My Husband "Subvet" says that when our first son "Sonshine" was born the sun rose on our world, when our second son "Gator" was born the sun laughed and when our daughter "Sugars" was born all the flowers bloomed. That says it all.

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...
It's about learning how to dance in the rain."
Anonymous

Your mind is the garden, your
thoughts are the seeds, the harvest can either be flowers or weeds. — William
Wordsworth

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Thankfullness and Goals

Evansmom over at Just Sayin does a bit she calls Thankful Thursdays. Each Thursday she makes a list of things that she is thankful for that week. I happen to think this is THE BEST idea!!

Seeing as how I already have a regularly scheduled Thursday post I'm going to join her on Thankful Tuesday!! And I encourage you to join here on Tuesday and then go there on Thursday to double your weekly thankfulness!

yeah, I know it's Wednesday already....so shoot me.

I am thankful that this is my last night to work this week!!
Full speed ahead mommy-time!


I am thankful that I neither teach Kindergarten nor work ER. I've had glimpses into both this week and can't imagine more aggravating jobs!!


I am thankful that I have a wonderful husband who takes very good care of me.

I am thankful that I have dusted off my Mightymom cape, and found my sense of humor hidden in the toe of my left superhero-boot.


I am thankful that there are about 30 people who stop by my blog each day....and that 5 of them even leave me COMMENTS!!


My goals this week are:

1) make 5 ornaments with the kids
2) finish applique-ing the 3 blocks from Gator's quilt
3) begin the embroidery on the kid's newborn footprints
4) get rose bushes and other day lily plant in the new bed.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

hooligans and answers

>



Don't forget to play Thesaurus Thursday!! "Rules" can be found on my sidebar if you're new.

Stephanie asked "What is it about little boys and poop?"
I don't know, but this boy's been fascinated for years now!

Diana asked "is that grandma in your banner pic? did i miss a post that explained who she is?"
I don't think I ever did tell about that pic. It is Subvet's mom. By the way, she fell and broke her arm a week or so ago and either the fall or the meds seem to have made her more loopy than usual....prayers are appreciated (she's 80)

Mrs 4444 asked about word verification. I don't know what it is that makes some folks' wv show up right below the comment box and others as a separate pop up to deal with....but, here's my settings as requested:
comments - show
who can comment - anyone **I think this effects it**
comment form placement - popup window **I think this changes it too**
comment moderation - never (y'all have too much fun chatting when I'm not around!)
show word verification for comments - yes
show profile images on comments - no (for the simple reason I get tired of always clicking on okay to show unsecure!!)

regarding the horse therapy ellen said "The therapists look very positive!"
They are!!! This is the 7th year this husband/wife team have run Walk On! You can tell with every interaction how much they love working with the kids and the horses. And they've been blessed to witness miracles.

PS. have I mentioned how JEALOUS I am??? I wanna learn to ride the horsey too!! :-(

Mrs 4444 said "Also, doesn't Reba look fantastic? I know her cover is airbrushed and all, but still...she's gorgeous!"
yupper. on youtube there are numerous videos taken during her Two Worlds Two Voices tour with Kelly Clarkson....Reba looks every bit as good as Kelly up there!! Hope someone can say that about me when I'm 54!!

Stephanie D. said "Hey, I don't see a cast or anything on Gator-Boy's arm! Is it all well now?"
When we went to the orthopedist a week after the accident they didn't see a break anymore and he didn't complain of pain when she pushed on the elbow here and there so she said he was healed. It took him a few days to start using that arm again, we guess it was a mite stiff from it's week in a cast. But all's well now.

On the matching cape caper....the sticker chart seemed to really help and last week Sonshine was able to get a PRIZE for all the stickers he earned...his prize is that visor that Gator's showing off in his pic at the top of this post. His 30 day ARD is this friday...all prayers are accepted gratefully.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Riding the Horsey.

First off, I must apologize to the grown ups in these pictures. Honestly, I did NOT intend to take a bunch of butt shots!! I promise!!!



The star of the day....here is Bella! She's Sonshine's Walk On! therapy horse.



First come the introductions:
Sonshine to the all volunteer crew

(Mom found her ZOOM!)


Introducing Sonshine to Bella
first the sniff....



then the pat....


and up we go!

You can see that there's always one person leading the horse and a "sidewalker" on each side making sure the rider stays in place. Mrs Tara is in the middle of the arena giving instructions.


He did a bit of yelling for help....
and a couple of times demanded for someone to "Get me off of here!"


But that was soon replaced with chatter...


He told Mr Eddie all about our 2 cats Mr Boots and Speedy-girl



And he was fascinated by the piles of poop in the arena...



