Fencing movies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-wToYUC1Vo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcke0VZQZa0

K this is the only way I can figure out how to do this. Click on the links and you can watch their fencing bouts. The second one is Amadeus's bout and the first is Isaac's. But I think that's mentioned in the video. LOL

Fencing excitement

We just had a very exciting weekend, prior to Thanksgiving. The boys just fenced in their first tournament this year and did very well! In this first video, you see Isaac's first match. He won all his matches with the exception of two in direct elimination against the girl who was that national champion for Y10 (which is the age group he is fencing in). Even though she beat him in direct elimination, she did not beat him in the first round. So he still beat her in one bout! I wish I had recorded that bout! Wah! But as a mother I was so nervous. I thought my son was fixing to get slaughtered. The other contestants had been excited when another boy managed to get three touches on her. You have to get 5 to win. So she had been unbeatable thus far. He decided to just have fun with it and was doing some crazy foot work and he won! He gained himself a cheering squad that called him crazy feet. The girl's dad then went over and started coaching her on what to do in the direct elimination. I think that is totally wrong but oh well! My son still took first place for the Boys Y10 and second all around!

In this second video you see Amadeus, he was fencing in the Men's Epee. I highlighted that for a reason. Amadeus's skill level is in the Y14. However the Y14 was fenced on Sunday and we don't participate in those. So he decided to fence in the Men's Epee so that he could still get some experience under his belt. His goal was to get a touch against everyone that he fenced with and to win one bout. The contestants started walking in , and he turns to me and says, "can we pretend I got sick". That was before they started warming up. They were huge, and they were fast. However, he sucked up his courage and he went out to fight his Goliath's. And he almost completely achieved his goal! He got a touch against everyone he fenced except one boy who is 17th in the nation, and that almost noone gets a touch against. and he came very close to winning one bout. He got 4 out of 5 touches. That's pretty amazing! I am so proud of both of them. Isaac has made a committment to be more committed, lol. And Amadeus, knows what it takes to play with the big guys now. So he can really focus and be ready to make the transition at the end of the next year when he will transition out Y14. Hope you enjoy the bouts! Oh and the top picture is of Isaac with his trophy. And yes I know that I used their names all through out this post but I always forget when I'm videoing, so I give up :P Okay I can't get the videos to upload. So stay tuned, I'll have to try the Utube thing. I've been trying to upload these video's for two days! Aaargh!

Peace On Earth

I just had to put this new picture as the blog Title picture. I have been thinking a great deal lately about that line, "peace on earth". Growing up in a warring world that is full of conflict and strife, will make any child lose there faith in the potential of the Earth to achieve peace. But as I heard those words sung in Joy to the World a couple of weeks ago, I thought of Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality when she is giving her acceptance speech for her award. She had been cynical of the pageant participants and made fun of there constant line of wanting "World peace", she then with tears in her eyes and fanning her hand in front of her face says, "and I really do want world peace". It is a very funny moment and not meant to be profound but I think it is. I believe that deep down those that are trying to live their lives keeping the commandments at their core want and wish for, "peace on earth". But like in "I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day", we think "there is no peace on earth". But I have found over the last year that there can be. We each can achieve peace on earth for ourselves as we trust more fully in our Father in Heaven and the Savior and work on keeping an eternal perspective. The more people that we help to achieve this, the more peace on Earth there is. And we can also find hope in Christ as we look to his second coming, knowing that with a ruler that is righteous, and who has the proper eternal perspective that we can achieve a more peaceful habitat. I could go on and on but the point is that we should not let ourselves be cynical, we should work on achieving what we can, knowing others are doing the same and trust in God and our Savior to make up the difference in their own due time. I am so thankful that despite the World not being at peace, that I can find peace as I accept the atonement in my life and allow it to change my perspective and set me free. I hope your Christmas this year brings you much peace and joy.
Love to all,
LMSS

Finally Time to Blog :)

Okay there will be a series of posts after this one. I have been so busy with my Dad being very sick due to his cancer and Thanksgiving and planning a Jr. High dance party for the boys school. Then there is the everyday stuff such as watching Lil Red that has left me no time for blogging but much has happened so today I will try to get it all blogged and shared. The video attached is of my Little sock monkey at work, literally! LOL! Enjoy

About the pictures below

My birthday was wonderful this year! My adopted sister TISO came down and took me out to get a pedicure. Lil Red decided he wanted in on some of the fun and decided to soak his feet with me. Afterwards we went to the mall to look for me some jeans. TISO was my good luck charm. I found two pairs of perfect fitting jeans right away and a great pair of clip hoops that I've been looking for, for 5 years. I'm wearing the hoops and a pair of the jeans in the halloween pics :)
BTW in the last month I've gone down from a size 14 to a 10 sometimes 8. Hence the need for new jeans. I'm so excited! Then we met Big Red for lunch at this great Mexican restraunt. I had my two faves, Chile Relleno and Cheese Enchilada. Big Red gave lil Red a taste of hot sauce, poor thing, was banging the table for water. Mean daddy :P
So then we did a little looking at Bed Bath and Beyond and then went home to visit a little before TISO went home. Then it was off to get the boys and do the lessons that they have on Thursdays. It's our long evening as they have fencing and DK has guitar lessons. So I brought them rice krispy treats to share. Lil Red loves rice krispy treats as you can tell from the pics. And the white fence pic is at the fencing academy. He loves leaning against the fence and watching the boys. So after we got home I went into the kitchen to grab a pizza to put in the oven for dinner and found a huge bouquet of yellow roses with berries in it. They were so sunshiny and brite! My sweet Big Red had bought them for me and gotten me the mushiest and sweetest birthday card ever, suffice it to say that I cried, and I have never cried over a birthday card. I loved it! He made me feel so special. The rest of the evening was spent playing phase 10 with my boys. I won of course :), the boys were sure that I was cheating because I went out quickly on the first 4 or 5 rounds and there were only 2 rounds that I didn't go out. But for the record I didn't cheat. It was just birthday luck :)
Okay onto halloween. Some of the pics are at the mall which is where we ended up. It was crazy there. Big Red and I were looking for my b-day present and thought we'd show off our cute baby. And yes everyone cooed and offered him chocolate, lol. Emy should have come with us and she would have had a years supply. I just turned them down and said he was to young, lol. He had so much watching all the other little ones and of course he enjoyed his first taste of candy from the sucker Big Red gave him. He only got a couple of sucks before Daddy threw it away though. He was monkey enough without the sugar! So we have had our first halloween. It was fun. I think next year we might try for Flash Gordon though, our monkey boy sure is fast! Sorry it took so long to get these up. Hugz, Raydiant

My Little Sock Monkey on his first Halloween

My birthday fun

The Maize

Yay, I finally made time to post the pics! This was such a fun trip. It was a little warm in the maze where the corn blocked the breeze. Lil Red and I ended up with mild sun burns.But the day was beautiful and we had so much fun. And there were definitely tons of photo ops. Dad did great running back and forth making sure everything had a picture to go with it in the end. The big boys had protested going and shooting the corn, but when they got over there they started having fun. We will definitely have to go back when Lil Red is about 6 or 7. That seems to be the real age everything is geared to. But all of us adults had fun to despite it being a bit crowded. It was so funny, we had to let other groups go ahead of us because we wanted to answer the questions ourselves and not overhear what the other groups chose. I guess I should explain that they gave you a series of questions, based on different cattegories that corresponded with posts in the maize. Once at a post, you read the question and based on the answer, you know to go left or right. Although we had a hard time figuring out if you were supposed to face the post or stand in front of it. It makes a difference, LOL!

