IT'S JUNE!! IT'S JUNE!!

IT’S JUNEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
IT'S JUNE!!!!

I am SO PYCHED about the month of months this year!
Little Bills is TWENTY-ONE on the 11th!!

Molly Kate is * * EIGHT* * on the 22nd!!

Aubrey Jo is ON HER WAY!! She should be here by the end of the month (if she waits that long)

I'm on VACATION with Aubrey's birth!! My mom and dad are even threatening to come down! or maybe we'll swing out to Nebraska during that time, too...as it's been TOO LONG since we've seen them!
IM SO HAPPYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!! so many big events!!

Shauna ran the Capitol Hill Run 1/2 marathon, and officially did the 10 miles in UNDER 50!! wowser!

Gabe pulled a 3.75 for his final grade of the semester, and is GONNA BE A DADDY!! (he has know idea why I'm so psyched as he's just VERY nervous...I can FEEL IT! but I know that Aubrey Jo is gonna have THE best DAD in the world, and that IT'S GOING TO BE PHENOMENAL!!) Hang on son, it's a whole nother story once she GETS HERE!!

Little Bill and Angela are coming home for a week, next week! (to coincide with his birthday!)YAY!

I'm trying to fit Springfield into the weekend, and a girls day at the mall, and at the SEX AND THE CITY opening!! Gonna be tough as Ally is wayyyyyyyy pregnant, kelsi is 16, and I'm driving!! HOW will i sneak a COSMOPOLITIN into THAT mix???? :-)

And Amy, who thought her and Ben we're going to miss brother Jack's birthday, because of Ben's cancer and being stuck in the hospital??? THEY GOT OUT!! and got home in time to surprise everyone and blow out candles!!
YAY AMYYYYYYYYY!!

Kelsi is home for some summer R&R, and the pool man is coming this morning!! It hit 90 degrees yesterday, so YAY!! TIME TO FLOAT!! We had to hide all of molly's floaties...cuz she keeps donning them and nagging me!
TODAY, little chicky, TODAY!

This is the story of the week, though...and no, I'm not a "SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE" fan, by any means...but this young man captured my HEART!!




Thanks Ally and Gabe for calling my attention to him!

Ok off off off to do the house cleaning chores and prepare to open the pool and oh yea, commando girl had to try on the new dora swimsuit!




WELCOME SUMMER!! I've been waiting SOOOOOOOO LONG!!
I think it's going to be the best one OF MY LIFE!! WOOHOOOOO!!

The Trooper's Special and Butt Water

My house revolves around food. At the end of the day, no matter WHAT happens in our lives, the 'good or bad' meter seems to rest on what kind of meal I whipped up. Times 4 when the boys are at home!

Molly seems to have a tiny stomach and dull taste buds so she eats weird food every two hours.

Vlasic garlic pickles, pretzels (regular and cheese) french fries, plain vanilla ice cream, sometimes plain meat, but NOTHING mixed up (casseroles) and of course the main staple of her life, ketchup and sugar-free popsicles! We sneak supplements and medicines into juice/water/milk as we worry about her nutritional intake. I am thankful she loves fruit, and that it's all IN SEASON now.. yay.

The sarge is a different story all together.

This morning, it's the "Troopers Special". You've seen it at every truck stop you've ever ventured into. Its shredded hash browns, fried up crisp with onions and green peppers, bacon/sausage, or whatever leftover meat you have in the fridge...and served with Tabasco/picante sauce, and biscuits & gravy. There are no eggs involved in this breakfast, as real cops don't eat eggs. (I know, that one?? I still haven't figured out) They do, however, layer on the Tabasco for breakfast!

I believe that it's called the trooper's special, because it would tear an ordinary man's stomach into shreds...but all cops have stomachs of steel. Ironically, they all are on Prilosec or some other type of gerd medication.

He only eats 'weekend' breakfast...just black coffee during the work week....fixes his own light lunch (fruit and cheese)...but supper needs to be big, and it's not complete till dessert is served. His favorite is RHUBARB PIE! Jeeeeeeeeeeze Louise... WHERE does he come up with this stuff??? Rhubarb is seconded only by Key Lime Pie. I have learned how to fix both, and thanks to the Pioneerwoman.com now can make the beloved bread pudding. Larry's tastebuds seem to be stuck in the 50's, however his tri-glycerides are stuck in the 300s!!

