The Wedding Reception or I NEED A NEW CAMERA!

or probably need 2 cameras..one to have with me, and one for special occasions. Send me your suggestions...i want one that has major megapix, 20x zoom, and fires up in a hurry with software that's easy. Only a fraction of my pics came out clear, but i did end up with a few.

ParTAY!

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

Gabe & Ally had their wedding reception this past Saturday and WHAT A PARTY!! All Vegas Theme (they were married there on 1-1-11) open bar, kegs, music and catered food.


When I ask Moll if she wants to go see Aubrey Jo, she grabs her coat and goes and sits in the FRONT passenger seat. She's been prone to car sickness on long trips and it helps if she's in the front..she knows that! Cracks me up.The girls ALWAYS love seeing each other.





Shauna came home from DC, and fell back in love with her nieces...we were so happy to have her home...it's always trouble with the airlines, and expensive to get back, so we are humbled in admiration that she attempted the trip.




A most satisfying weekend as a mom, and a mom-mom because all the kids came home for it, and I got one of those rare photos of them all together...



We had so much fun getting ready for the big event:
Uncle Bill was there for the "bouncy bouncy baby" main event:




The Wedding Cake




That night, they started out by playing their vows, projected onto the wall in big-screen proportions..and i cried....then they were announced and made the grand entrance toting their beautiful girls, each in adorable, pink, ballerina dresses and them in their wedding wear.





Then, as they posed for pictures, the funniest thing happened. We were so busy snapping pics and clapping, we didn't see Molly make her move...out of nowhere she appeared, next to Gabe, smiling, and posing for pictures. Hilarious and well-received by all. Look at her! She's CHEEZIN' for the camera!! She cracked us all up!




Miss Zoey Grace spotted me taking pics and made a beeline for mom-mom! SWEET! (you can see molly wasn't budging from the photo op)



Vegas theme all the way down to scratcher tickets at the purple tables...Did you win anything, Shauna?


Family Dance




Stop singing mom! How Embarrassing!



And she came up with on her own, a bracelet and beads...she NEVER wears
jewelry....yet tonight? Tonight we're stylin'



Shauna pickin' on brother Bill



Ally's mom Chris (Naw Naw) with Zoey, and Bill's Angela in the background dancing with Molly...Molly danced with EVERYONE!!



Sideways view of Molly dancing to the Black eyed peas...it's dark, and you can't see her face...but the joy is oozing out all over!!



Some Girly Line Dancing




Good Friends joined in, Bree and her little girl, born the same time as Molly, Emily...who also was acting as a photog...need to get her camera results





Shauna got Aubrey Jo a tutu, and she put it over her jammies and wore it ALL NIGHT!



Mom-mom (that's me) and Papa Larry left early with the babies, who were all partied out at about 9pm. We had a "family suite" that came with a nice bunk set (full on the bottom and well-railed on top) and the packNplay...so we were ready.





I am so very proud of this couple...they started out as college-party kids...fell in love, became serious students, became parents, and then completed their undergrads while working, studying, planning a wedding and reception, and raising their children. They didn't choose the easiest path to go, but they both stepped up and did it with a style and grace that is just amazing!

Cheers to the newlyweds, I'm anxious to see this new life you are embarking on, and relish the pride of another daughter being added to my brood.

March 2nd

I've been busy dealing with the end of winter...and the viruses that come with it. It's all my own fault....I decided to celebrate the fact that for the FIRST time since molly was born we have made it without a case of pneumonia.

About a week after that statement, her lungs filled up and we started the dance. I am still hoping that we stay at "bronchitis" and that's as far as it progresses, as we start our 2nd round of antibiotics. *sigh*

We've added a whole house generator, finally, but that's all the big news for the season...it's been just WONDERFULLY boring at our house...just the way we love it. There is so much to be said for a "drama-free" life.

We are prepping for Gabe and Ally's big celebration this coming weekend, so I'll have lots to share next week...for now, I'm going to hijack Dave Hingsburger's Blog. He says so well what's in all of our hearts.... tomorrow is the day we change society and the way they view our children.



