Aidan's first story

I posted this on Aidan's little blog too, but wanted it on mine too! I am just so proud of him and glad that he likes to write. He keeps sitting down with some paper and a pencil asking me what he can write about.

Here is a story by Aidan. He was writing at bible class on Wednesday night and this is what he came up with. He was writing a story about being Dash…from the Incredibles of course. He wrote this and then he helped me to translate it into to what is at the bottom of this post. We made sure to tell him to make sure to leave spaces next time, as it would be easier to read…and I think it would also help him to keep focused and see what he has already written and what he hasn’t.

I copied this first bit straight from his paper. No spaces, except the one after the word Dash. This is what the top portion of a lined piece of loose leaf paper looked like…well, there were a few backwards letters too! Some S’s and Z’s and an N or 2. He did a great job!

HIIEMDASH IMSOPRIMESHW
OFF SOPRFIMILEDADSMISHN
WIZTODIFEIOMNIDROIDORM
OMWSNOTIBAOISGEDENONUND
WRUORSOPRSMOMSHNCHDI
DADFAODSDRIOMSCIPEYOUDR

(Here it is with the words broken up with spaces between and some punctuation.)

HI IEM DASH. IM SOPR. IM E SHW
OFF. SOPR FIMILE. DADS MISHN
WIZ TO DIFE I OMNIDROID. OR
MOM WZ NOT IBAO IS GEDEN ON. UND
WRU OR SOPR S. MOM CHNCHD I.
DAD FAOD SDRIOMS CIPEYOUDR.

(And here it is translated by him to me…some of it was incomplete as it seems he lost his focus. He did spell omnidroid correctly, but only because he was copying what I had written on another sheet of paper. All the rest of the spelling/misspelling is his own. I was very proud of him. This is the most he has ever written before. And he was so excited about his story!)

Hi, I’m Dash. I’m a super. I’m a show
off. (We are a) super family. Dad’s mission
was to defeat an omnidroid. Our mom
was not (happy) about us getting on (the plane). And
we were in our super s(uits). Mom changed into a (boat). Dad found Syndrome’s computer.

Just some things

*Adam's company dinner was last night. We had it at a Japanese steak house, always my favorite place to eat! Yum. Dinner was good and conversations were good too. It is nice to spend time with these guys and their wives in a non-work related manner.

*My Nana's surgery went well. They were able to get all of the cancer and do a biopsy on the right side. She was able to go home on Sat. and will be recovering there. The biopsy on the other breast came back clear, so as of right now she is cancer free. I still don't know if they have decided on any kind of chemo or radiation or anything like that. Thanks be to God for being with her at this time.

*Christmas started a few days ago. We were at Wal-mart getting a few groceries and Santa was there. He was with the Coke products...I think they may pay his paycheck, but I am not sure. LOL He was really just a Santa's helper, as his beard wasn't even real. But, the kids saw him and wanted to look at him from a distance. I was finally able to talk Aidan into going over to him, but he didn't want to touch him or sit on his lap or anything like that. He whispered in his ear what he wanted for Christmas and Santa gave him a red kazoo with "Coke" spelled out on it. Funny part is that just this past week we had to throw our other kazoo away because Aidan or Alora broke the little piece of wax paper in it. Apparently Santa knew that we needed a new one! And now we have 2, since Alora told Santa that she wanted a baby doll and he handed her one too!

*We got a Christmas package from my aunt and uncle in Oregon yesterday! I love getting packages and love that they think of us at this time of year. The kids got an Elefun game. They love it! Aidan was so excited when he saw what was in the package...he just couldn't wait to put batteries in and get it started.

*I finally got my mother's bracelet back. It had to be re-done to add Aralyn's name. When it was sent back it was too long and there were a couple things that I wanted to change about it. It was in the mail yesterday and I love it! It is lovely! I am so glad that I changed it and of course I am glad to have my daily jewelry article back. It and my wedding ring are just about the only things I wear, with the occasional necklace.

