Dip for valentines day,the powdery stuff with a stick to lick and stick?? i was showing her how it works, and then slipped some onto her tongue when she wasn't looking. She STUCK HER TONGUE OUT and ran to the kitchen to get a towel, tongue protruding as far as possible..grabbed a washcloth and WIPED IT OFF!! *sigh* What a kid!
We had Aubrey last week, and had a ball...at 19 months, she is speaking in full sentances,is in full Monkey-butt mode and remains quite the handful! She is soooo Gabe at that age....really fun unless you take your eyes off of her for one second. Ally and Gabe are expecting Baby #2 soon! Due date is the first week of April...but there is NO WAY she is going that long. Gaby Baby #2 is lookin pretty big, although Ally isn't gaining much. Doc said she was a postergirl for pregnant mommies. WTG ALLY!
The girls both traveled together well...giggled all the way in the way back seat
shared a stroller at the mall
and no...we didn't even THINK to put one of them in the basket!
tried on each other's clothes:
And basically kept us all entertained. We already miss her, but not enough to keep her more than a week...as she missed her mommy and daddy, too.
Not much else going on...just waiting for spring and OUTDOOR FUN!
Well, here we go again....Years of work by parents united, who know the love a precious child-one who does not see your skin color, your sexual orientation, or what designer clothes you are wearing. One who demonstrates the true meaning of Christianity by only seeing you for what your are....and loving you for that gift.
This was blown away in a week by a presidential staff member, and a radio (prejudice pig) talk show host....I'M SO ANGRY!!
And what do i hear from the so-called enlightened people around me?
"what's the big deal? it's just a word!!"
" I AM GUARANTEED THE RIGHT TO SAY WHATEVER I WANT BY THE CONSTITUTION."
"Im sick of all this PC crap"
************************************************ "It's just a word"
yea, there are many words in the dictionary...double them in the 'urban dictionary' which Rush kept quoting from all day yesterday....THE URBAN DICTIONARY is a web site where anyone can go type in ANYTHING in for a definition!! Trust me, I'm about to go over there and insert some definitions for Rush. I can't believe he was so ignorant as to quote IT, as if it was some kind of reference book!! What a JERK!
"It's just a word"
the N word-also just a word...try walking down a street in East St Louis, and yelling THAT out!! No?? Why??? BECAUSE SOMEONE would step up and MAKE YOU PAY!! You see, the group of people that this insult is aimed at? CAN DEFEND THEMSELVES!! best stick to making fun of inncocent children.
Another word..."fag" ...oh yea...that USED to be what we called cigarettes...but not now...This particular group of people, who the word was designed to degrade...gathered together in a PAC and attacked Washington DC right where they needed to....in elections. I can almost bet the house that Rahm Emanuel would never spit THAT word out when he was angry! It would cost the democrats the White House!!
And then there was Matthew Shepherd....a young man murdered at the hands of red-necked, ignorant, hillbillies...who thought it was ok to beat a man to death, just because of who he was. Kind of sealed the deal with that word...NO ONE uses it now...no one with any intelligence at all.
Really?? Does it really have to come to that???
'I HAVE THE RIGHT TO"
well sure you do....but do you also possess the couth NOT to??? Do you possess the humanity not to?? Are you a believer? Do you know that our children come right from the heart of the Creator? Does your church teach you to diss those who do not measure up to your standards??? Really? Mine teaches to Love thy Neighbor.
We also have the right to bear arms, but NOT the right to use them in a dangerous and reckless manner. You also do not have the right to use hate-language in a dangerous and reckless way. That also is Law!
"I'm sick of all this PC crap"
Did you know that children with Down Syndrome are 1 in 300 conceptions? Did you know that those children falling on the Autism Spectrum are now 1 in 100?? 1 in 70 in boys!! Did you know that even though YOU don't feel the need to be politically correct, that chances are 1 of the 4 people that just heard you.... Now Despise You!! They are dealing with a situation in their family..maybe something you weren't aware of. You've just lost the respect of a peer, and maybe a friend.
And while I'm at it? If you are on the clock? YOU CANNOT USE THIS KIND OF LANGUAGE!! It not only disrepects the company you are representing, but makes your co-workers KNOW that you are truely unprofessional and undeserving of any respect in your chosen field. We shouldn't have to have policy that directs it, but you know what? In my company?? WE WILL!!
