More Maddie!

My family actually accused me of getting a kitten so I could blog about it! 

Not true.

But I spend so much time during my day being entertained by her antics that I find it hard not to write about her.  And she is so much fun to photograph!

For instance,
I was in my bathroom the other day doing my hair and make-up...

    Maddie was inside a white plastic bag on the bathroom floor ready to pounce on the tempting cord of the curling iron!

 

Then she spotted something on the wall...

So I spend a few minutes making shadows move in the splotch of sunlight on the wall!

 

                            But then her "toy of choice" arrived. 

I really believe Tigger (aka Mr. Wiggles) secretly enjoys Maddie too.

    She's not one bit afraid of his sometimes gruff exterior.

He tries to play it cool most of the time, but she just doesn't let up!

 If he really wanted to, he could take her down easily
 like all those mice, moles, birds, chipmunks...

            But what she lacks in hunting/fighting experience,
                       she makes up for in agility.

    With his extra winter pounds and lack of exercise,
             Tigger is not moving very fast lately!

    And Maddie has really longgggggg arms!

  She can get in there for a quick punch in the blink of an eye!

 Tigger must read her body language.
 She flattens her ears when she is about to attack.

 When Tigger throws a punch,  she tucks and rolls!  Haha!

 Here she tried attacking from the other side, and it took Tigger a while to flip his 15 lb. body over!

 Yes, that orange furry blob with the legs sticking up is really a cat.

 Ok, now she's looking at the dog collar I have in my hand with the
                                dangling tags.

                           Oh,  &%$#@*?+!

              I'll have to remember to clip those razor sharp claws later!

Lady Liberty

Annie at 3.

                                                   






                                                              Annie at 16.

                                           Annie at 23!

Rechargeable!

Before creation, when God was considering how things should be, he decided to make us rechargeable.

Everyone needs sleep.  Sleep is a valued commodity.

Without enough sleep, it is hard to function.

But I don't believe He thought it through.

I used to be a good sleeper.  Then came...

                                             Adam.

Then came...

                                               Kerry.

Then came...

                                                    Annie.


I was a good mother.  I would wake up whenever they even whimpered.

I became a light sleeper.

Then the kids got bigger.  They slept much better.

 

But there were still plenty of nights when I would wake up to find them standing beside my bed.  It was like I had mental telepathy.  I just knew someone was staring at me.

Bad dreams, tummy aches, wet beds.

Fast forward ------------------ teenagers.
Teens driving.  Teens  staying out late.
Trying to stay awake until they are home safely.

Then they go away to college.

But I am still a light sleeper.

AND now my husband snores.

I have to give him credit.
Over the past 10 years, he has tried NOT to snore.

   - He has worn devices on and in his nose.

   - He has had his uvula removed by laser.
     It worked for about 5 years.

   - He has the Pillar procedure where polyester strips
     are implanted in the soft palette to help stiffen the
     tissue to stop it from vibrating during sleep.
     It helped lessen the noise - for a while.

  - He has gone for multiple sleep studies where
    I was actually hoping he would have sleep apnea
    so he could get a CPAP machine,
    which I have been told stops the snoring.
    He didn't have sleep apnea.

  - I wore ear plugs for a while.  Even wearing ear plugs rated
    to the highest decibel level,  I could still hear the sound,
    only muffled slightly.

  - I even began knocking myself out with benadryl so I could sleep.


I have finally found what works the best.
I sleep in the spare bedroom at the opposite end of the house!

When I first began sleeping there,  I almost couldn't believe how peaceful it was!

My children didn't understand why.  They are not light sleepers - yet.
Until one night last fall when they were with us in the same hotel room.
Adam was so desperate he took the pillow and comforter off the bed and slept in the bathtub with the door closed!

From what I understand,  it is very common for men to snore as they get older.
MANY women have the same complaint as I do.

So, God,  why didn't you think it through a little more?

At least you could have given women a battery that holds a charge longer!

 

MANY Thanks

I just finished reading this book. 

The concept of the book is simple.  The author was at a very dark time in his life in 2007.  After writing a thank you note and realizing how that one simple act of gratitude changed his life for the better, he decided to express his gratitude to various people in his life by writing 365 thank you notes.  

These hand-written notes of gratitude not only made a difference in the lives of the recipients, but they changed the author's life dramatically.


