Remembering 9/11

On September 11, 2006 an effort is being headed to memorialize the 2,996 lives lost on that day. It is very simple to participate. Go HERE and leave a comment. You will be sent a name. From there you dedicate your blog on Sept. 11th of this year to all of those lost, but specifically remembering your assigned person.

2,996 is an effort to bring together 2,996 bloggers in a massive memorial to the victims of 9/11.

On September 11, 2006, the 5th anniversary of the attacks, 2,996 bloggers will each post a memorial to one victim. We will remember the innocent victims of that day–we will not remember the murderers

My husband is home

He got home about two hours ago. Of course the children accosted him and then we all begged for our surprises. I was the most spoiled! He bought me Angel perfum by Thierry Muglar and this adorable espresso coffee set. It has six floral cups with matching saucers and spoons. So ME! He brought home pastries and rolls from a local bakery and a TON of chocolate. There are four bottles of French wine, one bottle of chocolate liquer, and a duty free bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label. (We really aren't alcoholics) He brought the children some little French toys from a toy store, but they are liking the chocolates much better than the toys. I have had two chocolate croissants, two cups of French coffee in my new little cups made with my old French press, and a few pieces of chocolate all the while wearing my new perfume. Yes, life is good. Olaf is tired, has jet lag, and wants to go to sleep in his own bed. Good thing it's a long weekend. He doesn't have to go back to work until July 5th. Woo Hoo!!!

Toulouse, France

My husband leaves tomorrow for France. He will be home Thursday. Pray for me. Caleb does not do well without Olaf. Bedtime is always hard. He cries and wants his Papa. It is so sad. Anyway, Olaf is going for a conference or something. He's told me hundreds of times what it's all about, but I always forget.

It's been hot here. Looking forward to October when the weather starts to cool down a bit. It doesn't get cold till January though. Oh, I'd love to live in Montana. I have never been there, but I bet it's beautiful. Maybe next year we can do a family vacation out West. Maybe go to Yellowstone and then drive to Mt. Rushmore or something. It has to be in the fall though. The only prerequisite is cool weather. That is the great thing about homeschooling. We can take vacations when other children are in school. Love that.

Off to enjoy the day with my husband since he leaves tomorrow afternoon. Have a great weekend.

Neurologist Results

Since they didn't have the results from Olaf's MRI (I could rant about that forevah) the doctor decided that all of Olaf's symptoms are stress related. He told him to take a baby aspirin everyday to help prevent a stroke, a B Complex Vitamin for stress, and then handed him a prescription. Olaf asks what the prescription is for and the doctor says...and I quote..."One to make you happy and one to relax you." Hmmm.... He prescribed Olaf Elavil, an antidepressant, and Klonopin, a seizure medication. Olaf is going to go back to our family doctor and see if he agrees with this neurologist. We really want a second opinion because we don't think it's just stress. He'd like to see a doctor that actually has his MRI results in his hands before he walks in the door. So, there ya have it.

Funny Note: Whenever I do a spell check, the suggested spelling for Olaf is olive. That is what my grandma called him. SHe'd say, "Oh Olive, you are such a good boy."

Insert witty title here...

We had a great Father's Day. We went and saw Cars. It was a cute movie. I enjoyed it. We gave Olaf all kinds of German goodies like candy and coffee and yucky stuff that no one else will eat but him. He loved it. He is at the Neurologist as I write this so I will be sure to post the results of that visit later on.

So far today I have cleaned both bathrooms (always fun scrubbing tubs...blech!) and showered. Woo Hoo!:0) My children are fed but still in their pj's and it is 1:00 pm. They have watched a movie and done a few chores. Now they are all playing pretend together behind me. I need to vacuum next and then get the dishes done.

My poor dog, Ella, isn't doing so good. Her hips are hurting her so badly she can barely move. I hate to say this, but it may not be too much longer before we have to put her down. If there comes a time when she is immobile, then Olaf will take her to the vet for the final shot. As it is now, she moves incredibly slow and has a hard time getting up once she has lied down. Poor doggy. She is only 9 years old.