Ultimately, it's cowardice, ignorance, and just totally immaturity. If you feel comfortable in using all of these hate words when you're at a social function?....when it's "just you few' in a circle...THAT'S PURE CHICKEN SH*T!! Come up to my face and tell me your "hillarious" joke, why don't you??? Let me put it to you in a way you can better understand....I dare you...hell, i DOUBLE DARE YA!!
My child may not possess the the understanding of a Hate Crime....but HER MOMMA DOES. She may not fight to defend herself or her peers as she doesn't have a mean bone in her body...
We're finishing the month off with another big snow! No ice, thankfully, and i was already scheduled off...so YAY! We're entertaining ourselves with movies, cooking, and the neverending game of baseball!
Yes, it's a carrot bat (from last year's Easter) and yes, she taps her shoes with it before she hits...like Albert. Too much sports TV in this house FOR SURE!! (those are the boots she put on when she THOUGHT she was going to play in the snow..she's HACKED!)
Miss Molly, by edict of Big Daddy, is banned from playing outside...She has been home all week with a sinus infection, and even though we've been on the Zithro...she doesn't seem a whole lot better....if anything her symptoms are worse! All that stuff lodged up in her head is making the big escape.
The puppies seem to be LOVING the new snow! Wayyyy to cold for us to play in it!
My little Memory Garden Angel is 12 inches tall:
If you look closely...you can see molly, boo-hooing in the window..she wants to come and play!!
Even "city-kitty" got into the action
Heard my little JoJo, and her mom (pregnant-due in April) ALSO are down with a bug.. a stomach bug!! bummer...REALLY a bummer as TODAY IS ALLYSON'S BIRTHDAY!! Happy Bday, Ally...feel better soon. She is SO beautiful, inside and out..and we feel SO blessed to have her in our family! Your birthday present (was Christmas present) will get to you soon, as soon as the snow melts! Sorry we couldn't be there today!
Miss Aubrey JoJo came for a visit last sunday, with Uncle Bill, Ang, and her daddy....always a party
the boys came to (play x-box) set up my surround sound, and Ang came to do homework. She's putting herself through college and I'm SOOOOOO proud of her!!
Shauna is Prepping for the Boston Marathon, and this storm hit DC this morning, right in the middle of an 18 mile run...she had to knock off early as she didn't have goggles on...HAVE FUN WITH OUR SNOW!!
Jo Jo is getting to be a big girl...besides being in the "always in trouble" monkeybutt stage:
she is attempting to dress herself!
SHE REMAINS TOO CUTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! She also hid one of the Sarge's slippers, which for the life of us we cannot find!! LMAO!
Gabe was happy to drive in the snow to get her stuff...he's doing it in a new CAR!! (great Bday present if you ask me) Their first big purchase together that was made all on their own! Makes a mommy proud.(Hyundai Tuscon)
I stay humbled by the blessings that are my family.
Saturday and it's weekly shopping/chore day. My mom likes to get away, and we always take molly and practice our 'big girlness' in public. All in all it was a good trip. We grabbed a happy meal, ran into some friends and went to "not my" store....(Sorry big W, but the last thing a retailer wants to do on a day off is shop, and worse than that? Go to work to do it.....my bad.)
Molly has taken over gramma's cart and is pushing it well, and only adding things to it she thinks we need (oreos, cheetos and a mylar balloon) and all is good that is, until we get to the check out. I have one cart unloading it, and she is right behind me with her cart, when she starts screaming, and not a frustrated scream...a real one...i look, and sure enough, she has managed to get her arm stuck in a gap of the cart, AND IT HURTS!! (enough to cause spontaneous bladder explosion)
So im rushing to her, and just as i make it, she dislodges herself, rips her coat off, throws it, and really starts crying while rubbing the back of her arm.
No one....i mean NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON came to our aid. Pretty uncommon in these parts...pretty uncommon for store management....oh, don't get me wrong, everyone GAWKED at her...but no one came to help.
She, after all, looks different. She was probably screaming, because she has Down Syndrome.
*sigh*
and i keep waiting for this rainy stinkin' week to get better.
I could NOT find the cheese pretzels this morning...BLASPHEME!!
The sarge put some regular ones in her bowl (yes, she has a bowl, and it better be the one with the lips on the side, because the plain round one WILL NOT DO!) and said, "come on, we're gonna be late for school"
She just throws the bowl. (Translation? She wants the cheese ones)
Well, lemme tell ya, YESTERDAY I had cheese pretzels in the cupboard, but TODAY?? THEY'RE MISSING! and we all know who TOOK the cheese pretzels, but do you think that pretzel-nabbing-skunk can remember where she put them??? OHHHHHH NOOOOOO!! (and trust me, when they're hidden, they are gone for life)
So, she sits her pretty little monkey butt in the rocking chair, folds her arms across her chest, AND REFUSES TO MOVE!