*Tonight we have another Christmas get together. It should be fun and festive! I love the holidays.

*I think we are going to go to town this afternoon and get some little gifts for the kids' little Christmas party that they are having next Monday. Hopefully we can find something cute that is in the $5 budget! Aidan is so excited....he just loves to buy presents!

Broken

You ever have one of those times when you are just going about your daily life, and then something hits you. And it hits you so hard, that you feel like your breath was knocked out and you just don’t know how you are going to get back up and walk again.

This weekend brought one of those moments. When just checking email became a time when all my feelings and emotions just flew up into the air and don’t even have a place to land.

I have been wondering a while how to put myself in others shoes. It is a difficult thing to do. You would like to think that you know what you would do, even though you have never been given the opportunity to make such a choice. I always know what I would like to think that I would do. I would do what it is that I would like done to me. I would be the kind of support and friend and family that someone needs. I would like to think that I would be there and know that even if I didn’t have the right words, that the thought would be there and that would be helpful in some way.

Being angry about some words seems like a very immature thing. In most cases, you would just go to the person and tell them that you are disappointed, sad, upset, hurting and confused and totally spent. But in this case, the words were not callus or mean or hateful. The words were really good…full of support for someone else, full of good that God is doing. Full of love and caring.

The problem lies in that some of that would be nice to feel. Nice for me to feel. Nice for my family to partake in. Sometimes I guess you just have to be willing to ask for what you need, what you want, what you would love to have. And sometimes that can be the hardest thing. It is difficult to let people know you need something from them, that they have let you down. It’s like having a talk with your parents about things that happened so many years ago, that you aren’t blaming anyone for, but just need closure for. It can be hard to let people know you are hurting and scared and confused. You worry that in doing so that the hurt you feel will manifest itself in a hurtful way, that you won’t be able to share the pain and the fears without tearing someone else down, when that is not your intention.

And now, the ball is in my court, and I don’t even know the rules of the game. I don’t have the equipment to play, I don’t even know where the goal is.
So, now…I just ask God for the courage, the courage that so far I haven’t had. For the wisdom and the words and the way to do what needs to be done, and the strength to stand through it. For all the skills that will be needed to make some hard choices and ultimately not care about what others think of the decision…just make the decision that is best and try to live with it for a while at least. Help me God to purge the anger and hostility and pain and weakness and bewilderment from my heart. May all things good come to fill that space. Help me to look at things with clear eyes and know that for the pain and sorrow were not placed upon us with any intention to do so, it is just the result.

Look at mommy!

How many times can a mom say that and not go crazy over the fact that no one looked at her!?

Christmas picture time. I made the mistake of picking out some cute, glittery Christmas cards at Sams Club several months ago. One of those dumb purchases that I have made in the past. I always seem to forget that it is so much easier to just take a good picture of the kids/family and then have cards made at Wal-mart or Snapfish or somewhere that does them. Sadly, because then it takes a little of the personal nature of them away, you can even have them personalized with a greeting so that they don't have to be individually signed! What could be better for a busy mom of 3?

So, months ago I had these cards, and started addressing them in early November. I wanted to be able to take pictures and then just stuff the envelopes full and stick them in the mail. One thing I didn't do in early November was sign all the cards! So yesterday was spent signing all the cards and making sure that glitter got in every room of the house. I think we are all really sparkley today and will probably continue to be for a week or so. I didn't get cards with just a little bit of glitter on them, like to make the snow flakes shine or the stars twinkle...no, these cards are covered in glittery goodness.

Yesterday I had the kids outside and tried to get them to all look at me and smile at the same time. It would have been easier to get 3 monkeys to look at me and smile. It was crazy. Aidan was bored after about 5 shots, so taking close to 50 wasn't really making him too happy. Alora was collecting sticks, cause every girl needs a handful of sticks. Aralyn was just fascinated. Not with the trees and the leaves or with her mother whistling, yelling, singing, dancing, sprinkling pine needles and leaves over her head to get her attention, but with the ground! What lovely ground! Dirt, leaves, sticks, and pine needles! Wow!