Our version of Smallville, live at The Maize

A Little on our trip to the zoo

So a couple of weeks ago, Lil Red and I went to the zoo with Auntie Em and her sister-in-law. It was a lot of fun! Lil Red's favorite animal was the Sea Lion, which we actually got to see a show. But his favorite part of the zoo was the big windmill in the children's area. It was completely still when we walked up and then the wind picked up while we were standing there and Lil Red got sooooooooo excited. He was bouncing and talking and lifting his hands and face up to it. He thought that was the neatest thing. LOL. Most kids go to the zoo for animals, not my kid. He thinks there weird, and would rather be an engineer than a veterinarian. He he. So the pics are belown and hopefully I'll get the maze pics posted tonight as well. Enjoy!

Zoo Fun with Lil T and Her Other Cousin

Roaches and Long Weekend

It is a very popular story among my family to talk about how when i was a little girl, I would chase roaches and smush them with my barefeet before my mom could stop me. I know eeewww, gross! However, I would much prefer that to the issues that I am having with Lil Red right now. Twice now he has found a dead tree roach (different ones ;) I know you were thinking why doesn't she pick it up:P ) , however, instead of smushing it he is trying it out to see what it tastes like. I shudder! So far I have caught him just as he is putting it to his mouth. Hopefully he doesn't develop a taste for them and demand chocolate covered ones! Ughhh!
So on to more tasteful topics. This weekend was a long weekend and we went over to S.A. to visit Uncle E and Aunt M. It was so much fun and we took a ton of pictures. I will be posting these and an excursion that Lil Red and Aunty Em and I made to the zoo last week as well. But first I must buy new batteries for the camera, lol. All I can say is that I'm so happy that it didn't die on me during our weekend of fun. So stay tuned for lots of photo fun :)

Taking Your Medicine

Our family knows that anytime we or the kids are sick to adminsiter a tsp of cinnamon and to take in oregano tea. (For those outside the family that don't know, cinnamon is an anti bacterial agent and oregano fights viruses). The problem with taking a tsp of cinnmon straight is that you usually inhale some of the powder and have a coughing fit for the next 15 to 30 min. and of course Oregano tea isn't very tasty. Well today I came up with a new way of doing the cinnamon dosage. Honey graham crackers and rice milk and add your tsp of cinnamon. The rice milk is lactose free and doesn't cause sinus problems or drainage like regular milk would. And talk about tasty!
As for the oregano, for a long time I have been fixing chicken noodle soups with liberal dosing of oregano. I don't think the boys or I would be able to stomach chicken noodle soup without the oregano. It would be to bland, lol. So since sugar doesn't help the immune system, try these tasty ideas to take your natural medicines. I sure am thankful for the blessing that Heavenly Father gave us so many different flavors and definitely taste buds!

My Funny Boy

I've decided that DK is an orange personality. I may be wrong but he is always taking things to far. Pushing people's buttons and doesn't even realize that it's a problem before it's too late and then gets defensive. He is a major cut up and loves to entertain people. He's extremely competitive. He isn't very huggy but when he does give loving it's a precious thing. And that brings me to this morning. I went to wake them up for scripture reading this morning and DK jumps out of bed and says, "Mom, I hope nothing happens to you ever. I like having you around." I laughed and said, "that almost sounded like a threat. Was it?" You know most preteen and teenage boys don't like getting up in the morning, and my two are no exception.

However, he said, "no, bad things happen sometimes, like car wrecks and muggings and...."he listed a couple of more, "I just don't want anything to happen to you". I laughed and said, "okay, well thanks for that, I appreciate it". He laughed too and we all went to the dining room to get started.

It wasn't until I was driving them to school that it sunk in that he was saying, "he loved me". I started thinking about how as a teenager, that no matter how mad I was at my parents, I never wished them harm. How wonderful that my son feels the same way about me. In todays cliamate where the media will have you blame your parents for everything bad about your life and that parents are stupid, it is no wonder that some kids do wish them harm and do them harm as well. Such a compliment by my hardest headed son is a big one and I appreciate his expression for the blessing it is. I LOVE YOU TOO, DK! Although you already knew that :)

Yay Lil Red finally did it!

You know they always say it's about motivation and I guess they are right. We had DK at guitar lessons tonight and MM and I were playing checkers while we waited. Lil Red wanted those checker pieces, so he started crawling forwards. So when we got home I told Big Red and he wanted to see so he landed his helicopter a little ways away from Lil Red so he would go after it. This is a video of that. It's very cute. We are so proud of him! Even the boys are super proud, you'd think they were the parents, lol. Well enjoy!

Twirling Excitement

Well I'm off and running! I start my lessons on October 6. I'm very excited! I have 3 girls that are for sure going to be taking lessons and as luck would have it, they are all very close in age. I know I might have more contact me over the next couple of days, but 3 is the magic number I was looking to start with, so that will be fine with me. I have also made some new friends at the school and the boys now have a ride to fencing on Tuesdays and Thursdays which frees up those days for me since I won't have to pick them up till 5pm and I don't have to wait around at the mall for them. We also may start car pooling with another family. I will probably do the majority of the driving since I will already be going to the school on Mondays and Wednesdays to help w/ a tutoring program and that is also the days that I do lessons, so I'll be there in the afternoon as well. And friday's I figure are always weird so I don't mind picking up and taking on that day either. But if this family is willing to do the taking on Tuesdays and Thurdays, that will completely free up those days for me so that I have time to focus on home and Lil Red. I know, I know, after a while you get a headache trying to keep it all straight. Thank goodness for the blessing of computer calendars :)

Auntie Em and family's stay with us after Hurricane Ike left them without power for a while. We went to the Science Museum with them

Wee Hour Morning Hysteria

K I am not finding a blessing in being up since 1 am this morning due to allergies and whatever stupid critter is stuck in the ceiling. Whether it be skunk or oppossum, it needs to get the heck out of there and stay out of there. I'm so sick and tired of waking up to scratching above our heads and I know Big Red is too. He has done everything he possibly can to secure the area, so I don't understand why this continues to be a trial. My older sister says we are only given trials more than once when we don't learn from them. Well I hope it's not a love for varmits because I'm growing even more antagonistic to the irritating things! And I hate ragweed! Is there a positive to this nasty plant? Because I hate getting sick everytime it's in the air. And I hate me being sleep deprived because I do not function well at all. And I get very cranky when I'm trying to deal with the kids. I sooooooooooo need my sleep. I have tried Vicks, decongestant, took Claritin before I went to bed to head off the allergy attack, used sun breeze and Eucalytus oils. I get nothing but a five minute relief. I know I could feel worse. I have in the past. So it is a blessing that I don't feel quite so bad as I have in the past where I can't breathe at all but darnit! I want to go to bed and sleep! K done with this rant.