I am loving my hair. I love to wear it down and not have that dang ponytail all the time. Granted, I don't curl it or anything, but I love it anyway.

Olaf and I are at our "we're fat" stage again. I love it when Olaf finally gets there because he'll actually start watching what he eats. That makes it much easier for me. I need to do the Lord's Table Bible Study again.

Have a great week everyone!

Bragging a little

I am going to brag about my wonderful husband for the next paragraph. If you don't want to read it because it will make you jealous, or worse make you want to hire a hit man for me so you can marry him, then please don't continue reading...

This is Father's Day weekend and right now my husband is sleeping in. Well, trying. Our house isn't huge and I'm sure, despite my best efforts, that the children's voices have woken him up on a few occasions. Do you know that every morning (this morning included) when Caleb wakes up at 5:00 am Olaf is the one who gets up, wipes Caleb's rear end, feeds him and plops him in front of the TV. Then he goes into the garage where our two cats spend the night and puts them in a carrier so they won't scratch on the door and wake me up. This morning he got to go back to bed because it's the weekend, but most mornings he heads off to work at 6:15. I am so blessed to have a man that is not only willing to do those wonderful things for me, but he wants to. He wants to be a good husband and father. He wants to see me happy. There are so many times when I lash out verbally and deserve a good whooping in return...but never. He never gives it to me. He is a rare gem of a man. I am so happy he's mine.

Before and After

This is me BEFORE no makeup:



This is me AFTER with a little makeup:

HAIR CUT DAY!

Today is the day. The BIG day. I get my hair cut. I will take before and after pics and post them on Flickr. Or maybe I'll post them here. Grace and Camille do not want me to get my hair cut. Josiah says he wants me to have bangs (ain't happening) and Caleb could care less. Olaf just wants me to leave some length to it. He does not like short hair and I will honor that request.

Regarding my post yesterday, Andrea commented that she needs space in the morning. That is EXACTLY how I feel. Don't talk to me, look at me, or otherwise bother me and we will be just fine.

Alrighty then...I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Screaming Motherhood

Yes, I woke up this morning literally screaming at my children. I was still in bed at 7:00 am when the other three got up (Caleb had been up since 5:00 am) and no sooner had they gotten out of bed that the littles (Grace and Josiah) started fussing about something and Josiah started screaming and throwing a fit. I bolted out of bed and opened the door and started yelling. I'm sure they were thinking "Well, Good Morning to you too Mom!" I really am mean in the mornings. I always have been. Olaf will vouch for that. (Honey, leave a comment and tell people how mean I am in the morning...) I am not sure why I'm grumpy. It takes about 1/2 hour for me to be civil and then another hour for me to actually be nice. I'll never win Mother of the Year, that's for sure.

Monday, Monday

La laaa La laaa laaa laaa...

Do you know I haven't had a hair cut in a few years? I mean, I did go about 18 months ago and had some long layers put in, but I mean a real hair cut. Where the length changes. I am scheduled to go this Thursday but it may not happen. That is Olaf's late day at work and I may have to cancel. My hair is LONG. Not like Crystal Gayle long, but long enough that it can be a bother. If I don't braid it before going to bed, Olaf rolls on it. Now, Olaf loves my long hair. He doesn't want me to cut it. I promised him that I would not cut it short. But shoulder length would be good. I need a cut that doesn't require anything more than a blow dry though because I will not take the time to curl it and all that jazz. Should I just leave it long? I mean, a ponytail is very easy. Suggestions? Pictures of cute medium length hair would be appreciated. How about color? My hair is very dark brown. Almost black. Should I lighten it? Highlights?

I need to go make Grace breakfast. She wants an english muffin with this on it. She is her father's daughter...

Tag Board is gone

Thanks to spammers. Gotta love the web!

Well, that explains things...

The doctor called yesterday about Olaf's MRI results. It's never a good thing when the doctor calls is it? Anyway, Olaf has some swelling and fluid build up on his brain that are all within "normal" limits. He also has an "insult" on his brain. It's a dead spot. It could be from a traumatic birth or some other time when there was a loss of oxygen to the brain. He is being referred to a neurologist for further investigation. He's just so excited that he can now blame all of his problems on being "brain dead."

