The End of a Long Stretch

This little girl and I took a drive to pick up this little girl…

I haven’t seen her since Wednesday and it seemed like forever!!

Of course, we had to stop for a slush. Haha!

Nurse Moo

Maddie climbed up in Dave’s lap tonight and discovered a “boo boo” on his head.

She let him know that it was there and went right to work “doctoring” it.  I think she spent about 30 minutes going back and forth and getting cotton pads wet and “cleaning” it. 

She was so tender and gentle.

He told her she was going to make quite a nurse someday.

Picture Day, Final Four, and A Goodbye

Daisy sent me a “good morning picture” this morning.  Someone was looking pretty cute for “school picture day” today!! Love that girl!

I was VERY happy with the Idol results tonight! My prediction is James and Haley in the finals.  We’ll see…

On a sad note, Jodi had to have her dog, Mercury, put down today. He was almost 16 years old.  This has been a really hard decision for Jodi and I know she’s going to miss him.  Merc has been there for almost half of the years we’ve been BFFs!! Sad day.

My Co-Worker, A Birthday, Idol, and Kids Say…

Look who got to go to work with me this morning.  She had her “annual” at the vet today, so she got to spend the morning under my feet at my desk.  I think she’d like to go with me every morning.

Today is my sister’s 50th birthday!! Happy Birthday, Val-face (#4)!! I’m not too far behind you.

Wow! Tonight’s Idol was amazing!! James won me over emotionally and Haley, in my opinion, had the best performance for “House of the Rising Sun”.  It was crazy good!!  This season, I have wished over and over that we could just vote for the one we want to go home… it would be so much easier!

I have to tell you this story from church tonight.  It cracked me up.  I had just finished story time and was making small talk with the kiddos (3s, 4s, and 5 year olds). Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed one of the little girl’s dad had come to the door to pick her up.  About that time the kids started talking about being scared and climbing in bed with their parents.  I asked them who sometimes sleeps with their mommies or daddies and a few hands shot up.  One little girl said, “I do, on Friday nights!” Ha!  Then, I asked, “A” – who is better at cuddling? Your mom or your dad?” She answered, “My dad, but I HATE his breath!!”  It was SO funny!!

354–22 Years Ago…

Twenty-two years ago today, I gave birth to my second child… Tyler.  This isn’t news to him, but  when he was born I was a little upset … I had totally convinced myself that he was going to be a girl  (remember, we didn’t get ultrasounds back in those days) and when he wasn’t it upset my apple cart. Everything I had convinced myself of for months wasn’t true and I was going to have two boys instead of a boy and a girl and I wasn’t too happy about that at first.  I actually told the doctor to “put him back” after he told me he was a boy! Terrible, I know.
But, an hour or two after he was born the nurse brought him to me and I spent every minute of the rest of the night holding him and talking to him and naming him (since I didn’t even have a boy’s name picked).  I fell in love that night.  Can you blame me?

I can honestly say that having two BOYS has been the greatest blessing of my life and I wouldn’t change it for the world now.  Hindsight is 20/20.
For T’s birthday, I pulled out the journal I (inefficiently) kept for him.  Here’s one of the entries:
May 23, 1992 (not quite 3 years old)
Tyler,
You know, the first year and a half of your life I thought you didn’t love me because you always clung to your Dad.  But, you have so much love in you, I know that’s not possible for you.  You have more joy and happiness in your little heart, mixed in with a little orneriness and quite a bit of toughness.  It makes a wonderful combination and we absolutely love watching you grow up.  I remember laying on my bed at night looking over the side at a (too large for the bassinette) four-month old Tyler. I couldn’t stand the thought of putting you in your own room. I wanted to look at you, touch you, hear you.  It was one of the most precious times of my life and has been that way every day since, just sharing my life with you.
We have more nicknames for you: Mr. T; T.T. (Terrible Ty); Ty-boo; Monkey; Mookie; Titanic; Tidal Wave; Boo-Bear; Ty Ty; the list goes on.
You are a very loved boy. You have a wonderful personality. I am so blessed to have you! Kale is teaching you so much.  You can do 200 piece puzzles. You can (almost) make your own paper airplanes.  You have a plan for everything you attempt to do. You absolutely LOVE 4-wheelers! You love fun! You’re in the middle of everything that goes!
My heart is so full of love for you. You’re a sweet sweet boy and grow sweeter daily!
Love, Mom
PS. Thanks for the smiles and the tears!
Anyone that knows Tyler will find it funny that when he was 4 years old I wrote “Your facial expressions crack us up daily and your heart grows sweeter with each beat.”
This little story sums up how Tyler looks at life:
One day as we were going down the road, we saw a hitchhiker and Tyler asked, “Why is that guy giving us the ‘thumbs up sign’?” He thought it was the man’s job to be an encouragement to passersby!! Haha!
God gave Tyler a wonderful, warm and fun heart.  The fun part of him was oftentimes a challenge for me as a parent… but I NEVER wanted to break him, only bend him in the way of the Lord.  I am so so thankful for God’s hand in Tyler’s life.  He is so tender-hearted and loving.  He is a man after God’s own heart. And I am so blessed to be his mother. 