Besides that, how can an woman, who decided to have a baby in the late years ever expect to lose the weight, when the majority of my time home is spent whipping up delectable dishes?? Thank goodness it's comin on summer, and we can switch to barbequed meat, and farmer's market veggies. It'll be good to get away from the bad stuff.

The sarge is very deserving of the extra effort, however, as he has great husband attributes-ie..he takes out the garbage, knows how to run the vacuum, and LOVES to mow and maintain the grass.

Yesterday, our kickoff to Memorial Day Weekend, it rained solid for a few hours in the early morning. He obsessively kept stepping out to check the grass-moisture level, so that he could jump on the mower at EXACTLY the precise time when it was 'dryer' as oppose to 'damper', grabbed the snake-stick, and got it all done by 4pm. (he timed himself)

I never get that excited about my 'duties', nor do I appreciate enough the extra 'help' I get with them...not as much as daddy does.




We finally have a new lawn growing in the back and *thanks gabe* a new pellet gun to scare off the pigeons, which came out of nowhere to eat the $$$$$$ grass seed buried under the straw! I have NEVER seen a pigeon out here, until the new grass was seeded in...can they SMELL IT?

My puppies are loving the fact that the back yard and new kennel both seem to be off limits and now they're runs now involve the woods around the house and the FRONT yard!





My girlfriends called...we're stealing away some time in October for a mom's weekend-out, and since American Airlines has announced they are gonna DOCK ME for each piece of luggage, it seems that I need to lose 100 pounds before October or fly NEKKED!! That is IF I can decide to buy the 'doubling by the minute' airline tickets!


This gas thing is getting under my skin!...the boat is still tarped (the flooded and dangerous lakes and the fact that it runs on premium fuel) and in the garage, and although I really wanted to get out of here this weekend, I spent $100.00 on gas LAST weekend, to go visit the kids...so I think we are going to stay put...and ....*shutter* clean house! BOOOOOO!!! The big event this weekend will have to be the opening of the Water-Park in town....Molly will love it, but only IF it gets warm enough for mommy to sink her white-whaleness into.

I got the new tank to our pool ordered...it should be here in a week, which is probably one week sooner than the pool will be ready to open. It takes so much work to get up and maintain, but Miss Molly loves it SO MUCH, that we continue the effort! Besides, since we won't be traveling much this summer, we need to make the yard as pleasant as possible!

With that I'll stop my selfish grumbling, and honor our serviceman this Memorial Day. We will do our part to sacrifice our pleasures in their names, as they are giving up WAY more than we are!
We pray for the leaders of these nations to get this conflict under control, and bring our boys home QUICKLY and SAFELY! Special thanks also, to my dad and his WWII buddies...for their contributions to the "big one" ...the one that is quickly fading away in my generation's memory,and almost unknown to todays young soldiers.


Oh, and the butt water?

Every since molly was old enough to sit up in the bathtub, she's wanted to suck on the washie/sponge, and swallow the water that they hold...which is GROSS beyond WORDS!
I tell her, "NO MOLLY!! YOU CANNOT DRINK THE SAME WATER YOUR BUTT SITS IN!!
EEWWWIE! ACKY ACK!! NO!!"

Yesterday I put her in the tub and she threw up her hands, sprinkling bubbles and water drops all over and proudly squealed......


"BUTT WATER!!"

ugh

Almost Done! RUN! RUN! RUN!

What a week! I was scheduled for a late shift today, THANK GOODNESS! because we buzzed to Springfield for ally's shower on Saturday, transporting a stranded boss back with me...and then had the 1st Grade Picnic on Sunday!. I just finished uploading the pics, molly is back in school, and I'm going to do a short update, and go try to regain control of the house before heading to work.



Ally's shower was adorable. Her sister really put a lot into it, even though she was also hosting a college graduation party that weekend. THANK YOU, MICHELLE!



