The Garden and First Swimming "Soups"

The girls tried on their swimming suits today and played in nasty sandbox water. They've been waiting for this day for 2 weeks. J. worked on the garden, which is nice to see against all of this brown we're currently surrounded by.

Oh Emmeline

Per request, I made my aunt an Emmeline apron like I made my mom. No, I'm not taking requests. Thought I'd put up pictures of yet another finished project (2 in a row!). Of course I got tired and lazy at the end, and finished it in my own way, but no FabriTac was involved in this project. (P.S. It was all I could do to get J to take the pictures)

Marci came over sometime during Christmas break for me to "help" her make a quilt. She got it all cut out, and a few pieces sewn, before giving up. I finished the top for her tonight, but she's on her own for the rest!

Just a couple of Spring Break pictures. It's cold and rainy here, so we're just lazing around the house.

Who?

The girls' great aunt, Dominique, requested some pictures of the girls. Justified, since this is a blog about them. So, I've been carrying a camera around with me for a couple of days, not using it. I decided that the girls needed a bike, so I made it into a prize. If they did everything I asked of them, then they would get a bike. Tonight was the big night. We went to Wal-Mart and picked out pink bikes. On the way out of the door, Addison decided all she ever wanted in the world was a Beta fish. Okay by me...saved me a bunch of money! So. Emma got a bike, Addison got two fish. Addison said she can ride her old tricycle. Here's a couple of shots of them with their new "prizes". We'll see how long it takes for Addison to "need" a new bike.

Darn You, Kerri

I've been tagged. 70 random things about me...

1. I am 5'9"

2. I live in a small, cozy home on 1.35 acres.

3. I am anxious to start my first vegetable garden...yay for Spring Break.

4. Speaking of Spring Break, I am student teaching right now. I just finished at the Junior High (praise God, He got me through) and start at the High School on Monday.

5. I graduate in May. My last day of official class is May 1st. :)

6. My bedroom looks like Mexico...salmon walls and a blue ceiling. I happen to love it.

7. My favorite color used to be yellow. Then red. Currently, it's Tiffany Box Blue.

8. I never got a wedding band. I have an awesome engagement ring, but when I had the girls I stopped wearing it full time. The diamond scratched them too much, and now I just don't think about it. Jarrid doesn't seem to mind.

9. I named Addison, Jarrid named Emma K. I named Addison after the town outside of Dallas. Don't have a good justification for that.

10. I have a tooth implant.

11. I used to have a $10 rule. I would not buy any piece of clothing if it was over $10. I have waived the rule for dresses, now. I will spend up to $25 on a dress.

12. Green beans are my comfort food. Straight out of the can. Don't even have to warm them up.

13. I have always been okay with eating various things straight out of a can.

14. I wear a size 12 shoe.

15. I do the laundry and dishes (which is why they're never done). Jarrid cleans the living room and dining area.

16. Jarrid often cuts/colors my hair.

17. I am THRIFTY! I believe I should try my best to be a good steward of what I am blessed with monetarily.

18. I bake my own bread. Okay, sometimes I buy frozen bread dough from Kroger. But it is still WAY cheaper.

19. I have spent maybe $10 in the last 6 months on laundry detergent.

20. I did however just get a really nice washer and dryer. But it has a good warranty, and it's energy star, so I can justify it.

21. I love fractions.

22. I love Sudoku

23. I read at least one blog a day.

24. I should be doing school work/getting ready for Church right now. Darn you Kerri.

25. I drink water or Diet Dr. Pepper. If I'm at a restraunt, I will have tea or Diet Coke from a fountain.

26. I eat a granola bar every morning for breakfast.

27. I think it would be great fun to throw the kids in the car and go camping around the country for a month. I've actually started saving for this.

28. My dream vacation is Italy. For Jarrid and me.

29. I want to take the girls on a cruise.

30. I did not vote for Obama.

31. I would have voted for Condy Rice.

32. I love Mad Men, but am not able to watch it on TV. Must rent from video store.

33. I love to sew, but my machine is on the fritz.

34. I am not opposed to gluing items I am making. Make fun if you want. FabriTac is the bomb.

35. I use an electric toothbrush twice a day.

36. I don't blowdry my hair very often

37. I used to drive a Ford Ranger, then a VW bug, then a cavalier, then a saturn, then a cavalier, then a saturn. I'm seeing a pattern here.

38. I once spray painted Jarrid's car so it could all be the same color. Surprise!

39. My kids and I exchange "Hives". That's their word for high five.

40. I don't high five other people. But I'll pound if I have to.

41. I'm not a huge hugger. I will rarely initiate the hug. But I love to be hugged by people that ARE huggers.

42. I hug my kids and Jarrid multiple times a day.

43. I was a pharmacy technician for 8 years.

44. At my first pharmacy job, I was put in charge of the foot and deoderant section. Not sure what they were trying to say.

45. I dress my kids in hand me downs. 75% of their clothes come from other people's closets. 20% comes from grandparents, and the last 5% come from me. ( I have a $7 rule on the girls).

