Being a mommy...

Unless you are a mommy, you will probably not appreciate this post.

Anna Dove pooped in the potty today! This has been a big ordeal for us. She has had this one "big" prize toy that has been sitting on the kitchen counter for about 2 months waiting for her to poop in the pot. She was so excited to FINALLY get the prize. She tooted out her famous line of, "Oh Boy, I can't wait!!!" We have been trying to potty train for a very long time now, but she would not "deuce" in the potty. I am hoping this means she is really going to get this pottying thing down pat!

Also, this morning AD slept until 10:30! That means I got to sleep in! I don't what could make this day much better. I mean really!!!! She "deuced" in the pot and slept in!

When she woke this morning, she looked at me and said, "I want my sucker!" Boy, she doesn't forget a thing. Yesterday afternoon, my step-daughter and her sister stopped by. ON their way out, Kaitlin's sister wanted a lollipop, which was fine. However, then AD wanted one. I told her it was too late in the day and too close to dinner that she didn't need the sugar. I told her she could have one tomorrow. Thus the wanting of her sucker first thing this morning. So what did I do as a good mommy....After she went and pottied, I let her have her Tootsie Pop for breakfast! Boy was I a hit this morning!!!


Now, she is joyfully in the living room playing with her big prize and singing!!!


Life is great!!!


Exodus 20:12
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

Summer!!!

It's summer and BOY IS IT HOT!!!

Still dieting and have lost 1 pound! I figure losing only one is better than gaining any! Also, it is becoming easier to decide what I would rather waste my calories on. I am not giving up anything completely. For example, I LOVE potato chips. Therefore, when I want some, I eat a few! Ice Cream, I let that be a treat at the end of the week. By not completely eliminating foods, it is easier. I also drank a Mello Yello yesterday! It was worth all 6 points!!! It was a treat. HEHE!

Anyway, this past week, Anna Dove and I went to my parents to help shuck, silk, cut, and freeze corn. Now when I say this, I mean we had between 35 and 40 DOZEN ears of corn to take care of! Wow! My parents don't do things small! Anna Dove had a great time. I have a picture of her shucking an ear of corn. But more than that, she enjoyed sitting in a foot tub full of COLD water! It was so hot outside that my dad filled up the tub and let her get in! It was really cute!

This week has not been too interesting! I am missing my girls from work, but not bad enough to be ready to go back to work.

I have also been reminded while spending time with Anna Dove, how blessed I am to have a healthy child. Sometimes in day to day life you forget what a true blessing your child's health is until you see or hear of a child that is not well. I am so very thankful that I was chosen to be the parent of this wonderful, healthy, vibrant, and LOUD little monkey!


Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,And with my song I will praise Him.

Pennsylvania

We have been at Garland's since very late Wednesday night. Or I guess you could say very early Thursday morning! We had a very long drive. And if you remember, I was very concerned about what I was going to eat. I didn't do horrible. OK, so I did eat a combo from Bojangles with a sweet tea, but when we stopped at McDonald's to get Anna Dove something to eat, I DIDN'T, I repeat, I DIDN'T get a mocha frappe. Even though both Todd and Kaitlin got one, I did not. I drank my STUPID lemon flavored water.

Oh well, on to something less depressing than starvation...Thursday night daddy took all seven of us to a Hibachi Grill. I had never really been to a Japanese Steak house where they cook right in front of you. By the way, I ate very good all day so I could at a good supper. So anyway, Anna Dove thought our cook was hilarious. When he got to the part where he was flipping shrimp into our mouths, which I missed, she thought this was really funny. So he offered to throw one to her. He tried several times, but each time she was just miss it by a hair! We really enjoyed our meal, but it was so stinkin' expensive. Again, the best part was watching how Anna Dove enjoyed the cook!

On Friday, Garland still had to work, so the rest of us went to steal some souls! We went into Bird In Hand, PA to the Amish farmers market. I love to go there every time we come to PA. I am in such awe at how he Amish live and work. What a true testament to God's word they are.

While at the market, I bought this book titled "The Happening". It is about the shooting that happened in one of the Amish Schools back in 2006. I had seen the book at the market a couple of years ago and had regretted not buying it then. It is not a very long book, but it is so powerful. I read it the day I bought it. It is told from the point of view of one of the female students that was involved in this horrible experience. I suggest reading it to anyone, you can borrow my copy! I will be reading it again. It is very emotional and really put your life in a different perspective. It also made me question myself and made me wonder how I would react in the same situation. I can only pray that I would have the true Christian heart that all of the Amish community has shown throughout this incident!

OK then....on Saturday, Todd, me, Kaitlin, and GW went to Dorney Park. It is an amusement park somewhere around here. It was GW's company picnic. i was able to meet some of his friends from work, I rode some really awesome/scary rides, and ate some pretty OK food. I did A LOT of uphill walking so I did not feel bad eating what I wanted. Even so, it is becoming a little easier to compromise on what I am eating, so I can eat certain things.

Today is Father's Day! Me, Todd, and Kaitlin went to a Helicopter museum. It was actually pretty neat. I usually do not look forward to going to this type of thing, but every time I go, I come out having loved the experience/ I learned a lot of things that I did not know about helicopters, and got a cool t-shirt!! We had steak for lunch! Mine and my daddy's favorite!!!!!

Well, this has kind of turned into a longer post than I intended, but now you know whats been going on with me!

Oh yeah, when we were visiting the Amish, my daddy bought Anna Dove this little apron that had a few cooking utensils. When we got home that evening, she began trying to "flip shrimp" into our mouths....You know, like our cook at the Hibachi place. What a funny kid I have! She keeps us laughing!!!

Hungry!!!!