Continuation of Lil Red's Creepin

Continuation of entertainment during our wait for Ike

All of this was done at Grandma and Grandpa W's during the storm. I feel ashamed that we had so much fun :) Please disregard MM's lack of kosherness at the end ;)

What we were doing during Ike

Spiritual and Financial Blessings

I had my first spiritual insight resulting from are morning scripture study yesterday. Now not the first spiritual insight of my life :P, the first insight coming from this new regimen. We were reading the allegory of the olive tree in 1 Nephi and all of a sudden I realized that more than just being a prophecy or an explanation... that it is an insight into the character or our Father in Heaven. It shows just how much he loves each and everyone of his spiritual sons and daughters. That he made a way for all of us to be his chosen people. He has chosen all of us; it is up to us to us to choose to be his. I love being part of God's plan and living it.
So I was upset with DK this weekend because his glasses broke this weekend, and instead of bringing them home for me to get them fixed, he left them at his Dad's. Which I might add, his Dad was not aware of. So yesterday I was finally able to pick them up. This was all a big inconvenience in time and gas. So I had been grousing about it a little. Well while I was getting them repaired at the eye doctors I decided to look around the mall to see if I could find the right color shirts for the boys uniforms for school. MM has come home twice with holes in his shirts already and Walmart, Target, Macys, and Sears havn't had the right colors or the shirts would be 20 to 45 dollars a piece. Well I obviously can't afford that price with him coming home with holes in them constantly. So I decided to check out Steve N Barry's which is closing out. On the way in that direction, my attention was caught by a store that was also closing and said School Uniforms. This entire store's service is uniform clothing and accessories! I had no idea it exsisted. They had the right colors and styles and the prices were cheap. The shirts were 5.99 a piece plus a 15 percent discount. I also bought a nice belt for 6.99 plus a 20 percent discount. I don't know the last time I bought a belt for them for that much if ever. So all in all I spent less than a hundred dollars and I was able to get the boys 9 shirts, two with long sleeves. and 3 extra pairs of pants and a belt. I have been looking for this stuff for over a month! So DK's glasses breaking was a big blessing for me :)
I love silver linings!

I've been teaching Lil Red to crawl :)

A Chance to do Service

Well the boys are out of school for the rest of the week. The school had power and water so they were in session yesterday. But apparently the board and the principle looked around at what was going on in nearby areas and the gas shortages and other resource problems and decided to close the school for the rest of the week. So anyone who has preteen or teenage boys, know that idleness or playing computer games will lead to major issues in the home. So I decided to give a couple in my ward a call. They have been going neighborhood to neighborhood and helping out in cleaning up yards and removing fallen trees. The family that has been helping them the past couple of days is not available to help anymore, so they were in need of tools to keep going anyways since they don't have any as they live in an apartment. So they boys are off helping them today. And I'm hoping they will have many good stories to share when they get home. Later this evening, we will go over and pick up a boy that they have made friends with through the school. Kozer, as he is called, was in their school last year as an 8th grader but since their school doesn't have a high school. His parents have opted to continue with Home schooling. They have maintained their contact through fencing. So Music Man has a bud now. I'm also hoping to find out how they maintain his curriculum and ya da ya da. So I can make a pitch to the boys father at the end of the year. Anyways, I plan to let them all camp out in the yard. Apparently my youngest brother is planning on coming and taking advantage of our hospitality this evening as well. LOL. He found out that the power won't be on at their house for another 12 days atleast, and since he is working down here....it is rather convenient. We think we are rid of the varmit. Which I believe now was a oppossum that had a run in with a skunk. I'm thinking this because skunks are terrible climbers and that is the only way to get in. So yay for seeing the end of those oppossums! Or hearing them, lol

New Critter

So in the wee hours of the morning today, I roll over to Big Red and say, "oh no! Do you hear that?". About that time his says,"I smell a skunk". My reply,"it's in the ceiling". His,"I so don't need this". Please pray for us that we will be able to get rid of the varmit. Big Red, does not need this. We ended up sleeping in the living room on the couch. Because the critter must have gotten nervous hearing are voices and sprayed above our room. I have the doors open this morning airing things out. The big blessing is that the air is cool and dry this morning which I know is a blessing to those without a/c as well. I've been busy de-fleaing the cat who got out when the doors were blown open in the storm. The boys did there part in helping clean up the debris on the lawns yesterday and are back in school today. I'm just glad I gassed up all the cars so I won't need gas for atleast two or three more days. Hopefully that will be enough time for the gas shortage to be a non issue and the lines at the pump to go down. Because I really don't want to stand in those lines. We have a ton of water. So the non drinkable factor is not an issue for us. I also had Rice milk in storage so now that we have power Ihave opened that. Good thing since the stores hadn't been able to replenish yesterday. I am so grateful for my food and water storage. K gotta take care of Lil Red

Ike

Well we weathered the storm with Grandma and Grandpa W. I'm worried about my parents and family that are still in the area, as they are having Tornado warnings. We had a peaceful sleep last night, as our area had a sleepless one. We've watched reports as those that were under mandatory evacuation orders have been calling for help. Some of these people with children. It just butters my biscuit that they would have put their children in danger and the lives of rescuers when they were warned continually! I know our property ended up in not being in the heaviest hit areas, but I am glad we left, since we know there is no power in our area and we expect to go home and have had some windows blown out, and we have Lil Red to think about. So now it's left for us to be able to make it back home. We are praying for those still at home and those that are in the path of the storm. We know Aunt Carol and Uncle Michael weathered the storm fairly well although they reported that it was real bad. Will post more and pictures as we find out more.