Blessings


http://davehingsburger.blogspot.com/2010/08/people-who-are.html

The People Who 'ARE'




It's in the press again. I search to find out the context of the word. I see debates all over the web, people bemoaning the 'politically correct' and the 'word police' and making ridiculous claims about having to ban the concept of a 'fire retardant'. Last I looked there's never been a protest about products that protect from fire. Last I looked there's only ever been protests about the use of a word that demeans a group of people.

No matter what the fearless defenders of freedom of speech say, there is a huge difference between a word to describe something that slows fire and someone who learns differently. There's a huge difference between a thing and a person - but, no, maybe not. After reading their diatribes regarding their freedom to spit out hurtful words, they may, really, not see people with disabilities as fully human with a human heart capable human hurt.

People mock the concept of respectful language regarding disability. People make odd arguments about the latest gaffe by ... no, I won't say her name here ... they say 'she was saying that of herself not anyone else' - um, so? The word she used was one referring, not to a commercial product, but to an oppressed minority. Yet the debate rages on and the fierceness of the attack by those who are proponents of the use of hate language are both hysterical and who often purposely miss the point. One wonders what's at stake - their personal liberty to hurt others?

It's time to recognize that the 'R' word is an attack against who people with with intellectual disabilities 'are', it is an attack against the group that they belong to. It is like other words that exist to slur an entire people, unacceptable. The fact that people do not see the seriousness of the word and the attack it represents is simply a result of the fact that they do not take the 'people' who wear that label seriously. The concerns of those with intellectual disabilities have always been diminished and trivialized. There is a sneaking suspicion that they 'don't understand, poor dears', that they 'miss the point, little lambs' so therefore their anger need not be feared as justified.

The people who 'ARE' what the 'R' word refers to have a long history.

They have been torn from families and cast into institutions.

They have been beaten, hosed down, over medicated, under nourished, sterilized, brutalized, victimized.

They have been held captive, have been enslaved, have had their being given over to the state.

They are the group in society most likely to be physically, sexually and financially abused.

They are the group least likely to see justice, experience fair play, receive accommodation or support within the justice system.

They are the group most likely to be bullied, most likely to be tyrannized, most likely to be the target of taunts.

They are the least likely to have their hurt taken seriously, physical hurt, emotional hurt, spiritual hurt.

They are most likely to be ignored when they speak of pain, have their words diminished by an assumption of diminished capacity.

They are the least likely to ever be seen as equal, as equivalent and entirely whole.

They are the victim of some of the most widespread and pervasive prejudices imaginable.

They are those that the Nazi's thought unworthy of life, they are those targeted by geneticists for non-existence, they need fear those who wear black hats and those who wear white coats.

They are educated only under protest, they are included as a concession rather than a right, they are neighbours only because petitions failed to keep them out.

They are kept from the leadership of their own movement, they are ignored by the media, their stories are told to glorify Gods that they do not worship.

That they are a 'people' is questioned even though they have a unique history, a unique voice, a unique perception of the world.

That they are a 'community' is questioned even though they have commonality, they have mutual goals, they have a collective vision of the future.

That they are have a legitimate place at the table is questioned simply because no one's ever offered a seat.

They are a people.

They ask for respect and receive pity.

They ask for fair play and are offered charity.

They ask for justice and wipe spittle off their face.

They ask to silence words that brutalize them and their concerns are trivialized.

They ask to walk safely through their communities and yet bullies go unpunished.

They ask to participate fully and they are denied access and accommodation and acceptance.

And this is NOW.

This is the people who have walked the land of the long corridor, who have waited at the frontier of our bias to finally be here, now. They have survived. They have come home. They have continued, silently and without fanfare, to take hold of freedom and live with dignity. They have given everything they have for what others take for granted. Their civil liberties are perceived as 'gifts' as 'tokens' and as 'charity'. Their rights are seen as privileges. Their movement is, as of yet, unacknowledged. They are a people recently emancipated, new citizens, who are tentatively discovering their voice.