Wow! So I am trying to start this weight watchers online thing. A girl at work did it and lost 23 pounds in 3 months. She looks pretty awesome. Laura and I have decided to try this over the summer. Needless to say.......I AM HUNGRY!!!

This is tough. However, I am going to stick to it. Its just the first day so I assume it is going to get easier to choose those strawberries and blueberries over the scrumptious Turtle Chocolate Chip cookies I made this morning. (I have only had one, thank you very much) Why, oh why did I make those cookies?!?!?! To test myself? I guess so. We'll see how it goes.

We are leaving in a few hours to go to my brothers in Pennsylvania. As excited as I am about going, right now my biggest concern is, WHAT AM I GONNA EAT ON THE ROAD?!?!?!?!?!?!

Uhhhhhhhhh.

I think I will go take a shower and see if that will help get my mind off of food. This morning I woke up thinking of all the things I was hungry for. You know, a donut, a grilled cheese sandwich, Fruit Loops. I decided on Kix cereal. Not bad, but not too filling either.

I will stop whining now and go shower.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........FOOOOOOOOOOODDDDD!!!

:0)

Yippee!!!

Tomorrow is the last day of school! Whew! I didn't think it would ever get here! Now once tomorrow comes, I am going to need for time to slow down! I want to be able to REALLY enjoy my summer with the family!

Speaking of family, I am SUPER EXCITED to be going to see my Bro next Friday! I haven't seen him in 6 months! That is the longest I have been in my 32 years of living without seeing his red head! I am in desperate need of a brother fix!!!!! So is Anna Dove. Most mornings when we get up, I say "Who are you going to see today?" She replies, "Garland?!?!" Sadly, I have to tell her, "not yet, baby...not yet." So she is SUPER EXCITED as well. As for Todd, he never really gets super excited over anything. But, I do think he is looking forward to the trip!

Great news.........My step-daughter, Kaitlin got her Driver's License yesterday! I am nervous but excited.

Well, nothing really exciting is going on here, I just thought I would update my 2 followers, thanks guys, on whats shakin round these parts!

Dottie

I cannot believe that I just went to the memorial service for my friend Dottie! I worked with Dottie for about 7 years, and during that time, I not only came to see her as my coworker...She became my best friend. She was the type that could be brutally honest but at the same time loving. She helped me through some interesting times in my life and no matter what, she never judged me by my decisions and always knew that in the end, I would make the better choice.

She was right. I chose to marry Todd and live happily ever after. I chose to be a good wife and now a great mother. These are just some of the lessons I got from Dottie. She also taught me how to pray for God's will to be done and not to pray selfishly. This is the best lesson I learned from her.

When I found out, the first time, that Dottie had Breast Cancer, she had already made up her mind that she had lived a great life and did not want to go through any kind of treatment that would damage her body even more. She asked me what I thought and I told her. I told her that I was going to be selfish and that I wanted her to fight this thing because I needed her in my life. I also told her that her children would want her to fight and Dean would want her to fight. And boy when she decided to fight it....SHE WON!!! I went to several of her treatments and stayed with her when she was sick. I arranged for food to be brought to her and Dean and for many other things that would make their life easier at that time. Dottie even got a puppy from us during this time. She always said that Sadie really helped her, because Sadie depended on her. Sometimes Sadie is the reason Dottie got out of the bed.

During this time I began to pray as I had never prayed before. But instead of praying for Dottie's healing, I prayed that whatever God's will was, let it be something that we as a family could accept (I began considering myself as part of her family) and that it wouldn't be so painful for Dottie. Sometimes it was hard to pray without being selfish, but Dottie told me God's will is stronger than anyone else's.

As Dottie went through her treatments and surgery she always had the winning attitude. It didn't slow her down. This was the Dottie I loved. She has to be the strongest woman I had ever come to know.

She had done a lot of living before I had met her and that is what made her strong. In the years that followed her first round of cancer, she was able to see another miracle happen. Her daughter Amanda became a mommy. This was something that they had both longed for for many years. Wow, this, I think, is what Dottie had made it through the cancer for. her and Dean moved to Winston-Salem to be closer to Amanda and her family.

During the move to Winston-Salem, Dottie found out her cancer had come back. Again, she fought like a champ and was able to spend some great quality time with her family. I Praise the Lord for this everyday! Dottie was where she needed to be, but I hated not being able to be there for her. She had Amanda and Dean and I knew they were what she needed. Sometimes though I feel horrible for not doing more this last time she was sick, but I do know that Dottie was in the hands she needed to be in and that she remembered how well I had taken care of her when Amanda couldn't be here.

I will never forget what a great teacher, woman, mom, wife, christian, and Friend that Dottie was.


This poem was read at Dottie's memorial service today. It was definitely one of her favorites and so true to the way she led her life.


If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Into his nest again,
I shall not live in vain."
Emily Dickinson

Long Week...

This has been a very long week at work. Several of our students are in remediation to prepare for their EOG retest. I, on the other hand, have been babysitting the ones that do not need to be remediated.

We have enjoyed ourselves, but it is a lot harder to plan "fun, but educational" activities that keep these students attention. I have enjoyed the relaxing schedule though. I do feel sorry for those Math and Reading teachers that are doing remediation from 8:30-3:30. NO BREAK!!!

Todd has been trying to get Kaitlin's car ready for her every night this week. He is repainting it at one of his friends houses. This means that Anna Dove and I have not seen him all week!!! And he is there again tonight...Anna Dove and I are just hanging around, being a little bored. Oh well...

I know this has been quite boring and all that, just felt the need to purge.

Enjoy the weekend! I have only 3 1/2 days of school left and then I can spend lots of needed quality time with AD!!!

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.
1 Corinthians 16:13