Oh, Happy Day!!

Corky is finally an M.B.A. graduate of the Arizona State University, W.P. Carey School of Business. We all managed to get through the last two years with our heads on straight. Of course, Corky is the one that did all the hard work, but we as a family had some sacrifices. Corky managed to be successful in his career, move half way across the country, survive hours and hours of homework each week, on top of his 60+ hour job. Most importantly, he was still be a devoted husband and father! I honestly do not know how he did it!

Congratulations, Corky! You are a great example to so many, especially us!

Grand Opening of the Park

This year we attended the grand opening of the Riverside Park. The park here is quite old, but they do an annual event where they open the carousel, miniature train, and min-golf course for the season. (We love those things!) They had a lot of booths to entertain the kids and lots of bounce houses. Any excuse to play in a bounce house, my girls are happy!

Donuts with Daddy

At the end of the school year, Gracey's elementary school has an annual "Muffins with Mommies" and "Donuts with Daddies" breakfast. I didn't think to take pictures when I went to breakfast. The occassion is so rare though to have Corky home with us in the mornings that I had to snap a picture of him and his ladies. Emily was able to tag along for the event and everyone had a great time.

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Dyeing or Dying? How do you spell it?

No matter how you spell it, we had fun!

Good student and great helper!

Emily was quite proud of her artwork from preschool today. She asked me about 20 times on our drive home if I liked it. It still hangs on our wall, right next to Corky's college diploma!



Every Wednesday, one of Emily's chores is to bring the emptied garbage can up from the street. She is always so willing, very rarely needed to be reminded to do it. Now if only we could have some of that enthusiasm with keeping her shoes straight in her closet!



p.s. That house across the street is still for sale! We want great neighbors... anybody interested in living in Independence?

Corky's New Toy

Corky is obsessed with golf. You didn't know that??? Have you met the guy? We live in a golf course community and less than a half of a mile away from the clubhouse. Corky and I decided that as his schooling was coming to an end we would join the country club. Just when I thought I had talked Corky out of wanting to buy his own cart, he finds a great deal on this 1988 gem. Now he can pull out of the garage, head straight to the golf course, and golf to his heart's content!

Even though it wasn't a surprise to Corky that it would be delivered today I wanted to dress it up with a little note and bow! The guy who delivered it sure got a kick out of it!






Honestly though, this thing is a lot of fun. We have taken it on evening strolls to the golf course and played as a family, and the girls see it as good daddy/daughter time as well. It's been worth it.

Emily, the Superhero!

Emily loves capes. She turns jackets into capes, sweatshirts, and blankets. This little puppy paw blanket is her favorite to wear. It is thin enough that she thinks it flies really well in the air.

Today she insisted that she put it on and get her picture taken so she could see how high it flew! It was so muggy outside that I started sweating just with the thought of her wearing flannel, but she insisted.



I have got to make this girl her own cape. She has already picked out the colors for it, it is just a matter of me doing it! I think it would be time well spent because I know she'd love it! What do you think?

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

We live in a great neighborhood. Moving to a brand new town, a town that you had never even heard of before, you pretty much are taking a gamble with the neighborhood. You always hope you have nice neighbors and that there are other kids for your kids to play with. Well, we hit the jackpot! We have quite a few elderly people that live in our neighborhood, but so far, all the ones that I have met have loved the children. Luckily, we have LOTS of kids in our neighborhood as well. A tradition that has been going on for a while now, and now participate in, is the neighborhood easter egg hunt. The location is always different, but somebody holds it on their property. Everybody brings food and enough eggs to cover all the kids. Everybody puts each child's name on an egg so that each kids goes home with the same amount! It is great. It was a great way to meet more neighbors and to begin friendships.



My girls loved searching for their eggs and had a really good time meeting even more kids. It was so windy that day and I wished so much that their hair was pulled back, but that was my only complaint!

Kiddie Land

April 16th, 2001, we took the girls to a little "Kiddie Land Birthday Party!" I think it was the 50th year or something. Gracey and Emily love being able to just run around and just because this little park is geared towards tiny kids, my kids absolutely love it too! They had a great time drinking from the lion's mouth, climbing the hippo, and running around the miniature castle. Corky and I gaurded (and ate) most of the popcorn while they played.