46. I work outside of my home. Literally. To the left of my home.

47. I couldn't cut it as a stay at home mom. That's some serious hard work.

48. I can't style hair. I can cut, color, and perm hair, but CANNOT style it. I know my limitations.

49. I love to sing. I sing all the time at home and in the car. I get very animated when I sing.

50. I do not have a good singing voice. I know this. I've come to terms with it.

51. I used to compete in sign language at LTC. I gold medaled.

52. I turn the big 3-0 this year.

53. I'm allergic to cats. I live with two.

54. I've memorized the lines to Clueless.

55. I like sushi.

56. I cannot live with roaches.

57. I've been stung by a scorpion. Intense, but better than having a roach crawl on me.

58. Jarrid and I pack up at least once a year and go to Galveston for the day. The girls have been 3 times. Doesnt' look like we're going to get to go this year, though.

59. Jarrid proposed to me in Galveston.

60. Jarrid took me out dancing for our first date. Which is odd, because neither of us dance. It was a long first date.

61. I need to create. When I get stressed, I have to either make or bake something. If I bake it, then I stress eat...but that's another story. Sometimes I get stressed because I haven't been creative.

62. Doing hair does not count as being creative for me.

63. I've been to Mexico, Germany, Switzerland, and France.

64. I have never been above Tennessee.

65. The best bologna sandwhich I ever had was at Porky's in Memphis.

66. Once I start a book, I don't put it down until I am done. I eat while reading, bathe while reading, and don't sleep until it is done.

67. I would love to go to space.

68. I have zero desire to go to Africa.

69. I have a hard time buying clothing that is colored. Most of my clothes are black or brown, or go with black or brown.

70. I am perfectly content with my family the size it is. If I never had another child, I would be okay with that. If God decides I need another child, I'll be okay with that, too. And although may people won't understand this, I never want to have twins again. God and I have talked, I think He knows where I'm coming from with this...we'll see.

I tag Lori S. and Michelle K.

Cheapskate

It would be nice if my first blog "back" was about the girls...but it's not. I haven't had time to take any new pics of them lately. But I did want to quickly share this new website I found today... http://www.simplythrifty.com/100-things-you-can-make-yourself/. It's right up my alley...things you can make yourself cheaply. I'm kind of interested in making the Ginger Ale.

Mallory is Home!

She will be going through occuptional and physical therapy every week, and should return to school after Spring Break. If no one objects, I'd like to go back to blogging about my kids and stop blogging about Mallory. :P

Another good day today. Still on track to come home Wed.

Mallory is officially off of her morphine and lipids through her IV. The only thing she is still receiving through the IV are her antibiotics. She should finish those up by Wednessday, and as long as everything keeps going well, she will then be able to come home. Pray that she does not get another infection.

Marci, the girls, and I went down to the hospital last night. Mallory was...HAPPY! It was weird. She was almost back to her normal self. She had physical therapy yesterday, and said she surprised everyone with how much she walked. They also put her in a whirlpool. She also went to the school on the hospital grounds yesterday and was able to do some school work. This is a totally different kid than I saw on Sunday. She did end up losing her pick line, and received 2 IV's, which was traumatic for her. Hopefully she gets to come home next week and there won't be any more IV's.

Mallory had her first physical therapy today. Although Mom didn't say much about it, she did say it went pretty well. The doctor came in and said she was working on Mallory coming home next week. Don't know if I already mentioned this...they're back to the original diagnosis of MCTD. All of this was just complications from it. Please pray that Mallory come home (ready) sooner than later.

Mallory finally has a come home date of (hopefully) two weeks from now. She starts physical therapy tomorrow, and supposedly they are going to be pretty aggressive with her. The infection is still present, but her fever is down.

Mallory got an infection in her pick line today, and has a temperature. They're hoping to be able to treat it with antibiotics without having to remove the line. The pain management specialists came by and spoke with her about different options, but no decisions were made yet. This is a set back we were hoping to avoid.

Mal had a pretty good day today. No tests, just resting. She only got cranky when her meds started to wear off, but was good to go again about 10 minutes after she would take them again. Hopefully tomorrow will be the same.

The results of the endoscopy and colonoscopy (that I didn't know about so did not report on) were clear. Still waiting on the biopsy of her feet to see what nerves are affected.

Mallory made it through all of her tests today, and felt a little sick. She and Mom both got no sleep last night and are extremely tired. Hope to hear results by tomorrow evening (if not, then by Monday).

The upper GI did not show any results, tomorrow is the endoscopy. Mallory was not able to eat again today, and in a very foul mood. While I was visiting her the nurse came in to take her vitals. I noticed that her temperature was up around 100 again, and her blood pressure was up as well. She has received lots of cards, balloons, blankets, etc, etc, etc. She really does appreciate all of them, so keep em coming! I think receiving them helps her feel connected.

Mallory is apparently not very happy tonight. They have not let her eat since midnight last night, and she is finally hungry (probably due to the steroids). At any rate, they came to take her to radiology about noon today, finished her last picture at around 7:30 pm tonight, and are supposedly taking her down for another sometime around 9 tonight. Mom also missed lunch and dinner, so I imagine that both of them were pretty short with each other/hospital staff. Dad was able to go down tonight, which allowed Mom to slip away and eat finally. I'm interested to find out what all of these x-rays end up showing.

Mallory has stopped vomiting, and was able to eat 1 1/2 pieces of pizza today! Tomorrow she is having an Upper GI, and Thursday she will have a scope. They think that possibly some of the pain in her feet is caused by a restriction in blood flow, and are going to try placing nitroglycerin patches on her feet tonight to see if that helps. Her blood levels show that there may be pancreitits, but they will know more about that when they get new blood work in the morning.