"I'm sorry I forgot our anniversary. It's because I'm brain dead!"

Everything is ticking along here. One day at a time. We swim almost everyday. I'm sporting a tan this year which is abnormal for me. I NEVER go outside when it's hot so being just a shade darker than ghost is a major accomplishment. The children have a few movies from Blockbuster Online that they need to watch. Camille had her first piano lesson and loved it. On Wednesday we went out to a Celebration of Life for my friend Karen. That was fun. Karen was diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer a year ago. They invited all their friends and family out for a celebration. They served us pizza and goodies and we just had a good time fellowshipping together. There are a few pictures on her website that I took.

Plans for today include, movies, the pool, and some Toontown. I need to clean something, so I may throw that in there for good measure!:) Have a blessed day!

Thank you for commenting on my last post with ideas on how to keep Caleb busy. I will try to implement a few of those ideas and see if they work.

Camille starts piano lessons today. Since she only goes riding every other week, we had some room in the budget for piano lessons on her off week. She will be taking them from the homeschool choir director. She already knows Camille, so that is a plus. If Camille doesn't "catch on" or doesn't like it, I will not make her continue. She charges $15 per half hour and we will go twice a month. Riding lessons are $20 per month ($10 each lesson). That is $50 per month for both lessons. I don't think that is too bad.

My shoulders are sunburned from swimming in the pool yesterday. The children are loving that pool. We go out everyday. Josiah wears the water wings now and tools around the pool by himself. Grace is getting a little more daring everyday. Yesterday she held her breath and went under. Hopefully the littles will learn how to swim. Camille is too fearful of the water to learn. She's hopeless I think. I am wishing the pool were bigger so I could swim laps and get some exercise. I forgot how fun it is to actually swim. Not just tread water and doggy paddle, but actually freestyle or breast stroke. Now I wish we had an in ground Olympic sized pool in the backyard so I could SWIM.

Speaking of swimming, my Survivor application will be in LA this morning. Olaf shipped it overnight yesterday. I should know by late July if I have made the next round of interviews. Olaf is absolutely convinced they will pick me. I KNOW they will not. That's why we are married. He's the optomist, I'm the realist. Eight hundred people will make it to the next round of interviews.

Have a great day!! I need to get busy.

Statistics

In a span of 5.5 hours (10:30 am to 5:30 pm minus 1.5 hours in the pool) Caleb asked to eat 38 times.

The number of times I had to shoo him out of the kitchen because he was trying to get himself something to eat: 9

From 10:30 am until noon (when we got in the pool) he asked to get into the pool 10 times.

And he only asked for Papa two times the entire day! (It would be more but the pool is new and took precedence.)

OK, so lets do the math. Based on the above numbers, Caleb asked to eat almost seven times an hour. That is more than once every 10 minutes. Combine that with the two times per hour that I had to shoo him out of the kitchen and you get an idea of what I deal with on a daily basis. The key is to keep him busy. The pool was great. He didn't ask to eat once. He does play outside but not for very long because of the heat. I try to get him to help me with chores like folding clothes etc. Any more ideas on how to keep a mentally challenged child (with no attention span whatsoever) busy?

Summertime

Well, Caleb is home for the summer. Chances are I will be less frequent on the blog. He drains me both physically and emotionally. Sorry if you think that is wrong or bad, but it's true. I am a "no facade" kind of Christian. I think we're a rare breed in the "church" now a days. Especially in the homeschooling movement. We want everyone to think we are doing a good job, we never lose our temper with the children, we always look wonderful for our husbands, and always have dinner ready every night. HA! If you don't fit the mold of a "typical" homeschooling mother you can always come here for support and encouragement. Be real. Otherwise you may end up in a mental ward...

On another note, Olaf bought one of those above ground pools with the inflatable ring on the top at Home Depot. The children love it. Of course, I have to be out there because it's too deep for Josiah and Caleb has seizures. If you know me at all, you know that I don't do well in hot weather. Even in a pool. Especially when it means all I do is hold Josiah and stand there. And I don't like the fact that we have to walk through grass and dirt to get to the pool because I don't like dirty wet feet. So this whole pool thing skeeves me out a bit. But, I do it because the children love it. The pool does mean that Caleb won't be asking me to eat as long as we are out there though. That's a plus.

