cute kid quotes

I've been gone for a while

2011-06-25T09:20:00.002-05:00

I may never catch up so I figured the best thing to do is just dive back in. So much has changed in my life over the last couple of years. My last post was January of 2009. Technical difficulties and crazy life stuff got in the way.

I have been divorced since November 22 2010. After 17 years of married life that was something I did not see coming. We have been separated since June 21 of 2009. Jeff was sick for a long time and I tried to help him but he wouldn't stay in treatment. It got to the point where I felt we were all in an unsafe situation. He had to be institutionalized and was diagnosed with several serious mental disorders and alcoholism. He now lives in Illinois with family. I have full custody of the kids and he is only allowed supervised visits. He sees them usually once a year at Christmas. It has been very difficult for everyone but it was the only solution to a bad situation.

The kids are amazing. Taylor is 18 now. He has been sick for a long time but seems to be doing better now with lots of medication. He was diagnosed with Chrones disease, Celiac disease and epilepsy. His digestive issues are under better control now and the seizures have stopped for the moment. He still has hand tremors but we are changing to a new seizure medication that will hopefully help. He will be attending Norman High in the fall. He missed so much school with being sick he still has a while to go before graduating. He is so smart I know he will do fine.

Cameron is 9 and just got glasses. He was excited about that because he was the only one in the family who didn't have them. He loves to read. His current favorites are diary of a wimpy kid and magic tree house. He also loves to do magic tricks. He is quite the showman and keeps us entertained. He is also a ladies man and is always talking about his girlfriends. He loves to play computer games and jump on the trampoline. He also draws and writes stories.

Kaylynne is a princess who loves to dig in the dirt while wearing pretty dresses. She has long beautiful hair that she doesn't particularly like to have brushed but she won't let me cut it. She has never had a haircut in her entire life. She has graduated from SMO foot orthotics to inserts and probably will only need those for another year. Her feet have improved so much and she walks and runs and climbs so well you can't even tell there was ever a problem. She is 5 now and thinks she is a teenager.

I am taking a break from the J.D. McCarty center. They are not at all a family friendly place to work. I am hoping to transfer to another state job and get back to school. I have got to finish my degree but every time I get started something crazy happens to interrupt it. I have been dating Harry since November of 2009. We live together now and are very happy. The kids love him and so do I. We plan to get married eventually but its no rush. We are more focused on getting better jobs and getting school finished. Life has changed a lot over the past two years but we are all healing and headed in the right direction. Life is good!

On a completely unrelated note

2009-01-05T09:46:00.003-06:00

I just scrolled down and noticed my list of labels (the search able key words at the bottom of finished posts) is huge. I have every letter from A-Z represented and several numbers as well. I guess I talk about a lot of different things. Yeah! 2nd post of the new year (there's another number label. I'm on a roll.

Yes I'm lazy and tech deprived

2009-01-05T09:34:00.003-06:00

I finally got on the SLOW pop up ridden computer to take a quick peer at the old blog. I have been feeling terrible for neglecting it. I can't believe how long it's been since I even looked at it. I don't know how I will ever catch up. I'm saving my pennies for a new laptop but other things come first, you know, like eating. All is not lost though because I signed up for Twitter a while back. I can send short little updates about what I am doing from my cell. Even I can find time to do that. So someday when I have the time and the tech I will hopefully be able to re-create these lost months from my tweets and pics. Wish me luck.

Sorry state of my blog

2008-09-27T19:58:00.002-05:00

Our computer crashed and took all my files with it. Jeff is trying to retrieve the contents of the hard drive. At the moment we are using a very old computer that was out in the garage. It is a bit slow and a lot of programs won't run on it. All my pictures are temporarily(I hope not permanently)unavailable. So my blog is a mess.

When we figure something out I will be able to post pics and the rest of the blog entries. Until then all that will be going up is short blurbs so I can remember what I need to enter later.

New Baby Signing Time shows coming in October

2008-09-24T16:27:00.002-05:00

http://www.signingtime.com/baby-signingtime-preview/

Click on the title to go to the preview

You know how excited we all get when fresh new signing time is on its way.

MRI for Kay

2008-09-23T16:25:00.000-05:00

Went to the doctor last friday.

Our day with Rachel and the Signing Time gang

2008-09-21T03:09:00.001-05:00

Rachel performed at the buddy walk on Saturday September 20th

16th wedding anniversary

2008-09-19T03:09:00.001-05:00

We have had a tough year but I am very glad to celebrate my 16th anniversary with my hubby dear.

Rachel is coming for another Oklahoma visit

2008-09-18T03:09:00.002-05:00

Rachel will be performing at the Buddy Walk at the Bricktown Ballpark In OKC on September 20th.

Schools on lock down again

2008-09-17T16:20:00.000-05:00

Cams school was put on lock down today.

Cam lost his second tooth... at school

2008-09-15T03:09:00.002-05:00

His tooth popped out at school. All the kids thought that was really cool. He got to go to the office and get a tooth necklace to keep the tooth in. He swallowed the first one so he was really happy to have this one to give the tooth fairy. He got 10 bucks.

Fun at the county fair

2008-09-06T16:18:00.000-05:00

We took Cam and Kay to the fair and they had a blast.

Sarah's broken and Chick Fil A camp outs

2008-09-03T03:09:00.002-05:00

So Sarah was out mowing her lawn and fell. She went inside and put her foot up but it started to swell. The next morning she called me to tell me about it and I suggested she best go to the ER. Its broken. It was too swollen to do much with so they had her come back later for a cast. They ended up giving her a boot which is nice because she can take it off for baths. She will be out of work for a while.

Danielle and I camped out overnight for the grand opening of the first free standing Chick Fil A in Norman.

Jeff ER visits and more hurricanes

2008-09-01T03:09:00.001-05:00

Had to take Jeff to the ER on the 29th and again on the 1st.

Lots of hurricanes heading towards Louisiana, Florida and Texas.

One year

2008-08-31T13:34:00.002-05:00

It has been one year since I started this blog. It is amazing how much can happen in a year. Here are some stats:

Injuries:
Number of cars crunched:
pictures posted:
blog entries posted: 196 WOW
new skills: Kay can walk and talk! Cam reads and spells like a pro. He has been able to for a while but he is really good at it now. Taylor can navigate the high school experience. Jeff is awesome at being a superviser at work. I am learning to be nocturnal.
New babies born in our families: 2
Deaths: 2
Weddings: 1
approximate hours worked: 2080 outside the home. It is impossible to calculate the number of hours worked inside the home.
Barbeques and family gatherings at our house:
approximate number of loads of laundry: 520
Rooms painted: 11 I think. Seems like more than that. Mom's bathroom, Cam's room Kay's room, master bedroom, master bathroom, hallway, kitchen, dining room, family room, front room, sun room.

JDMC Family Fun Fest

2008-08-28T03:09:00.001-05:00

Family night at work. Food and games. The kids had fun. It was really nice for them to have everyone out.

More cute kid quotes, they never end. I love it.

2008-08-25T03:09:00.000-05:00

All are thrilled with the new baby. Kay can't say Sydney so she calls her baby Sinny.

Kay also says "That teetoes" When we tickle her and she calls the letter "W" "BubbleU"

Now for Cam....

We were complementing him on what a good big brother he is because he is so patient with Kay. He understands that she is still little and sometimes not very good at sharing. I said you must really love your sister. He answered "Well I don't love her all the time."

Cam came and asked me to open a package of crackers so he and Kay could have a picnic snack. I asked him to please be carefull not to make a big mess for me to have to clean. He said "But Mom, you dance when you clean up."

I guess that is true. I spend a lot of time cleaning and when the kids help I try to make it fun so we do dance sometimes. I hope they haven't been making more messes just because they think it makes me happy to clean and dance. So I told him to try to keep the mess to a minimum and we could just dance for fun.

Baby and back to school

2008-08-20T03:09:00.001-05:00

Announcing the arrival of baby Sydney Rogue.

Kids went back to school today.

Taylor is in high school

2008-08-11T03:09:00.000-05:00

We enrolled at Norman North High School today. It snuck up on me like so many things in my life lately.

Baby shower

2008-08-07T03:09:00.001-05:00

It was really cute and lots of fun.

Kay painted the fish tank with chocolate hands.

Mom's back surgery, Jenny arrives and the bathroom is finished.

2008-08-04T03:09:00.001-05:00

Mom had her back surgery today. I will pick her up from the hospital in the morning. It went well and she is feeling better.

Jenny arrived for her visit today. She will be here until the 8th.

Mom's bathroom is finished. It looks really cute. We bought new hardware for the cabinets and a new toilet seat. Mom put up the wallpaper border.

Cool hippie tye dye

2008-08-02T03:09:00.000-05:00

We made tye dye shirts today. Cam has been asking to make one so we got the stuff and did one for every one. It was fun. Each one is very different.

More painting, new bed and Kay's orthopedic appointment

2008-08-01T03:09:00.002-05:00

I started painting Mom's bathroom today. It is a very pretty chocolate brown.

We got a new mattress because the store was selling the floor model and it was tax free weekend. So we got a good deal but we really needed a new bed so I am very happy. We were sleeping on the floor on a twin mattress. Now we have a roomy queen size that is actually up on a frame and every thing. It is the first new mattress I have had since I was a little kid.

Kay had her one year follow up with her orthopedic doctor today. We got horrible lost at Children's hospital as we always do and wandered aroung the buildings for 45 minutes. We finally found Dr. Davey and he said Kay is doing great.

Adventures on the CART bus with Grandma

2008-07-30T03:09:00.000-05:00

When you don't have to pay attention to driving you notice all kinds of other things. Like the two guys skipping together in the Norman High School parking lot and the man golfing in the Sam's club parking lot. Also people on the bus are really nice.

Rachel sent us more signing time shows

2008-07-27T20:55:00.004-05:00

Now Rachel has lots of help in the office to get everything done but when we first got involved Rachel still answered the phone at Two Little Hands. Cam remembers that and because he has been to visit the Signing Time group a few times they are part of our family. Rachel is like that really cool aunt that you don't get to see a whole lot but who sends fun packages in the mail. We got another package today with the latest DVDs. Cam always says Rachel sent me a package cause she loves me.

We got series two volume 11 Once Upon A Time and volume 12 Box Of Crayons. Rachel even signed them for us. We also got a Signing Time coloring book and crayons to color with. Cam and Kay were very excited and as usual the DVDs have been running non stop. Cam says his favorite part is when Rachel wears the silly glasses and when it gets all dark when they turn out the lights and talk about the color black in the Box Of Crayons DVD. Also when Hopkins holds up the signs that say Kiss Please when he wants Leah to give him a smooch in Once Upon A Time.

His favorite signs he has learned so far are word and book from Once Upon A Time. He already knew how to sign book but Rachel talks about how you change the size of the sign to match if you are talking about a big book or a little book.

In Box Of Crayons his favorite signs are gold and silver. Kay likes all of the different parts of the shows. She laughs when she sees Hopkins and she listens when she hears Rachel's familiar voice.

As usual the new shows are a huge hit at our house. Anyone who is interested in learning ASL would benefit from adding these DVDs to their collection.

Thanks Aunt Rachel and everyone at Two Little Hands Productions!!

Visit www.signingtime.com for more info or to place an order.

Work

2008-07-12T12:22:00.002-05:00

Back to work tonight after 2 days off. I would really love to be able to stay at home with my kids. I hate worrying about child care.

I am having a bit of a hard time on night shift. I get sleepy but I stay awake. I get up and work on cleaning projects. It is hard to fall asleep when you are up moving around. I was raised to believe you work when you are being paid for it and if you say you are gonna do something you do it. Some of my co workers are really good but a lot of them don't do much. In fact a lot of them sleep. It doesn't seem that they get in trouble for sleeping. Hey, I think it would be great to get paid to sleep. If I slept at work I wouldn't have to sleep as much at home and I would have more time to spend with my family. I can't do it though. I think it is wrong.

Last Tuesday I worked with someone I hadn't before. I had been warned about her. She shows up late, she sleeps for several hours, and she is a bit difficult. I tried to keep an open mind. I would just do my best to get along with her. She was late so I had already started laundry and cleaning the floor. I had checked all the kids and got paper work out before she even arrived. She quickly mopped her part of the floor then told a story about some other people who work there sleeping when she worked with them. She said she only rests her eyes she doesn't actually sleep. She then went to watch TV.

I cleaned the tables and chairs and wiped down the kitchen and the trash can. I checked on the laundry I had put in the dryer but it was still damp. A bit later she checked the laundry again and I helped her fold what was dry. She put away the dishes and changed out the laundry. She kept going in the laundry room and hanging out so she seemed to always get to the laundry first. Sometimes she would stay in the laundry room and fold the clothes so I couldn't help. I thought maybe she wanted to work on the laundry because she has a very particular way she likes things folded and put away. So I backed off.

Around 2:30 she started napping on the couch. I re-programmed the microwave because some of the buttons had quit working and tried to stay busy. There wasn't that much laundry to do. Around 4:30 she woke up and changed out another load of laundry. She then asked me if I had been told that only one person did laundry cause I hadn't done any all night. What!? I was so shocked that she woke up from a nap to tell me she didn't think I was doing my share of the work. I said I started the laundry and helped fold it I have been checking on it but it hadn't been ready yet. You just seemed to get to it first when it was ready. She said Oh so you started one load and walked off. Wow. I have never been accused of not doing my share of the work. Usually people tell me to slow down. She went back to watching TV and napping. I finished cleaning out all the cabinets in both laundry rooms and took out all the trash except for what was in her patients rooms because she had already told me to stay out of there. Then I cleaned my patients wheelchairs. She didn't help with any of that. She sat on the couch. She didn't clean her patients chairs, she napped. I can not believe someone would show up late for work, nap for a good part of the night and then accuse the other person of not getting enough done.

They get away with it too because we are short staffed so they hate to fire anyone. What ends up happening though is the people who actually work finally get fed up with it and quit. The people who are getting paid to sleep aren't gonna quit. They are gonna end up with nothing but sleepers and no one to get the work done.

More scary TV

2008-07-11T00:02:00.007-05:00

New burger king commercial for apple fries. Scared the crap out of me. The king and his kids reacting to the new apple fries. The boy looks just like him but even creepier. I know it's hard to believe but trust me. I can't find this commercial online yet but while I was looking I found this one which will cause me to have nightmares as well.

http://videos.caught-on-video.com/recentvideos/2/11565dc5-16d3-4f8e-9053-985c014a5203.htm

BoohBahs. This makes Kay run and hide behind the couch and cry until we turn it off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SUq51zVViA&feature=related

At the Beach Tanning Commercials. Cam is frightened by these. Her voice is quite unnerving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jxjwip2cng

You can see more at the beach here:

http://www.atbtanning.com/tvspots/

Cams first missing tooth and gymnastics class

2008-07-09T00:00:00.004-05:00

We went and tried gymnastics class today for Cam and Kay. Cam had a great time. Kay did her own thing which I was fine with but I am not sure the teacher appreciated it. She had a hard time with the different surfaces on the floor and kept tripping and falling. They didn't want her to wear her shoes and braces. I understand they want to minimize wear and tear on the equipment but she has to wear them so its a moot point. The teacher tried to tell me it was OK for her to wear just the braces but I think the ortho is a little more knowledgeable on the subject and I choose to follow his advice.