* * * * * * *

Izzy gave Tyler a birthday greeting this morning before he left for work…

We spent the evening piled up watching “Sleeping Beauty” with Maddie-Moo (and the Idol results show – can I just say “finally”?).

We grilled pork chops and had mashed potatoes (my favorite!), green beans, and corn on the cob (Maddie’s favorite!).

And then there was Tyler’s favorite dessert – banana pudding.  I think it may be another of Maddie’s favorites!

It’s been a good day for a birthday…
Happy Birthday, Tyler Wilson! We love you!

350–Woman’s Best Friend

I tell people all the time that Izzy doesn’t like to be very far from me.  This is how I spent my Sunday nap …

(She kept her chin on the back of my neck or shoulder the whole time. Ha!)

Such a sweet, sweet dog.

344–Twenty Left and I Got Nothin’

I am TWENTY posts short of completing “Project 365”.  It has really flown and has me wondering if I will keep up with a post/picture a day from here on out.
With that being said… I’ve had a pretty typical day (translation – boring).  Nothing much to post about.
Unless you want to hear how I brought my sweet Izzy to work with me this morning while the “bug man” came to spray at my house. 
Or how I did a circuit workout at my lunch hour.
Or ordered my usual Subway sandwich – turkey/ham on wheat with pepper jack, lettuce, spinach, tomato, green pepper and onion (which goes over real well with my coworkers).
Or how I nearly had a nervous breakdown getting groceries at Walmart tonight – it was a madhouse.
Or how I spent the evening watching last night’s episodes of “Army Wives” and “Coming Home” …and cried during both… then spent the rest of the evening reading.
I’m sure you don’t want to hear about that, so I’ll just post a picture of my Mads… the cutest little “fairy” ever.

343–Our Sunday and a Happy Birthday

We ate lunch with a group of about 17 today.  There were lots of kids there.  These girls had some fun together (I wish the cup wasn’t in front of Maddie’s face on this picture).

Church and lunch wore Mads slap out.  She was loving her new sunglasses! Ha!

While Maddie finished out her nap, Tyler mowed at Ms. Charlsie’s and Daisy and I watched “The Last Song”.  That was a sweet movie.  Sad, too.

* * * * *

Today is  Jodi’s birthday.  We have been celebrating birthdays together for 33 years.  She’s been there for me through thick and thin and I can’t imagine what my life would have been like had God not blessed me with her.

Happy Birthday, JoJo!! I love you!

341–Maddie Made My Day and a Little “American Idol” Chit Chat

Look who had a spa day at the vet today…

After work and my workout today, I went to town to run an errand for Ms. Charlsie.  I texted Daisy to let her know I was near her work… in case she might be getting off work early.  She did get off early and we toyed with the idea of getting our first pedicures of the season.  It’s flip flop time!!

We decided that we didn’t have quite enough time so we went to get Maddie from preschool instead.  Daisy let me go in the room to pick her up (I’ve never picked her up before and Maddie wasn’t expecting to see me)… they were watching a movie and the room was pretty dark so I had trouble finding her.  Then, I heard her yell, “Ms. Jacquie!!!” and she came running and jumped in my arms.  Oh yeah.  I loved that!

