Family Musings

Last week my mom was taken to the hospital for a low platelet count. They sent her home on Friday because her numbers had improved after an IVIG treatment and lots of steroids. At her follow up appointment yesterday her platelet count was back down to 6,000 (it had been around 175,000 when she was released last week). So, she was sent back to the hospital. At this point, the plan of care isn't firm, because honestly, the doctor said the body doesn't usually work this way, even when people have ITP , which is what she was diagnosed with a week ago. I'd share more, but since there still aren't a lot of details available I don't want to share my speculations. Please pray for the doctor's to discover the cause of her low counts and to establish a plan of care that keeps her healthy and active. Please pray for my dad and the rest of our family as we try to support her. Please pray for my mom that she will have peace in her heart and will accept the plan of care th...

I am from ping pong tables, Tupperware and above ground swimming pools. I am from a bedroom community with a church every mile down the main street. I am from the rock garden with a double rocker for enjoying watch the traffic go by. I am from camping in Key West on Christmas day, curly hair, and a different last name for everyone in my family. I am from the people who can't say no and don't know how to sit still. From being the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead and dreams of being a lawyer because I liked to argue. I am from church when the doors were open, because we couldn't say no or sit still. I'm from the Sunshine State, broccoli-corn casserole, and homemade ice cream on the back porch during the summer. From the the person who doesn't know a "white fat boy" refers to a motorcycle and not a person, the man who stepped up when he didn't have to, and the ghost of evil done to someone too small to defend themsel...

This past weekend we went to the birthday party of a special little friend and I wanted to take a gift that was personalized yet inexpensive. Since I consider myself crafty, I combined a couple of my favorite ideas from around the web with a sale at Michael's and came up with this custom t-shirt for 5-year old Lydia. To begin with, I laid out the shirt (sorry the colors are funky in the next 2 pictures, I took them at night in fake light) and put a piece of cardboard inside to keep the bleach from bleeding through to the back. Then, with a bleach pen (cost was ~$1.40 with coupon), I free handed a random, girly design onto the side of the shirt. After about 15 minutes you can see that the color was already started to leave the shirt. After about an hour, the bleach gel had started to dry out and get crusty so I rinsed it in the sink then dried it. Once it was clean and dry, I used purple embroidery floss to stitch Lydia's name on the front. I did this free hand (I'm ...

In honor of this special day for Dad's every where, I decided to repeat my interview with Charlotte , but instead ask her to answer these same questions about her Daddy. What is something Daddy always says to you?  - "Good job!" What makes Daddy happy? -  "When I do a good job." What makes Daddy sad? -  "When I do a bad job." How does Daddy make you laugh? -  "His jokes. Like the bunny rabbit one." What was Daddy like as a child? - " I'm thinking. He liked to go to the potty." How old is Daddy? -  "I don't know, 98?" How tall is Daddy? - 99 inches. What is Daddy's favorite thing to do? -  "Bake food." (I think she means eat foot.) What does Daddy do when you're not around? -  "He just does what he wants." What is Daddy really good at?  - "He's really good at giving kisses and hugs." What is Daddy not very good at?  - "Putting on head bands." What does...

This summer I am hosting a weekly Mom's Night In (MNI) for some of my friends who have preschoolers at home and need a night out to relax while their hubbies tend to the littles at home (and hopefully in bed!). For our most recent MNI, we had a slight luau theme to the party and had some fun playing games from Python-Printables.com. I received a complimentary code to download their luau party games pack and you can be sure I downloaded every single game that came with it! We didn't use all of the games because they weren't all appropriate for our gathering type, but the ones we did play were fun. Our favorite was a fill in the blank game that had more than 30 different sentences to finish. It really helped us get to know one another better and see the ahem, wackier side of some of the ladies. ( As an aside, can anyone tell Brandy a real word that rhymes with coconut?!)  We also played a fun moo-luau mad lib which tickled the heart of this former English teacher. On...

Apparently reminiscing about our trip to see the manatees this past spring , Charlotte decided to draw one this morning. It is now hanging in the art gallery that is my kitchen. After this, she drew a picture of a dog with no ears. When asked why he had no ears, she said he was deaf and used doggie sign language. What have your kids been drawing recently?

I've posted before about why I think it is important to teach my children sign language . And when Charlotte was little I posted all sorts of cute , edited videos of her showing off the signs she had learned. But, as with any second child, Mary just hasn't seen any of the sign language love. So, let me remedy the situation right now with this 2-minute video of Mary showing off what she has learned from me, Charlotte, and Signing Time . Most of these signs came from Playtime Signs so I guess it's time to switch the DVDs out! Oh, and I just found out the other day that Signing Time has come out with Bible Fun: Friends & Play . I might have to add that to the girl's birthday lists!