I am going to look into dance classes next and see if we have any more luck there.

After gymnastics Cam lost his first tooth. It has been wobbly for a few days. He says he swallowed it when it came out. I told him the tooth fairy wouldn't mind. He looks so cute when he smiles.

Finish painting for the love of God

2008-07-02T03:51:00.000-05:00

In the middle of all this crazyness I am still working on the never ending painting projects. I finished Kay's room. I just had to finish the trim. It looks so cute and she was really happy with it.

So now I think I just have to remove the wallpaper in the hall bath and the entryway and paint in there. Paint Taylor's room, the closet doors in Kay's room, finish the top cabinets for the kitchen, and do the blinds in the dining room. I had also planned to paint the outside door and porch but I may wait and tackle that later. Then I do have some spots to touch up but hey I feel like the end is in sight. After I get that done I can help Mom with her painting.

Moving on BBQ

2008-07-01T03:18:00.005-05:00

I have been saying all summer I wanted to have my co workers over for a BBQ at my house. Something always seems to come up though. Painting mostly, I wanted to finish painting before inviting people over.

Then I got my transfer papers to move to a different house on night shift which is 11 PM-7:15 AM. I knew if I didn't do it right away that BBQ would not happen. Besides I may never finish painting. So I invited everyone over on Friday the 27th. Only two people were able to come but it was fun. We ate and then we went to see Wall-E at the theatre.

It's been a rough couple of weeks. I am emotional. I don't like changes so moving to a different shift and house is hard on me. I have been having some trouble at home too so I am a bit stressed. Jeff is having some problems so we are having some problems together. We are trying to work it out but it is hard. He is spending some time staying at his Mom's house and away from us. I am hoping that being forced to spend some time away from us will make him want to be with us and encourage him to find a way to get healthy so he can come back. I am ready to put it all behind me though and hope that better things are coming in the future for me and my family.

I started nights on the 29th. My sleep schedule is so screwed up I don't know if I am coming or going. I miss the kids in good ol house 4. The kids in 3 are great too but sleeping most of the time I am there. It is slow and quiet but I am getting lots of cleaning done and reading. It is nice to be able to find a place to park and I love spending the evenings with my family. I am sure it will get easier once I adjust. I have a really hard time around 4 am. That is when I get up and scrub the kitchen. I get home around 7:30 am and usually eat a quick bite then shower and hit the bed. I try to sleep from 8:30 until 4:30. I am still waking up around 11:30 and trying to force myself to sleep longer.

My favorite little patient was looking for me. He noticed I was gone and kept saying "Poor Jenper" When I came in to work at 11 he was still up and he gave me a big hug and kiss and told me "Earl missed Jenper" Ahh he is killing me! I have been going by house 4 in the mornings so I can see everyone and check my mailbox. It is good to still get to see the kids.

It is kinda funny after all that time I have been working with the house 4 crew on my last day I didn't work with any of the regular people. It was just me and the new girl. Probably for the best cause I hate goodbyes. Tabitha and Kayla will miss me though. Kayla said when I am not there it is chaos and that I change the whole atmosphere of the place. I think because they all fight with each other more when I am not around. I try not to get involved with the fighting and just listen to what they have to vent about. I am good at listening and I don't like to fight. Tabitha is mad at me for leaving but I think she will be OK. They won't even think about me once I am gone.

Promotions, goodbyes and golf cart rides

2008-06-26T03:16:00.001-05:00

Jeff got promoted at work today. This is good news that has been a long time coming. He should have been promoted a while back but because his work schedule was limited by my work schedule they were having trouble making him a manager. He had to be able to work any time they were open in case of emergencies. Now my work schedule is not a problem any longer.

Aparently the chemical spill was too much for one of the workers. She was totally stressed and didn't show up for work. So now they are 3 people down. Looks like Jeff will be busy for the next few weeks.

Two of the kids from house 4 are discharging so we had a goodbye party for them. It was my day off but I went anyway because it was requested by the kids. Cam and Kay came with me and enjoyed cake. Then I took them to play on the playground and on a golf cart ride. They had a great time. Cam told his school friends his Mom works at a playground. Well its not always fun and games but I am glad he thinks its cool.

Last time for a golf cart ride for a while. I don't think I will be on the cart much during my new shift.

Chemical spill at Ace.

2008-06-25T03:15:00.001-05:00

I went by with the kids to see Jeff at work today. Right after we left and Jeff went on his lunch break a shelf collapsed. It was the shelf holding all the chemicals they sell. 600 pounds of fertilizer fell on one of the workers and while they were digging him out one of the other people inhaled too many chemicals and got very loopy. They had to evacuate the store and send workers to the hospital. The fire department and Haz Mat came out. They closed them down for the rest of the day.

I am so glad we got out of there before that happened. No one was seriously hurt but two workers will be out for a while. There is a giant mess to clean up too.

New Kay Pics

2008-06-20T03:12:00.000-05:00

I can't the picture posting button to work. It is really frustrating because I have tons of pictures I have been trying to add for weeks and something is always going wrong to prevent uploading.

I will get the pics added to this post and the others ASAP.

DARN! Emmy results

2008-06-14T11:54:00.001-05:00

Well, Rachel didn't win the Emmy. It went to Bindi Irwin. Maybe next year.

Going Postal or How much is an H stamp worth?

2008-06-12T11:49:00.003-05:00

Ahhh, the post office. Another fine example of how state and government offices waste an insane amount of time and money. How I wish I never had to set foot in another one.

Let me back track a bit. I was out of work for 4 weeks 3 days with a workers comp injury. They were required to pay me 70 % of my salary during that time (yes, they should have to pay 100 %). After a month had gone by with no pay I called them. I thought perhaps they would send me a check on June 1st as that would be my normal pay day. It did not come. When I called and left several messages a day for 3 days in a row and still did not get a call back I was getting pretty nervous. I had bills due and hungry kids and literally NO money. Finally on the third day I called again and she answered. She told me she had sorta forgotten to enter me into the system so my checks had not been printed. I was supposed to have received a check every week. Sucks for me right. So she entered my info, printed a check for the total amount, and said I should get in in 5 days or so.

We had to borrow 100 bucks from Taylor to buy some food and hope the check would come quickly enough to keep things from being shut off.

Now back to the post office story. I had gone to the store and purchased padded envelopes to send our Father's Day gifts. I got them packaged up and went to put the addresses on them. Can not find the addresses to save my life. My one goal for my Thursday off was to get the gifts sent so they would arrive in time. It took about 5 hours but Jeff finally found the addresses it a box of stuff in the garage. Yes, I tried looking on the Internet address finder but our Dads live kind of out in the middle of nowhere so they are not listed. And yes I could have called and asked them but I am crazy OK. I didn't want to call and admit that we had lost their addresses. Somehow in my mind loosing someones address gives the impression that you are an uncaring disorganized boob. While I am still a bit disorganized (we are making progress on the garage) I care very much about the Dads. I just wanted to get the packages sent already.

By this time the post office is closed but they have that handy little drop box for after hours packages. I put them on the scale to see how much the postage would be. 5.60 each. I have no money remember. I brought all the stamps we had in the house and some change to purchase more if needed. I ended up covering the entire package with stamps.

I had to call home to find out what the H stamp is worth. I thought it would be at least 2 cents. I mean what is the point of printing a stamp that is less than that? I thought the rate hikes went up by at least 2 cents each time. But the H rate stamp is only 1 cent. So I ended up being short by 65 cents. I had to go back home a scrounge up some more change. I finally got the rest of the stamps affixed and dropped the packages into the open drop box.

When I closed the door I saw the label. It says that due to heightened security you can not drop off stamped mail that weighs more than 16 ounces. You can only see this label after you close the door after depositing your package. Well, I can't get them back out. So despite my best efforts the packages will not be going anywhere. They will get pulled as a security risk and be held for who knows how long then be returned to me. At that point I will have to return to the post office and hand deliver them to someone who will throw them in the same bin they were already in and ship them off.

The only difference will be that now they will have me on camera delivering the package. I could also use the drop box if I purchase metered stamps with a credit card because then they have a name to trace. So what is boils down to is that they don't plan to search my package or X-Ray it (in which case they would see it is only a photo album with pictures of the kids). They don't really care if I blow someone up they just want to be able to find me later if I do.

This is what your envelope ends up looking like when you are broke.

Here is a interesting site that details the postage increases over the years.
http://alphabetilately.com/G.html

Back to work and new Signing Time shows

2008-06-03T13:56:00.005-05:00

I went back to work yesterday. Two people called in sick and the only other girl working was supposed to leave at 9:00. She ended up staying so at least I wasn't all by myself. Fun times!

My favorite little patient is back though and he was happy to see me. I had just gotten my new set of Signing Time DVDs so we watched them together and he was thrilled.

Cam and Kay have been watching the new shows non stop. Kay can sing along with the theme song now. Cam was really excited about the stickers, chore charts and dusting cloth that came with the set. Maybe he will turn into a neat freak and help me around the house more. Hey, I can dream right?

I really enjoyed the special feature of the trip to Africa. They are doing amazing work there. I wish I could donate a million bucks to the Signing Time Foundation so they could continue to do great work. They will find a way regardless but it sure would be nice to be able to help financially more than I do all ready.

Name that spot

2008-06-01T13:50:00.003-05:00

It has been one week since I cleaned all the carpets in the house. I thought it would be fun to take a tour and see what kind of damage has taken place in a week. Can you guess what these spots are? Spilled blueberry bubble solution

Bit of old squished banana

Green marker

Small spots of mud

Crushed chocolate doughnut with a background of red kool aid

This is my favorite this is a small yogurt stain that looks like a blue and purple tree. It is framed by the very large water stain that was, ironically enough, caused by the carpet cleaner leaking.

Spilled paint

Pasta sause?

That's just one week of stains so in a month or so it will look like I never cleaned the carpets.

We also decided to go ahead and have another BBQ. So here are the pics of the family and two of Jeff's co-workers.

Butterflies, soap boats, volcanoes, and spinning paint

2008-05-29T15:07:00.003-05:00

These are a few of my favorite things. Well, actually these are some of Cam's fun summer projects from week one of school vacation.

We watched caterpillars turn into butterflies and then set them free.

We made a volcano that was supposed to erupt but it only leaked red goo out of the bottom. It was still fun though.

Cam made a soap boat out of a bar of soap a nail and a leaf. Why I don't know but he really wanted to and it looked pretty good. He is a creative kid.

Taking the soap boat for a spin.

Spinning paint machine. Cam made lots of art work with this.

I almost got squished

2008-05-28T13:33:00.003-05:00

Whats left of the branch

Yesterday I got up early to bring in my doctor release to work. It had stormed the night before so everything was still a bit wet out side but it didn't look too bad. I pulled back into the driveway and was about to get out of the car but I hesitated for a few seconds because I was listening to something being discussed on the radio. Then I heard this big CRACK and another branch from the oak tree fell on the car. The whole car shook. If I had gotten out a few seconds earlier I would have been hit by the branch and flying glass.

The branch actually fell on both cars. The Avalon (that I was in) was scratched up but really looked surprisingly unharmed. The Suzuki got hit with the heaviest part of the branch. The back window was turned to a million tiny shards of flying glass and the trunk has a big dent in the top of it now.

I called Jeff and he came out to drag the branch off and assess the damage. Our neighbors across the street came out because they heard the impact from inside their house. The glass is covering the driveway in both directions and went into the yard as well. Thank goodness I hadn't put the kids in the car because the backseat and car seats were covered in glass.

Back seat covered in glass

We took the car over to Mom's garage because it was raining. Now it is over at Binswanger Glass getting a window replacement. I hope they can get all the glass shards out of the seat. It will cost around 300 bucks. We will just live with the dent.

Broken window dented trunk

I had to rush back home to take Cam to his 6 year check up. He is doing great. 75th % for height and 50th % for weight, he is 46 inches tall and 46 pounds. What are the chances of that? This is just another little example of Cam magic.

Later that day we got our economic stimulus check. It looks like it will go to disaster repair (new tire, window, and termite treatment). I really hope we are finished with accidents and odd infestations for a while. We did go buy some food though. Eating is good.

On Sunday I used one of the carpet cleaning machines from Jeff's work to clean all the carpets in the house. He gets free rentals on the machine. The carpets look so nice, for the moment. Cam already spilled paint in the kitchen again but that is life around here.

On Monday we had a Memorial Day BBQ. It was fun having everyone over. Some of Jeff's co- workers even stopped by.

Some exciting Emmy news

2008-05-25T21:41:00.000-05:00

No I wasn't nominated but my friend Rachel was.

The Daytime Emmy Award Nominations
Outstanding Performer In A Children's Series:

BINDI THE JUNGLE GIRL DISCOVERY KIDS BINDI IRWIN, AS BINDI IRWIN

JACK HANNA'S INTO THE WILD SYNDICATED JACK HANNA, AS JACK HANNA

JOHNNY AND THE SPRITES DISNEY CHANNEL JOHN TARTAGLIA, AS JOHNNY

SESAME STREET PBS KEVIN CLASH, AS ELMO

SIGNING TIME! PBS RACHEL COLEMAN, AS RACHEL

How cool is that!? We knew Rachel should have an Emmy all along. Nice to see Signing Time finally get recognised. Maybe she can sit next to Elmo at the awards.

The Daytime Emmy Awards will be telecast June 20, 2008 on ABC at 8:00 p.m. (ET), Live from Hollywood’s’ Kodak Theatre. I just know she will win.

While we are on the subject of the amazing Rachel Coleman let me tell you about GoodSearch. Think about how many times you do a Google search to look for info on the internet. Wouldn't it be great to help a deserving charity just by using a search engine. Log onto GoodSearch and you can do just that. It is so easy all you do is visit the site and fill in the charity you want to help then add the toolbar to your computer. When you use the search engine the site donates 2 cents to the charity you designate. 2 cents adds up fast and it takes no work. You are already using search engines so put your searching to good use.

I desegnated the signing time foundation but you can also desegnate your kids school if they are members. If they aren't members tell them to sign up. It is an easy way to generate school funds.

So tell everyone you know to hop on over to http://www.goodsearch.com/ and help make a difference for some deserving charities.

Rachel just returned from a second trip to Africa where she and the Signing Time Foundation are making a difference in the lives of Deaf students.

Injury update

2008-05-24T01:12:00.002-05:00

I went to the doctor on the 23rd and he released me to return to work on June 2nd.

I have 3 more PT sessions then I see the doctor again in 3 weeks then we should be done. I have to go back though if I feel more pain when I return to work.

Mom had an MRI done because her sciatica has been really bad lately. They told her today that she has 2 bulging disks and 2 of her vertebra in her lower back are narrowing. She has to go see a surgeon for a consultation and possibly have back surgery. It is pretty scary but she is one tough lady so I am sure she can beat this.

Birthdays and end of school.