It was great to spend some time with the kids afterwards, although I stayed worried about Molly. I'm so glad gabe shamed me into coming, despite my worries!



(ally, sis michelle, and their little cousin)

Molly is still having "issues" with her lower colon. We have some new meds, but given the experiences of the last weekend, have opted to wait to start them till this coming weekend. School is out on Friday.

Sunday, her first grade teacher hosted a picnic at children's park. The food was Fabulous, the day perfect, and all the kids had a BALL!! Mrs. White honored them all with a "If you gave a pig a pancake" book...and medals and hugs for each and every one!




She then honored the parents with Certificates and hugs! She makes it easy to be an active parent, and WANT to be at each and every event with her class. She really is an Awesome Lady...and we're going to miss her!



Yes, Molly is going onto the 2nd grade. The IEP was also this week, and honestly, it's the first one i walked away from NOT CRYING! These ladies have learned not only on how to handle molly kate...but how to handle her mommy! YAY!

We did not specify a teacher for next year, just that she be in class with Robert, and we nixed all the year end testing. YAY!

Shauna ran a 1/2 Marathon (the capitol hill classic) which was her first since she started training...and did it with style, a great time, AND managed to stop and grocery shop on the way home. WTG SHAUNA!

Everyone is running hard, and finishing up the end of school. We pray for John Eric Bartel's family, as they stayed here on earth while he went to heaven.




This past week also marks the passing of Sierra Kesler, one particularly close to my heart as she had down syndrome. Her's was an unexpected passing, one of the cases where the cancer didn't get her....the cure did. *sigh*

Remember to keep these families close in your hearts....and never to take ONE SECOND of your time with your children for granted!

There are many relay for life and torch runs happening right now...be sure to participate, donate, and pray!

Love you all....see you next week, and please keep that week of starting new meds for miss molly in your prayers. Mommy is too stressed over this, and anxious to get it resolved. The whole thing is hindering many progresses for her, and outings for us!

Do you think they know how much you love them?

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Typical Times in the Molly house

Typical Times

Dear Diary...Today I tried to go to the bathroom. Probably not a big deal, right? WRONG! Mommy time is fleeting and precious. Privacy is unheard of!

I did the usual 10 minute prep before even DARING to steal time for myself,
which includes setting up a dora dvd, locking the doors, grabbing the phone, etc.

Daddy is in the radio room calling the net. PRIVACY is but one latch away.

I just get comfortable, when i hear the German Shepherd start in with
the "im gonna eat a delivery man" rabid bark. I'm not moving...this one is on daddy.

It seems that the siding guy came by to talk to daddy. Now in these circumstances and when i am mobile...i lock the dogs up on the mudporch before answering the door.

They don't like it. This is them sticking out their paws in protest:






The shep is still a pup and as meek as a lamb, but seems to turn into wonder-guard-dog anytime ANYONE steps into the yard.

Daddy does things his own way. He slides out the front door, leaving the storm door open, and unlatched. Although miss molly kate is usually so immersed
into her dvd the house could implode and she wouldn't look up...
"MOM AND DAD ARE BUSY!!" announcements must flash on the screen, calling her attention to prime opportunities.

Not only did she let the dog out to visit with the siding man (EEK!) but the dog keeps making the "duck and dodge" maneuver when daddy was trying to grab him! Desperate times call for desperate actions. Daddy forgot his german commands! PLATZ! (although he was commanding some new words that i'm sure the mollster will be repeating to her teachers tommorrow)

AFTER clearing the house of her 'informers' she then took down a cake and carefully sliced it into many, bitesized morsels, enjoyed a pre-dinner snack, turned the news to spongebob in the livingroom and dumped out the toybox. I'm still not sure this was the only damage...we'll probably find evidence of more later. I was pleased to see the cat was not shaved.

I hope the siding stays put for awhile...looks like i'll be on the hunt for a new repairman....meanwhile, the sarge is ON DUTY!






**********************************************************************************
This week we went to Springfield, sold both of pops vehicles and watched Larry and his brothers put up a new ceiling in the sunroom. Yes, we're still working on the estate house. It takes everyone 4 or 5 years, doesn't it?