Oh, I have been getting a lot of spam tags over in my tag board. I try to delete them everyday. Just wanted you to know I'm on top of things over there. I may have to take the Tag Board off if it doesn't slow down.

Have a great day!

My husband left me

Only for a night though. He is in Boston on business. Tomorrow he has a doctor's appointment for his shoulder pain that is now in his elbow and wrist. He also is doing a follow-up for that ER visit a few months back. He needs to go see a neurologist. He's a physical mess, but I love him.

Tomorrow is the last day of public school. Caleb goes for a half day tomorrow. Camille is finished with school, but I will give her a page of math or language arts once or twice a week to keep her on her toes. We will officially start school in July. Camille will be in the 5th grade and Grace will start Kindergarten. Did I tell you we got the results back from her PASS test? She aced math like I knew she would.

Yesterday I started paging Olaf throughout the day with reasons why I love him. I sent 13 pages yesterday and two so far this morning. He loves it. I made a list of 100 (which is easy to do...try it!) and will page him for a few days until he gets all 100. Some are silly, some are serious, all are true. The one he likes the best so far has been: "I love you because you want a baby!" He really does want another baby. More than I want one I think. He loves, loves, loves, newborns. He loves kissing their little open mouths and smelling that spit up breath. The ONLY time the man has ever told me to lose weight was last week. I was telling him that when women have a rapid weight loss that it can trigger estrogen production and make a woman more fertile. He said, "Girl, lose some weight. I want a baby!"

I applied for my passport for Survivor. Now, I just need a passport size photo to send in with my application and video. Our ink cartridges are empty so as soon as I buy some more, my package will be complete. It has to be in their hands by June 15th so I have a little time.

I was happy Taylor won American Idol last night. I have liked him from the start. I think Chris would have gotten it had he been in the final two, but I like Taylor.

Camille has started playing Toontown online. What a fun game! Of course, I want to play too so we have to share our Toontown time. You interact with the other "toons" that are playing online with you. It's just super fun.

I have nothing to make for supper tonight so I am going to take the children out for pizza. I'd rather do that then take them to the grocery store:)

OK, time to get going.... Have a blessed day.

Gracie is FIVE!

May 23, 2001 at 4:30 am you were born in Mama's bed. You were almost three weeks early and weighed 7 lbs 10 oz. I love you more each day. I am so proud to be your Mama.

WOW!

I just read my post from yesterday and it really sounds whiney! I didn't mean to sound so whiney...really. Just wanted to say that. Lo Siento, I'm sorry, jammer, me fal, het spijt me, Undskyld, anteeksi, pardon excusez-moi, Entschuldigung, maaf, gomen nasai.

Good Morning

Saturday morning. Caleb's last baseball game. It's supposed to be warm today too. We've had a beautiful week of cool weather. I mean, unseasonably cool. It has been lovely. Back to normal today. Hot and sticky and yucky.

I had a dream last night that I met my new baby niece. Scott (the Dad and my BIL) was alone (I have no idea where Frances, his wife, was) and I was telling him to bring me a bottle so I could feed the baby. Well, he brought me one ounce of refrigerated Pediasure in a bottle for a newborn! LOL! I was telling him that she needed formula and he was just laughing at me saying, "You think you know EVERYTHING Misty." Which is basically the way I feel around Scott in real life. I get the feeling that he thinks we are a bit on the dumb side. Afterall, we are not college graduates and we are born again Christians. That must make us rather stupid to some people. It is a bit sad that Olaf and I have no extended family that we see at all. His father and brother live in NY. His father says he is too old to travel and will not visit. Scott used to come about once a year but we haven't seen him since Josiah was 4 months old (Over three years ago). My mother and siblings live in Oregon. No one will come to Georgia to visit us. It has been six years since I have seen my mother and siblings. I am looking forward to making memories with my children and grandchildren. I cannot wait to have everyone over for BBQ's and big dinners and family vacations. You bet your sweet bippy that I will get my old butt on a plane and travel to wherever my children are. I don't care if it's half way around the world. It makes me feel a bit rejected and unloved to know that my family doesn't care enough to come see us, but I just have to remember that God is the Father to the orphan and the husband to the widow. I have to put my hope in that and not look longingly back at what never will be.

