Happy Father's Day!

Wow, Father's Day really snuck up on me this year. I've been doing soooo good at getting cards and such out in plenty of time to get to the intended recipient, much to the amazement of all who were receiving, lol. As everyone knows, procrastination is a gene I possess. So, I have all the cards here, addressed and stamped, and packages to go out as well and did I send them out? No, of course not. It took way too much energy to actually make it out to the road to the mailbox apparently. I made the calls, though, so at least I wasn't a loser all around. :)

The kids got Tommy two outfits and a goody bag of snacks that he loves, plus a big bucket of gum (I think they got this "for him, for them" though, lol). I'm sure I'll grow to hate that purchase most of all! He liked his gift and laughed at the cards each one of them picked out for him. The boys' card was the funniest: (outside) Dad, you've shown me everything I need to know to be a man... (inside) ..now I just have to find a woman like Mom to put up with me! Truer words have not been spoken!!

Happy Father's Day to all the men in my life!!!

Get out the helmet! The little monkey is home!!

Or maybe I should just get a patch to protect the other eye!! LOL

After being with Mom since Monday, Brooklyn finally came home a little while ago. I missed her terribly but, MAN! my house was peaceful while she was gone. And clean. :)

She is so excited to see Ashley and vice-versa. Ash talked with her on the phone for a few minutes and begged me to bring her out to Taylor's so they could see her. She's a little terror but she can be a little love-bug, too.

Now we are just one kid short. Brad is still at camp, having a great time. I talked with him yesterday morning and they were planning to do the whitewater rafting later that morning. I'm sure he had a great time, especially since he hasn't called but one time!

"It's 7am and my sippie is empty! Fill it now!!"

Maybe this is what Brooklyn was thinking this morning. In any event, this is what I look like after an eventful "wake up call" by Brooklyn this morning. She was in her bed beside me and had her sippie with her; I had woken up about an hour earlier and put Barney or something on for her and had filled her cup. I went back to sleep, lying on my back. Around 7am, she threw her cup (probably b/c it was empty again) and it hit me in the eye. I sat up and grabbed my eye because it freaking hurt and scared the crap out of me!! I instantly started crying (you know that area is sooo sensitive and it hurt so bad) and felt the wet feeling in my hand, thinking it was tears. But when I lowered my hand and looked, it was blood. I REALLY started to freak at that point; I just had no idea what my face looked like. When I checked it out, it was just a huge laceration across my eye, right below my eyebrow. It was swollen and soooo sore. But I didn't expect there to be any more to it than the cut and swelling.

I headed to church not having put any makeup or coverup on it; there just didn't seem to be a need. By the end of service, though, it was obvious something was wrong because the bruise had started to form. People started to ask what happened. By the evening service, it was REAL obvious and today it looks worse.

So, other than not letting her have her sippie in her bed anymore, I'm not exactly sure what to do. I guess I'm going to have to get real tough with her and not let her have anything back if she throws it. That will mean taking her food away at mealtime, though, and that will be the hardest. *sigh*

Here's a picture of the damage :


Brooklyn is with Mom for the next few days and I told her I expect Brooklyn to come home having been broken of this habit. And potty trained, too.

Test today...could've been better

So my test was today. I wasn't really prepared so I think the grade I got was pretty darn good, lol. It was over 3 chapters and I'd only been able to read one of them. I still have a B average, though, so I'm in good shape.

I'm feeling worse today than I did yesterday!! I coughed through the whole test, once even to the point that I had to get up and go get some water. This really bites! I'd love to go home and get in the bed but VBS is tonight and I know the kids are looking forward to it.

On a positive note, I was able to talk with one of the ladies at church over dinner yesterday and she's really sweet. She is the type of person that is hard to read, that looks mad alot of the time. Turns out she's just making that kind of face when she's trying to focus or listen intently, lol. I've been accused of the same thing before; I wonder if people think I'm mad alot of the time? I hope not. That's not projecting Jesus very well...

Sick in the summer? No fun!

Today's been a rough day. I feel like crap. I haven't been feeling well since Sunday - achy, coughing, runny nose, stuffy nose, headache. My throat was sore yesterday and it was worse this morning so I went to the dr. A throat-swab said I was strep negative, thankfully. Rachel told me I have a bronchial infection and put me on some meds. She also prescribed a cough medicine for me that knocks me out (hydrocodone) so I can only take it at night. Why me?!?! :)

I still went to VBS because I didn't want to leave Lydia hanging (even though we have plenty of help out there) and didn't want the kids to miss a night. I warned everyone I wasn't feeling well and so they all observed the "3-foot rule", lol. No kids ran up to me either so I may have to incorporate the 3-foot rule in everyday life.

Hopefully the meds will kick in quickly; I have a test tomorrow and really need to be in my best condition.

Vacation Bible School week!!

Today was the start of VBS at church. They have the coolest theme this year - "Outrigger Island". The committee that was in charge of VBS this year did a great job decorating the church and rooms. Nothing says "let's kick off summertime" like an island-themed week of VBS!

For the 2nd year in a row, Lydia and I chose to serve in Recreation. We were in charge of the kids when they came out to play on the playground. Lydia was good at coming up with some games, bought some pool noodles and hula hoops to have on the playground, and has several things for each day planned. If only it wasn't so hot that you felt like you were melting!!

Brooklyn was in a class for the toddlers and while she's usually good about going into her classrooms, she was a bit hesitant. A very sweet woman in Brooklyn's room, Lori, stepped up to be her "buddy" for the week and she took to her immediately. What a blessing that was!! It made it so much easier to get where I needed to be knowing she'd be fine as long as she had Lori. The sweetest part was seeing Brooklyn squeeze her neck each day when she saw her.

Here are some pics from tonight:

I'm not 32 by myself anymore!!!

Today is Kelly's birthday. As my best friend, she has reveled in the fact that I am 11 days older than her and totally eats up the remaining portion of the year that she's younger than me. :) At 32, she's finally in a place where she's happy and looking forward to the future and I'm so happy for her. Happy Birthday, Kell! Love you bunches!!

This morning, I went to a bridal shower. It was the lingerie shower for my friend Lydia's sister-in-law, Becky. We had a good time at a cool little place called "Giggles" which is a shop with a little cafe in the back. Becky is getting married in just 3 weeks and is really excited. I forget how it feels to be completely head-over-heels in love and ready to be together forever but being around wedding excitement sometimes brings that back. Here's some pics from the shower (Becky is really modest and was so embarrassed to open these gifts in front her mom and future mother-in-law, lol):






Later this afternoon I picked Brooklyn up from Ashley (who was babysitting her while I went to the shower/grocery store). I wasn't very shocked when I noticed she had blue marker ALL OVER HER!! She even drew on her head, the little knucklehead. Apparently the whole world is her canvas, including her body. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come with this kid; I'm just picturing tattoos in her future!!