Since Kiddie Land is at the end of the loop of our small town's zoo, we decided to walk back to see if the bears were awake. Of course they weren't really mobile, they are the laziest bears ever, they were out enjoying the warmer weather. It was the closest that we had been able to look at them. They are usually sleeping in the uppermost corner of their cove, way out of sight.

Welcome To Kansas!

I hate ticks! Particularly the kind that climb on animals! Needless to say, Frontline Plus is Buster's (and mine) new best friend!

Birds

Our town is apparently on a migration route of what seems a million types of birds. We will be outside and hear a flock of geese, loud as a train, fly by. I don't usually mind birds. In fact, we have a couple of cardinals that hang around here that I have tried to snap pictures of. However, for a few weeks, especially as the weather was warming up, we were getting flocks of birds of all types. Like I said, I usually don't mind birds.....until they land in my yard in these type of numbers!






They remind me a whole lot of this movie. It kind of creeps me out.

Little Moments

The other day, after Emily and Gracey were playing at our neighbor's house, Emily came home in tears. I could only hear little phrases here and there, but it was the usual "neighbor-kid is so mean" story. We have quite a few kids in our neighborhood, most of them being older than Emily by a couple of years. Not only are they older, but one of the boy's is a little rough. When I look out the window and see all the kids jumping on the trampoline, I can usually bet that one of them will be crying soon. I don't usually see kids being mean on purpose but, like most kids, they argue and feelings get hurt every now and then.

I usually just let them go at it and then try and pick up the pieces after the catastrophe. This day, however, Corky was home from work a little earlier than normal and was the one to talk Emily through it. I watched from the kitchen this tender moment between a dad and daughter. Even though Emily was sad and crying I could have watched it all day.




Corky is such a good dad to our girls. He is patient, kind, and doesn't disregard their thoughts and feelings just because they are kids. I have a lot of mental pictures of other moments like this, but I am so glad that I got some real pictures through my window.

Green Eggs and Ham

In honor of Dr. Suess's birthday (March 2) I made some green eggs and ham for the girls. Not surprisingly, Gracey thought it was completely awesome. Again, not surprisingly in the least, Emily thought it was the most disgusting thing she has ever seen. In fact, her exact words after turning her nose up at it was, "I am NOT eating this, it looks disgusting."

After promising that it tastes the exact same as regular eggs, she tried it and, go figure, she liked it!

Doing service in her own little way.

This last week Corky and I were so impressed with our Gracey-girl. You see, her favorite thing in the world is to accomplish something. Anything. When a challenge is presented to her, especially when followed by a prize, she puts her blinders on and moves forward until her goal is accomplished. Of course, we are talking about a 6year child's goals, but they are her's. Her kindergarten teacher presented a challenge to the class that if they ALL could count to 100 by 5's, then she would walk them to Braum's for some ice cream. Braum's is awesome. I have talked about it briefly here.

So Gracey has this challenge in her head to count by 5's and pretty much accomplished it within a day. As the week goes on, I asked her at dinner one night how her class was doing with their goal. She said a lot of them can do it but there is one boy that is having a hard time remembering. Then she said,

"but I have been practicing with him at recess to help him learn!"

Corky and I made a huge deal to her about how kind that was and how proud we were of her for helping him. It's true too, we are very proud. Even though her ultimate goal is that she will get to enjoy an ice cream party, I know that she is on the right track to experiencing the joy of serving others. As she grows, she will learn that the ultimate prize for helping others is simply the love and satisfaction of doing good.

Beiber Fever

It is happening. My kids are jumping on the bandwagon and totally digging the Biebster! I think it started last summer when we were visiting St. George, I took them to a Zumbatonic class (Zumba for kids) and they danced to "Baby, Baby, Baby, Oooooh!"