We took Bill and Ang with us, who were home for Ang's 21st birthday. Usually this would be a big deal in a youngn's life, but since Bill doesn't turn 21 until June 11th...the pub crawl celebration will have to wait a few weeks.

We woke up Gabe, Ally, and Aubrey Jo (the baby bump)...and all enjoyed
some laughs (coffee spurting out your nose laughing, with my crew) and a great meal. Speaking of great meals...Little Bill whipped up a fantabulous lasagna while at home! MY BOYS CAN COOK! *bows* thank you...thank you.

Molly had some difficulties at the end of the day, so a quick goodbye, buzz through a phramacy and fly back home ensued....Sorry we didn't have more time kiddo's.....she can be a wet blanket at times!

For our prayer kids with cancer...this week sees the sudden loss of one child, and the funeral of another....one family prepares to lose their precious boy, and my girlfriend starts the 2nd round of chemo with sweet bennie....and it's horrible...worse than horrible....indescribable. The poison and pain
these children have to endure, the side effects of the poison, and the impotancy that parents feel as they stand by and watch it happen....all for a slice of hope
at total recovery is INSANE! The ongoing nightmare.

Please remember to pray, donate, and hug your kids tonight. These are all just parents like you and me, that drew the short straw...and in case you weren't aware....there are millions of short straws.

Have a great week..and be ever so thankful for what you DO have!

e & molly kate

i give UP!!

This is my livingroom. See the purple-dora-foldout-basket-toybox-thingy in the background? She's unloaded and dumped it in the livingroom...and she is just pleased as punch.

She likes it this way.

I had gathered up all of the crap, that should have been tossed, and put in that purple thingy in the spare bedroom. The crap had somehow migrated into there. It has a zipper on it, and since the school reports that she can't operate a zipper, i felt that it was safe until i got time to sort through it.

The school was WRONG!

Most of her GOOD toys have been sorted, binned, and hidden. But nothing ever stays hidden from molly very long. We let her have one bin at a time...and try to make her pick it up and put it away when she's done...and i swear, you would think she'd CALL WELFARE!!

SHE LIKES THEM OUT! ALL OF THEM!! BE FREE LITTLE TOYS...BE FREE!!

She's happiest when she can just walk around, stumbling on top of them, and playing with them at her liesure! I have actually cried out in pain when impelling a LEGO on the heel of my foot!

It's making mommy very tired, frustrated, and ready to give up on picking them all up again, why? It's just going to look like this again tomorrow!

Unless i resort to handcuffing her to a chair...she is on the move. While i'm picking up the livingroom..she will be redecorating the bedroom...afterall...those pillows, sheets and comforters really do belong on THE FLOOR! it makes it easier to spread out...maybe with some cheetos or pretzels...

Has anyone else ever had to VACUUM THEIR SHEETS???? As far as I know, Jackie O in the whitehouse and i are the only two women in the world that change their sheets twice a day...AND SHE HAD SOMEONE TO DO IT FOR HER!!

I don't EVEN want to talk about her bedroom!!....suffice to say, when i clean...i devote one day, to any particular room. ONE WHOLE DAY! and i'm lucky to see it stay that way for the following week.

I just wanted yall to know that, in case you ever feel like dropping by, and i'm going gaga and there is no where to sit!

**************
This week, she stayed in school all week, with no bugs/flus/sniffles/tornadoes/floods or earthquakes to disrupt it! YAY!

It was a tough week, though, and I'm really not sure what all went on...i just know that Missouri Map Tests were occuring....molly got to opt out, after making it painfully clear that she would NOT participate. I do understand that there was teeth involved in this.

And speaking of...she is short one tooth on the bottom row! where it is, or when it happened seems to be a mystery to all....or they aren't admitting to it. :-) Gotta love the teachers!

At the completion of the testing (which she had to switch rooms to allow the other students to test in peace...and as you other parents know...changing routines is NOT GOOD) all of her class got kicked out of spec ed. rooms... so that they could test the incoming Kindergartners up there!