2008-05-22T13:52:00.004-05:00

For my birthday Danielle and Russ gave us the VIP treatment. We got to go see Indiana Jones on opening night. It was sold out but they held a couple of spots for us in the balcony which are the best seats. A waiter served us dinner and drinks (I had 2 margaritas) while we watched. I really enjoyed the heated and cooled seats. My back felt much better after a few hours of heat and cold. The movie was pretty good and we enjoyed having a grown up night out. I can't remember the last time we went out without the kids.

So a big thanks to Grandma for childcare and baby sis for entertainment.

Cameron had his big 6th birthday and last day of kindergarten on the 23rd. He was born on the last day of school 2002 so it was funny that both events fell on the same day again. It was a big exciting and busy day. They had a pizza party for end of K and cupcakes for Cam's birthday.

Kay and I went and had lunch with Grandma at Boomerang. Then after school we went to visit Sarah and Courtney at their house. They had cupcakes for Cam and we stayed and had Sarah's yummy bean burgers. Friday is bean burger and organic fries night at Sarah's.

The central air conditioner is not working at our house and today was pretty hot. We have been fine with the windows open and the fans but that wasn't cutting it today. The AC is broken at Sarah's too and I think at Dan's as well. Mom just had hers replaced because it died. Pretty much anyplace I visit the AC is broken. I think It might be a curse. It is just miserable and only going to get worse. Oklahoma summers get into the triple digits pretty quick. So the best policy is to be other places as much as possible.

We came home around 7:00 and Cam got his gift. A collection of Skippy John Jones books. If you haven't read them you should and read them aloud. They are very funny and really give you a workout trying to say all the funny words and rhymes. He was very happy. Then Jeff got the AC to work again for the moment and that made everyone happy. It was a wonderful hectic happy day.

What is the world coming to?

2008-05-20T22:16:00.000-05:00

My friend Aly was mugged in a crowded grocery store parking lot in the middle of the day. She had 5 bucks in her purse and this woman hit her in the head with a metal pipe, twice. The police caught her and Aly will be OK. This is just so unbelievable that someone would be willing to injure an inocent person for 5 bucks.

Here is the news story:

http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=5a600079-ba49-435e-b561-fe7a60ec1d11

Taylor Awards

2008-05-19T13:52:00.002-05:00

Taylor had his school award ceremony tonight. He got his writing contest award certificate, a certificate of excellence for contributions in language arts, a certificate of outstanding academic performance for scoring in the top 5 % of all students in 8th grade on the ACT explore program in 4 core areas, and a medal for being on the honor roll all 3 years of middle school.

It was a really nice way to spend the evening with all of us together. We took him to his favorite resturant for dinner afterwards. I think he is a great kid. It is nice to see others agree with me.

How can I be so busy and not be getting anything done?

2008-05-16T13:48:00.003-05:00

I have been spending a lot of time in PT and doctor visits so even though I am not currently working I am still too busy. I see the doctor once a week and the physical theripist three times a week. Plus I am supposed to do the exercises at home every day and sit with alternating heat and cold packs on my back. Did I mention the muscle relaxers they put me on relax me so well that when I take them I fall asleep for hours. No wonder I have no time.

We have a ton of projects going on but at the moment we are focusing on trying to clean out the garage so the termite barrier can be put in. We have been needing to do this since we moved in. The garage got a lot of stuff dumped in it and we still haven't unpacked those boxes. It seems to be a lot of toys and clothes and holiday decorations. Seriously, where do all these toys come from? They have been packed so long the kids forgot all about them so it's like Christmas around here. I have to wash all the toys then organize them into the proper bins. I just have to, its the OCD. The kids then go dump them all out and yell hey new toys. It looks like Toys R Us vomited in my house. The really scary part is I gave away a ton of stuff and it still looks like I haven't made any progress.

Of course there is the never ending battle with the typical house hold chores. I spend so much time on laundry and dishes. Taylor even washes all the clothes but just getting all the clean stuff put away is a challenge. It is the most unsatisfying type of work. You finish and it just needs done again the next day. I really wouldn't mind doing dishes and laundry if I only had to once a month.

I could not attend our little planned reunion in Utah the 16th-18th. I really wanted Mom and I to get to go this year. I need to re-pay a loan first though and Mom couldn't miss the time this close to the end of school. It sounds like all my wonderful friends had fun though. They sent us a cool shirt so we won't feel too left out of all the fun. We have got to make it to the next one.

Here are the camera pics from the last few weeks.

New Baby

2008-05-13T23:48:00.002-05:00

I have a new nephew. Ethan William, son of my step brother, Eli and his wife Holly. He was born on May 13 at 10:42 PM in Seattle and weighed 8 lbs. 9 ozs. All are doing well and we are so excited. The best days are the days babies are born.

Isn't he cute!

A Tribute to Mom

2008-05-11T05:11:00.004-05:00

June 2nd 1978 Kindergarten diploma Mom and Jen after graduation.

In honor of Mother's Day I thought I would share a few things about my wonderful Mom.

When I was a kid My Mom and Dad got divorced when I was pretty little. My Mom managed to take care of everything even though she was a single Mom. She got a job working for the telephone company and my Grandma helped out with watching me when Mom was at work.

A lot of times things were really hard for her but she always made sure I was taken care of. When I started school I really struggled. I didn't want Mom to leave me at Kindergarten. That first year was a bit chaotic because my teacher got sick and passed away from cancer. We had lots of substitutes so I think my problems kind of went under the radar. In first grade it became more apparent I was struggling. I could not read even simple words or identify many letters.

In 2nd grade I was tested and we found out that while my IQ was in the 125 range I had dyslexia. I started to get extra help in the special class for kids with learning disabilities. It wasn't much help and I still couldn't read very well at all. Mom worked with me at home and that did help. Having someone who was focused on me and who knew me so well made the difference and I started to make progress. I know it was not easy. We both felt very frustrated a lot of the time but Mom never gave up on me. And because I loved her and wanted to make her happy I didn't give up either.

I wonder how many hours we spent going over words and trying to decipher books. She would show me the word how and I would read who. I kept writing my J's backwards and mixing up b's and d's. I couldn't write an S to save my life. I could read the book Whose Mouse Are You because I had memorised it. But I still couldn't really read.

Then one day after so many hours of trying not to loose her patience I read a page from Dr. Seuss's ABC. You would have thought I had won the Nobel Peace Prize. She was so thrilled. I was so happy. She brought me to read to everyone we knew. It was quite the celebration and a turning point for me. Once that wall was broken down, once I figured out the trick nothing could stop me. I started to read everything. In the next few school years I caught up with my classmates then passed them. By the time I started 9th grade I was reading and writing on college level.

Mom taught me so much with her patience and endurance. Sometimes life is hard but you can't just give up. She learned something about herself too. She has a gift for helping kids. She returned to school and got her degree in Special Education. She has been teaching for 15 years now and her contribution to the lives of her students can not be measured.

Teaching Special Ed is not an easy job. Many people who go into the profession burn out after a few years of frustration, low pay and feeling under appreciated. Mom is still there helping kids. Sometimes she has to tell parents things they don't want to hear, sometimes she has to deal with very difficult parents, she is always buried in paperwork and many times trying to teach grumpy somewhat unpleasant children. She doesn't give up but I know she wonders if she really makes a difference.

I know for a fact that she does make a difference. Many of her students will never be able to tell her but her very first student can. Mom you perform acts of magic and wonderment every day. You make the world a little better place to be for kids who have learning differences and physical differences. The fact that I am able to write this story is proof.

I LOVE YOU!!

Caution Under Construction

2008-05-10T05:03:00.002-05:00

You may have noticed I have been a slacker lately and not posting any new blogs since the end of March. We have had much going on. I have been taking notes I just haven't had computer time. It was getting to the point of no return. I knew if I didn't get the posts at least organized and added I would never catch up. So I kicked Taylor off the computer today and had a marathon posting of outlines and pictures.

You have been warned. All posts from April 3rd through today were added all in one day from my notes. I backdated them to the date of my notes. They are not finished they are just outlines. I will work on getting them complete as quickly as I can.

two more weeks

2008-05-09T23:00:00.000-05:00

I saw the Doctor today and he said I had to be out for two more weeks. I haven't told the girls at work yet. I really wish we could get some people hired so we would have staff to cover for injuries, illness, and emergencies.

I saw the PT yesterday and she was totally freaked out by me being able to turn my feet around backwards. She said I should not ever do that unless I am being paid to be in a freaky freak show.

Andy Alligators celebration

2008-05-08T04:56:00.003-05:00

We went to Andy Alligators because I had been wanting to take the kids to check it out since I heard about it opening. Celebrating Taylor's contest win seemed like a good reason.

They had a blast. It wasn't crowded and the staff were friendly. All of the machines worked and you don't need tokens. Everything runs with card readers. You load up a card with the amount you want your kid to have and they swipe it at each game or activity. Nice to not worry about keeping track of all those tokens.

Taylor had a blast and could do all of the activities on his own. Cameron could do most of the activities as a passenger with Taylor. He could even drive the bumper cars all on his own. Not much for Kay to ride because she is too short at the moment but she had fun bowling and playing a few games.

Taylor used his tickets to get Kay a light up butterfly wand. He is so sweet.

By the waterfall.

Is this a cigar store?

The Doctor's buggy.

Bumper boats.

This is me and Kay spraying them with the water gun.

This is fun!

Cam driving his own bumper car.

BUMP!

Taylor on the go cart. Cam coulden't go unless he road with a licenced driver. It's hard to tell because the picture is small here but he is signing I love you.

Bowling.

Kay gives it a shot from her stroller.

Taking a break.

Kay tries some games.

Turning in tickets at the self serve machine.

Kay's two is showing. She didn't want to stop for a picture she wanted to run. She has the wand Taylor got for her. Cam got a football.

Taylor the famous writer

2008-05-07T02:41:00.001-05:00

Taylor entered a writing contest a while back. It was open to all of the middle school kids in Norman. His short story, The Fall of Democracy, won 3rd place! We are so proud of him for trying something new and happy that he was so successful in his attempt. Hopefully he will be encouraged to get out there more.

He will get a certificate, suitable for framing, and his story will be published in the school's anthology. Now he really is a fancy writer type person. Yeah Taylor!!

Swing Set of your dreams

2008-05-06T02:09:00.004-05:00

We decided to use part of our tax return to invest in a swing set. We had one at the old house and the kids loved it. It is really a necessity for Kay to practice her gross motor skills when we are at home. It will be so good for the kids to play together whenever they want without a trip to the park.

I did a lot of research this time. We decided to go with a kit we can customize to exactly what we want and build it ourselves. Rainbow and Cedar Works have amazing sets but they are way too expensive for our budget. To get a set close to what we wanted would have been upwards of 5,000. We wanted to spend less than 1,000 but get a good gualiy set we wouldn't have to replace evey few years. And we wanted it to have all the parts the kids wanted, no compromises.

We bought the kit with the plans and the hardware then you add the lumber and cut it yourself. Jeff is going to put it all together once it stops raining so the wood can dry out. It is going to look amazing. The kids are so excited just playing with the parts. They want to be Daddy's helpers.

The set will have swings including a sling swing, a disk swing, a 2 person glider and a tire swing. It also has a spot for us to put up our old "boat"swing for the little ones to use with the harness. It will have a slide, a ramp, an inclined ladder and a rock wall. A sand pit, telescope, steering wheel, and fort tower. It is a Consumers Digest Best Buy Award winner.

Now we just need some nice weather and some time. I think I am almost as excited as the kids. We got it from detailed play systems and had the lumber delivered from Lowes. Unfortunately Ace didn't have the lumber we needed.

Kay's funny temper

2008-05-02T01:54:00.002-05:00

Kay is usually a very sweet and calm child but sometimes she has a funny reaction to something she just doesn't think is right. She can become quite furious.

A few days ago she got some magnets off of the fridge and wanted them to stick to the cabinets. They fell right off and she looked shocked at them. She wagged that little finger at them and said NO NO. She tried again and got the same result. She moved over to the wall, same thing. This made her quite upset so she fussed at the magnets for a few moments before giving up on them as a lost cause and going on to something else.

Today we were running some errands and Kay got thirsty. I told her we would go get a drink as soon as we paid and got back to the car. Then a lady came up behind us in line with a Sonic cup. Kay wanted a sip of that drink and she wanted it bad. At home we have no problem letting Kay share a sip if she wants. She just didn't understand why the same rules wouldn't apply with a total stranger. She cried and got so worked up her little face turned red. The poor lady felt terrible and kept saying I would give it to her if I hadn't been drinking it already. That is one of those lessons you don't think about teaching a little one. You can share Mommy's drink in a pinch but you can not bum a sip from a stranger.

It all worked out. We bought a bag of M&Ms and that wet her mouth enough for her to survive the long drive up the street for a drink of lemonaide.

Speed Humps

2008-05-01T01:37:00.001-05:00

That's right I said speed humps. It's not a typo. We got speed humps installed in our neighborhood. I guess speed bumps just weren't jarring and damaging enough. You have to slow down to 15 or less or you will hit your head on the roof.

The neighborhood on the other side of the school got nice sidewalks put in. We get speed humps. I am all for safety and driving slow and careful near schools and family neighborhoods but I don't think we really had a speeding problem around here. I would rather have sidewalks too.

SO a speed hump is like a speed bump on steroids. Around 14 feet long and 4 inches high they reduce speed to less than 20 MPH to prevent jarring and damage. They cost at least 3,000 per to install.

New car

2008-04-28T01:35:00.003-05:00

Much nicer than the other attempt. A little too nice for us. I am afraid we are gonna junk it up. It is pretty though and we all fit fairly well.
It is a blue Toyota Avalon. Much cooler than a van. It is not as roomy but great for driving around town. It was my Mom's. We are taking over payments on it. She got the new silver Avalon and Mike is driving the old red Sephia. Why he would want the Sephia over the Avalon I don't know. He is a little crazy but good hearted.

Big Girl Bed

2008-04-27T01:30:00.002-05:00

Kay got her big girl bed. How did she grow up so fast? Taylor helped me assemble the new bed and Jeff took down the crib for the last time.

Kay has always been so good about going to bed when she is sleepy. She loves her crib and sometimes just hangs out in there when she wakes up. I thought she would probably be fine with her new bed but I worried that she might have a little trouble with the change.

Reading a bedtime story with Bub.

The first night she fell out once before she went to sleep. I heard her hit the floor then she said uh oh. I think she was just so used to the crib bars being there she flopped over too far. She got up one time and started to wander around the house. I walked her back to bed and said it's night night time you stay in bed and sleep unless it's an emergency. She fell out again around 3 am but the bed is so low to the floor she didn't even really wake up.

She has made the adjustment very well. She doesn't fall out anymore and she stays put. She is such a good girl.

Crazy Who hair.

It's standing strait up.

Bubble time. She slept really good after all this fun.

So much fun!

Cam's silly bubble face.

This is why the poor child needed a new bed. She was napping in the fireplace ashes.

Poor little Cinderella.

Painting fun

2008-04-26T23:17:00.003-05:00

This is one part of the kitchen that is finished. We even replaced the light switch cover with a new brushed nickle finish that matched our faucet. The walls are pale yellow. The color is called Summer Wish. My Summer wish is to be done with painting.