Last month I worked at Gracey's school's book fair for a few hours with my kids in tote. I told them that if they played patiently, I would let them pick out their own book that was $5 or less. Gracey could not decide between a Justin Bieber book or the Justin Bieber poster. I realize a poster IS NOT a book, but after how well they behaved for me, I didn't even care. Like I said, this was a real struggle for her as she saw more and more people purchasing the poster. I mentioned to her that I would buy the poster for her if she wanted to use her own money for the book. She jumped on the idea and walked out of there a very happy girl.

Now to my favorite part of the story....

She was very proud of her poster and could not wait to show Corky. I don't remember seeing the reaction that Corky had, so I must not have been there. I do remember I had to be to the weekly youth activity for church that night so Corky put the girls to bed. When I came home, went into the girl's room to give them goodnight kisses, I laughed when I saw this!



Corky is such a good sport and helped her hang her beloved poster right above her bed!

Now, as Gracey crawls into bed every night, she says, "Goodnight Biebs!"

And if anyone is curious what book Emily picked out, Gracey encouraged her to pick out a book about Taylor Swift.

Got Milk?

Gracey has been growing, what seems, right before our eyes! I really don't know where the time goes, or how all of the sudden she has turned from my baby into a real person. I thought I would highlight a few things about her that are worth sharing, but most of all, worth remembering.



Last month, Gracey started getting serious stomach cramps. She had no other symptoms of illness, but her stomach would hurt her so badly that she would be unable to move. About a week of these stomach cramps coming and going, something told me to have her avoid dairy. My little brother developed a lactose intolerance when he was in elementary school that I vaguely remembered. I decided to give that a shot. She quit milk and cheese cold turkey and sure enough, no more stomach pains. I was planning on giving her some dairy after a week or so as a cruel, but insightful, confirmation that she was indeed lactose intolerant. About the same time I was planning on doing that, I get a call from her school telling me that she had stomach pains again. Sure enough, she had pudding for a snack and that did it. She had no idea that pudding had milk in it and her teacher admittedly said she wasn't thinking. (I don't blame her at all. Gosh, she has 22 little ones to take care of!) From then on, we gave her lactose enzymes and she was fixed. She was so good about remembering and reminding me to have one. The tablets made life so much easier for all of us. She could eat any dairy product she wanted without having those awful pains afterward.

About a month later, we both forgot one time. It wasn't until about an hour or so AFTER mealtime that we realized it. It was at that time we also realized that she wasn't having any stomach pains either. So we decided to experiment once again and try having dairy without the tablets. Wouldn't you know it...no more cramps. I don't know what the heck was going on in her little body for that month, but I am glad it's over.

And if anyone needs lactaid enzymes, we have a whole lot that we will share.

Just when we thought they were a thing of the past.

Sunday morning started out pretty ordinary I guess. I woke up not feeling well, which wasn't a surprise since I have had a case of the flu a few days prior. Corky was at church meetings already so I was going to get my girls ready for church, head to Sacrament meeting, then I would come home and rest while everyone else stayed at church. When the girls woke up, I knew immediately Emily wasn't feeling well either. She had a fever and no appetite at all. I then decided that I would stay home with her while Corky would come pick Gracey up before church started.

I walked out of the bathroom with Gracey, where I was helping her do her hair. I took one look at Emily and immediately knew she was having a seizure. She had a blank, glazed over stare, and would not react in the slightest to my words. I ran over, knelt down in front of her,and holding her face in my hands, I just started talking to her. I had my phone by me so I called Corky. I knew he was in a meeting and wouldn't pick up the first time, but would realize it was urgent if I called a second. I know my husband so well because that is just what happened! I told him Em was having a seizure and he left the church right away and was home in about 2 minutes.

At this point Emily was still seizing, foaming a little at the mouth, and somewhat flailing her arms, trying to gain control. Corky opened the door and I wrapped her up in the blanket she was sitting on, realizing then that she had urinated. I asked Gracey to grab me some shoes and we were off. I sat in the back of the car holding Emily, while Corky drove the 2-3 miles to the emergency room.

She had a fever of 102 degrees and so that was the first thing that we needed to take control of. Fevers can make just about anyone have a seizure, but with her seizure disorder, she is even more susceptible. As she became more alert her bahvior became more normal. She tried to talk to us and also was trying to kick Gracey! We knew she was feeling much better and we were so grateful!