It is a voice not yet heard.

It is a voice not yet respected.

It is a voice not yet understood.

But it is speaking.

And when it is finally heard. The world will change.

The 'R' word is an attack on a people who know discrimination. Tremble when you say it. Because those who should know better will be held accountable to those who know best.

I've been hibernating

It's winter in Missouri and has really been a calm season, but as soon as we turn the calender to February, and even thought the Groundhog said we were done...it's cuts loose!

When the rest of the country got buried last week, we got a coating of ice.



I'm guessing we shouldn't have done the "happy happy in-your-face dance" because another storm came up from the south last night, and got us.







My beautiful woods:



We're all up early (the cats and molly do not understand the phrase "sleep in") and when I stumble out the sarge tells me "I'm betting 6 inches, oh and Hattin went out" Now Hattin-the-cat is our city-kitty, and does not know much about snow. I look out the window and see no kitty prints....open the front door and see this:



WTH? and call the detective over also...look at this!!



The cat went out but there are only a few paw prints leading to nowhere! Now I realize he has some spring, but seriously...this is wayyyyyy too much! Now the sarge and I are both staring out the door, letting all the cold in, in our jammies, mouths gaped and brows furrowed examining this phenomenom...we hear the crunching of frozen leaves:



Hattin had sprung over to the house and ran to "do business" via this eave route! HAHAHAHAHAH Cats crack me up!

Molly Kate is not waiting for spring, but blooming now..her words are finally coming! I even got a call from her speech therapist one school day. She was BUSTING with joy because she got a 6 word sentance!! Instead of bringing me a glass and a gallon of milk? Molly said "ma milk" (my milk) YAY! We know the words are in there...but getting her to use them has been a chore....even words she used to know are gone, and I can watch her struggle to bring them out...but she's learning how to do it!

It's weird, and if a picture of a hippo pops up on the TV, you can hear her spit out the word "hippopotamus" with no problem...that's the flip cards that have been imprinted on her brain, and if she doesn't have to THINK about it, out it pops! But if you ask her to say "ice cream" a word she used to have down pat....her brow will furrow, and she will try, but the sounds that come out definitely are not those two old familiar words. I don't understand it, but am blessed to have THE best speech pathologist in the area working with her. LOVE YOU KRISTY!!

We had the babies for a week, when gabe and ally went to vegas to get married on 1-1-11



and then again last weekend. All is well in Molly's world, when her nieces are here to play. Her and Aubrey now argue like sisters, get into trouble together (jumping on the bed) and eat me out of house and home. The baby has just started walking, and is adored by her doting aunt, as well as by her grandparents....she's something special!



a messy room, and the stolen bag of oreo's:









Bill and Ang came down for a weekend after new years, and hung out. He works 24/7 and has 3 phones ringing constantly....so we shut them all off and lay low while he's home. All the grown kids are dieting and working out, and all are skinny mini's! Very proud of the determination they have, and their outlooks on healthy lives and healthy eating. I am so very blessed.....you never know when you're raising them what kind of adults they are going to be....I am blessed times 3 plus.

And on the other side of the life spectrum, mom and dad are anxious to get back here! Mom is progressing, although slower than she anticipated, but is steadily getting better. They are a couple of impulsive kids, and we want them here....but are hoping she is good and strong before they attempt it. It's been 2 months plus since she released from the hospital, and they finally got an appt at the Nephro....waiting on that visit to see before making any plans. We are currently arguing the case of plane vs driving. *sigh*

Love to my sister Patty, who had 'the crash' on her watch this time. She is an angel who has managed to balance a houseful of grandkids,




a full-time walmart job with bringing mom back to good health, and all that it entails! Love you patty!