Twirling Back in My Life

Back in Junior High I decided to become a twirler. My older sister was a cheerleader and I didn't want to be a copy cat. Besides, I felt that cheerleading was a popularity thing and I was far from being popular. I also noticed that in cheerleading alot of your movements are precise and choppy. I wanted to learn something that flowed. So I became a twirler. I worked hard and I became very good. I would spend hours working on routines in the front yard. My Mom complained because the grass wouldn't grow because of it getting worn out where I was practicing. I was annoyed when my older sister decided to try that too. I'd felt it was my thing. But it turned out to not be such a bad thing. When she was a senior and I was a freshman we we're on the same team and it was pretty fun. I don't have any bad memories of being on the same team with her that year, so I'm pretty sure it went well :)
Then during my sophmore year, I had many people tell me that certain things should be the most important thing in my life; band, twirling, church, school, family. I felt like I was being pulled in too many directions. So at the end of that school year I decided to quit twirling and band. I was only in band because you had to be in it to be a twirler. I joined the school choir which I enjoyed very much and started rebelling, lol. Although in my mind I felt that I did have the gospel as a priority. However, looking back I can see that that was not completely true. I have always regretted the decision to quit twirling. Infact I have had many dreams where I go back to high school only to participate in twirling. The last year that I was a twirler I went to the State competition in U.I.L. with a solo. I was so nervous that I dropped the baton several times. The guy judging me told me to turn off the music and twirl. Nobody else had been given a second chance and everyone stopped to look and try and figure out what was going on. With no music going in a gym, every noise I made was amplified. This served to make me even more nervous and I dropped the baton even more times than the last. The judge asked me to come stand in front of him. He proceeded to tell me that he had to give me a low grading based on my drops but that if I had just stood still and twirled the baton and done no tosses that he would have given me a "1" which is the highest ranking. He said I had the grace of Ophelia and that he hoped I would keep twirling. Well I didn't change my mind, but his comments boosted my self esteem immeasurably. I will always be thankful for that experience. Which leads me to my excitement and latest blessing. I have wanted to teach and influence other young women in a positive manner the way I was. However, I have not found the time in my life to do that. Welllllll...do to some recent events I have found that time and the courage to talk to the principal at the boy's school and I will be given a table at the open house night to promote my classes. The principal is really excited about offering it to the students. It will also bless me with the opportunity to get to know more of the families that are attending their school. Which I have desired to do but find it hard to get to know people unless I'm working with them. So I will report back how many students I have in October ;)

Lil Red in August

Lil Red's progression

I realized the other day that I haven't said much about all the cute and fun things that have been happening with Lil Red. So today's blog entry will be focused on this.
So LR started rolling over on his 6 month birthday and has been trying to find ways to get into things ever since, lol. His favorite thing to do is to roll over and over until he is on the wood part of the floor and then scoot backwards on the slippery surface. Cracks me up! He also took to his bouncer at 5 months with ease and one of my favorite things to do is watch him jump up and down and swivel so he can see everything going on. He has developed a love for peaches and apricots thanks to Aunty Em, who shared one with him last Tuesday. He and his cousin Lil T, love grabbing Miss Ruth's, our cat's, tail. And giving her wet slobbery kisses. Which you'd think she'd run from. But amazingly enough she suffers through it, lol. He loves the water. From pools to bath time. and even trying to wiggle down to touch the water as it poured into foot soaker when I went to get a pedicure the other day. The kid just loves the feel of the cool liquid and he loves to drink it. I remember having a hard time getting his brothers to drink water when they were young. But not LR, he likes it so much he guzzled down a whole bottle full for grandpa W in church a couple of weeks ago. He then proceeded to puke up all the milk he nursed from me b/c his belly was too full,lol. His only minus is that his red headed temper has begun to come into play when he doesn't get his way. Big Red says he gets his temper from me but I on the other hand seem to think he got it from his Dad. My grandma said I was an angel as a baby. I may have grown into a little hellion as I got older but as a baby, I was an angel O:) he he
So what do you think Grandma's, who gave Lil Red his temper? I'm just happy that he was blessed with such a sweet disposition that his temper hardly ever shows :D

DK's birthday bash! Story below

Danny Kaye's B-day

That's right! Danny Kaye had another birthday. He turned 12, this means that he is now officially a part of young mens. He's been hanging out with their scout group since there isn't enough boys to have separate groups, but he wasn't allowed to attend the activities that were done with the girls. He had a glow in the dark theme pool party on Friday to celebrate. According to the boys that attended, I really knew how to throw a party. I think it was my favorite b-day party so far. Clean up went fast. Getting the boys interested in games wasn't hard, since pool games aren't construed as babyish even by teenage standards. The time went fast and the kids could be as noisy as they wanted. I didn't have to worry about oversized boys getting rambunctious and breaking things in my house. and given the heat in August it was an awesome time to have a night party at the pool. Danny Kaye chose to have a big cookie instead of a cake. I had them put two fencing swords crossing in the middle and we did sparkler candles. It was as much fun lighting them as him blowing them out, lol. He received the Aaronic priesthood on Sunday. It was really special. Big Red conferred the priesthood upon him and his young mens president, primary teacher, bishop, Uncle J, and scout leader all stood in as well. His dad and abuelita made it there to share in the experience and Aunt E, Little T, and Music Man, Little Red and I made up the rest of the cramped room. He was blessed with knowledge and wisdom several times, so afterwards his scout master said he couldn't wait for him to show him some of this wisdom in scouts, lol. It really was a special day for Danny Kaye. And I can't wait for the second sunday of September b/c I'll have two sons serving the sacrament! What a cool feeling for this Mom! Below are some pics from the b-day bash

Tickets

Okay I know this blog is supposed to be about blessings but this one is about a trial. I'm hoping it turns into a blessing, but right now I'm just FURIOUS! I got a speeding ticket today. Which no big deal. I haven't had a speeding ticket in over 5 years I believe and I have been very happy about that. Today though, fate didn't smile on me. I was trying to make it to pick up my boys at a descent time. I was already late from running errands for my Mom and Dad in Galveston. (My Dad is laid up in the hospital again recovering from a new surgery). So I was already late and I was speeding. So when the police man pulled me over I didn't have a problem with it. I was ready to accept my dues. Take drivers ed. to get it removed. ya da ya da, no problemo. However, he hits me with the news that he had clocked me at 95 miles an hour! OKAY FIRST OF ALL, I would NEVER and I mean NEVER drive that fast with Lil Red in the car which he was. And SECOND, I had the cruise control on so I know for sure that I was doing only 80. And come to think of it if I go over 80 in the Saturn I don't feel very in control of my vehicle so I may go 85 to get around someone but NEVER NEVER would I go 95 EVER! I tried to calmly and respectfully explain this the police officer but of course he didn't think he was capable of error. "you can take it before the judge", was all I got. So I am! I probably would have fought it anyway. But that's the only way that is left to me since what he says I was doing is more than 20 miles over the speed limit. I should say that while the posted speed limit is 65 that if you do 65 you get run over or cause an accident. Anyways this was my rant today that I needed to let off steam, so I'm counting my blessing that I have this outlet for my emotions since I couldn't exactly take a bopper bat to the policeman's head, because even though it wouldn't hurt him, it might be construed as intent to do harm. Sigh! What I wouldn't get to see him in a room full of junior high kids with dodge balls.
;)

Poll answer

It was pointed out to me that I never said what my boys did for me for Mother's Day. So the answer is they were good all day! That's right no fighting, no squabling. Helping when asked and not complaining. It really was a great mother's day. Isaac gave me a homemade card. So there you go, one of the best Mother's Day ever!

Trial of the Opossums

It's a new Chevy Chase movie that I'm working on. LOL. Just kidding. It's the latest of a series of trials that we've been struggling to overcome as a family. However, the situations that have resulted have definitely reminded me of a comedy movie.