On another note, my poor husband has had shoulder pain for over a week now. It is constant and hurts him a lot. 1200 mg of Motrin doesn't touch the pain. I want him to go to the doctor, but I can only nag so much. I am worried about him because I just read of a person (that I personally know) with severe shoulder pain that was diagnosed with cancer all over his body. Yes, my hypochondria is taking over.

Well, hubby is up and I need to go. Have a great weekend.

I'm here...

***Edited to add that when I posted about my former friend in paragraph two, I was in total agreement with her position NOT to be on the show that contacted her. They got the impression that I was being negative toward them which was totally not my point at all. She took down the post so the link doesn't work, but I am leaving it up so that this edit will make sense to those who haven't read the original post yet.**

No excuses for not blogging. We have been a wee bit busier than normal, but not so busy that I can't plop down for a few minutes and tell everyone about my day. I know y'all are just dying to hear.

Camille went riding on Tuesday AND today. From here on out she will ride every other Tuesday though. That leaves some money in the budget for piano lessons...possibly. I am looking into that right now. The girls are at the dentist for their annual check up. It's Grace's first ever visit to the dentist. I hope she does well. We usually don't take the children until they are 5 or so. It's just too scary when they are smaller than that. Josiah would freak if I took him right now.

I read this post today (took down the link because the original link was changed to some hooplah about me being unkind to them etc. And just FYI for anyone following this post, I did NOT write this paragraph thinking that she wrote her reponse to Wife Swap because she knew I was applying to be on Survivor. I know she doesn't read my blog (but some of her friends do apparantley) and I was just trying to get the point across that I do not always feel the way she feels. She is what I would LOVE to attain to but I have not gotten there, and probably never will. I am a work in progress. She has arrived. That is all.) and felt a bit crappy for applying to be on Survivor. The woman that wrote that post used to be a real close online friend of mine. We e-mailed almost everyday and I truly valued her friendship. In a nutshell, I ticked her off and she told me I was not worth the effort to be my friend. At first I was totally devastated, but the more I read her blog, the more convinced I am that the Lord did the separating. HE truly is sovereign and I believe it was for my good.

And that last paragraph reminds me of this. It is my new favorite song. I know I have pulled (and continue to pull) planks from my eye all the time.

Oh! TTOW! The hippies won the Amazing Race. I am so, so happy. Now if Taylor wins American Idol I can get through the summer alright.

I have stat counter on my blog and it lets me see where people are coming from when they visit my blog. Like, if someone does a google search it will tell me what words they used in order to get to my blog. I get a lot of "puss pockets in throat" (when Josiah was sick) and "weight watchers blinkies" but today I had a FUNNY one. It was "dana undies knee pads"! What the??? Why in the world would they click the link to MY blog?? And who in the world would do a google search for that?

I am re-reading (is that supposed to be hyphenated ello?) Created to be His Help Meet by Debi Pearl. Regardless of what I believe about the Pearl's child raising techniques, this particular book has been good for me. Timely is a better word. God does that, doesn't He? There have been some terrific quotes that really hit me over the head. Wanna hear some? "You are, by nature, equipped in every way to be your man's helper." That really just hit me. I, me, Misty, am equipped in EVERY WAY to be Olaf's helper. Me. Not someone else. Me. God chose me to be Olaf's wife. That made me happy. Here is another quote regarding leading the family; "It is far better that the job be done poorly by your husband than to be done well by you." Ouch! That's all I have to say about that. Then there was this question that she asked; "If God created a special woman perfectly suited to be your husband's helper, would you be that woman?" That got me thinking as well...

Alrighty, I need to run. I have to make veggie pizza for Bible Study tonight. Have a blessed day.