The one improvement we did make that allows us to relax during the weather, is a whole-house generator. We are all electric, and losing power can be dangerous...we were out a week in the ice storm of of 2008, and snowed in. Now? there is 250 gallons of propane hooked up to an auto generator, and if we lose power, we're out for 15 seconds, and it comes right back! *whew* I am blessed to have a husband that knows how to pick out the perfect gift. :-)

Although this morning's snow is beautiful (Saturday and I don't have to drive in it) we have been going through the calender and mapping out the upcoming summer's activities....ohhhhhhhhhhh can't wait! Until then, I think I'll pour another cup of coffee, crawl back into bed, and read this new book! There is something to be said about forced hibernation! :-)

today? the blog is about sisterhood.

I have an online bud, Dawn, who has a very populular, humorous blog...the Erma Bombeck of our generation, that has spun off to 2 books! WTG DAWN!

She started with telling us how she ebayed off a set of pokemon cards one of the kids had snuck into the groceries, despite being told "no" ...that was years ago. She has 6 kids, and much like Renee, her blogs are witty and hysterical, but still reflect the goings on in a house full of kids!

So, last year, Dawn's hubby up and leaves...and with that act, leaves a path of destruction....we know about it, but still she continues on, writing and making us laugh. We know she's going thru the BS all of us that have been left holding the 'divorce' bag have gone thru...but she maintains her humor. ....until last month. Ex-Hubby got fired, there is no insurance, there is no child support, and he really just doesn't care.

So, she came to her blog, informed her decade of loyal readers of the circumstance, aplogised to us for hanging it up, but she had to focus on something that would make money. The blog did not do that.

Last week? her publicist hijacked the blogsite. She couldn't sit by any longer and watch as Dawn struggled so hard. She asked that we 1) pray 2) buy the books or 3) contribute via paypal.

this morning i am pleased to see the contributions nearing 12 grand. Am anxious to go see on the NY Times best seller where the books are, and WAS a little ticked that a NY Times blogger opted to use Dawn's story as some sort of voo-doo mommy bloggers jinx headline....but even that is giving more attention to the situation, so I'm trying to bite my tongue on that one.

The link to the paypal giving is up top on this blog....I am donating this update to Dawn, because someone (or two) gave us a hand when we were down. I know the kids will be fine if she can keep up with the medical expenses, and i don't want her worrying herself sick in the meantime.

so if you can...Pray....go buy her books....or donate ....because girls....we need to stick together. If we did a better job of it? we would be running the country.




go to amazon.com and punch in her name: Dawn Meehan, and her two books will pop up.

And if i haven't said it enough....Thank you...and SAHMs ROCK!

I have no spoons, and my toothbrush is hairy

Translation? I have the grandbabies here. My son and his wonderwoman, Allyson, are in Vegas having a dream wedding with their BFFs.... He won't ever forget his anniversary...it happened on 1-1-11!





Congrats Mr & Mrs Gabe Browning! I am so very proud of both of you...Both college graduates WHILE working and raising children. They've planned for this day for a long time. *beam*



Now...about these babies......WTH??? Were my angelic children EVER like this? Or could it be that my last experience with a baby had to do with molly kate, who was pretty easy breezy (God's gift to the parents of children with special needs) and over a decade ago....but Holee Molee...running after a little fireball LIVING the terrible twos...almost wore me OUT! :-)

Aubrey Jo, 2 years, is borderline genius....and that spells TROUBLE! I've caught her balancing on the back of a toilet (Aubrey has to go potty, mom-mom) on top of a bar stool getting into the crystal cupboard (Aubrey needs a drink, mom-mom) and choking the cat. (Aubrey likes to pet kitties, mom-mom!) She is a ball of fire who won't even sit to eat, but rather would run to the table, grab a mouthful, and then run back to whatever room her and molly are currently destroying. She has a very advanced vocabulary, which is hilarious, and don't tell her, but her mouth runs non-stop, & when she's not making up stories as to WHY she was choking the cat....she sings everything she's doing, which makes it easy to be one step ahead of her..."I'm washing the toilet with mom-moms toothbrussshhhhhhh ...tingle bells, tingle bells"