So for the past couple of months we've known we had an opossum crawling around up in the roof area. "How did you know it was an opossum", you ask. Elmentary, my dear Watson. We had already caught one about 6 months ago and relocated it and my brother had seen one last November in our backyard.Also, my husband has been working on the siding and had found one of their nests in the eaves. However, he thought he had sealed everything up very well. So you can imagine his irritation when at about 10pm and on into the wee hours of the morning we started to hear scurring feet above us. So over the last week it has gotten bad and sometimes we would smell really bad smells. Like a skunk. We put a trap out and some food in it, but we weren't catching the varmit. So one morning at 2am I said "I hate it and I'm going to shoot all the walls up, I can't stand this anymore! We aren't getting any sleep!" . Of course I didn't really but I think that started putting ideas in my sweet Big Red's head. Because he had already tried to locate it by going up into the attic with a flash light and a pellet gun but had had no luck. So the next night at 1am. He gets up and the next thing I know he has a ladder and a hand saw and starts sawing a hole in the ceiling. So after he makes this hole, my brave crazy husband puts his head through it to look around. and this hole is only big enough for his head and to stick a hand up there with the flash light. and I think to myself, "he's going to scream and fall down and the Opossum is going to be stuck to the back of his head, He's crazy! this is totally a Chevy Chase movie." Well it didn't happen. He came down still angry because he could see the mess the critter was making but no critter. He was so angry he was going to throw a raid bomb up there. But I told him we shouldn't take such a chance of it poisoning us and Lil Red and my sister and her family who were staying with us while they searched for an apartment. So the whole day, I'm worrying that that crazy varmit is going to come falling down through that hole because I can hear it in there. And I know it would be just my luck to come out of the shower and see this thing scurrying across the floor. But nope no sign of the little varmit. I even had dreams about him that night of the critter showing his face in the hole and my husband taking a pot shot at it, but my husband had assured me that that was only a dream. However, the next night at approx. 3am my husband woke me saying he needed my help. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and had work gloves on and the cage in the other. I followed him into the bathroom stumbling as I went to see another hole in the bottom of the bathroom wall. And to my amazement he was pulling out a momma and 5 baby Opossums! And it stank. I went and grabbed baking soda for him to sprinkle in and around the hole after he vacumed. It smelled just like vomit. It was awful! Apparently he was inspired last night to get a mirror and use it to look down inside the wall and was able to see the Mom and the babies. He thinks they had been trapped in there for a while. The only way he could get them out was to cut the hole in the wall. We called animal control to come get them. But by the time he came out the Mom had died from the heat. I feel bad about that because we didn't mean to kill her. We just didn't know that the heat would kill her I mean after all she had lived in the hot attic all that time. So the saga of the Opossums has come to an end. Hopefully the critters got taken far enough away that they won't come back and exercise a vendetta later. I just have to say that we immediately said prayers of gratitude after we had cleaned up the mess and went back to bed to try and get some peaceful sleep. I know Big Red's inspiration was an answer to our prayers. Above are the pics of the now plugged holes and Oppossum family.

Beach pics

4th of July Pictures

4th and Week with the Older Boys

I was so excited to have DK and MM home for 10 days. Even though are plans to Dallas got scratched we still had fun. On monday we went to the movies with TISO and saw "The Incredible Hulk" . Can you believe that Little Red slept through that one. LOL! He's going to be like his Dad and say "yeah right! Like that would happen" when he sees action movies. On Tuesday we took it easy and stayed at home. Big Red let them download a game called Maple Story and they had a lot of fun with it. MM insisted on creating me a game player. But they couldn't stop playing long enough for me to have a chance to play, lol. Then Wednesday we went to the beach with Miss A. and her two boys. We had so much fun despite the sand. I always forget how much sand there is. It was funny b/c Miss A. and I started talking on the drive and weren't really watching for the park we were looking for and next thing we knew we were in Free Port! But the beach is better there anyways :) The older boys worked on making sand castles and drew big words in the sand and did some jumping in the waves. Lil Red squinted his eyes against the wind and felt the sand between his toes for the first time ;)


On Thursday we had lunch with Grandmommy and Granddaddy. And then late that evening we headed to Grandma and Grandpa W's. Friday we went tubing up by Canyon Lake with Aunt and Uncle San Antonio while Lil Red stayed and hung out with Grandma and Grandpa. According to Grandma, Grandpa just took over taking care of him like it had been just yesterday that they'd had an infant. Meanwhile on the river, Big Red was shooting all of us with a Gatorade filled water gun. Yuck! My hair smelled like grape kool aid! As we were jumping into our tubes and feeling the freezing water...I couldn't help but think that those people that jump in the Alaskan water in the hole in the ice have to be short a couple of brain cells. I was thinking the same thing about myself as I fellt the freezing water bite my bum, lol! We went around the short loop twice and left just as the big crowds were getting there. We went out to eat at this great hole in the wall Mexican/American restraunt. Where DK proceeded to eat his huge enchilada plate and then clean anything off of anyone elses plate that was left. When that boy gets hungry, he sure can eat! Saturday we played cards with Aunt and Uncle SA and then Aunt SA and I made yummy Strawberry pies. Then right before they left the boys and I played hide and go seek with them. But it was so hot that half way through the game Uncle SA came up with the idea that instead of making for base that if you were found you were it. Which was much easier on us adults, lol. Then in the last two rounds we separated into two teams. Uncle SA and MM were on one team and the rest of us on the other. In these two rounds, you had to find everyone that was hiding before the game was over. Our team did pretty good but M.M and Uncle S. A. were hidden so good that we kept walking by them. Uncle SA was on the ground with a bunch of brush thrown over him. I guess it was his military training kicking in there. lol. Not for me though, I couldn't stand the idea of the possible snake or scorpian getting the upper hand on me! After they left for home, Big Red, Grandma, and I took MM and DK to downtown Bastrop on the river to see the fireworks. They were wonderful. Despite our stiff legs from sitting on the ground so long, they were worth it.

Sunday we made it to church for sacrament and then went home to chill out for awhile before heading home to bring the boys back to their Dad. It was totally a fun and fabulous week and the boys were even super well behaved including Lil Red.

Get Your Daily Update! Read the Tribune!

Teeth and Flag Day and baby food

So I know I've mentioned that I'm getting dental work on my front four top teeth and how traumatic it's been to me needing this work to be done and not being able to do it. Well I have been so blessed with the dentist that I was referred to by friends of Red's and mine. I have never had a dentist do such a thourough exam and he thinks about each part of the mouth separately and then as a whole. His wife, who runs the front office, has watched the baby for me while I've been being taken care of and Lil Red has made many new friends in the office. Now on the day that they really get started which will be in July I'll have to have a sitter because it will be upwards of 2hours or more. But they have scheduled me for the whole day and noone else so he can take his time and be focused on just me. The dentist office that I'm leaving was giving me a hard time about giving me my original x-rays and then was going to charge us $35.00 for copies even though we already paid for the originals. I almost didn't even try to go by and pick them up because I was told by the new dentist office that if they got the copies and they weren't readable which was a possibility that I we would have to pay for a second set which is $135.00 .

