Garbage, Poo Poo and Barf

Well, today was a true test of my

patience and multi-tasking ability.

I was awaken by phone calls from my concerned family members (and I genuinely thank them) checking in to see if I was truly "stranded" and "hurt", as a hacker in my email account was trying to lead them to believe.

That overflowed into my facebook account as well, with ongoing chats between the hacker(s) and my friends and family. It snowballed and lasted around 12 hours with some dwindling phone calls into the evening.

To add to my chaos, my beloved puppy, Gilligan,

dumped my kitchen trash TWICE and spread,

no... SMEARED it around the floor!

Also because I was neglecting his bathroom privileges as I was dealing with my internet nightmare, he had a poo-poo accident on the floor.

Luke was the first to come upon this crime scene

and just after he drew my attention to it,

the lingering stench pocketed in the hallway

and made him do a little barf-o-rama.

Somehow the day ended with me still sane

and with a smile on my face.

Plus for those wondering, no one actually

got scammed out of any money. They were

simply annoyed by a tech savvy person

that just needs to get a life and

get a stinkin' job!!!!

So, I did manage to keep true to my heart

the title of my blog...

and as always- I advise you to do the same.

DON'T FORGET TO LAUGH

PRAISE YE

Lydia's New Favorite Song

Of course it's not perfect...

then again for a 2 year old-

it's pretty stinkin' close to perfect!

I'm just super proud to share!

***especially take notice that a little past 1/2 way into the video, she even sings a higher pitch as the music calls for it...

THAT'S MY GIRL!!!!

Photo Shoot

This week I took the kids to get some new photos snapped at a local studio. I do appreciate and enjoy all of the candid styles of photography shots, but I myself am rather traditional- as I like "face forward" & "cheesy smiles"... sorry if it bores you.

(hopefully the photos will be enlarged when you click on them)

Anywho... it took Luke NO TIME to get himself geared up for the shoot. He was all giggles and grins. The best phrase the photographer suggested for him to chant,

"PICKLE CHEESE!"

Actually pretty gross if you think about it, but it certainly got the job done.

Next up- Lydia

She on the other hand is typically slow to warm up to most strangers. After over half an hour of grumping and whining, she actually cracked a smile. Then fortunately in no time she was flipping puppies around and the photographer managed to get some good ones. Here they are.

NOW SOME BLOOPERS...

At one point she gave Luke a "prop". Needless to say he turned into quite a showman. I myself thought it looked dorky (I can say that, because I'm his mother!), but he was having fun and the pictures do make me laugh. Like Mother, Like Daughter

Lookin' Good

Lookin' Good!!!!

Craig is at last healing up nicely.

3 weeks after his injury and the bruising and

swelling is finally starting to disintegrate!

Yesterday... his first visit with a physical therapist.

He shared with me that for the very first time, he truly and genuinely wanted to punch a person in the face! As she spent a few minutes MASSAGING the swollen and tender areas, he described that he twitched and writhed around from pain. It didn't stop her.

The good news...

after the pain subsided, he felt much relief.

Swelling disappeared throughout the rest of the day. YEAH!!!!

He'll go twice a week for a couple weeks,

then we'll see where he's at.

The task in hand... she measured his range of motion.

His GOOD foot can flex to a degree of 13

(toe aiming up toward his face).

His bad foot... -7°, yes that's right,

NEGATIVE SEVEN!

Turning his ankle inward? Good foot 41°. Bad foot 11°

He's determined though, so with the appointments and

homework exercises I expect a quickER road to recovery now.

Grapes & Giggles

Wasn't it always exciting as a kid to get the longest french fry, the mutated M&M, or even the biggest GRAPE!?!?!

Well here it is!

Luke was EXCITED about our

abnormally gargantuan grapes.

No problem chomping them though.

Plus, here is just one of the many, many ways we might burn our last bit of energy around our house in preparation for bedtime.

(I apologize for the poor video quality. I had not planned to "share" this,

but after I watched it- I thought it was too funny!)

And the CAUSE for this

incredible chaos???

BEWARE: This toy is not meant for ALL viewers.

It may cause nightmares!

An Alligator

Today Luke had some wonderful advice for his good friend, Ben. (by the way... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BEN THIS WEEKEND! He'll turn FOUR!!!)

Luke told Ben that he plans to be "Superman" when he grows up. Sounds normal to me. Then Ben in return shares with Luke that when he grows up, he wants to be an alligator.

Luke's response, and here it is- the best advice he could give, "Well... You have to work hard. You can do anything you want if you work hard." Ben replied simply, "I always do."

What a perfect world they live in!!!!!

Another part of our day- Our lovely neighbor houses a family of 6. That's 2 parents and 4 one year olds. That's right, quadruplets. They are just the cutest little stinkers too! They toddle all over their backyard. Luke found himself to be quite the entertainer today as a couple of the little ones had their faces smooshed against the fence while Luke danced around and made noises much to their delight. Luke loved the captive audience, and the sweet little kiddos smiled at his silliness. It's the little things that fill my life and warm my heart! Here's another thing that warms my heart (yeah right!) While I am replaying in my mind the sweet innocence of our youth around us, Craig is putting a new grip onto his Beretta 92FS. That's a gun, folks. UGH

Are we having fun yet?