Hopefully, we'll all be back on track next week. The IEP is set for mid-may, and I'm sure we can count on a whole blog devoted to that, as i cannot stand hearing how the other kids like molly are doing so much better than her! (you cannot compare kids like ours...they are each their own little flower)

I always walk away feeling guilty that we didnt go ahead and have that second baby...sibs seem to spur advancement, and guilty that i am not forcing her to work hard enough at home.

An IEP is the year-end review and planning for next year, and you rarely walk away feeling good about her progress or her schooling. We need to change that.

I still try not to look at the age of what they estimate she is operating at....although that is going to have to start happening, if i'm to make good decisions. They absolutely can not test her for those decisions...as she won't be tested! They do know, thankfully, how smart she IS! but what they know, and getting it on paper for the state...are 2 different things.

Then of course, we will make the decision to advance her to second grade...or let her stay another year in 1st grade.

*sigh*

So enters spring, and the flurry of the end of a school year. We have signed her up for summer school...and she will continue the T's there (OT/ST)...but summer school is chaotic, and she doesn't understand why it changes so much....still second guessing that decision. (It's classes combined for fun-study...with all lower grades participating, and upper grades get points for helping with the fun-study. Any other student would love it, and there is a big trip to Silver Dollar City at the end for those that keep with it....but molly just doesn't get it! To her its too different to be fun! UGH!)

As an example to the pig-headedness...last night i put some pineapple/walnut/creamy dessert on her tongue to try...i knew she'd LOVE IT! Molly is so against trying anything new...she ran around with her tongue stuck out, until she found a towel, and could WIPE IT OFF!

she's just like daddy. UGH!

********************

I've met some new moms in here, and thru the youtube video..and that's exciting! I like to reach out and take a little bit of the fear out of the new arrivals! WELCOME NEW FRIENDS! (and please forget everything you just read! ha!)

Gabe got all A's and one B for the semester end, and at last check Ally's scare of gestational diabetes is NOT happening..aubrey jo is getting ready to make her final approach to landing. (end of june-4th of july)

Bill got into a scuffle trying to stop a runner! (bail bond skipee) He seemed almost proud of his scrapes! EEK! See bill...there is still a football career for you! NICE TACKLE (that's the fake mommy, trying to be supportive)

And for my prayers circle....

This past week sees the funeral of a 12 yr old who lost the battle with the beast....and the notice of another that the trials they signed up for are not working. They will make the decision to take that 16 month old home with hospice this coming week.

www.carepages.com

johnericbartels

Cancer sux! But we still beg for prayers for all that are involved with it. And if you have the chance to donate? Do so, generously. Thank you.



Now...onto the housecleaning! wish me luck! Hey Sarge!!...where DO you keep those handcuffs????

All this water, and i can't get a BATH!!

I'm never going to get into the bathtub. We've been so busy, oversleeping, working hard...but no opportunity for a bath? THAT'S the last straw!




We went to Springfield to work on pop's house. Now, we do this every month. Pop died in 2004.

Grief is a difficult thing to handle, at best...and sometimes it just keeps on keeping on. I am thankful that 4 of the 5 siblings are traveling in to make it happen, but 4 years of maintaining an empty house is just about enough. Any inheritance to be had has been ate up in a probate attorney, utilities, insurance...etc. It's too bad that 1 out of 5 had to be such a jerk....amazing and one of those "i would have never believed it" kind of stories. I hear it's quite common and will take measures to make sure that my children never have to have these feelings and obligations in the event of our deaths.




This week we have had one tornado, another rash of flooding and more rain (we've already received 1/2 of our annual rainfall for the year) and yesterday? we worked and drove home in the snow...SNOW in MID-APRIL!! I am totally tired of this mess. They actually dismissed school at noon on Thursday because of the flash flooding. This is an outhouse in Tecumseh park (across the hiway from the river) and as you can see, our wells and ground water have been comprimised also.



It is so unusual to us, that boys had to be rescued from the usually dry creek bed as school got let out, and what better way to spend a free afternoon than kayaking a usually dry creek!?! EEK! We did have one 14 year old swept away in Winona, which is not the first to be lost. I am SO ready for a real spring.