But the spirit told me I should go by and just see if they had made the copies even though they hadn't ever called me back. When I got there one of the billing ladies hijacked me and tried to convince me to get the work done by the owner but I was firm and told her that I was very comfortable with this new dentist and I already had an appointment with in 30 min. She said she understood and had me sign a release form and handed me the x-rays and told me they weren't going to charge me. So I hand what I thought was the copies to the dentists wife and she says "oh cool! They gave you the originals!". Which was awesome! So yay, for listening to the spirit!

K my Relief Society has started every month having a breakfast together and then going for a walk in the park. This month it is this Saturday which I found out happens to be Flag Day. When I saw that I thought, "so what is flag day?". I looked it up and found out that it is a time to review the history of the flag, what it stands for, and to honor it. I called up the lady in charge of the breakfast and asked her if I could do a small devotional that morning in honor of flag day. She said "that would be great"! I am so looking forward to doing this not just to share with others but to remind myself of what our flag means to us all.

So Lil Red just started eating solids this past week. He has had peas, summer vegetables, and sweet potatoes. He loves them all. And is so funny to watch when it's time to eat. I put him in his high chair and he gets so happy. LOL. Which is incredible that he can get anymore happy than he already is. You have to tie him down to the chair because he practically bounces out of it! K that's all there is to report. Hugz to all!

Cooking

Sorry I haven't posted lately, I've been working full-time on my old accountant job with baby in tow which is a long story. Suffice it to say when I come home in the evenings, I have enough time to cook, continue taking care of the baby and one or two loads of laundry. Anyways my silver lining tonight is that I found the most marvelous recipe that I made tonight. You can find it at...
http://thyme2.typepad.com/thyme_for_cooking_/2008/04/lemon-spinach-a.html
The only changes I made were to use regular garlic cloves and made four chicken tenders. My hero was out working on the house again this evening in 100 degree weather so he needed something light and I am so trying to get off some of this baby weight. My back is hurting and so are my ankles and my knees and I'm not that majorly over weight. But I digress. So I've been getting back to healthy foods and I was looking for a recipe that would incorporate what I have already in the house. I tell you what! It was so great! I loved it AND so did Red! We topped it off with some organic apple sparkling cider. What I found interesting is that for the first time in more than a year I felt good about myself after I ate. It wasn't just what I ate, it was the fact that I cooked something that tasted wonderful and it was healthy. It was the same euphoria you feel after you have been exercising. Only sanz the out of breath part, lol. Well this is all that I have time for this evening. Later

Excited Momma!

Last night was the D.K. and M.M.'s school award ceremony. D.K. received an award for his outstanding work in History, and M.M. received the Helping Hands award and the Random Acts of Kindness award. That was wonderful enough but at the very end the principal handed out her awards. She had chosen a boy and a girl from each grade that she felt exemplified what their school was about, so it was not based solely on academic performance. Imagine ours and the boys surprise when not one but both of them had their names called to come up and accept the award! They were so embarrassed it was so cute. D.K. tried to down play it and act all cool but you could tell he was so thrilled. M.M. just ducked his head and kept saying how he thought it was going to be this other kid who had received four other awards. You cannot imagine what a big deal this was to them. It said to them....'you are special, you can and will be recognized for being so even if you struggle'. While there are not huge numbers of kids at their school this is still a huge honor as all the kids that go to their school are pretty well mannered and work hard. I know that the boys do stand out though. I have been pulled to the side by teachers and told how refreshing the boys are not just in their dealings with others but in their relationship with one another. And I have to say through all the changes that my boys have had this past year, they have grown tons! They are both such big helps both with Lil Red and the house. We have our struggles but they are great kids and I love them to eternity ;)
The pics below show some different shots of them. M.M. had a special girl for a couple of weeks, she is from Russia. They are still special friends but they have clearly defined it as just friends. They have made many friends. The one boy in the pic with them is just one of many. The pics of them in the windows for those of you who don't know our house...Well it's on the roof! They were helping with the siding and got to go up there and wanted me to take pics, lol! Then the last two, our them with their awards. BTW this weekend they have their first fencing tournament. I'll try to take pics and post them later. But suffice it to say they have been very busy this year and I think they are growing up to be fine young men!

Pictures of my older boys

Saturday Activities

Last Saturday found me and my honey working hard to improve the house. I focused on the kitchen and the boys room and he focused on replacing the siding outside. If you click on the link below, you will see pictures of his work. Also there are pictures of all the organizing I did in the kitchen. I'm so proud of my pantry! There are also pictures of the dining room. This room was a turquoise. I really like the warm tones in here now. It's so much more inviting. The stomped ceiling, wall patch ups and paint job were done by ex-husband. He did and awesome job! Again Big Red did an amazing job finding just the right furniture in the clearance section at Star Furniture. Hope you enjoy the slide show below. I didn't put it in the normal way because I wanted you to see the full pictures.

Home Improvements

http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll184/raydiantlght/home%20improvements/?albumview=slideshow

Lil Red's gotta new bed! And he LOVES it!

Baby Bed

Okay I am so excited! As I sit here typing Lil Red is taking a nap in the nursery in his new bed! And what's more exciting is that I'm not worried about him because I have my handy dandy monitor. I can here his little grunts and heavy breathing with no problem! This means his naps will be a bit longer because he won't be able to hear me banging the dishes or the cat jumping on things and running willy nilly through the house. I am so thankful that Big Red has a knack for shopping. We've been shopping for baby furniture for a while but holding off for a deal. And it paid off! We bought the crib and chifferobe for the price of the crib by itself. Now any of you who have shopped for baby furniture will know that this is amazing since even clearance baby furniture will only go down at the most maybe $50. However, by working the coupon system, finding one on clearance and opening a credit card that we will turn around and pay off.... Well we did it! I also found the nautical bedding that I wanted for a $100 less than it is at Baby's R Us. So the nursery is just a tad bit away from being set up. We need to move out the big desk that has been in there and we are trying to get the matching diaper changer but that may or may not happen. I think I'm going to sand down the boys old toy chest and restain it to match. I took the pictures above of Lil Red in his new bed and bedding but I'll take more when the whole nursery is finished. The title "Having fun with paint features" doesn't make any sense because the silly photobucket cut out my paint features on the pic for the most part. Oh well I'm still learning.

Pictures and Dental Work

If you head over to Timely Beauty's Blog spot, (at the bottom of my blog), you can see some pics of Lil Red from her visit to my house. She's been watching him for me when I've had dentist appointments. Which leads to another two blessings. #1 Getting my teeth fixed. This has been a need for along time. So I'm muy thankful that my husband has insurance and that #2 I have a friend that can care for Lil Red so I can get it done!

Geneology

Well today I was looking for my CU stuff and found a really old BOM that Big Red had in a drawer. I'm talking about 1800 book. The name of the original owner was written inside and though faded you could just make it out. So I decided for fun to try and look up the person on the internet and see what I could find out about her. Well in the process I found this cool site that has pictures of tombstones from all over the U.S. . So I've been bitten by the bug and talked to Mom and I plan to start doing geneology work this next week. I was specifically given in my patiarchal blessing counsel to do this work sooooo, I guess the season in my life is here for me to do it. It won't be convenient I'm sure. But I have to make the time and I figure that it will make going back to the temple this year that much more special. The funny thing is that is all started with me wanting to keep up my own journaling better....Isn't it funny how things tie in together?