Before going home, we stopped at Ms. Charlsie’s for a visit.  We had just picked up the dogs from the vet and I left them in the car with the air conditioning running.  When we came out to leave, the dogs got excited and I heard the car doors lock!! With my keys were in the car. Ha!!  Daisy and I had to try to lure the dogs to come to the window to get them to accidently UNlock the doors.  It took a few minutes, but after a little bit, Izzy put her foot on the driver side door and rolled down the window (the only one that wasn’t locked shut). I guess I need to be more careful.

Were y’all surprised Pia got voted off of American Idol last night??? That’s further reason to change the voting process.  I think they should change it to one of the three options: 1) Each person gets ONE vote TOTAL per night; 2) Each person gets ONE vote per contestant per night (you can vote for any or all of them, but just once); 3) Each person can vote for the contestant they want to vote OFF.  Do you agree with the way the voting is done currently? What would you like to see them do?

339–Things That Make Me Smile

A few things that made me smile today…

… the preschoolers on the playground at church this evening.  Love them!

…getting out my lip balm and knowing that Maddie had it last.  She likes to roll it all the way down.

… Tyler stopping by work with my girl, Izzy!

It’s been a good day.

336–Spring Sunday, What I Thought About “Water for Elephants”, and A Sad Loss

After church (and naps) we took Maddie to a nearby park.  Izzy and I went for a short walk – it was almost too hot for her today (mid 80’s) to do much exercise.  So we took it easy.

The park is right by the river and has a spring.  Kids were jumping off the rope into the spring … I KNOW that water is cold!

There was lots for Maddie to check out…

Some of y’all asked me what I thought about “Water for Elephants”.  Let me just say, first off, that I typically only read Christian books and this one is not.  The story was really good, but there were a couple of parts that were very graphic (hard for me to read through), and there was also quite a bit of profanity.  I’m going to try to start doing a little more reading. Kayla wants me to read “One Tuesday Morning”.  I haven’t read any Karen Kingsbury books yet, but they (along with Francine Rivers books) are the hottest things going in our church library.

On a sad note, my cousins got news today that their dad had a massive stroke and wasn’t found for a day or two.  He passed away this afternoon.  He was my Aunt Rosemary’s husband (she passed away in October 2008).  My heart is so heavy for them. It seems so soon since they lost their momma.  We love you, Hood cousins!!

332–A (Wednes)Day in the Life

Look who came to my office today!! And she had the Preacher running up and down the hallway in the office.  Too cute!

Wednesdays are pretty busy.  One of the hardest things is supper.  Daisy doesn’t normally get off work until 5:00 and it’s usually 5:30 0r after by the time she picks up Maddie and gets here.  We eat supper FAST and run out the door to get to church by 6:15.  It’s always crazy.  So, tonight was great because Tyler went to the store and got stuff for supper and cooked for us!!

Maddie didn’t really want what Tyler made, but she did want to eat this apple.

Maddie LOVES to see her friends at church.  She would go every night, I think.

After church, we all sat around to watch American Idol (which was GREAT).  Tyler likes to have me pop corn in my Whirly Pop. 

He and I like ours with parmesan cheese on top… which usually ends up on our shirts.  Izzy was after Tyler’s leftovers.

331–Randomness–Sick Dogs, Tangled, and Texas (again!)

My poor, poor Izzy had to go to the vet this morning.  She’s on antibiotics for a week or so and then she should be fine… just a little scary for me.  You’d never know that I’m NOT a dog person, would you?  Jodi’s dog, Mercury, was there and had been in overnight… but I don’t think Izzy got to visit him.  Mercury is 15 years old!! He has been going down-hill for a while now. They’re doing the best they can to keep him going (and comfortable).  This is a tough time for Jodi… Merc has been her buddy for a long time.

Maddie is going to be excited when she sees what I got in today.  (I’m a little hooked on Amazon.)

Tangled (Four-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy)

I talked to the K’s tonight and I think I’ll schedule a trip to Houston for my birthday in May! Happy Birthday to me!!