After a day of tearing down a ceiling, and getting to visit with gabe who came to help and hang out...we head home, filthy and tired and anxious to get a hot bath and watch "the memory keeper's daughter" and the sarge of course, is happy that the nascar race is late...gonna be a snuggle bunny evening, with snow flying, in a warm house.

NOT!

We pull in and the attny neighbor is out walking his dog...he was on his way over to see if we had power.

Nope...we don't.

I'm not sure what happened, but in between tornadoes and floods and snow, eventually something had to give, and it was the power...and it was off the entire evening until everyone was asleep.

We live in the country...so when there is no power, there is no water (well's need power) so one of us is not sleeping, cuz who can SLEEP with this much DIRT ON THEM???

It really wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. Miss Molly was not understanding the concept of no power, and was as upset at no 'spongebob' as Larry was at no NASCAR! It was only when she opened the fridge did she get it figured out....and of course, we had to save the ice cream, so that made it better.

I got the battery radio, and there was an oldies station playing 70's music all night...which
were fun songs for her to sing with me, as they had such ditsy lyrics. We all jumped into mom's big ole bed, cuz it was CHILLY and dark! (i'm talking 7pm) I think the sarge was a little more tired than he let on, from all the physical work at the house, and the excellent steak dinner afterwards... sleeping at 7pm didn't seem too big of an inconvenience.


Gabe had come to meet us at pop's house, help with the ripping out of the ceiling, and snuggle with Molly Kate. she LOVVVVVVVVES her 'babe'.






I'm not sure, but i got the feeling he needed some family-time too. His new baby is due in june, and I see the wear of the final trimester in his brow. I don't know how to make him understand that this 3 months will be "memory-eased' in time, and the joy he is about to experience will far outweigh any stress that he's now incurring.

I can't wait for the day...I can't wait to see the joy and the heart swell that happens when you look upon your first child. I think I'm more excited to see Gabe's face, than in seeing little Aubrey Jo....

That feeling is too amazing for words. It makes your life complete. It is your life. It is what you live for, and nothing else compares, or matters in that one second. Those realizations seem to happen immediately, and I'm anxious to see Gabe's face when it hits him! *beam*


Molly and I chose to make shadow puppets on the ceiling of the bedroom, wavy from the candlelight...and she passed out about 8pm. I make a mean german shep dog shadow and she squeals in delight when he barks! It really turned out to be a nice evening.

The music on the mono radio reminded me of days gone by...and while they slept i drifted off to memories of high school and college , and wondered about all the friends i loved then....and how they were doing. I was a rowdy teen and young adult...and also wonder if they would ever believe where i am now in my life.

I saw a light pop on at 154 laps to go....woke the sarge who got to enjoy his race, and went to shut down the house. I was very grateful to hear the heater kick on. We have a generator we can drag out in life-threatening situations...but the house was above 60 degrees, and that was easily handled with a big comforter, some candlelight and 3 in a bed.

I forgot about the memory keeper's daughter...and will have to catch that one later...everyone said it was great!

Little Bill is in town for the weekend....We did a 3 hour tour of the flood damage. Went to Norfolk Lake and Mountain Home, Arkansas...back thru Dawt Mill and Tecumseh and then finally to our River...which was barricaded shut...we had to hop the fence to go get pictures.



I just learned that the conservation department has pulled all 'regatta' licenses..meaning that for the first time in my 20 years here, there will be no fishing in the ozarks. Amazing...the 3 big lakes are all at capacity and several towns will have to be flooded for the bigger good. It's just dangerous.

This past week also marks the celebration of the birth of MY first born. Those feelings never stop, you know. It's been difficult to let her go at best, and I know she won't understand it until she lets HER first one go.... i think that since the day i delivered her and all through my life, letting her fly from the nest and make her own life has been the hardest thing I've ever had to do.

If i could wish one thing, it would be for ALL my kids to understand that when I look at them now, I feel the same way that i did when the Doctor first handed them to me....they are simply amazing, and the best thing that's every happened in my life.

Happy Birthday, Shauna!