"It is impossible to feel grateful and depressed at the same time."   ~Naomi Williams


The author felt his spirits lift as he was looking for reasons to be grateful.   His view of the world became much more positive and hopeful.


After reading this book,  it is impossible NOT to reflect on who I would like to thank and why.

It is impossible NOT to be spurred on to write notes of gratitude myself.  And I will.

It is impossible NOT to consider why the written thank you note is almost a thing of the past.

Maybe it's because emails and Facebook messages are easier.

Maybe it's because we think it is someone's job to do things for us 

          and thanks are not needed.

Maybe it's because we feel entitled and it is owed to us.

Maybe it's because we are self-centered.

Maybe it's because our lives are so busy.

Maybe it's because we just don't notice. We aren't looking.

Maybe we think ONLY the REALLY BIG GIFTS
         warrant a hand-written note.

Here are a few written notes of gratitude that I have KEPT.

What/who are you thankful for? 

"Silent gratitude isn't much use to anyone."  ~Anonymous

ScrapsYard.com | Thank You | Forward this Picture

A Family of SIX

My husband and I were blessed with 3 wonderful children.
For 19 years,  that was it.   We were done. 


Until 2010. 


I wasn't an accident.


We didn't really plan it, though.


It just happened.


At the age of 51, we have added another daughter.

 

Kerry met Jojo in the summer of 2009 when they played on the same summer softball team.

During that summer, they became fast friends.

Since that summer,  we have seen quite of lot of Jojo.  

At first, she was really quiet and we hardly knew she was here.  

But by the summer of 2010, she was a fixture in our household.

She has been present at almost all of our family events.

She has become a sister not only to Kerry, but to Annie too.

She helps Annie with her math and chemistry homework

and spends time with her, even when Kerry is away at school.

She is a big softy... except

                        ...except when she is on the mound pitching.
                        When she's pitching, I barely recognize her!
                                        She looks so fierce!

                       She is like a daughter  to Vance and I.
                              We get more hugs from Jojo
                    than all 3 of our natural children combined. 

Jojo is a friend to our pets too, and has an especially close relationship with Mr. Wiggles!
And now she is a mother-figure to our new kitten, Maddie.

          This fall, we taught Jojo how to  carve a pumpkin.

 

 And I was honored when she asked 

if I would take her senior pictures.

Beautiful!

I DON'T have pictures of all the times we enjoy with Jojo just hanging around the house. 
I DON'T have pictures when we lay around on the couch watching TV together.
I DON'T have pictures of times we sit around talking about the events of our day.
I DON'T have pictures of teaching Jojo to peel a potato or make a grilled cheese sandwich.

I wish I did.  Because those are the really special family times.

Jojo will go away to college next year and we will miss her a lot.

But I know when she's home we will spend some good "family" time together again.

It's Puzzling.

                                 

                                     

               I LOVE JIGSAW PUZZLES!

I have been working for weeks on this puzzle.  It has been soooo difficult because so many pieces look alike.  But I'm getting there, slowly but surely.  I am drawn to it like a magnet.  I find it hard to walk by it without finding just one more piece.  And when I begin, time flies so fast that I realize an hour has gone by!

What is it about these puzzles that is so intriguing?

                Upon opening the box, the jumble of thousands of pieces
                          is screaming to be put into some kind of order.

My mind begins to calm as I look more closely and I am able to group them based on their similarities.

         Even though they all might look the same sometimes,

                each piece is unique with variations in
                    color, shape, patterns, and size.

                    No one piece is more important than another.

           Even though the surface may look even to the naked eye,
                    some pieces stand out more than others.

                    Sometimes it is difficult to see the picture
                                  when you are too close...

               so it is necessary to step back and distance yourself
                               to understand the bigger picture.

       While the front of each piece is smooth and shiny,
look a little deeper and they are all made from the same stuff.

    It really bothers me when I think I know EXACTLY
                        what I am looking for,
                            but I can't find it.

                       Have you ever looked at two pieces
            and wondered if they were really meant to be together?

     

       Yet at other times it is so blatant that they were meant to be.



      Have you ever searched for hours for a missing piece...

                          only to come back the next day
                    and see it staring you right in the face?


  There is SO MUCH to learn from a jigsaw puzzle!

 Addendum:   The puzzle is done!  Thanks to Kerry, Lucas, and Annie who worked on it with me this afternoon for a few hours to get it done!