Finally after several poses and doing everything I could think of to get their attention, I came away with 4 or 5 decent shots to choose from. I went online during nap time and ordered some pictures and some cards (since I didn't buy enough of the glittery good ones) and had them one-houred to the local Wal-mart so that I could pick them up this morning.

While stuffing envelopes at Adam's office, Alora spilled a HUGE cup of water all over the table and my lap. I was able to salvage all but one of the cards since it was soaked all the way. After removing ice and water from them, I thought for sure half of them would be ruined! Thankfully, not and I had enough extra cards to replace the one that was. Some of the envelopes will look a bit worse for the wear...since they were wet, but I will just leave people to assume that the postal service is to blame!

I sure hope everyone loves their cards. Every one that I get with more than one child in a picture, I will appreciate even more! We mothers sure do a lot to make sure everyone can see these cute little ones of ours!

It's so much better than mayonnaise!

Two years ago I made what I thought was a dumb purchase. Not that it would have been the first time or the last time...Unfortunately. I do have to recall that when Aidan was a baby, Adam and I paid way too much for a puppy that we fell in love with at the mall one time. Not only did the puppy not remain little and cute, it was a terror to us! I still think that there are only 2 people who know quite how much we really spent for this dog that we neither had the time, patience, or ability to care for. Terribly there are lots of things over the years...Maybe just yesterday at the grocery store, that I never should have spent even a penny on...But we aren't going to talk about all that right now.

Just before Christmas two years ago, I went to a Pampered Chef party at a friend's home. The consultant had a cookie press and some really cute cookies and made it all look so easy. She made a great little batter with a cake mix and a cup (might have been 2 cups) of mayonnaise. She said that you could make any kind of cookie you wanted by just buying different flavors of cake mixes and mixing with mayo. I didn't order the Pampered Chef cookie press, but stole the idea and ordered one from a catalog I had. It came with more disks and looked like a quality press.

It was. Problem was with the recipe. I went to the store and bought one of each kind of cake mix...butter, vanilla, chocolate, lemon, devil's food, and the institutional size jar of mayonnaise. I pressed the prettiest cookies you've ever seen after mixing each cake mix with the proper amount of mayonnaise. Trouble was, they were gross! (Thankfully my grandmother doesn't read this, cause I would be in so much trouble for using the word gross to describe food...it is a no-no.)

So, I put the cookie press in the bottom cabinet and didn't think about it again. I haven't used it since. I do sometimes run across it when pulling out the blender or the coffee pot or getting my cookbooks and thinking that there must be a better way to make such pretty little cookies. That such prettly little cookies don't have to taste so badly.

Internet to the rescue!

I did a search a few days ago for cookies. I want to make some of those cookie mixes in a jar for gifts and while searching for the recipes that I would like to use, ran across a recipe the mentioned a cookie press. Hmmmm, a real recipe for cookie press use. One that uses flour and sugar and vanilla, and doesn't call for mayonnaise? Could it be?

Yes!! And so, I dragged out that poor cookie press. I had Aidan help me pick some cute disks to use to make a simple sugar type cookie and we pressed away. We made 2 batches using two recipes (that we happened to have all the ingredients for) and taste tested our creations. They were good! Not only that, but they were easy to make. They are one bowl wonders...just cream the sugar and butter/shortening and then add the wet ingredients and then add the dry. Bake for 6 or 8 or 10 minutes depending on the recipe. And then you have wonderful goodness. Easy as pie...well, cookies really!

And so, last night I went to the grocery store and rounded up the ingredients for a few other recipes that I ran across. Some cheese straws and peanut butter cookies and pumpkin cookies and chocolate mint cookies! Yum! I am just so excited to try all the different ones. We made the peanut butter ones today and they were so good! Aidan loves it cause he can pick the disk and he can press them out and then decorate them.