Aubrey would occasionally get upset that her parents weren't here...but as soon as i said wedding???? She would forget all about them and take off with her own wedding plans:





Zoey Grace, 8 months old, is a dream (she's also beating my arm as i attempted the above video)...she has been nicknamed "Rumba" after that little robotic vacuum ....despite mom-mom's attempt of having a spotless floor, she speed demons around on all fours, and finds stuff i didn't know existed that low, promptly popping it into her little mouth. If you come at her with an extended index finger, she will clamp down her gums and start to scream. :-) She can also maneuver said item with her little tongue, so that is impossible to find! Next time? I will own one of those dentist suction devices!


Our first outing involved the Walmart store, and a few hundred dollars worth of toys to entertain them....a belated Christmas. The ONLY toy they've played with are legos....and there is a trail of those big legos leading from room to room...I've picked them up a million times, but there they are again...follow the yellow,red,blue,green brick road! They really hurt at 4am, when you are staggering to the kitchen to fix a bottle....

Baby is also unimpressed with the selection of developmental toys at her disposal, preferring instead more technology based items...ie, the surround sound (she can make it sing and remove dvds) the remotes (can change channels & shut off the satellite) but the most favorite is my android phone.... Now, i have old remotes AND cell phones, but she will have nothing to do with them.....and my apologies to all the phone calls from my house with just heavy breathing happening...i swear IT WASN'T ME!!

Zoey Grace is on the verge of walking, she's cruising around tables, and standing independently, but cannot seem to get those pesky toes to cooperate.





BABY FEET!!



The one thing that she carries constantly is a straw...it seems to improve her balance, so i finally gave in, cut one in 1/2...and she does well with it. (i should have never gone to walmart...who knew?)



The one toy we haven't opened yet is...the whack-a-mole...for obvious reasons.

Larry's 18yr old Kelsi was here this time also, and the kids adore her, so I did have some back-up, but not enough.







I think a 2 to 1 ratio would be better. ...that would be one to watch them, and one to walk around with the vacuum hose, swinging it back and forth like a yardman uses the weed eater.

I so need a new camera...just have to make the time to do it! Ugh! So this one is blurry, but 'standin up girl' is at it again! (and the wagon of eternal legos) I think the blur is happening because I don't give it time to focus, trying to catch her totally upright...Maybe a small digital, with fast speed for the quick shots!




Off to finish bleaching the floors....the new married couple will be here soon to claim their babies.....UPDATE!! they're here!! and what i DIDN'T know was that little miss "standin up girl" has not shown this trick to her PARENTS! I thought Ally was going to CRY!

I'm thinkin it's because we can run around in diapers at Gramma NoNo's...Papa Larry keeps the temp pretty warm there...cuz she did it all week! If she wasn't holding the straw? She would flap her hands.





The sarge made me call them tonight and tell them about her independent step...Baby adores "Papa Larry" and would start waving everytime he entered a room. He's telling me that she also stepped from the coffee table to him (one step) without dropping first. Maybe she is ready....hmmmmmmmmmm

Crunch Berries are best served ala floor. Had to move the dogs outside and went thru a bottle of bleach...ICKY ZOEY!! NO NO NO!! She also is moving her head in the "no no" way....especially when she sees me. I am Gramma NoNo!




The cats stuck around and were ok with the little ones, unless they were choked, or someone squealed...they definitely do NOT like baby hollers!



Mostly? They just hid:



The Black Spot? is a black kitty thinking if he snuggles amidst more wrapping paper, no one

will see him!!

My apologies to school, who called this morning (glad they could get thru for some reason it's been ringing busy all week) to remind me that school started today. EEK! I felt pretty bad about Molly missing it, but the Sarge eased my angst by reminding me that molly would have never gone with her nieces here....so true, so true. I love that THEY love and accept her for exactly who she is...their "Aunt Molly" I so pray that they never outgrow her...right now everything is PERFECT!

Oh! Happy New Year!