Now, those of you with typical children know that you can reason, or at worst, jerk them up and throw them screaming into the car....but that doesn't work for us. Picking up a temper-throwing child with DS??? It's like trying to maneuver around a 85 pound water balloon!
So, after dodging shoes, having her remove her clothes, and scream at the dog (who has inserted herself into the situation because she knows molly is upset...Add 90 pounds of hair) I finally find a 1/2 bag of Cheetos, stuffed in her drawer.
"Will these yellows do?" as I pour them into afore mentioned Tupperware bowl.
She examines the contents and looks up at me and says..."more"
And I'm thrilled she used her words.
Daddy, on the other hand, is not thrilled at ALL, but both of them are on their way to school, and I have cheese pretzels at the top of the shopping list.
Oh BTW, she threw her blue "has to be back on Monday" folder during this fit and I ran it out to the car, when the dutiful German Shep escaped behind me. Mizzy had decided that SHE was going to attend school with the upset child, even if it meant running behind the Tahoe all the way to school.....so my apologies to the neighbors who had the misfortune of witnessing the Kramer-haired woman, with a hair brush, in her (no-bra)jammies, chasing a dog around a vehicle. I'm sure it was a scary sight!
Well, it was ALMOST over! Ha! I didn't think our new year's celebration was going to amount to much, but it turned out WONDERFUL!!
Not big party-people anymore, we did get hats and horns and champagne...The sarge was due to take off for KC in the morning early to get Kelsi Shae for a visit, so him and molly retired at the usual bedtime, but gramma & grampa & the dogs and I stayed up, vowing to AT LEAST make it to 11pm, when we could celebrate with the New Yorkers, Anderson Cooper, and my fav girl, miss potty mouth, Kathy Griffin!
and a kiss to start it off!!
I had to work New Years Morning, so after the festivities headed right for bed, only to start fielding phone calls when the REAL New Year happened from all my kiddos (except the new parents, who also were snoozing) and STILL got up feeling like I'd partied all night! UGH!
Since i had to work, the sarge took Molly Kate to see Aubrey Jo in Springfield. That's her favorite trip for sure...still i was surprised when waking her (she's a heavy sleeper and despises having to get up for school) that all i had to do was whisper in her ear...."molly? do you want to go see aubrey jo this morning?"
She was up, dressed, and handing Larry his coat in about 5 minutes!! "Huuuuuuweeeeeeeee!"
On the way home? He brought me the best present! Not only was he packing Kelsi and Molly...but grabbed "Jo Jo" too! I had a long weekend coming (school doesn't resume here till Tuesday) so baby came and played with us!!
Jo Jo is VERY verbal (19 months old now), and the funniest little skunk you've ever seen! She's into everything so i had to implement some emergency tacktics to keep her out of my "cleaning" cupboards
Gabe even showed up for a biscuit and gravy Sunday Breakfast! He commented on molly's weight gain by yelling.."Who has a fat belly???!!" Immediately Jo Jo ran over and lifted up Larry's shirt!! HAHAHAHAHAHAAH poor larry!
And trust me, Big Gabe and Little Bill are the only men in my family that can clean and jerk this load!
And he whipped up some snow ice cream for us! Breakfast dessert!
Everyone is on their way home now, at home, and it's quiet around here. I'm cleaning up and getting ready for the work/school rush tomorrow, which is going to be slow-going...they forcasted a 'dusting' of snow as a possiblilty for the new year, but we ended up with about 4 inches! Not much to my yankee neighbors, but we have NO SNOW REMOVAL EQUIPMENT!! Down here? it doesn't happen enough to warrent it...so you just wait for it to melt.
but im not complaining...Molly LOVES the snow!! Good thing..just got the news that now TUESDAY school is called off!!
I get to fly around and do all sorts of fun stuff....but having a load of girls together for some weekend fun seems to top the list! Not that we don't have our moments...Jo Jo was pickin' on Aunt Molly, grabbed her beloved bag of cheeze pretzels, and just showered the room with them! Course "mom-mom" doesn't really get excited about stuff like that, but daddy thought it needed to be addressed....this is aubrey telling me "sowwy" and Aunt Molly, unphased, running thru with a new bag! No harm, No foul! (she has THE sweetest little voice!)