Part of our tax return went to buying the rest of the paint we needed to finally finish painting the house. We have been here almost a year now and we still haven't finished the painting we started, we have done about half the house. We haven't hung any curtains and very few pictures. I think we keep expecting someone to come and tell us there has been a mistake we aren't allowed to live in this nice of a house and we have to get out.

Enough is enough already it is time to really settle in. So I have a giant never ending list of crap to do. I always do but now it has things on it like removing wallpaper, painting, hanging pictures and curtains. My list is 3 pages single spaced typed and some of the items on it are things like plan a birthday party for the boys and remodel the bathrooms. Really you could have a sub list of a dozen more things just under each of those.

First item was to finish painting the kitchen because it had already been started when we ran out of paint. Also we got one free can of paint in that color because the can sprung a leak while they were shaking it up. I figured I better use that first before it leaked all over eternity.

I thought it would take 2 or 3 days to paint the kitchen. It is not a very large kitchen. A week later we will still not be done. This is partly because I am a perfectionist and a little OCD. I decided all the interior surfaces needed to be painted as well. Even way back in the recesses of the cabinets were no one will ever look again. It just had to be. So a week extra and another gallon of paint purchased and it will still not be finished. So glad we get an awesome discount at Ace.

This is one of the weird places Kay likes to store half eaten bananas but it also is a good before shot of the hardware and color of the drawers and cabinets. I think this barn type hardware was used in every home built in our area in the 50's. It is very hard to keep clean because it tarnishes and it has lots of dimples to gather dirt. So happy to see them go.

Here are my practical real life painting tips:

Start from the top. That way if you start to fall off of your ladder you can still catch yourself on the unpainted lower section of wall without getting covered in paint.

Paint the most visible section first. You will really feel you have accomplished something and if you poop out before finishing the rest you will still have a nice section to look at.

It is easy to poop out. Painting is not fun after about 30 minutes and trust me it will take a lot longer than 30 minutes to finish even a small project. Just keep going. Eventually you will run out of things to paint.

This is very important. Only work in one room at a time. It may seem to make sense to tape off all the rooms and paint all the trim at the same time but DO NOT attempt this. Several rooms in a shambles all at once is a sure fire free ticket to your nearest mental health institution. Just do one room. You will feel a sense of accomplishment when you totally finish a project. Also you need at least one safe room to escape to for sanity breaks. Try to keep one room neat and untouched so you can get away because Calgon won't help you.

Think you don't have enough kitchen cabinets? Start painting and you'll wish you had less.

The kitchen is the hardest room because it has so many surfaces. Also you can't totally keep people out of it. We all gotta eat. so you have visitors the entire time you are working. Be well rested before you start this project because you won't get much sleep once you start.

You learn interesting things about your house while painting. You find past paint colors hidden away in little seen areas. Our kitchen has been at least orange, grey, slate blue, and puce in the past. The old kitchen flooring was linoleum tiles that were black with rainbow flecks. The stove was once gas and the water heater was once in the area that is now the pantry. Someone put in new counter tops and in the process buried one of those old fashioned slide out wooden cutting boards. I have fun trying to imagine what all those colors and features looked like when they were together.

Painting is much harder when you have a 2 year old climbing on your back. See if grandma wants to play.

The phone will always ring or a child will need something when your hands are hopelessly covered in paint.

The room you are painting, no matter which room it is, will become a kid magnet. It will suddenly for some inexplicable reason become the most fascinating place on the planet. Be prepared.

Most importantly. Pick a color you love. If you don't love it lie because I am never painting again.

Technology - a sticker that can zap you in the butt

2008-04-25T23:05:00.003-05:00

I have been going to physical therapy for my back. I usually have to bring at least one child with me to the appointment. Because I have small children in the room I usually don't get to use the E stem machine which is sad because I love the E stem machine. If you have ever used one you understand.

I am not willing to risk being alone in a room with two, two year olds who like to push buttons while I am hooked up to a machine that is electrically stimulating the muscles in my back. I am afraid they would have too much fun shocking the snot out of me.

They have this cool new doo dad that is really fun though. They stick this big sticker on your butt that has a little battery built in. Then you go on about your business and the sticker zaps you in the butt and sends medicine into your bloodstream through your skin. How did I not know about this amazing device? How have I lived without it this long?

The silver lining to having an army of ants taking over your house - they eat termites.

2008-04-23T22:43:00.003-05:00

Jeff says I have a sickeningly optimistic personality. I tend to point out the good things that happen as a result of the bad things that happen. This weeks subject-Ants. They are everywhere. Every sink, every room, on the ceiling. They fall on you, they climb on your food and late at night when its real quiet you can hear them laughing at you. Nothing we tried discouraged the never ending influx. We put out traps, we sprayed all the doors and windows inside and out, we sprayed the entire yard. I finally said enough, we need to call in some professional help. The exterminator type not the psychiatrist type. Although we could probably use both.

When the man came out to spray I told him they had even built a nest in the interior side of the door frame that goes to the back yard. "Um, ants don't do that" he says. So I take him in the back and show him. "Well, those may be ants but that is a termite nest. Ants eat termites."

So the ants are annoying but they may have eaten enough termites to keep the damage to a minimum. Even so they found 4 active termite colonies just in the back yard. So now we have to have the whole termite treatment done. The lowest bid we found was 1,100. What can you do but pay up and hope they don't eat your entire house.

Hurt back

2008-04-20T22:43:00.003-05:00

I hurt my back at work April 20th. I thought I would be OK so I kept working through the 24th (I had a few days off during that time) but it continued to get worse. I will be out of work for at least two weeks. The x-rays look OK so it should just be a muscle strain. No lifting allowed.

It's spring start cleaning!

2008-04-15T22:40:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year. The weather is getting nice outside. I have been cleaning everything and getting the yard all nice. We still have so many leaves covering the yard. The flowers are starting to bloom. Everything is getting green. I love playing outside with the kids.

The azaleas are blooming.

Cam and his slinky.

Kay blowing on the pinwheel.

Happy girl.

I like this picture because it looks like the ball is hovering.

I don't know what these flowers are. They are kinda like honeysuckle but purple.

The bees are really liking them too. They are so pretty though.

Cam kicks the ball.

Cam contemplating his bandage

Kay kicks the ball.

Kay digging in the flower pots. Getting dirty is her favorite outside activity.

Cam on the slide.

Kay on the slide.

In the bouncer.

Kay and Maddison out for a walk.

The first peonies bloom.

BBQ at our place

2008-04-13T22:14:00.002-05:00

We had a BBQ for Sarah and Taylor's birthdays. We hadn't had a party since Christmas because the weather has been so bad. It was nice to have everyone over again.

Singing happy birthday.

Checking out the cake.

Kay, Grandma, Courtney, and Sarah singing.

Blowing out the candles together.

YUM!

Taxes, Unions and working in a prison or a combat zone

2008-04-08T22:01:00.002-05:00

We went and did our taxes today. That is always so fun. When they typed in my employer number it showed up as a military base so she started asking me if I spent any time in active combat. Well, it depends on the day but, no I do not work for the military.

Anyway, we should get our return in the next week or so. We plan to use it for house repairs and for a down payment on a used car and hopefully a swing set for the kids.

I got a call from the OK health program this week. It is a benefit offered by the state where they set you up with a mentor to help you get healthy. It sounds like a good plan. When they called they thought I worked in a prison. Again, depends on the day but, no not officially.

I am so glad I joined the union. I had a mediation session set up with the director of HR and the big boss at work to settle the problems with the payroll error they made. Because I am in the union they provide representation to help me with the process. All I wanted to accomplish was getting them to admit they handled the situation incorrectly and make sure they don't do this to anyone else in the future. I did not make the mistake, they did, and they continued to make it worse by not following the proper procedures to make it right. The union rep called the HR Director and she apologised and said I didn't do anything wrong. She said it was over and they wouldn't pursue it any further. They used some of my accrued leave to pay back the money. That is fine with me because I can't get a day off anyway unless someone dies or I get hurt. All that leave will just sit there till doomsday or it expires. You think I am gonna get a vacation any time soon? HA!

Birthdays AKA What!? Taylor can't be 15.

2008-04-06T23:45:00.001-05:00

The kids with Taylor's cake.

Kay enjoying Daddy's cake.

Jeff had his 36th on March 29th and Taylor had his 15th on April 6th. Yep that's right I said 15th. How the heck did that happen? Taylor can't possibly be 15. I am not that old. He will be able to start driving soon. Ahhhh!

We had a quiet celebration at home. I made a cake then had to go to work. Taylor got to go see the superhero movie with his Grandma. We are going to do a double birthday for Cam and Tay later when it is nicer weather. Taylor is a pretty awesome 15 year old.

Jeff on his birthday.

Kay likes cupcakes.

Cam does too.

The cake for Taylor that Cam decorated. It has a giant fake candle on top.

Living large like a VIP theatre event

2008-04-03T23:54:00.003-05:00

The grand entrance.

Danielle is the manager of the new Warren's theatre in Moore and Russ manages the restaurants. They have been working hard to get the theatre and restaurant up and running. They had a family and friends night before the opening to train the new employees and make sure everything was working. We were able to attend and it was lots of fun. We were able to see a movie, have drinks and popcorn and play in the arcade all for free. We also went on a tour of the building. I took some pictures before I found out only the press is allowed to do that. Oops, sorry. I will just pretend I am with the press and share my pics anyway. I am writing a good report and I don't plan to steal the theatres designs.

Dad and Kay on the motorcycle game.

Taylor enjoys a game of pinball.

Cam and Grandma liked Ms. Pac-Man.

The theatre rooms are amazing. The picture and sound are the best quality and the decor is beautiful. Everything is art deco and velvet curtains and ushers opening the door for you. It feels like you are attending a special fancy event. The seats are the same design as the bucket seats in a Ford Mustang and very comfy and spacious.

If you really want a special treat you can see a movie from the balcony. They have a bar and a restaurant up there and can deliver your food and drinks right to your seat so you can dine without missing any of your movie. The seats are extra big and heated or cooled at the push of a button. Some of the seats are couches so you can snuggle extra close with your sweetie. It is 21 to enter so you won't have anyone crying or kicking the back of your seat. Well, unless the adults start doing that.

The restrooms are very spacious and have plenty of room for changing babies or fixing your hair and makeup, depending on your priorities. They have a fireplace and sitting area near the restrooms so if you have to wait for someone you can do it in style. The entire building is very spacious so you don't feel boxed in even when it is very busy.

The downstairs restaurant is very yummy and affordable. We fed the whole gang (family of 5) for about 25 bucks. The kids really liked the jukebox. The kids also thought the popcorn station in the snack area was cool. They have flavoring stations set up so you can add your own seasonings to your corn.

Everything was very clean in the restrooms, restaurants and theatre. They have an army of employees sweeping and polishing. Awesome place and lots of fun. We plan to visit again soon.

It's over!

2008-03-31T14:13:00.001-05:00

Finally, that ordeal is over.

The police called me back this morning and said I was absolutely right to tell that "Detective" I would not give him the car. They said no detective would have called me and threatened me that way and they advised I not turn that car over to anybody until I got confirmation from Big Red.

They said if I was called or threatened again or if someone came to my house to call them back and they would come help.

I then went back to trying to contact the dealership. I wanted them to come get the car off of my property immediately. I called the cell number I was given on Sunday again and still got no answer. I left another message saying someone needs to call me and come pick up this car. I also told them I thought they had a horrible way of conducting business. I didn't appreciate them having some bogus detective call me and threaten me.

Then I called the main line and got the receptionist. I told her I needed to talk to someone in charge so I could get some answers. She said none of the managers arrive until 9:00. So I explained my situation to her. She seemed a bit shocked at everything that had gone on. I told her I appreciated her help and that I understood that she had nothing to do with the situation but that I would really like for her to make sure the right person gets my message. The main point of the message being - come get this car and I don't want to have anything more to do with you.

Big Red called back about 45 minutes later and hung up on me when I answered. They called back again a few minutes later and it was Derek Sills, the car salesman. He wanted to work something out. I told him the car is at my house come get it. He said he was sending the "Detective". I said he is welcome to it as long as you say I can release it to him.

I went ahead and told him how I felt about the situation. I told him what the "Detective" had said when he talked to me and how rude he was. I told them I had called the police and they said they were really walking the the line on keeping it legal. It is illegal to impersonate a police officer but it is not illegal to claim you are a detective. Saying you are a detective with a badge that works for the state is pushing it.

He told me that they didn't tell the detective to say those things and that he would check up on that. I said he is representing your business so it doesn't matter if he was told to say those things or not the fact that he did reflects badly on you. Threatening people who have done nothing wrong is no way to conduct business. I have been honest in my dealings with you from the beginning and you have continually lied to me. Why didn't you just call and say we need the car returned?

He said they couldn't get in touch with me (I guess they never thought to try one of the 5 numbers or email we gave them) so it is standard procedure to get their detective on it. I said I have been calling and sending email and not getting a return call. How can you say you can't get in touch with me? So he said we were playing phone tag. All they had to do was leave a message saying they needed to come get the car and that they couldn't get the deal worked out.

I told him that on Friday I was left a message saying the paperwork had been turned in so I was lied to again. I told him I had already called the police and reported them and that I would report it to the better business bureau as well as every Internet rating site I could find. I plan to write to the newspaper and tell everyone I know what they did so no one else will be treated that way.

So he started saying now you don't need to go and do that we can work this all out. It doesn't need to be like that. Just come on in and we can get you into a different car. We got some nice vans that just came in. We still have your trade you don't want to have to bring it somewhere else and start all over.

Are you seriously still trying to sell me a car?! I think the dealership is being run my demented monkeys. I said I don't think so. I am done with you.

I went to the car max site and they have the same car for less and will give me cash for my trade. Their salespeople don't work on commission so they just sell you the car you want when you want it. No pressure. The person called me back within 5 minutes and was very polite and helpful. They can have the car we want shipped to the OKC store or they can call us when the OKC store gets one.

So when we get our tax return we will replace the car and get a much better deal.

I am so happy to be done with this. I had to deal with the people at Big Red for 3 weeks and wanted to strangle them. I would not have been happy locked into a long term contract with them.

Another point, when I was arguing with Derrick over the legitimacy of their hired "detective" he kept insisting that he does work for the state so he was not misrepresenting himself. I think he is confused between someone who is licensed by the state (Which he may be. I am guessing a state licensed private investigator.) and someone who works for the state. I am licensed to drive in the state of Oklahoma that does not mean that I work as a driver for the state. Why would the state hire someone to work recovering cars for a privately owned car dealership? Come on people use your brains a little.

Also as I suspected they took in our trade solely to try to force us into doing business with them. Not cool.

Our tow truck driver buddy is interested in buying the car. He will go pick it up no problem. Then if he wants to buy it it's super easy to arrange. So the cost of towing is not an issue and not a deterrent to taking our business else where.

Did I mention the car was filthy, totally out of gas, and had 600 miles on it after we drove it around for free for 3 weeks. Yeah, they are a pain in the ass but I am OK with that deal. I am not really any worse off than I was 3 weeks ago other than being very annoyed and upset for a few days. They however, now have a car that was brand new that they thought they were gonna get over 15,000 for sitting on their lot looking a mess with 600 miles on it and they got no money for it. They will probably take a loss on the vehicle because they shouldn't be able to pass it off as new. Just in case they try the VIN # is KNAFG525077087179

So if you buy a car in the next few months with that VIN I can tell you it is not new it is used. Get a discount!