Stopping for a quick drink...



After his ride Mrs Tara said he could help her clean a little bit.....


since he was so fascinated with the horse poop.



This was his FAVORITE part!!





After his ride he went indoors and played in the sand and listened to special TLP music.

This was my companion for the ride....Silver Bullet, aka the goat who thinks he's a dog. He spent nearly the whole riding time leaning against my legs.


Some things in life really are priceless!


Thursday, September 24, 2009

Thesaurus Thursday

Yipppeeee for lots of comments this week!! Competition was fierce and picking winners was very very hard!!


Now, for the REAL DEFINITIONS:

ankylose - to unite, as the bones of a joint (Congrats Smarty Pants Jen!)

anhinga - any of various tropical and subtropical freshwater web-footed diving birds of the family Anhingidae. Also called snakebird, water turkey. (Congrats Smarty Pants Linda and Diane!)




Silly Goose Winners this week are:
Evansmom said...
anhinga - a medical condition of very loud uncontrollable sneezes.


nancy said...

An ankylose is a big green thing that lands in you lap when you don't get your 'anky up in the nick of time.



Ladies, you can pick up your award from my sidebar.



Now, you can leave comments with silly definitions (or the real ones if you're a Smarty Pants) for these words anytime between NOW and next Thursday afternoon!:

bedight

bedizen

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Something just to make you laugh!


and....


Don't forget, you have till Thursday afternoon to get your guesses in for our weekly Thesaurus Thursday game!

Never played Thesaurus Thursday? See the rules here!

Wednesday Hero

Lt. John Madea
Lt. John Madea
U.S. Navy

Lt. John Madea holds his daughter as she is baptized with holy water from the ship's bell of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46). This is the fourth person baptized aboard Tortuga since the ship's christening in 1988, and her name will be inscribed inside the bell as a tradition of the U.S. Navy.


Photo Courtesy U.S. Navy
Taken By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Geronimo Aquino

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.
Wednesday Hero Logo

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

interested??

Here's a little more information about Sonshine's equestrian therapy.

Yup, our Sonshine is one of those 10 autistic kids the article mentions!!

And my pic below is of "the goat who thinks he's a dog" :-)

Riding Lessons.

Don't forget, you have till Thursday afternoon to get your guesses in for our weekly Thesaurus Thursday game!

Never played Thesaurus Thursday? See the rules here!


It rained all week...again.

So on the way out to therapy I told Sonshine that we couldn't ride Bella this week. Sonshine says "Yes, Bella is wet! I need to dry her off with a napkin!"

uh-huh, honestly with as much rain as we've had I think he'd get lost in the mud before Bella would ever be clean!

Here was the official greeter:





Instead of Bella we rode Mr Bill. Mr Bill is a life sized Equicizer. It feels and moves like a real horse, but INDOORS!

Sonshine was very nervous about his first ride.



He did about a 10 min ride (I think)....hollering for "help!" the whole time. I kept asking him questions and he'd relax a bit to think of the answer, then go back to asking for help. The good news, at least to me, was that he was sitting tall in the "saddle". Last time when he got on Mr Bill for his eval Sonshine would not sit up, but leaned forward the whole time. Remember, I celebrate every tiny step! (see #5)

And please applaud Eddie and Tara our WONDERFUL therapists. They are the founders of Walk On, the place where Sonshine's riding. Honestly, I looked at several riding therapy places online and picked this one because it's a non-profit center. And it has the same name as one of my FAVORITE Reba songs! 'Sides my Guardian Angel whispered in my ear that this was the right one...and so I listened (for once haha). I am thrilled that the center is small and loving. Tara told me in our first meeting "We make no money off of this. This is our mission to help these kids through riding." And I'm here to say it shows.

He's looking forward to next week. We're praying for sunshine for Sonshine so he can ride Bella!!

**yes, I know...very slim on pictures. I was too busy with the boy to handle the camera. I'll try to do better next week!**

And since it gets stuck in MY head every time I think of riding therapy now...let a little Reba get stuck in YOUR head too!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Sugars' Apron--Updated with new pics!

You may have seen on the Todo List that the apron which was to go with Sugars' Easter dress is finally finished!

She hasn't worn them together yet...I think I'll put them on her for school pictures... :-)


But I thought you might like to see the apron.


Almost a year ago now I think a friend of Stephanie's gave her the ruffle off of a bed skirt that the friend had inherited. Stephanie mentioned that she couldn't think of anything to do with all that eyelet lace. Well, anyone who's known me for about a week will find out that I'm a HUGE SUCKER for eyelet lace! Stephanie was sweet enough to mail me a portion of that bed skirt.