Dad

Hey Dad! I found these pictures of you from Danny Kay's birthday in 06. Right before you found out you had cancer. I so didn't recognize you. I'm like who is that fat man? Do you remember growing the mustache because you didn't want the Jack in the Box gang to recognize you? Don't worry about that anymore, lol, your own daughter doesn't recognize you. So see there are some possitives you don't look like Boss Hog anymore. He he.

Hugz, LMSS

Boys and Pets

Amadeus has tried to bring home several frogs. The first one we discovered was poisonous and I made him get rid of it. Somehow, it found it's way back inside and he had to catch it and rerelease it into the wild. I guess it realized a good thing when it had it. lol.
The boys have had several pets over the years from a wienie mut dog that they adopted from the bus stop and named Brown Sugar to turtles and fish. The first one's were fish. We had a gold fish named Cowboy and Music Man and the age of two named the other onewhich was a male beta, Masala. Yeah ummm.... I have no idea, lol. We went through several male beta's. I was going through my divorce and I just couldn't tell Music Man that Masala had committed fishy suicide on top of the fridge. After all this was already Masala II. So I bought another one before he could find out. Then we moved to a new apartment. And Music Man was trying to show me what I good pet owner he was so we could get a new pet. So he had taken Masala for a walk. Masala died the next day. I barely saved the next one from getting a bubble bath. I think Danny Kaye was in on that one. Then their Uncle caught a baby turtle and gave it to them. I have no idea why but apparently one of them thought the turtle was cold because I went to get a glass of milk and found the turtle in refridgerator in one of their play tool box drawers. The poor thing had a cold for about a week. We gave it back to my brother to release into the wild after that. We moved into a house and then had a string of dogs that my parents kept giving to us and the one we adopted that was a stray that I mentioned above. Brown Sugar went trick or treating with us and got lost. Music Man found out later that someone in the neighborhood behind us had readopted him. Our favorite dog was A-Bear. Danny Kay still to this day calls him Eddy Bear. We loved him alot. He went on many a walk and bike ride with me to Alisa's house. Then about 3 or 4 Christmas's ago he got very sick. My vet friend says it was probably cancer. I knew I couldn't do another dog. I was in mourning and I would be mad at any other dog because they wouldn't be A-Bear. And I felt so guilty. I felt that I hadn't spent enough time with him. So when the boys wouldn't let up about a new pet. I went out to a farm that my vet friend had heard about and I got a cat. Ruth who was our comfort after losing a beloved pet was a sweety. and still is. She gave a little show of jealousy when Lil Red came home but has quickly become attached to him as well. She comes up to him to try to get petted and frets when he cries. She has always worried about me when I've been in pain and sat at my feet on such occasions. She still tries to assert herself in small shows like laying down on the baby's specific spots when he's not occupying them. She still considers herself the baby. But I no longer worry about her hurting Lil Red which she never did but I was not blind to the danger. Music Man just earned his right to pet of his own this last year. He tried to bring home some crickets from his Aunt's house in S.A. but they were eating each other and dying so he released the last ones back in the wild. So we bought him a guinea pig for Christmas. He named it Wyatt. I think he's learned what I pain rodents are and doubt he'll want to own one again. But he's attached to him and wouldn't think of turning him out at this point. Danny Kay is holding out for a dog this next year. I still don't want one. Big Red isn't to crazy about them either. So we'll see.

Sweet Memories from the past two years burned in my mind :)

Life as a Mom

One of the biggest blessings in my life has been the ability to be a stay at home mom. I had almost given up hope that that would be a possibility. All the men I dated would still need me to help with income. So the fact that Red came into my life and told me that he "wanted to take care of me and my boys", was not only a shocker but made me realize just how much he loved me. I love shuttling my boys to school in the morning and to various lessons. We listen to morning political talk shows, and talk about what's going on in the world. We have had many teaching moments on the way to school in the morning.And the lessons wouldn't have happened when I was single. I didn't have the money or the time.
I love being able to experiment and practice in the kitchen more on my cooking skills. It is so cool to be able to take care of little things for my husband, like picking up his dry cleaning or going to the bank or post office for him. Also I like being able to reach out to others that normally I wouldn't have time to do. We have a really old couple next door, they are French and I have enjoyed checking up on them and just going for visits and hearing all the stories they have to tell.
Of course one of my biggest joys is being able to play with Little Red and taking care of all his needs. He is growing so fast. If I had to work, I'd miss seeing all the little changes as he's developing his sweet personality. Yesterday I worked with the Music Man on how to make meatballs in the kitchen and Danny Kay and I worked on the third article of faith. Later Red and I had some alone time and prayed together on specific financial issues that we are facing. My life is so much fuller now that I'm able to be at home. I know that some women go back to work for a break from home life or because they need to feel like they've achieved something. Everytime I make Little Red smile, or we make it through a family home evening without complaint, or I make a dinner or dessert that everyone loves, or I'm able to comfort my husband when he's had a bad day; it's at these times that I feel the most accomplished. Even as I had to stop typing to love on my cranky little Red who is teething and have a sour milk smelling shirt on from being urped on, I feel such satisfaction from being a MOM. My oldest sister just posted a poem on her blog about Mothers. It is totally what I'm feeling as I try to explain the joy that I have at finally being at home where I need to be. If you'd like to read it click on the favorite blogger link below for Texasblu Poetry. Above are some pictures that relate some of the joy that I've had at being a Mom. Enjoy!

Answer to Where I Met Red for the First Time

Everyone was wrong! LOL! I thought TISO knew this one. We met at a dinner and movie night for the singles in the Houston area. I was there with a friend and it was my first time to attend one of those. I have to admit that Red jogged my memory about meeting him there the first time. What first caught my attention about him was his fantastic dancing skills. I have always loved to dance and so that was definitely one of the things on my list that would be a plus in looking for the man I wanted to marry. Well I was definitely blessed to find a man that really knows how to dance. He was part of a group in college that danced at contests! Here are three pictures from our short dating life. We dated as friends for a year but as a couple for approximately 6 months. I guess once we got serious and let go of our fears things moved pretty quickly.The first picture was a Halloween/House warming party. Douglas had been planning it for a while but it quickly became our party instead of just his. It was so much fun planning and helping co-host. It was at that party that he told me that he was ready to concentrate on us. The second picture is of us in Idaho at TexasBlu's house. We had just started getting serious but I already knew I was marrying him. Not that I "wanted" to marry him but that I was "going" to marry him, lol. My boys and I had planned a trip to visit TexasBlu and it was important to me for Red to meet her. It was funny though, she didn't really get to know him b/c he and I were cranky from the altitude changes and the house was crazy with all her kids and mine. You can't tell from the photo though about our crankiness, we we're still in love afterall, lol. The last picture was of that Christmas. My family was all in Utah for my brother's marriage. I couldn't go because I worked for the same company as my Dad and both of us couldn't be gone at the same time. So I was bummed about that and it was my ex's year to have the kids. Red and I decided to have a misfit Christmas. We had two other friends that had no family nearby and my youngest sister who also couldn't leave her job for the wedding. While the week prior to Christmas was very yucky and stressful, I have to say that Christmas was fun and special. This last picture was of Red and I engaging in some of that fun.

photobucket slideshow of little red

If you click on the "view all images" it will take you to the slideshow. I'm not sure why it isn't loading into the blog. I asked Texas Blu and she couldn't figure it out either, but the cool thing is you can still view the slide show just not on the blog. sigh! Hope you like them!