Who knew that a great thing like a cookie press could be considered such a bad thing all because of mayonnaise?

Do you think we could blame the mayonnaise for the dog too?

From the mouths of my babes PART 1

I only say part 1 because if you have children, you know that each day is full of the potential to have you shooting your drink across the room after the latest thing that your children might say.

*Alora was sitting on the floor the other day playing. It was tight quarters and I was walking past her with a basket of laundry. I nudged her over with my foot to avoid stepping on her...not mean or even hard, just a soft nudge to let her know to move a bit and let me past. She looks up at me with those big blue eyes of hers and a very serious voice and says, "Don't move me like that, I am not a football."

*Almost every night Aidan wants to have a conversation with Adam or me. It is usually some deep conversation full of questions that we don't even know the answer to. I am sure that when he asks about sex or drugs or divorce or some other deep/complicated/tough topic it will be right before we kiss him good night and turn out the light.

So most nights, one of the last things we tell him is, "Aidan, we can talk about that tomorrow." Then of course it is followed by, "I love you, good night!"

Aidan is afraid of the dark. He has been for a while and we just keep reminding him that there isn't anything to be afraid of and that God is bigger than that fear. So far that isn't working any better than the night light, but we are working on it.

So, last night Adam had to work late and Aidan and I decided to have a "camp out" in the living room. We made a big pallet and got tons of blankets and pillows and such and all slept on the living room floor. So, we had turned off all the lights and got settled. Aralyn was nursing, so I couldn't get up when Alora asked for her cup of water, which she had left at the other end of the house in her bedroom. The whole house was dark, but I figured, we could turn on some lights to get rid of any fear Aidan might have, so I asked him if he could go get Alora's cup out of her room for me. I could hear the fear in his voice as he starts to answer me, and then he calmly says, "Can we just talk about that tomorrow?"

Smile!

One of my favorite sounds is a baby laughing.

Ever since Aidan learned to laugh it has just been one of my favorite sounds in the whole world. It just brings a smile to my face to know that he is happy and joyful. And it always helps that when I hear laughter, I usually want too laugh or at least smile.

As I sit here, my oldest and my youngest are laughing. Aidan will hum a little song and Aralyn will start to laugh and Aidan will get all giggly and that will cause Aralyn to laugh more. To hear their two laughs mixing and know that they enjoy each other is just the greatest thing to hear.

Their laughter has woken Alora and now her giggles are mixing too! I am a blessed woman.

Think Pink

My Nana has just been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Scared, hopeful, worried...

They plan to do surgery to remove the lump and breast/s on Friday. I know that she and my Papaw as well as our family are all worried. They had talked to a doctor who recommended the removal of both breasts to prevent the cancer from showing up in the other breast, but I don't think that my Nana had decided what she would do for sure.

Breast cancer has always had a face in our family portrait. My great grandmother, whom I never met, one of my great aunts, and my grandmother, who was a survivor and is still living all have had this form of cancer show up.

It is somewhat scary for me, as my mother shows signs of mastitis and has considered having her breasts removed as a precaution. With the lumps that she has, she fears she wouldn't know if a new lump appeared. Sometimes I think all the women who are living on my grandmother's side of the family should have ourselves tested for the gene that can be a predictor of breast cancer. I know that I fear having to face that cancer in the future and I don't look forward to it.

God, please watch over Nana as she undergoes surgery on the 9th. Be with her as they remove the cancer and help the doctors to get all of it. Be with her as she faces treatment afterward to keep the cancer away and help her to find the strength to ask for help, as she isn't one to ask for anything. Be with my Papaw as she goes through this, help him to be the strong man that she will need in this time. Be with our family as we support them in this time. We love her, and I know you love her too. May she look to you to give her comfort and peace.