I really hope they do not plan to try to get us to pay for the car to be cleaned or anything else. We were told the car belonged to us and we drove it and used it because it was supposed to be ours. We have kids, things get a bit messy.

Oh Wait, It Gets Better.

2008-03-30T13:10:00.002-05:00

You are not gonna believe this.

I called the 250-1991 number from the email this morning and it says "The subscriber you have dialed is not in service. Message number OK 0156."

That is about as helpful as I have come to expect them to be. I called the 808 6241 number which is the only one I have found with a voice mail service and I left another message. I told them I needed someone to call me back that I need to know what is going on and that if they don't intend to work out a contract with me they need to send someone from the dealership to pick up the car.

I got a message on my answering machine from a "Detective" Duke (wonder if he is related to David?) it just said to call him back. That seemed weird to me so we looked up his number on the Internet. He is listed on a web page called Fugitive Recovery Network out of Oklhpma City. I figure if the guy can't spell the city and state he lives in he is probably not too much of a threat. Um, last I checked I am not a fugitive and I was intrigued so I called him back.

He said he had been hired by Big Red to recover the car I refused to return. He wanted to know why I thought I didn't have to return the car that belonged to them. Big Red has not told me to return the car. The last communication I had from them on Friday said that they had turned in the paperwork. I have left messages and sent emails and no one has called me back to explain what the next step is. They keep saying they are working on it and that they will get back to us. I really think the entire dealership has gone completely out of their minds. They are so out of touch with reality they don't know what is the truth anymore.

So this Gary person says that is not true. That the dealership has told me that they need the car back and that they can't help me. He wants to come to my house and pick up the car. I have no intention of giving some creepy stranger my address so he can come over while I am at home alone with my children. I have no intention of putting the keys in the car and leaving it in our driveway for anyone who happens by to steal it. I am not turning the car over to him I don't know who he is. If the dealership wants the car they need to send someone from the dealership to pick it up so I know it has been released to the right people.

Well, he didn't like that answer. He wanted to come get the car and asked if I would be home. I told him I am going to work soon. So he said fine I will come to your work and pick it up. I told him I work at a state facility and we have security gates, they won't let you in. He said he works for the state too and he would show his badge. It doesn't matter they won't let you in unless you have a badge showing you work there or a badge showing you are a state trooper. The police department has no jurisdiction there because it is state property.

So then he said he would go to my husbands work. I told him to forget it he doesn't have the car and he won't turn over the car key to someone he doesn't know.

I again said I would turn over the car to the dealership. I want to protect myself and make sure the car goes to the right people. He said well I can see why they hired me you have a really bad attitude. He then threatened me by saying they would take me to court and that it was against the law to keep a car that they had asked be returned.

I would say that is the point that it got really ugly. He has implied that I am a liar, he has threatened me and stated that I am doing something criminal. I told him all of that was not true. I have not done anything wrong. I am saying I will return the car if the dealership calls me and says they want it back and send someone from the dealership to pick it up. I then said I would call the police department and let them work it out. He really didn't like that idea. No, no, no you don't need to call the police. They won't do anything. This is a civil matter not a criminal matter so they won't get involved. This was a big red flag for me. Why would he have a problem with me contacting the police for advice? If they are doing everything right and I am doing everything wrong as he claims it seems like he would want the police involved.

I told him again I had no intention of turning the car over to him but I would be happy to talk with someone at the dealership. I got him to give me a cell phone number for someone named Robert January who is the finance manager. I guess this is the person who contacted him but I have never heard of this person. Gary assured me that when I talked with Robert he would tell me to turn the car over to him. I said thank you and hung up.

I called the number and, here's a shocker, no one answered. I left a message. I told them someone needs to call me ASAP. If they want the car someone from the dealership needs to come pick it up.

Then I called the police department. I never knew the police department actually closes on Sunday. You can call 911 but the non emergency number is not answered on Sunday. I don't really feel this is a 911 kind of thing so I left a message with Beverly in investigations and asked her to please call me back. I really hope she can offer some advice in this matter tomorrow morning.

Wow, I can't believe what a mess they are causing.

All they had to do was be honest and say we can't help you bring the car back. They seem to have an aversion to telling the truth though.

They also still have possession of my trade in.

I guess I will just have to wait and see what happens in the morning when everything is open again.

Hopefully I won't go to prison for my evil genius criminal ways. I guess if I was gonna get in trouble for "stealing" a vehicle I should have gone for something more expensive and made a break for the border.

Yep, they still suck.

2008-03-29T23:45:00.002-05:00

Update

I didn't hear anything from the dealership Wednesday. Thursday after I left home for the day someone named Derrick Fields ? called and left a message to call them back. Derrick is the one that Jeff talked to on Monday and he said he would check with his boss and call us back. Then someone named Jerry/Larry Pile/Powers ? (can't understand what he says) called and also left a message saying he had a couple of ways to get this all worked out but he needed us to call him back.

Yeah, did I mention that I had been waiting to hear from them since Monday? Now they act like I am the one not calling them back.

So Friday morning I called the number this Jerry/Larry guy left and tell them who I am and that I am returning a call but I am not sure who I need to talk to. They ask who my finance person was, that name I do know, Edwin Marx. Well, he is too busy to talk, of course, so they have me leave a number so they can call back. I carefully spelled out my name and gave them my cell number because I have a better chance of catching that. Then I went off to haul a large amount of fire wood to my Moms. Of course the cell rang when I left it in the car. The message said:

Friday 1:41

Uh, this is uh, Kenny over at Big Red returning your call. I turned everything in yesterday at about 12:30. You may want to check with your bank to see how long it takes to bill to your account. It should show some kind of reading on your account as pending. Thanks for your help.

What is he talking about? I have no idea. This makes it sound like they went ahead and put the paperwork through and they are gonna bill my bank account for the payment. So Friday after I got home from work I called every number I had for Big Red. One had a voice mail service and I left a message. I said I need to talk with someone. I keep getting different answers from different people and I need to know what is going on.

Saturday I still had no call back so I went to the web site and sent an email. I told them I needed to talk to someone about the car I had bought and that I wanted a copy of their privacy policy.

This is the response I got from the email:

Hi Jennifer,

Thank you for your inquiry with Big Red Sports/Imports. For over 33 years Big Red Sports/Imports has taken great pride to treat our customers with respect and appreciation. Our Internet Team was created to provide you with the "no hassle" experience you deserve. We take great pride in offering first class pre-owned vehicles and offering some of America's finest new vehicle products.

Once again please accept my sincere thanks for shopping with Big Red Sports/Imports. We look forward to working for you. One of the members of our Internet Team will attempt to reach you by phone and email as soon as possible. If you are in a hurry please call us immediately at 405-364-4400.

To be pre-approved for a loan with good or bad credit click here

If for any reason your expectations or concerns are not being addressed in the proper way, please call my boss, Tom Drommond, immediately. His cell phone number is 405-250-1991. I hope you never need to call him, but I'm committed to you having the best online buying experience, regardless.
D'Shawn Coddington

Big Red Sports/Imports418 N. Interstate Dr.Norman, OK 73072

So we are still driving the car. I will try calling the number from the email in the morning. If they ever do call me back I plan to tell them they can come pick it up when ever they are ready. Even if they get the deal that I want worked out I have no interest in doing business with them. They have no concept of customer service skills or how to run a business. They are so disorganized and dishonest I would constantly worry about what stupid thing they would try next.

They have at least 5 different contact numbers for us plus my email and they still can't seem to get in contact with us. Crazy.

They are welcome to the car. The car that we have now been driving for free for 2 1/2 weeks, that has been keyed down the right side, that is filthy inside and out, that the birds have pooped all over. That now has 550 miles on it, that I used to haul dirty firewood, that sister peed in and spilled her milk cup in. That I may or may not have run over a opossum in (hopefully that will take care of THIS problem).

I wish them luck in selling it for the price we had agreed upon to someone else. It ain't a new car anymore.

Here are the giant mounds of fire wood I hauled in the back of the car. I also hauled a bunch of junk from our garage. It is a bit funky back there now.

News Flash! Car Dealerships are shady.

2008-03-25T15:49:00.016-05:00

At Big Red you can have a job, 199 dollars and a ticket to hasbeen town if your name is Rhett Bomar.

What!? I'm working here.

Warning! Do not go to Big Red Sports and Imports, at 418 N Interstate Drive Norman, Oklahoma, for service or sales. They will leave you disappointed in both departments. They get the worst kind of bad review from me. Two thumbs down, a big fat F and a PTTTTHHHH!

Pull up a chair and let me tell you a little tale.

I stopped in to the Big Red dealership on March 12th to LOOK at options for a used car.

My other car was in the shop at Big Red because they had put in a new engine improperly and now had to install another new engine. I had no transportation because they did not give us a loaner car even though they caused the damage to my car.

I had done my research and knew I wanted a Kia Rondo. That is the only reason I even went to Big Red. I figured they were my best bet for finding a used Rondo because they are the local Kia dealership.

The salesman was very friendly and helpful. They didn't have any used Rondos with the 3rd row seat, a necessity for my 3 kids and 2 car seats to fit. They did have a few new 2007 Rondos with the 3rd row. I didn't want a new car. I have never bought a new car because they depreciate so much. He convinced us to just take a test drive.

I had no intention of buying a car that day. I told them I wanted my payments under 300 a month (I didn't think I would be approved for more then that)and that I was waiting for my tax return so I could use that for a down payment. I did not have any money that day.

They convinced me that it was not a problem. I didn't need a down payment. I could walk out of there with a brand new car for 380 a month and just keep my tax return for other things. A new car not a used one. Used Rondos are hard to find especially with the 3rd row because they have only been made for a few years.

I had a trade in that I had purchased from Big Red probably 6 or 7 years earlier. It is a Kia Sephia that has a cracked front axle. It starts and drives but I was afraid to drive it because it is difficult to turn and makes a horrible noise. I told them all of this and they said it didn't matter. They would give me 1,000 for it. That with the factory rebates and the owner loyalty rebate put the cost of the car at 15,339.50. Less than many used cars. It seemed too good to be true.

I kept asking if they were really sure. I didn't want to take it home and show the kids and move the blasted car seats into it just to have them change their minds and want the car back. I know that they have done this many times to others in the past. They kept assuring me they would not BS me, it was a done deal. No problems.

I signed paperwork and everything went fine. Edwin Marx is their finance person. I got a weird vibe from him. He doesn't make eye contact and he is not very personable. He tried to bamboozle me into getting the extended warranty contract. Why do you need an extended warranty on a car that comes with a 10 year 100,000 mile factory warranty? He just slipped it in with all the other paperwork and said either sign here or here. He did not say it was optional. He also tells you it only costs you such and such per day instead of giving you the quote for the month. Do not get the extended warranty. It is not worth the cost.

So I went home in a new car. The kids were thrilled. We were able to fit the whole family in all at once and go places all together. We got insurance for it, a little over 100 a month.

Eight days later on the 20th they called my husband and told him they forgot to have me sign something and I needed to come back in. They also said they needed us to get our trade in to them because they had someone who wanted to buy it. We had it towed in that night.

On the 21st I went in with my Mom to drop off the other car that they had failed to repair again for the 3rd time and to sign this forgotten paperwork. Edwin Marx made us wait a very long time. He kept walking past us and saying I'll be right back. I was thinking you called me to sign something why can't we just get this over with. I have to go to work soon. So I was just about to get up and leave when he finally called me in to his office. He said we can't make this deal work. We need you to give us a 3,000 down payment today to keep the car. WHAT?! Are you kidding me?

What a bunch of liars. They lied when they called and said they needed me to sign more papers. They lied when they said it was a done deal and no problem. They lied when they said they would not BS me. They lied to get the trade towed in so they could have an additional bargaining chip. They pulled a bait and switch. Sure you can have this car at this price with no down payment. Take it home for a week then we will tell you we need more money and you will just give it to us because it is too hard to back out of the deal now. Your trade in is already here. You already bought insurance. You don't want to have to move those car seats again and tell your kids the new car went bye bye. Plus we have your other car in the shop again because we can’t seem to figure out how to fix it and we won’t give you a loaner so you are stuck. You have to get to work so just give us the money. Yeah, right. I am not that desperate.

There were a few things they didn’t bargain for. One, I would rather walk away without the car than deal with unscrupulous, smarmy, unethical, business practices. Two, I did not have the new car with me because I drove the broken car over to get repaired and Three, my Mom was with me to give me a ride home. My Mom is the nicest person you ever want to meet but don't mess with her family. She was quite awesome at putting them in their place.

They thought they would be able to bully me because they asked for me to come, not my husband. They thought I would be alone and they thought the car would be there so they could take it from me while I was in the office. It didn’t work out exactly like they planned.

My Mom proceeded to give them a piece of her mind and told them she wanted to talk to the owner. They sent in the general manager. He told us he could put us in a different car if we didn’t have the 3,000. I don’t want a different car. This is the car we all fit in we can’t put everyone in a little car. He then told me the bank they are using to finance the car doesn’t finance Kias so we would have to pick out something else or give them the 3,000 extra. Why would a Kia dealership work with a bank that doesn’t finance Kias? That makes no sense.

They also said I didn’t tell them the trade in had problems. So not true. I told the salesman what was wrong with it and he said it was no problem. I told them that they had reported it as a 1999 when it was actually a 2000 and that they said it had 150,000 miles on it when it really had 74,000. They dropped that argument.

I told them to forget it and I would go to another dealership. He then told me no other dealership would be able to help us. I’ll take my chances. They gave me back the keys to my trade in. Not that I can drive it away.

The dealership was full of potential customers at the time that all this happened and they looked a bit worried. Maybe a few of them will be worried enough to walk away and not make the mistake we did. We went outside and the car salesman followed us out. He said he had talked to the owner and was trying to work something out. He felt bad because he had told us it was a done deal and then the finance department backed out. The general manager joined him. He wanted us to come back inside so he could work something out. I said we are done. I have to go to work. I need to go check on the kids. I don’t have time for this.

He said he would go inside and work out a new deal, get it printed out, and call us back. So I went to work in the new car. My feeling is that if they made the mistake and offered a deal they couldn’t make work then that is their problem. They should deduct that 3,000 from the profit they will make on the sale of the car. It wasn’t my mistake so I shouldn’t have to cover it for them. The car is not new anymore. We have been driving it for almost 2 weeks now. It has almost 500 miles on it now. They won’t be able to get as much money by selling it to someone else now anyway. Plus someone put a lovely scratch down the right side the first day we drove it.

We didn’t hear from them on Friday. Saturday someone from the dealership left a message on my machine after I had gone to work and they were closed when I got home. Sunday they were closed. On Monday my Mom got a message on her cell phone from the general manager, he said they got it all worked out and please come back in. My husband called the dealership and they said they were calling to see about getting the car back. He told them that the general manager had said it was all worked out. He said he would ask his boss and call back. Tuesday - still haven’t heard back from them. We are still driving the car and are happy to continue to drive it for free as long as this drags out. The dealership seems to be quite disorganized. The different departments don’t know what is going on so every time we talk to them we get a different answer from a different person.