This apron as well as the bottom ruffle on her dress are made from that very bedskirt!!







Now, that's MY kind of recycling!!!







Sunday, September 20, 2009

Special Thanks

special thanks to the Sunday School teacher who gave Sonshine (and each of the other kids in his class) a purple baloon last week.

(Thank goodness I had left over balloons in the drawer!)

I wonder if this is what they had in mind when they said to "reinforce the lessons at home each week."


Saturday, September 19, 2009

MightyMom

earlier this week in a comment on a friend's blog I wrote:

Apparently in the years that I've had the hooligan clan in preschool/therapy and things have gone well I've lost my MightyMom mojo. I'm now faced with The Battle of the ISD and am quaking in my super hero boots and have misplaced my cape. Please pray for my perserverance and fortitude. Meanwhile I'll be searching out 5 smooth stones and a slingshot while preparing to stare down the Giant.


On Wednesday, I guess I found my mojo.


MM calls school leaves message for principal.
1 hour later no response so MM calls back, is told principal went directly into meeting...VP not available...MM speaks to counselor.

MM lays out in polite but definitive terms current school issues and MM's requests.

Counselor says she'll talk to Principal and call back.

MM goes to bed, SuperDad Subvet takes over....he goes to school and stakes out Principal's office.

SS tells MM later that evening that Principal started by telling him how MM'd yelled at counselor. We laugh...if she thinks I was yelling she'd better hang onto her wig. I've not even begun to get REALLY mad yet!

Principal tries to brush off SS. ain't happening.

Thanks to his superhero powers of persuasion SS gets'r'dun and we now have plan of attack for improving Sonshine's school experience. Albeit a different plan than what we'd requested.

To Be Continued............






I'm thinking I'll make us matching capes for Halloween!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Friday Fragments.....


Created by Mrs 4444, Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that are usually brief; too short for a stand-alone post, but too good to discard. Collect humorous observations, "Heard" items, and other small gems and put them together in a Friday Fragments post.


Sonshine says: Momma! a skeleton has belly button bones and LEG bones too!! Yeeess Momma!!



Sonshine says: It's the Great Sphynx momma! The Great Sphynx is for talking! Momma asks: What do you think he'll say? Sonshine said: He'll say Halloween and Christmas are coming!!!


seen a couple weeks ago on the BOTTOM SHELF of the local grocery store next to the register was a Cosmopolitan magazine...the big headline? "Your Sexy Ass Workout" someone explain to me how this could possibly be considered appropriate???


anyone know WHO is paying for all these "Obama asks moms to return to school" or "Obama gives moms money" or "Obama supports...." ads??? Just wondering....

and WHY do those ads say "Obama" and not "the US government"??? or "Uncle Sam"??? since Obama's just a person and it's the government who's supposed to be giving all this money away.....

Sonshine's been watching Berenstain Bears videos:
Sonshine: "I'm going to play skateboarding with Lenny! And Sugars' going to play teaparty! And Mommy's going to play teaparty and Gator's gonna play skateboard with Lenny and Daddy's going to play skateboarding with Lenny!"
Me: "What about teaparty? won't Daddy want to play teaparty?"
Sonshine: "No Momma! Daddy wants to play skateboarding with Lenny! Momma and Sister play teaparty!"
Me: "are you sure?"
Sonshine: "Yes Momma! Me and Daddy and Gator wanna play skateboarding with Lenny! You and Sister play teaparty!"
~~there are no metrosexuals in my house~~


note to self: When working in the flowerbed, if you think you smell dog poop, take your hands out of the dirt IMMEDIATELY and investigate!! Otherwise you'll have another close encounter of the smelly kind.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Thesaurus Thursday

I'm sooo excited about my NEW PROJECT!!

I have finally started work on my Mommy Quilt!! This quilt will be made from blocks with each child's newborn footprints with name and birthdate PLUS leftover blocks from each of their quilts (Sonshine's, Gator's and Sugars') PLUS borders and blocks made from the curtains and cribskirt of the nursery PLUS the 9 patch bumper pad cover I made. This, friends is a memory quilt. I have FINALLY decided on a layout for the quilt that I'm happy with, I have washed all the fabric, I've traced out 2 of the footprint blocks for embroidering, and de-covered the bumper pad and 3 pillows so that the covers can be used in the quilt. Folks this is gonna be one AWESOME quilt! I've decided to back it in flannel for extra snuggliness. :-)


As for Thesaurus Thursday.......