After a seizure, there is a time where the brain is trying to "wake up" and it can make the person act a little drunk. Emily was no different. She tried to eat the cotton ball that was used when they were administering her IV and she tried multiple times to have the doctor hold her, which I think he thought was kind of cute. I drove home to get her a change of clothes and my purse, so I will have to have Corky sit and write down anything else that I am not remembering I heard while I was gone.



She was feeling much better and got her appetite back, so the nurse brought some apple sauce for both girls, which Emily scarfed down in about 5 bites!



It was a stressful few hours but looking back, I am really grateful for the wake up call it was. Even though she had an EEG done a few months ago and we continue to give her anti-seizure medicine, we didn't really think we would experience this again. Now we know to continue educating ourselves, teaching Gracey what to do, and even start teaching Emily the symptoms so that she might be able to know that one is coming.

I was proud of all of us on Sunday for staying as calm as we did. Watching Emily go through that is no easy thing, but when you are educated, it is easier to stay calm. I knew that as long as she didn't have any foreign objects blocking her airway, she would continue to breathe. I also knew, probably above anything else, that Gracey was going to react in the same manner that I did, so I felt an even greater responsibility to stay calm and collected. Gracey will most certainly remember this, and I didn't want her to remember chaos or panic.

Just like anyone who takes a CPR class, you hope you never have to do it. Corky and I were scared, for sure, but we also felt prepared. We just really hope to never have to go through that again, mostly for Emily's sake, More than anything, we are SO GRATEFUL that Emily is doing well! We are grateful for modern medicine and knowledge of what is going on in that sweet, little brain of hers!

She came home about 3 hours after entering the hospital. As if our day wasn't crazy enough up to that point, that afternoon we got a new puppy (that deserves its own post), and Emily was playing dress ups like any other day! We love her and are so glad she is doing well!




Her and I are driving to Tulsa this afternoon to meet with her neurologist, so we will keep you posted.

Lesson learned?? Maybe? Sort of?

That seems to be the theme this week in our house. Gracey and Emily have been experiencing some consequences in the "boundary crossing" department, and it hasn't all been pretty.

I don't want to say that I knew it would happen, because I wouldn't have been surprised if she went all year without pulling it. I should say I figured it would happen. Few children, even the best of the angels, go through their entire adolesendent school years without receiving some sort of reprimand. Whether it be a big deal or not. This week Gracey had to a pull a ticket at school. This was devastating to her. I knew it would be when it eventually happened. I anticipated it in the past and nearly emailed her teacher to give her a warning if it were to ever happen. Not because I wanted to the teacher to treat her differently and not discipline her properly like any other student, but because I knew Gracey would take it more seriously than most.

Sure enough, it happened. Her teacher walked her to me after school, which is always an interesting sign, and told me what happened. Mrs. Springer even said, "It really wasn't her fault and I hated having to do it...." I guess some friends of Gracey's kept turning around to talk to her and instead of ignoring, Gracey was laughing and smiling with them. It was quite tragic. Her teacher said she sobbed and sobbed and didn't eat most of her lunch. She pulled her aside and told her how much she loved her and that she knows that it wasn't normal of her. I guess the rest of the day she was a perfect angel. Somebody even was talking in her face on the circle rug that day and she kept her eyes completely focused on her teacher.

I was afraid that her teacher was going to think that Gracey was scared to tell me, like I was going to punish her, so I made it clear that Gracey had extremely high (competitive) standards with herself and was so proud every week to bring home the paper saying she stayed on her green ticket all week long.. Corky and I had a great talk with her that evening about how proud we were that she learned her lesson and ignored the other kids,and this is a good way to remember to always behave well and obey your teacher and parents the first time they something of you. Now I will be honestly surprised if she has to pull another ticket this school year.

Now if only it was that easy with all kids...

Let's talk about Emily. She is not better or worse than Gracey, I am not saying that, just different. Corky and I have to figure out completely different, lesson learning tactics for her. It's difficult. Of course, there are some things that we don't budge on and that has been our issue this week with her.