I have the privilege of babysitting two of the sweetest kids EVER!!! We/THEY had some extra energy to burn after lunch, so I cranked up the radio and let them jump around. They were having a great time, and so was I. Notice Lydia took pauses to turn pages of her book and then went right back to bouncing. FUN

Did You Hear It Break?

Okay, it's been awhile since Luke has been completely unmanageable. This evening after several attempts to get his behavior under control, we sent him to bed. He was beyond devastated! As he was throwing himself around in his bed, he cried and cried and through the tears shouted "My Mom Hates Me! My Mom Hates Me!" Did you hear my heart break???? He's never before said anything like this, and if I ever find out where he learned it... grrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, it was worthless to talk him down from his hysteria, so I gave him some time to wallow. Once he was silent, I went in to talk to him. Let me say... it was the best thing I could have done!!! I had considered letting him fall asleep in his tearful pity, but after I walked in to OPEN arms from him, I realized he and I BOTH needed the comfort of a good L O N G hug! He of course admitted that he KNOWS I love him. Despite the "start" of the drama, it ended up being a special, special moment we shared. By the way... I joined the handbell choir at church.

Feels sort of dorky, but then again... feels SO RIGHT!!!! ha ha

On Display

Last night I braved my way through West Carrollton High School stadium for possibly their biggest football game of the year- which WE WON!!! YAHOO My father-in-law joined us, and it was great having his company. This is something I probably imagine to be scarier than it really is, but I really feel "on display" when I go to Craig's work. I feel like students are whispering about me and pointing me, the wife of the assistant principal, out to one another. So not only am I trying to make sure I don't have condiments on my face during the fish fry dinner, I also need to be sure our children are on their absolute BEST behavior!

Well, as it turned out... THEY WERE! We squeezed into the stands and even in the packed tight surroundings,

Luke & Lydia did an awesome job. Luke has an natural fascination with football, so he was completely in tuned with the action on the field. Lydia, even through her sleepy eyes, paid close attention to all there was to see and hear around us. We didn't stay for the entire game, but I was proud to be there! On a side note, this was a rather long week (even being shortened by one work day) for Craig on crutches. I've never "been there", so I can't completely empathize, but I do have the proof of his still very swollen ankle to explain the discomfort he's experiencing. Yesterday was a 15+ hour work day for him, and it was possibly as big as, or bigger than, it was the day after his injury. He'll have another x-ray and maybe an MRI in a couple weeks to see if he'll need any sort "help" in healing. At the very least, I think this is going to be a long road to recovery. Poor guy!!! By the way... he has a spot paid for in a marathon in Dayton, Ohio next weekend 9/19 if anyone wants his place. Seriously!!!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Luke's FAMOUS!!!

Last week we got a call from our dear friend, Sheila. She informed us that a photo of Luke was published in The Cincinnati Enquirer.

For awhile now Luke has participated in karate and sports classes at one of our all-time favorite places...

The Little Gym in Liberty Township.

A photographer happened to stop in during one of his classes awhile ago. I had no idea he would be chosen and NAMED. How exciting!!!!

Plus a short story about Lydia. She is becoming more and more creative- if you can call it that. Today I went in to get her out of bed after her nap. I could hear her chattering away. She didn't know I was opening the door, and when I did- I was surprised to see her standing in the center of her bed...with her blanket on her head like a ghost! She was standing completely still. It took her hearing ME burst into laughter to know she had an audience. Simple entertainment, I know. But just as cute as could be to me... her MOMMY!!!!!

Boonshoft

So today- spur of the moment, I decided to head up to

Dayton, Ohio and check out

The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery.

We'd never been there, but I'd heard good things.

The day started off PERFECTLY!!!!

SO DID LYDIA'S HAIR!

There was a slim crowd, so we practically enjoyed

the place all to ourselves.

DISCOVER AWAY KIDDOS!!!!

(click photos if you want to enlarge)

Then on the way home after a fun day, we stopped off to visit Craig at work. I of course waited until AFTER school had dismissed, because high school students SCARE ME! No Joke!

To add to our awesome day, God gave us a rainbow!

Luke said, "I didn't know they could be real!"

I suppose he imagined they were only make-believe, so he was pretty impressed. He asked if God "painted" it, and I of course answered, "YES!"

THEN WE GOT HOME AND... BUM BUM BUMMMMM.....

GILLIGAN!!!!!!!!!

The SAME dog that JUMPED ON MY FACE

(see yesterday's blog/video)

decided to redecorate while we were out.

Not a welcome surprise!!!!

Don't worry though. I have his punishment already scheduled!

He's having his "BOY" surgery this week!

HA! HA! HA!

I'm really not THAT mean though.

I'll of course have the frozen peas ready for quick healing.

By the way...

THE BOONSHOFT MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY????

TWO THUMBS UP!!

http://www.boonshoftmuseum.org/