Also, I have a problem with them discussing my contract and my finances with anyone who happens to come in or call up and ask them about it. When I went in with my Mom the General Manager kept asking her if she had the money to give them. That is not his place to ask. If anyone should be asking for a loan it should be me. It is my decision not his. I don't want my Mom to give them money and I resent him putting it upon himself to ask her that. That is not his business.

They should not be discussing my financial arrangments with outside parties. They have had several conversations with my Mom and Step Dad about financing the vehicle. I am the one who has a contract, I am the one who purchased the car. If they need to discuss finances they should be talking to me. I couldn't walk into a bank or a mortgage company and discuss someone elses business. I would need to have written permission from the individual to talk with their bank/mortgage company. It should not be any different with a car dealership.

It is no way to run a business and from other comments we have heard we certainly are not the only ones to have these problems. You can see some examples here:

http://www.dealerrater.com/dealer/Big-Red-Sports-Imports-review-1751/

http://www.edmunds.com/dealerships/Oklahoma/Norman/BigRedSportsandImports/index.html

Not a single positive review.

This reminds me a bit of my time spent as a juror at the OKC federal courthouse. I heard a case similar to this. A lady bought a Kia and they told her it was a done deal, don't worry about a thing honey. Then they realized they weren't going to make as much profit on the car as they thought so they called her in to pick up some paperwork.

When she showed up the men from the dealership tried to physically force her out of the car. She panicked and drove off but she and one of the men were injured. They charged her with a felony count of larceny of a motor vehicle and assault with a dangerous weapon (The Car). They had her arrested and she lost her job. They also employed an off duty police officer as after hours security on the lot. He contacted the lady (while off duty) as a form of intimidation.

She sued the dealership for wrongful repossession and assault and battery and won. Her criminal record was expunged and she won a large amount of money. She got a new job and I am sure she can afford a much more expensive car now.

I don't understand why car dealerships are so crooked or how they get away with it most of the time.

You can read about some of this dealerships other problems and illegal activities here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2537332

Yes, I know the owners have changed several times in the last few years but many of the employees are the same and the unethical practices are the same.

I have to add that their commercials are really stupid too.

I still like the car, just wish it had come from an honest source.

Spring break adventures and Hoppy Easter

2008-03-23T15:48:00.029-05:00

Spring break usually means just hanging around the house for us. We try to go to the park and keep the kids busy but it is usually not too exciting. This year it was a little different. We had a car we all fit in to go adventuring in. We went to the Children's museum in Seminole, the OKC Zoo, and Bricktown. Everyone had lots of fun. Here are the week's pictures. Sorry, there are a lot.

Cam plays moon sand in his new hat.

Cam craft time.

Cam and Kay playing with flash cards.

Kay plays the super baby game.

Fly Kay Fly!

Looks like fun.

Kay's new hat.

Kay and her spinning pom-pon.

Kay shares her oatmeal with her duck friends.

Just stick your head in the bowl.

Children's Museum trip.

Kay amazed by the bubble wall.

Watching the bubble wall.

Dad and Cam inside the bubble.

Dad and Kay inside the bubble.

Taylor and Maddison inside the bubble.

Maddison craft time.

Cam craft time.

Look at this giant doll house.

On top of the fire truck.

Driving the fire truck.

Off to shop.

Kay helps out in the building zone.

Taylor gets in trouble with the "Teacher".

Cam teaches a class.

Kay examines some teeth.

Dad performs some dental work on Taylor.

Lunch time.

The girls eating lunch.

Cam and Taylor in the big toy.

Kay making new friends.

Kay sharing a book.

The gang. Notice Kay is screaming. I can never get a good group shot.

Another attempt. Kay is screaming again.

Maddison, Cam and Taylor. Kay ran away.

Taylor and Cam with their new friend. He's a bit skinny but he sure can ride.

Cam and Kay dig for dinosaur bones.

Cam the paleontologist.

Co-pilot Cam.

Cam in the pilot seat.

Kay helps out.

Silly Cam.

Cam enjoying the children's museum.

Cousin Maddison enjoying the children's museum.

Kay enjoying the children's museum.

Dad tickling Taylor at the children's museum.

Watching the puppet show.

Performing in the puppet show.

Cam rides the airplane.

The gang in a old jalopy.

Bricktown was fun. We took the boat tour.

Gargoyle and the Sooner Ferry boat from the bridge.

Our tour guide/ boat driver.

Close up Cam on the boat.

Taylor on the boat.

Upside down Kay on the boat.

Kay close up.

Stumpy's. Sonic world headquarters.

Kay liked the boat.

The land run statues.

This is fun.

Kay liked the butterflies in the mosaic.

Jackson company and Hooters building.

That's right I took the family to Hooter's for dinner. It is actually a family resturant. They even have kid's menus and crayons. We weren't even the only family in there. The little kids got balloons and Taylor just enjoyed the atmosphere.

The girls were very nice. We met Carrie, Elechia and Amber. The watress for our table was, well, her name tag said S.H.I.T. but her real name was Andrea. So if you are ever in the Bricktown area just stop on into the OKC Hooter's and tell them Hi.

Outside Hooters

Outside Hooters.

Checking out the menu at Hooters.

Cam loves Hooters.

Kay dipping her fries into her ketchup picture. Andrea drew a smiley face with the ketchup and Kay thought it was fun.

Andrea, Kay, Taylor, Cam. The food was yummy.

Zoo, Zoo, at the Zoo!

Watching the ducks and two fisted snacking.

Maddison and Danielle getting ready to start our adventure at the zoo.

Kay and Jackson playing peek-a-boo at the zoo.

Kay tick ticking (tickling) Jackson at the zoo.

Kay and Jackson go for a ride at the zoo.

Kay and Cam and a butterfly.

Cam and a hippo.

Cam and a turtle.

Cam, Tabitha, Jackson, Kay and a gorilla.

Kay shades.

Look what the Easter beagle, er bunny left for us.

That's a big duck.

The gang decorating eggs.

Cam decorating eggs.

Look at all the eggs we decorated.

Hunting eggs in the flowers.

Hey, I found one.

While Cam is smiling for the camera he won't notice me borrowing one of his eggs right?

It's blue!

Kay's not sure she likes the taste of Easter eggs.

Kay sleeping after the egg hunt.

It was a busy week but so much fun. I think the kids will remember this for a long time.

Musical cars has come to an end and I have such a cool job. Ain't life grand!

2008-03-12T23:14:00.014-05:00

All washed up and ready to go home with us.

Cam and Kay are so excited about their new "super car".

Look how pretty.

First I would like to say that as much as I have enjoyed playing musical cars with all of my family members I am quite happy to see it end. We have all been trading cars and borrowing from each other when ever a random vehicle would break down. Our cars seem to break down a lot. I guess we are just unlucky that way. I won't go into all the details (I don't think I can even keep up with the chain of events). I will just say that the latest car we have been using (once belonging to my sister Sarah) had the engine burn up after the oil change place messed up the filter. They owned up to the mistake and paid to have a new engine put in. The place that put in the new engine messed it up and that engine burned up as well. So on Saturday we lost the car again so that they could put in yet another new engine they are shipping in from Texas.

In the meantime we have been struggling with getting everyone where they need to be. So today I wanted to go look at cars. I had done my research online and decided on a Kia Rhondo. It liked the red one with grey interior and I didn't care much about the options as long as it had the 3rd row seat and air conditioning. It is like a minivan, station wagon, SUV all rolled into one. You get the space to seat 7 like an SUV but much better gas mileage and easier to park. Even though it resembles a van it has regular doors not the sliding ones. It is lower to the ground like a station wagon but much cooler looking. The best part is it got great ratings on ease of use for families, it is very safe with a 5 star crash test rating, and it is cheap. It is the lowest priced 7 seater in the country. It also has the great 10 year 100,000 mile warranty. Wow, I sound like a commercial.

So I went to look with no intention of buying today. I wanted a used one because I think it is silly to purchase a car new. As soon as you drive it off the lot it depreciates so much it just doesn't seem worth it. As soon as we (Mom came along) pulled up the sales people were everywhere. I told them the make and model I wanted and they took me right to some used ones but they didn't have the 3rd row seat. They said they had some of the new ones with the extra seat. Yeah, but I am too cheap to buy a new car.

I decided to humor them and take a look. I test drove a brand new silver with grey interior that had 10 miles on it. Well, it was awesome, just what I wanted but the price tag said 20,000. Not what I wanted. I had hoped to get something closer to the 10,000 dollar range - a tough trick I know. We just can't afford the payments on a 20,000 car. I was ready to walk but they really wanted to sell a car. So they offered me 2,500 in rebates applied to the cost. Getting closer. Then they took off another 1,000 for customer loyalty (we purchased our dead Kia Sephia from them about 6 years ago). Then they gave us 1,000 for trading in the dead Kia.

I said that I really thought I would like a red one better. They ran off to look for one and happily came back with the news. Red with tan interior. They were able to get the cost and payments down even more. I was starting to get excited and nervous too. I might actually walk out of there with a car. They really were trying to work with me. Apparently car sales have been a little slow. So they did the credit checks and said they could make it work. The payments were 30.00 more a month than we wanted but we didn't have to put any money down. Done deal.

I called Jeff and Taylor and surprisingly they both said they liked the silver color better. The silver seemed to hide dirt better too and we all know our cars get very dirty inside and out. So in the middle of the paperwork we decided to go with the silver instead. It was the first one I looked at so I guess it was just meant to be. We got lots of extra options added in and we got the car for less than many used ones. Final price tag 15,339.50. I sure have come a long way from my first car. A green and white 1969 VW Bus I got for 500 bucks. My magic bus was fun but it never really ran much.

VW Bus. What a hippie.

I have never in my life owned a new car. It is so pretty and smells yummy. I am sure it will start to get dirty real quick but I don't care. It is perfect and it is mine. No more musical cars and wondering how to get to work. No more trying to squeeze 3 kids and 2 car seats into a tiny little car intended for no more than 2 in the back seat. No more going to the store and forgetting which car you are driving today when you come out.

Look Ma we all fit!

Ready to go on an adventure all together.

They took it back and washed it inside and out and filled the tank with gas. It's almost worth buying a car for that. Gas is so expensive. It is cleaner than it will ever be again. I plan to take pictures tomorrow in the daylight. I can't believe we have a new car. The kids are so excited. We took everyone for a ride. When we pulled off the lot the car had 23 miles on it and most of that was me test driving it.
Look, 23 miles as we drive off the lot.

On another note I am loving my job. I get paid to ride around on golf carts and giant trike bikes with some really awesome kids. Yeah, I have to do some other stuff too and sometimes the other stuff is not so fun but it all works out. Oh the places we'll go. What adventure we'll have. Isn't life grand!

My 1st day of my 1st job. I was the birthday pary hostess at McDonalds. Oddly enough I noticed that the date is Feb. 5th 1989. 18 years later to the day I started working at my current job.

Party girl. Look how far we have come.

Then

Jen trike bike gang.

Now

Teacher Helps Babies Get Early Start With Language

2008-03-12T10:33:00.008-05:00

Eyewitness News 5's Tyler Suiters talks with Rachel Coleman (co-creator of Signing Time) about teaching babies American Sign Language.

read more | digg story

Go here to see my February 8th blog and pictures from Rachel Coleman's visit to Oklahoma.

http://specialsigningkids.blogspot.com/2008/02/from-africa-to-oklahoma-rachel-colemans.html

Or you can scroll down on the right to the February 8th post.

You should also check out this funny Pepsi commercial that uses sign language.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffrq6cUoE5A

My thoughts on diagnosis, treatment, and specialists.

2008-03-11T03:18:00.007-05:00

I think some people believe we should just listen to doctors. They know best right? Sometimes the most well intentioned doctor may be making a decision for you that they feel is right but they may not have all the needed information. You must ask questions and develop open communication with all the specialists you see.

Our doctors were hesitant to bring up the possibility of Cerbral Palsy for Kay. I am not scared of Cerbral Palsy. It doesn't change the way I feel about my child. It is simply something that I need to help her with and the sooner we get started the better. My family has been working with kids who have special needs for a long time. We understand what Cerbral Palsy is and know it is not the end of the world. Not all parents have experience with Cerbral Palsy so I can understand why doctors would wait to say those words. Some people might be terrified at the mention of the possibility.

The doctors didn't want to scare us. They had a real wait and see approach. We kept hearing "I am sure she will be fine. She just has some delays but she will probably grow out of it soon enough." That may be the right thing to say to some parents but not for us. I wanted to know what we were dealing with right away. I didn't want to wait and see. I pushed for her to see specialists.

The orthopedic specialist was the first to mention the words Cerbral Palsy. Wow, are you sure? Yeah, I was a little shocked because I hadn't recognised it on my own. Sure I felt sad because I didn't want my child to have to struggle. OK so what do we do. The pediatrician agreed and confirmed she had suspected it -- for how long I don't know. The doctors were trying to protect our feelings when we didn't need to be protected. We needed action.

We pushed for SMOs. If they can't hurt but may possibly help why not do it. Again the doctor was hesitant to bring it up. Let's wait and see what happens. I say just do it. Who cares if she has limited shoe choices as long as she can walk that much sooner. I would rather fix it now when she is little then wait until she is in school. Who cares how much it costs as long as we give her every opportunity. Who cares what other people think. If they point and stare and ask ignorant, insensitive questions it only reflects badly on them. I try not to trouble myself with what rude people think.

We just got the bill by the way. Total cost for SMOs and fittings 2,582. Thank goodness insurance covers it all but we would find a way even if we had no insurance.

On the other hand you don't always have to push for a diagnosis. With Kay it didn't matter whether she was diagnosed Developmental Delay or Cerbral Palsy, the treatment was the same - physical therapy. No need to rush to affix a label if she gains no benefit. Once she is a little older a diagnosis may help in her treatment but for now I say just let her be a kid. We will worry about an official diagnosis when she is ready to go to school or if it helps us with medical insurance red tape.

If I hadn't pushed the issue I may be wondering what I could have done differently. Would things be different had I started earlier. Instead I can feel secure in my decision to pursue help knowing that we did everything we could as quickly as we could and luckily it has worked well for Kay. Of course it is different for everyone. You just have to make the right decision for your family. Don't just assume that the doctors have all the answers because they don't know your family like you do.

I got Kay's PT report from Lucy. It says: Using the Battelle Developmental Inventory at 24 months she had a gross motor age equivalent of 28 months. Kaylynne is walking and running independently and with good control and coordination. She climbs and jumps getting both feet off the floor. She can kick a ball, throw a ball overhand, push a small trike with her feet and walk backwards.

Kaylynne is low tone but her overall strength has improved significantly since her last evaluation. Kaylynne has made so many gross motor gains since her last evaluation. She has good control and coordination and did not trip or fall during the entire evaluation. Outpatient PT is no longer needed at the center. She should continue to be monitored by early intervention PT.