Our littlest addition

I was so excited when I found out I was pregnant. I was worried that due to mine and Red's age that we might have trouble conceiving a baby. I prayed and prayed. A month before I discovered I was pregnant, I had a dream that a Man in white handed me a baby boy and told me what his name was. I won't say his name here to keep our privacy but I after looking up the name meaning, I knew it was a message from Heavenly Father. I stopped worrying because I knew it would happen. Turns out that I must have concieved right around the time I recieved that dream. So our baby boy is a reminder to us that Heavenly Father does hear and answer our prayers and that he does still speak to us. What a great blessing for us in this day and age. My big desire for children was for my husband. I have seen how wonderful he is with kids and I knew he deserved to be able to raise a child up in the gospel. And now he will! You should see Red with Little Red. He is constantly calling him various nicknames like mommy's stinkerpoo, lol, more like Daddy's (roll my eyes). Little Red will coo and laugh and talk to his Daddy until he gets hunger pains. He even snuggled up to Red after Red had shoulder surgery. Dad wouldn't let a little thing like that stop him from holding his baby. The Music Man and Danny Kay are also very cute with Little Red. They will come and steal him away to hold him. Especially Music Man. Danny Kay is very afraid of hurting him so he usually just asks to hold him in church and then only for a little while. But they will always come and peek over our shoulders to talk to him or watch him looking around with wonder. They have been big helps and taken over many duties as a result of this new little bundle. But neither have been bitter about it. They are so excited to have a new baby brother. Here is a slide show of some of Little Red's cuter moments and many of his visitors.

Good Friends

Okay so I lied, LOL. Actually I'm up with allergy issues and thought I'd count a blessing since I can't sleep ;)

A big blessing that came to me later in life was two of my best friends that I consider family. To my boys I call them Aunt. And I really do think of them as my sisters. TISO came into my life first. My Mom and Dad introduced us thinking we'd be great friends for each other. And they were right. I think I remember Mom saying something about how TISO needed a friend like me, but I believe it was the other way around. She has been a great example to me in perseverence and patience. She has gone on her own journey later in life which can be read more about on her blog, Timely Beauty. I posted the link below. She has always been beautiful to me inside and out, she was my Maid of Honor at my wedding and she is one of the few people that I know that I can count on. Which is very important to me as I was a single Mom for 10 years. TISO let me cry on her shoulders many a time over various guys I dated and kept me positive. She was also always coming over and providing some service during various illnesses and crisis in my life. Whether it was helping to clean my house, watching the boys, going shopping with me (I hate shopping alone), or helping me organize a get out of town plan. She is also the reason that I finally set up a blog, she held my hand through it. LOL. She is wonderful and I want everyone to know it! Here some pics of her...the first one is a year ago at my wedding. The second is getting together in October this year to celebrate our birthdays that are in the same month.

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My other adopted sister came into my life through visiting teaching. She lived one neighborhood over from me and I was trying to do better about walking. So she started going walking with me. Then I developed Epstein Barr Virus from a bad case of Mono that I didn't get enough rest with. I went on medical leave because my depression that resulted was debilitating. Part of my therapy was walking. So I would walk the couple of miles to her house mid morning with my dog, then I would stay for a while playing with her kids and resting up for my trip home. She always had a glass of water for me and if I was too tired for the walk back home she'd drive me and my dog. And once she even let me borrow her bicycle! She started watching my boys for me after school because I didn't trust the day cares. I know the monetary compensation that I gave her wasn't near enough. Even after I left my stressful job at at Foleys and didn't need her babysitting help, I couldn't stay away from her home. Her marriage was one of the great examples to me of what a real and positive marriage is. And it kept me hoping for the person that would bring me that same kind of happiness. Even though I live on the other side of the city now, we make time for each other. She was awesome to throw me a baby shower for Little Red for my friends on that side of town. I'm so glad that her family consider me family as well. I love being involved with birthdays and special events and I'll never forget her including me at Thanksgiving the year my boys were with their Dad and my family was out of town. I have great memories of that Thanksgiving due to her and her family. Here's some pics of her and her family. The one is of her oldest son and her daughter. They sang with my boys at Red's and my wedding. The youngest one is giving the thumbs up sign. They didn't bring him to the wedding because they didn't think he'd be able to handle behaving through the ceremony and bribed him with ChuckeCheeses with his grandma. When he realized later that I would never have another wedding he cried because he still hadn't met my husband. We had him over that weekend so he could meet my husband, see where we moved to and to hang out. It was so much fun.

Above Picture

The picture heading this blog is of my Dad who is struggling with cancer and my new born son. Both have been blessings to me. I have been blessed to work with my Dad for the last five years. It has been great to see him almost everyday and to work side by side with him. It has been great to be able to go to him as a single mom for advice or just to bounce my ideas off of him as I have grown in my knowledge of the political world.

I was married last year in February to fabulous man who will be forever after called Red on my blogsite. I was so excited to have my Dad give me away to a man that I knew he could admire and respect and know that his daughter would be loved by. Here is a picture of me and my Red on our wedding day. By the end of May I was pregnant. Little red was definitely an answer to my prayers. And I know the Lord double blessed me in that not only was my Dad there to stand in the circle to bless Little Red on his blessing day, but so was Red and his Dad.

My other two boys who will be referred to as Music Man and DannyKay are pictured next. They were from a previous marriage that was very difficult and needed to end. But here again I have been blessed with the knowledge of how to truly forgive and my ex and I have been able to establish friendship again. Here is a pic of my two older boys from this Easter weekend. Red took them out and showed them how to shoot pellet guns. They had such a blast. Unfortunately for Danny Kay, he over worked his muscles in his back, pumping the gun. On monday, he had a spasm that caused his neck to be stuck and had to go to the chiropracter. He does have a tendency to over do things that he is excited about. We'll have to work on that "moderation in all things". LOL

I have been blesses with great, grandparents on both sides. Notice, "great" was an adjective and not a title. Here is a picture of Red's parents and the following one is of my mother, since my Dad is at the top. They are all so excited about Little Red as an addition to our family.

Well I'm all blogged out. For those of you who know how long it took me to actually become part of the blogger family....well don't look for updates daily. Although now that I'm on here, who knows? Maybe I'll stay up all night in between feedings for Little Red......NAH!

Hugz to all, LMSS