A special thanks to each of you who responded to my DESPERATE PLEA for participation this week! Y'all came up with some GREAT DEFINITIONS! What I feared would be a gimme has turned into some fierce competition! yippee!!! I'm hoping you had fun so that you'll play again with next week's words!


Now, for the REAL DEFINITIONS:

adytum (ad' i tem) - 1) (in an ancient temple) a sacred inner place that the public was forbidden to enter; inner shrine 2) the most sacred or reserved part of any place of worship.

afflatus (e flay' tes)- inspiration, esp. as a result of divine communication

No Smarty Pants Winners this week! (this means we all learned 2 new words, yeah!)




Silly Goose Winners this week are both new to Thesaurus Thursday:

Mary said...
Adytum - Since you shorted me a few dollars on my pay last week, adytum to this week's check.

Mary is a Facebook Farmville Friend of mine that I met throught Diane. She's a published writer who is currently holding a giveaway for the new Chicken Soup for the Soul book, which she has a story in! (but don't enter....I wanna win!) Welcome Mary!


GrandmaK said...
Afflatus: A condition known in medical circles as: the patient is full of hot air.

GrandmaK is another nurse who found me through Lisa (she of cat clock fame!) Welcome GrandmaK!

Ladies, you can pick up your award from my sidebar.


Now, you have a week to come up with some silly definitions (or the real ones if you're a Smarty Pants) for:

ankylose

anhinga

Last Ditch effort to drum up comments

Come on y'all....give Thesaurus Thursday a try!

Only 3 entries so far so chances of winning are very VERY good.

if you're new to Thesaurus Thursday, the rules can be found here.

I'll post the winners later tonight so you have all day to think of answers.


please please please please play!!!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

update The Todo List.

Please stop by here and leave a comment for Thesaurus Thursday. Answers and Winners go up tomorrow.


you might remember that back on 8/31 I sat down and wrote out what my friend Adrienne calls a "Brain Drain"....

Well, here's what my Todo List looks like now!

add the kids religious education classes to the big calendar
add the riding lessons to same calendar
weed flower bed
put bills in mail
call orthopedic specialist for Gator's follow up apt
call PCP for referral to othopedic specialist
work on lagniappe--get in mail

get fabric for ghost costumes --use Jo Ann's gift cert dug out some flannel fitted sheets that weren't in use! freebie woohoo!
finish apron for Sugars' dress
make cross template and start cutting plastic canvas for this year's Christmas gifts I've got half the crosses cut out.
make binding for Sugars' quilt finish Sugars' quilt
dig bed for roses and daylillies
buy manure and soil for new bed

plant roses and daylillies. I got 1 set of daylillies (from Adrienne, THANKS!) in the ground and then the rains came and haven't let up YET!!
mend Sugars' dress
call Sugars and Gator's school to find out what time they'll be early-released next friday.


It's just about time to sit down and make a new Todo List!

Check out Sugars' finished quilt!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Tuesday Thankfulness!

Evansmom over at Just Sayin does a bit she calls Thankful Thursdays. Each Thursday she makes a list of things that she is thankful for that week. I happen to think this is THE BEST idea!!

Seeing as how I already have a regularly scheduled Thursday post I'm going to join her on Thankful Tuesday!! And I encourage you to join here on Tuesday and then go there on Thursday to double your weekly thankfulness!



I am thankful that life is never dull!

So, on Saturday a couple weeks ago Gator-boy did this:


And on Monday 2 days later he did this:


sigh.

that Friday we went to the Orthopedic Specialist who said that the elbow was all better and he got the splint off...

and the tooth is still hanging around...although a bit lower than it used to be, oh well, straight teeth are overrated anyway!


I am also very thankful for the 2 folks who have attempted to win the Silly Goose or Smarty Pants awards so far with this week's words. And even more thankful for those of you who are going to give it a try before Thursday

Monday, September 14, 2009

The front side flowerbed.

I have a little bed that's all mine...but it's been left unattended this year.

this is what it looked like right after I started working in it.








At the end of day 1...




at the end of day 2..and a trip to Lowes....






day 3... I thinned out the irises and moved them down the wall. I still need to thin out all those cannas...but not sure where to put them yet.





next to purple pansies these plum petunias are my favorite annual. They bloom from spring to first freeze (which is a loooong time in NE Texas) and will spread and require nothing but periodic watering.

ain't it purty?


When I mentioned that those silly logs someone used for a border had big old rusty nails hanging out the sides of them hubby offered up some of the edging he's using on our bed of shrubs across the front....


he was sweet enough to put in the edging for me!



an item crossed off the Todo List and a much nicer looking bed!