The other day I was thinking about a conversation I had with my friend John when we were in High School. I was probably 15 or 16 and I was spending a lot of time babysitting my favorite little 5 year old buddy who happened to be autistic. John asked me what I would do if someday I had a child of my own who had problems. Without hesitation I said "I would just love them, I would love having a special child". Easy enough to say but know I know without a doubt it is absolutely true. How could you not love them?

Me and Grey my first special kid.

Excellent example of Signing Time success on Today show

2008-03-10T23:07:00.004-05:00

Check out this amazing video.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23557147#23557147

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23557146#23557146

Here is the article as well.
Baby’s got book!
Tot shocks parents by reading
An amazing 17-month-old girl rekindles the nature-versus-nurture debate

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/23556514

http://www.wrcbtv.com/videowindow.cfm?sid=3072

http://www.wrcbtv.com/news/index.cfm?sid=3072

Yet another example of how sign language can help children show the potential they are born with. Children are such amazingly wonderful little beings. We can learn so much by just "listening" to them. By listening I mean pay attention. Look at them. Encourage them. Be there for them. Love them and give them your time and affection.

When this little girl read the word on the cereal box her Mom was listening. She heard her say the word, saw her sign the word, and knew she just read the word because she was observing her child. She could have been in a hurry, rushing around the store and tuning her little girl out so that she could finish her shopping faster. Think of what would have been missed. She may not have noticed her daughters talents. Her daughter, feeling discouraged that her Mom hadn't understood, may have moved on to other things.

I am thinking back to those first signed gestures from my kids. How easy it would have been to miss them. If I hadn't been paying attention and seen that little flutter of the hand. If I hadn't recognised it for what it was and encouraged them they may have given up their attempts. Children need encouragement and need to feel understood to help them grow to their full potential.

The world would be a little better place if we could all take a moment to connect with those around us and really listen to them.

Pink penicillin puke

2008-03-08T13:12:00.003-06:00

This may be what Taylor looked like after his run in with Cam.

That last sick story reminded me of another sick story.

The doctors say that medical allergies do not run in families but I don’t believe them. I am allergic to penicillin, my Dad almost died from a penicillin reaction, my Grandmother is allergic to penicillin. Do you see a pattern here? With all three kids the doctor said they probably wouldn’t be allergic so let’s just try to give them penicillin and see what happens.

Taylor had a bad reaction on his first dose and started to swell up and had hives all over. OK so maybe he is allergic. When Cam got sick for the first time we gave the doctor all of this information and told her we were concerned. She said he probably won’t be allergic lets just give it a try and see what happens.

So we had baby Cam lying in our bed and Taylor was lying next to him. Neither one had been feeling well. We gave Cam his dose of penicillin and he promptly projectile vomited it all over Taylor. It was quite impressive. Taylor had a coating of pink goo from head to toe.

Taylor jumps out of bed and looks disgusted. Jeff says he is allergic we have to get that off of him. They went off to scrub Taylor in the tub. I tried to comfort baby Cam and get him cleaned up. He ended up swelling and breaking out in hives. Great, another allergic baby. Taylor ended up being OK.

When Kaylynne got sick for the first time and we went through the whole medical history again and the doctor said again she probably won’t be allergic lets just try it and see what happens we said DON’T THINK SO.

Taylor still remembers Cam puking all over him. It’s one of those things you have to laugh about – later.

Green Eggs and Ham -- I feel sick, sick, sick.

2008-03-08T13:10:00.005-06:00

Taylor has been sick for going on two weeks now. He is not getting any better. He had been to the Dr. two times already and they said it was a viral respiratory infection. Nothing to do, antibiotics won't help because it's viral. Just have to wait it out.

At one point when his fever was up near 103 and he started hallucinating. He came in our room in the middle of the night and told us the things in his room came alive and were attacking him.

He said he was inside the candy land game and one side of his mattress was the bad candy like black liquorish that no one wants to eat but you had to eat a ton of it so you would get sicker. He got up and vomited at that point.

The other side of the mattress was good candy that made you feel better. So he started sleeping facing the good candy side of the mattress and stopped vomiting but still felt sick with the headache and sore throat, runny nose stuff. Great, he has cooked his brain with fever. So we decided we would take him back to the doctor on Friday.

About 4 AM Friday morning Cam came in crying and said he had a headache and his nose and mouth hurt. His temp was 102. Jeff got them both in to the doctor at 2:40 in the afternoon.

I had to go in to work because, while we thought we would have extra people this week, we are in fact short staffed again. They gave Jessica away to another house that is short staffed and Heather did not return on Wednesday like we thought.

So Jeff braved the doctor’s office with 3 kids in tow all by his lonesome. Kaylynne should be sick again any time now because they had to wait in the sick waiting area and were exposed to who knows what. The doctor says it's strep. So they both started antibiotics. I went ahead and got tested at work and it was negative. But so were the tests on the boys so we will see.

Cameron was really mad at me for keeping him home from school. I told him I can not send you to school with 102 temp it's against the law. I know it's not really but it should be. If more people kept their kids home when they are sick then maybe we wouldn't all be sick all the time.

They have been talking about Dr. Seuss this week and the plan for Friday was to make green eggs and ham. Cam was really excited about it. I told him Grandma would find out how it went at school and we would make our own at home.

So last night when I got home from work Cam was still up because he took a big nap during the day. He was ready to make green eggs and ham. Well why not? If you are gonna make green eggs and ham you might as well do it at 11:30 PM. So we stayed up and made green eggs and ham and read Dr. Seuss books. It was fun and Cam felt much better. He probably felt a lot better that he didn’t have to eat the green eggs and ham.

Very green eggs and ham. I sent the liquid food coloring to school for them to use so all I had was the gel food coloring. It was a little strong so everything is very dark green almost black.
Will you eat them at the table? Eat them eat them if you're able. They look like something from the bottom of a stable. Food? I wouldn't give it that label. I don't think I like this fable. I would rather go and watch cable with my friend Maybel.
Eat them eat them here they are. Eat them and I'll buy you a car.

Even with that offer no one would touch them. Cam said Taylor wanted to eat them. When he refused they decided they should save them for sister. We didn't make anyone eat them. That would just be mean.

My week in pictures a very random jumble of thoughts

2008-03-06T01:21:00.017-06:00

I just uploaded pictures to the computer. So here is a very random jumble of thoughts about the week.

This is a little game called "What's in sister's purse?" Today it was 7 frogs and a game timer. Yesterday it was an apple slice and half of a peeled banana. Ya just never know what you may find. That's why it's such an exciting game.

She shoots, she scores!! And the crowd goes wild!

She loves basketball.
Easter hat and purse.
Silly face sharing a banana.

Cam made a TV head hat out of a box.

Cam painted TV head box.

No need to take it off to drink

First Spring flowers bloming in our backyard. This is very exciting to me because this will be our first Spring in our new house and the lady who used to live here was a member of the Norman garden club. She has tons of stuff planted. Every day we go out to see what new plants are popping up.

Cam and Kay playing together.

This is yet another attempt to catch a picture of Kay. I wanted a picture of her in her cute Snoopy outfit. I had to wait for her to come around the corner and take it quick before she could run away. Here is Kay hiding in the kitchen cabinet.

I made birthday cupcakes for my friend Tabitha at work. They look a little weird but they were tasty. She wanted chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. I added chocolate sprinkles to make them a little bit pretty.

One of my accomplishments at work this week: Putting up the signing time ASL ABCs with Kayla's help. She has to help because she is the tall one. If Jessica had been there she would have to help too. I am glad we have 2 tall people at work because I am short.

Cleaning, organizing and re-arranging the toy area with Tabitha. Doesn't it look nice.

Taylor has been sick again with the upper respiratory infection. It is really holding on and making him miserable. He has been really sick for over a week now. I have been sick again too but not as bad. I just have a sore throat and the sneezes. We can't seem to get everyone well all at the same time. We just keep passing this gunk around to each other.

I had some cooking success this week. Last week I tried to make chicken and dumplings. I have been making that recipe since I was a teen. I haven't had much time to cook real food lately. We mostly make sandwiches or soup or heat up chicken nuggets or mac and cheese. The kids are quite happy with quick food. We keep fresh veggies and fruit around too.

I decided I was going to cook a real meal but nothing went right. The dumplings turned to mush, everything was bland, and then the stove top caught on fire - twice. Everything ended up tasting burnt and I had to throw it all out. Oh no, I have forgotten how to cook.

So this week I decided to jump right back in and try again. I fixed the stove and made a huge batch of chicken and dumplings. Enough to send some to Jeff's Mom's and my Mom's and still have a big pot here. Everything went well and it was really yummy. Perfect for when you are sick and not feeling like eating much. I also made beignets for dessert.

I had an extra day off work this week because our patient load has gone down. I used my extra time to bake with Cam. We made cookies and banana bread.

We finished several little projects around the house this week. A couple were absolute necessities. Taylor's light fixture in his room quit working so Jeff removed it and put in a new one. Now Taylor can see again. I put new pans under the burners on the stove top after the cooking disaster of last week. I really didn't want to start anymore fires.

We also re-arranged the furniture in Taylor's room, re-painted and hung up the coat rack, repaired my old cedar chest by replacing the hinges, fixing the upholstery and adding safety brackets so the lid won't slam on anyone’s fingers, and replacing the batteries in and adding more smoke detectors.

Our to do list is quite overwhelming but if we just focus on a few things at a time we should catch up eventually. Right?

Here are a few older pictures I happened across:

Cam terrific kid award.

Cam candy moustache. Napping on Maw Maw. Kay calls Grandma Maw Maw now. She just started this and we are thrilled with her name for Grandma. It is funny because that was our name for Grandma when we were kids back in Louisiana. We didn't teach her the name she just came up with it in her own. I guess it was meant to be.

Another thing Kay learned this week: How to tickle. She can't say tickle though so she tackles her brothers and gets them while yelling "TICK, TICK, TICK!"

Faster than a speeding chicken. Run, run, run, before Mom gets a picture.

Ahh, caught in my pretty purple butterfly dress.

Hat.
Cam sleeping in his skates and helmet.

This is how we know Kay is ready for bed. She gathers up her blanket and brings it to us.

Hairy Taylor.

Here are some funny pizza pictures:

Taylor's pizza heart

Pizza box technology.

More pizza box technology.

Was our pizza delevery person abducted by aliens?

Recycling and smart packaging

2008-03-05T23:51:00.005-06:00

Our town started curbside recycling this week. I am very happy that this is finally happening. I am all about recycling but tend to let stuff pile up. I don't have a truck so when I do actually bring it in it can be messy and time consuming. How simple and easy it is to just toss it in the container and put it on the curb with the trash. I am sure a lot more people will start recycling now. I hope so anyways.

I thought it was a bit ironic that during this same week that my town finally embraced easy recycling I received a very non-environmentally friendly package.

This was delivered by the U.S. postal service and was too large to fit in my mail slot. We got two of them at my address and I am sure millions of others went out across the country.

Here is the package. Here are the contents.
Here is the single coupon that was sent wrapped in a complex tri fold bit of glossy cardboard encompassing a fake cigarette box and all stuffed inside another box.

They could have sent this tiny little coupon on a postcard and saved a ton of postage, trees and postal worker's backs.

The really funny thing is no one in my house smokes so this truely is a huge waste of time, money and resources. Just think if they would use all these resources for good instead of evil. They could maybe help fund research to cure cancer.

You would think Camel cigarettes would at least try to have a positive image. I guess any press is good press though. You know what must be a really hard job? Working PR for a tobacco company.

Meetings, meetings, fifth disease, and stomach flu

2008-02-28T08:13:00.013-06:00

We had parent teacher conferences for both school kids (four core teachers and one kindergarten teacher), a PT session for Kay, and a meeting with Taylor's high school enrollment counselor. I am glad that is over. We spent the better part of two days in meetings.

All the teachers said our kids are great though so that is always nice to hear. Taylor always gets the same report - he is so smart, wonderful, helpful, we wish we could clone him. Cam is so smart, imaginative and kind but a little sensitive (same report we got for Taylor at that age). Cam is more artistic though and has better handwriting (ha,ha sorry Taylor). That child never stops drawing.
Cam's art work:

An angel
A boy
Lost Hopkins frog
Self portrait
Another boy
The sun and the butterfly

I am still recovering from high school enrollment. Wow, wasn't he just in kindergarten. He is so together though. He will be fine. He is taking college prep courses for all his core classes. So geometry for math and CP science, history and language. He is also going to take computer programing and possibly Latin. He is applying to take zero hour as well so he can have an additional hour of school each day to fit in extra classes. After all this college should be no problem at all.

Kay woke up on Friday morning with a 101 fever and bright red cheeks. She was super cranky all day. Saturday same thing but she started vomiting as well. All weekend she was miserable. On Monday I called to get her in to the doctor. I suspected she may have fifth disease. The red circles on her face had gone away but she was starting to get a rash on her neck. Dr. Fox gave her some meds for her tummy but there is no treatment for fifth disease. You just have to wait and let it run it's course. Tuesday she was covered with the rash. I let her run around in just a diaper and gave her lots of baths with cornstarch. That helped some. She spent most of the weekend alternating between meting into a puddle of gooey sadness and erupting in trembling volcanic toddler rage. At least she didn't get scarlett fever. That also happens to be going around school. I didn't think people even got that anymore. Go figure.

Cam comforting little sick sister.
Happy time in the sink bath again.
Not so happy rash on her back. It is kinda hard to see in a picture.

We didn't go for a play date at Aunt Sarah's this week. She may never want us back. During last weeks visit Kay screamed and we had to bolt out of there pretty quick. Cam and I didn't help clean up as well as we should because we were in a hurry to get Kay out before she gave everyone a headache. Then on top of all that we unknowingly exposed all the kids there to fifth disease. Yeah, it's one of those happy little illnesses that is contagious before any symptoms show up. Once the rash comes and lets you know something is wrong it is no longer contagious. Nice huh?
Maybe she will let us come play next week. Hopefully no one there will get sick.

I got two days off again this week. So I finally finished my house cleaning projects. Happy Happy Joy Joy! Now if we can just maintain it will be a perfect world. I sorta skipped sleeping Wednesday night but it's all good. Back to work tonight. Maybe I should go take a little nap.

Clean Kay's room
Clean Cam's room
All the removed toys to be sorted make Mom and Dad's room a big mess. I finally got everything sorted and now our room is clean too. When we moved in Cam unpacked by dumping all the toys out on the floor. They got scooped into baskets and stuffed into closets until I finally made time to actually find a place for everything. That has been on my to do list for a while.

I can get a lot done when I have 2 days off.

2008-02-20T23:32:00.012-06:00

Day 2 of my "weekend" (my weekend is Tuesday and Wednesday if I am lucky and don't get called in to work) I finished cleaning most of my house, got Kay's new braces, took Kay and Cam for a play date at Aunt Sarah's house, spent some quality time with Cam and re-attached the trim in the hallway. We also bought and installed a new faucet for the kitchen sink.

Old faucet.
Installing new faucet.

Enjoying new faucet.

Today was Kay's day to be grumpy. We spent so much time running around she was a bit wound up and wouldn't take a nap. She had fun at Sarah's though. Sarah and Courtney are doing great. They have the house looking really nice and are fixing up the bedrooms and bathrooms. I didn't see that part of the house because it was in various states of demolition but I am sure it will look great when it is finished. They always pick such cute colors.