She has consistently refused to eat her dinner at night. Not because its gross (except she says it is) but because she is stubborn. Since Gracey started eating table food, Corky and I agreed that our kids would learn to eat pretty much anything that was placed before them. We aren't their servants and I am not a short-order cook. Our kids eat what we prepare them. And if they don't, they eat it for breakfast. And if not for breakfast, they eat it for lunch. It sounds so mean writing it out but I would be really embarrassed if my kids said "yuck" or "gross" or refused to eat something at somebody else's home. I want them to be able to eat most things.

Anyway, Emily has been eating lots of dinner for breakfast this week. Last night though, was memorable. Emily has eaten her dinner for breakfast almost every other day this week, but last night's tantrum was awful and hilarious at the same time. She walked away from the table to go to the bathroom and starting screaming at Corky.

"DAD! COME HERE! COME HERE RIGHT NOW! WHEN I YELL FOR YOU, YOU COME HERE!"

We decided to not even validate her one bit and just completely ignore it. As a parent, a child's naughty behavior can get to a ridiculous point that it is just funny. Of course we don't show her that it is funny,and maybe that is why Corky and I get laughing so hard to each other.

When she calmed down Corky was really good to talk to her about being nice and she apologized sincerely....at least as sincerely as a 4 year old, that will most likely repeat the behavior, can be.

Sure enough, this morning she ate all of her Shephard's Pie, without any complaining at all.

We love our kids and love the people they are becoming. We love how different they are. As they continue to grow up, we look forward to celebrating and praising their differences. I write this mainly for myself, Corky, and our girls. Because I know that we will look back on these times and not only laugh, but truly miss it. Even as frustrating as it can be.

Emily is 4! Say What?

Emily is 4 years old (as of Dec. 27th, 2010) and she is proud of it. She has always been kind towards people but it seems this last year she has become very personable. I would still consider her a little shy, but I am not even sure that is the right word. She is an observer. She likes to watch people, see what they do, how they talk, and what they say.

At home though, she is an entertainer. This girl can break out the most awesome dance moves that any 4 year old has ever done. She can shake her booty with the best of them. (And when I mean best...I mean Corky!) She looks so comfortable dancing that it even makes me, her mother, a little jealous.

She loves TV. She'd watch it all day if I let her. Not just cartoons though. She loves to watch Billy the Exterminator, Wipe Out, America's Funniest Home Videos, and most recently (and totally random), Dog the Bounty Hunter. I am laughing now just thinking about her watching those shows.

She loves dogs more than I have ever seen a child love a dog. Because of her, Corky and I are nearly ready to break down and get one. She hasn't even asked for one either. But after we have seen her with friends and neighbors dogs, her demeanor and sweet spirit is just something else when she is around them. It's hard to explain.

Along with her sweet, sweet spirit comes a diva as well. Rarely does a day go by that our little drama queen, Emily, doesn't say something like,

"Gracey, I am never going to be your sister AGAIN!"

or

"I am never talking to you AGAIN! Ever! Ever! Ever!"

or my personal favorite, after she is sent to her bedroom for rude behavior,

"I am staying in my bedroom and never, EVER coming out!"

Can I laugh at that? Because I do. Every single time.

We love this girl, more than words could ever explain.

Me against the world!

Okay, it was really just me against all the neighborhood kids...but still.

It snowed for the first time last night this winter season and my girls were thrilled. As promised, the girls and I were outside playing in it the second we got home from picking Gracey up from school. The snow is way too dry to pack real well for a snowman, but if squashed hard enough, we could make snowballs.

If anybody is on the street in our neighbohood,having fun with anything, I swear all the other kids in the neighborhood can sniff it out and find it. So within 5-10 minutes we had quite the snowball fight going.

I am afraid today's snowball fight is foretelling my future with the neighborhood kids because they sure had it out for me. I am sure they were excited to be attacking me. You know, the mean lady that doesn't let them leave the house until they help pick up the messes they made. Yes, I am that lady!

It was a fun time and hopefully one that my kids will remember too. Maybe even be proud when they think back to the time when their mom took on the neighborhood, one snowball at a time!