Amber was also there so Cam got to play with her daughter, Marie. They play really well together. I guess that will probably be one of the last times I see Amber since she doesn't work with Jeff anymore and she is moving out of Sarah and Courtney's place. She was showing me pictures of Marie when she was a baby. Weird coincidence, Amber is God-Mother to Mike's (my ex boyfriend from high school) daughter. So she is showing me pictures of this girl and then Sarah says "Yeah, that's Mike's daughter". Apparently Amber is close friends with the girl's mother. Weird and very small little planet we live on huh?

Watching the balloons at Aunt Sarah's house.

She caught one.

Cam and Marie.
Babies! A gaggle of kids.
Playing duplos.
Kay asleep in the car on the way home.
Cam too. Silence is golden sometimes.

Kay loves her new SMO's they have butterflies on them and purple straps. When Dr. Gary took them out of the package she yelled Ba-flies then hugged them. I am glad she got her bigger ones because she started toe walking about a week and a half ago. Not a good thing. I am trying not to panic but it is something to monitor. She is low tone not high tone so she shouldn't have the toe walking issues. Hopefully it is due to her old braces not fitting so well and will stop now that she has the new ones. Maybe she is just practicing being a ballerina.
Kay's new (bottom) and old (top) SMO's. You can see how much bigger the new ones are but when you consider she had the first pair for 9 months her foot really didn't grow that much. I guess she will just have small feet. I am a size 5 or 6 so I guess that's not too surprising.

Kay's new shoes and SMO's. Scary how expensive something so small can be. Total cost for SMOs and fittings - 2,582. Thank Goodness for my excellent insurance benefits. Our cost 40.00 for the shoes.

So when we get new SMO's of course we have to get new shoes to fit them. So off to Brown's shoe company. This time they had some of the special super wide shoes with pink and silver trim. She was so happy. She really wanted the sandals with butterflies on them but she liked the sneakers too. Also, I had a pair of pink Chucks I got from a garage sale before I was even pregnant with Kay. I was hoping I could find a use for them. They happen to fit over her braces as well. They are not as supportive but OK for sometimes wear. They are so cute.
Kay dancing away from me because she knows I have the camera.
Kay running past me because she knows I have the camera.

Piano break. Finally caught her running towards me. That girl is hard to take pictures of!

Cam had been feeling left out because of my spending time with Taylor at the high school and with Kay while he is at school so we had a Mommy and me date. He picked going out for Rusty's frozen custard and renting a movie at Hastings. I also bought him a book. We had fun. It was nice to get to spoil Cam a little. I don't get to spend enough time with him with my work schedule being so crazy.
Cam enjoying his custard.
Kay enjoying my custard, the little thief.
Reading Cam his new book.

When we got home he was my big helper. He helped me nail in the trim in the hallway. I had to take it off when I pulled up the carpet. Now the hardwood floors look really nice with the trim put back on.

Cam, my helper, put the nails in the holes and helped hold the hammer.

It was another really nice day. Hopefully Kay will not be so cranky tomorrow. I think we are gonna try to go play at Aunt Sarah's more often now that I sorta know how to get there.

Today was a really nice day.

2008-02-19T11:53:00.011-06:00

Taylor on the bench at the big high school.

I had the day off. I have tomorrow off too so I wasn't in such a rush to get everything done all at once. Kay and Jeff and I went out and had lunch together. I think Kay liked having us all to herself for a bit. She also enjoyed cookies and rice and finger painting with sweet and sour sauce.

When we got back home Kay found a marker and redecorated the house. I am really laid back about stuff like that. Marker V. Walls is just one of those things that happens when you have little kids in the house. That girl is fast though. She colored one entire section of wall, 3 pictures hanging on that wall, the TV, the TV stand, the cedar chest, some paper, a ball, a balloon, some wooden blocks, all the rest mats, 2 chairs, a few other toys, her face, arms, hands, feet, shoes, and outfit and the toy piano. Everything was purple and orange. I should have taken a picture before I cleaned up because it was one impressive mess. It all washed right off with a little water. Washable markers are wonderful.

We got most of the rest of the cleaning done too because Jeff and Cam were helping me a lot. I love having a clean house but I also understand that I don't have a lot of free time. I am trying to let it go. It doesn't need to be perfect it is more important to have quality family time. The kids aren't going to remember that the house was spotless all through their childhoods but they will remember spending time together so that is what I am going to focus on. I would like the house to be clean enough to avoid being condemned though.

When Taylor got home I took him to NHN for the course fair. It wasn't real informative because it was so crowded and you couldn't really hear what the teachers were saying. We decided to go off and find our own fun. So we renegades went on a scavenger hunt looking for funny teacher names. I figured we would learn our way around the school that way. I actually went to school there once but it was still Longfellow middle school then so it is very different now remodeled as the high school. I couldn't even recognize the place. It is gigantic. We kept getting lost. We wandered for a long time and I am still not sure we saw all of the building.

Here is what we did learn. Lots of people have giant fros at NHN. Words like boomchickawowwow and persnickety playboy make Connor LOL and LMAO. The bathrooms are painted really cool colors.

You can find lots of fun hiding places.
Taylor's favorite hiding spot near the library.

Even though I am old I can still appreciate juvenile humor. Weiner -- Ha, Ha!

We learned how to be fancy.

Things that make you fancy -- drinking tea, wearing a suit, winning a writing contest.

Some teachers hate cookies.

Taylor got to see what it's like to ride on a zamboni-ish floor waxer.

Kids can get away with stuff if they have an “adult” with them. Shhh! Don't tell anyone I let him ride the whatever it is while the custodian was distracted.

Some of the teachers do have really funny names but they can be hard to find.

Mr. Pigg

Maeder -- Darth Maeder and Tow Maeder

Goodey

ILL

Seriously? Is there really a teacher named ILL? Guess we will have to find out in August.

Taylor is really good at thinking up funny poses and settings for pictures.

He may be laughing but I think he just fractured his spine.

Drama Lama

We got to meet the mascot.

Pick your friends. Pick your nose. Why not pick a timberwolf's nose.

They don't actually offer AP classes until junior year but Taylor can take college prep English during his freshman year. They have fake babies with computer chips that tell on you if you don't take good enough care of them.

They have a class called reading for pleasure where you can read books -- lots and lots of books. That class happens to be taught by Ms. Claudia Swisher who was one of my teachers back in 9th and 10th grade. She is awesome and she remembered me even though it’s been like 19 years since I was at West with her. She gave me a big hug and said “Oh my goodness you turned into an adult. How did that happen?” Then I said “Yeah, and how did I end up with a 14 year old getting ready to start High School?” She was so excited to meet Taylor. She said she would take care of him and that he would hang out with her just like I used to because she is still in charge of teen volunteers. I think Taylor and I both felt better after seeing her. I know she will look out for him and he knows he can find her if he has any trouble. Thank Goodness he isn't as shy as I was back in the day.

When we got home we ordered pizza as a surprise for the kids. We don't eat out much or have food delivered much so it was a nice treat for them. Cam was very sleepy and was having a rough day. I think he was sad because I went out with Taylor and didn't get to spend much time with him. I helped him and Kay with bath time then we drew some pictures. Taylor was helping him make a chalk outline picture. So he was lying down and Taylor was tracing around him. It came out really cute but Cam kept saying it wasn't quite right. He gets a little conflicted when he is tired. Even when you do what he wants it isn't really what he wanted. So he was sent off to bed. That was the only not so great part of the day. I told him we could do something special tomorrow. We are going to go to Aunt Sarah's for a play date. Then I told Cam he can pick something special for just the 2 of us. So we will probably get ice cream or a happy meal then color some more pictures. He is quite the artist.

I am feeling really happy. Life isn’t always easy but it is very good. I think it is really important that I had a special day just enjoying an ordinary day. I look forward to another one tomorrow.

Reflecting on how far we have come.

2008-02-13T01:14:00.004-06:00

Kay and Cookie are so excited it is graduation day!

In the pirate ship

Playing with the beads

Well, this is the carpet. Kay really likes the carpet because it has butterflies on it. This is how she learned to jump. Can you jump on the kite? Can you jump on the butterfly?

Playing with the wall train

W sitting in the play house

I can put myself in the cabinet

Playing with one of the big toys

When someone tells you you can't do something it's only true if you believe it.

I am reflecting on how far we have come in the past year.

A year ago I had just quit a job I had for a very long time but was unhappy in.
We were just starting to realize the extent of Kay's gross motor delays.
Jeff had also quit a job he was unhappy in.
Things were looking uncertain.

In the past year we have both found jobs we enjoy. Kay has gone from having a gross motor delay to being ahead of the game. We have moved to a new house we love. The kids are all doing amazing. They are growing so fast.

I have also been thinking back 5 years ago. When we were first starting our Signing Time journey. I had always wanted to teach my kids ASL. I was having trouble finding fun programs that were real ASL. I looked to the internet to find some fun, helpful, and accurate ASL videos. I happened accross Signing Time and watched some of the clips. I was debating spending the money. We had already bought the Joseph Garcia program and Cameron was just not showing as much interest as I would like. What if I spent all that money and he didn't like it? He had been signing about 15 signs but wasn't picking up new ones. Little Cameron wandered in and signed train from seeing the clip on the computer one time. Sold!

They had just finished volumes 2 & 3 so we got the 1-3 gift set with the music CD. When they arrived Cameron was not yet 2 but he took off with his signing. He was signing everything on the shows and it sparked his interest again.

Cameron was struggling with ear infections. I started to wonder if it may be affecting his hearing after he ruptured both ear drums. He could still hear some things but was strugling with understanding. One day I was talking about a farmer and he thought I was saying hammer. I showed him the sign for farmer and he understood. What a blessing to have signing in our lives. He may not be able to hear everything but because of signing he could still understand and communicate. Wow I thought what a coincidence. We started signing just to give Cameron an advantage and because Taylor had been learning some sign from the interpreter at school (he had a Deaf classmate). Now signing was really saving us from feeling cut off from our child. If he was hard of hearing it was not even a complicated transition. We were already signing.

Eventually the damage to Cameron's ears healed and his hearing returned to typical levels. We continued to sign. When Kaylynne was born we signed to her. She signed back and grew bigger but did not walk. She was diagnosed with mild hypotonic cerbral palsy. Because of her low tone she just couldn't control her little legs well enough to make them walk. Her little feet were severly pronated.

So we started with early intervention and physical therapy. They were really surprised by her testing because her gross motor was 6-9 months delayed but her fine motor was advanced. She could hold a pencil with the correct grip when she was not quite a year old. She could sign perfectly clearly. She had no other decernable delays. She just needed to work on her walking.

I think about Rachel and how she has gone before me with a child who is Deaf and a child who has CP and spina bifita. Her experiences have been different. I have learned from her though. It is good to have someone who has already done it that you can look to for an example. Someone who is having similar experiences that you can talk to.

How far we have come. I didn't know when I started this journey that I would have a child with hearing difficulties and I didn't know I would have a child with CP. When Rachel talks about her girls she says they are perfect, nothing changes with a diagnosis. They are what they are. She is right. When you get the news you may be scared, you may wonder what the future holds but your feelings about your child do not change. I wouldn't want them to be any other way, Leah or Lucy or Cameron and Kaylynne, they are perfect. How blessed we are. I have learned so much from this journey.

It hasn't been the most efficient day

2008-02-12T15:00:00.004-06:00

It hasn't been the most efficient day.

That was Taylor's answer to why he was at his little brother's school at 9:15 this morning. He was supposed to be at his own school at 8:45. It pretty much sums up the morning.

5 different people who need to be at 4 different places all within 30 minutes and 1 car that is not big enough to hold everyone equals no one getting where they need to be easily or on time.

It is amazing to me each and every day that we get through without someone getting fired or getting a visit from the truancy department. No matter how hard we try or how much we try to plan ahead we can't seem to get where we need to be on time.

Here is the timeline we had planned for this morning:

7:30 drop Cam off early at Grandma's class. School starts at 7:45

7:45 drop Jeff off at work clear across town

8:00 arrive back at the house where Kay is sleeping and Taylor is watching her

8:05 send Taylor to his bus stop so he can get to school by 8:45

9:00 wake Kay and get her ready for her PT appointment at work

11:00 PT @ JDMC

12:00-2:00 Kay nap while I try to clean the house

2:15 pick Jeff up from work

2:45 pick Cam up from school

4:00 Taylor's bus arrives

Now all the little birdies are back in the nest. I do not have to work today so it is a little less hectic than normal.

Here is the timeline how it actually played out:

7:30 we realize that they scheduled Jeff to be there at 7:30 today. Cameron goes into full blown melt down mode because his leg is broken and he doesn't know if he wants to go to school.
HMMMM. You have been walking around on your leg for the past 15 minutes and you have not had any serious injuries. Are you sure it's broken?
YES!
OK, change of plans. We will bring Dad to work first because he is supposed to be there now. Then we will take you to school. After a few more minutes of crying Cam decided he may live and off we went.

7:45 we drop Jeff off at work.

7:50 my Mom calls. Yes, we are running late. Cam says his leg is broken, we just dropped Jeff off, we will be there soon.
She says you know it's picture day today.
Sure I knew that. I knew it yesterday anyway. It may have slipped my mind this morning. I wonder if Jeff turned in the picture money?
Call Jeff -- no the picture money hasn't been turned in. The envelope is at the house because we needed to get cash. The card is with Jeff all the way across town.
So back to the house to get the envelope and the Thursday folder which should have been turned in last Friday.
Change Cam's shirt into something a little more picture worthy. When I change Cam's shirt I see he has a large abrasion to his left shoulder and a matching scrape to his left temple. How do the kids always manage to get facial injuries on picture day? So I ask him how he hurt his arm.
I don't know.
Did you fall yesterday?
I don't know.
Did you run into something?
I don't know.
So I take a moment to call Jeff. How did Cam hurt his arm?
I don't know.

So apparently Cam was playing rough yesterday while I was at work and he had been running through the house and misjudged the distance and ran into the wall. He has a bruise on his leg too which explains his claims of a broken limb. I am just piecing this together from witness accounts. No one is actually fessing up to anything.

8:00 I will have to wake Kay and take her with me to drop Cam off now so Taylor can get to the bus.
Really, the car seat isn't in the car. Well, that's fun.

8:15 take a break from wrestling with the car seat and come in to warm up. Realize Taylor is still in the house. Why are you still here?
I thought you might need me to stay and help with the kids.
OK, so now you have missed the bus and I am going to have to drive you to school too.
Yeah, I need to be there at 8:45.
Sure, OK, that is a great help.

8:25 finally get the car seat correctly fastened

8:45 finished getting Kay dressed and load everyone up. Kay has a cup of milk but she is not happy about it because it is not the cup she likes. All of her favorite type of cup are dirty because no one remembered to run the dishwasher last night. The screaming begins.

8:50 Cam gets to school. Only a little more than an hour late. Kay has been screaming since I put her in the car. I run in and get Mom's ATM card so I can get cash for Cam's pictures. Kay screams louder because Cam left. BUB! BUB! SOB! SCREAM! BUB!

8:55 we head off to find the bank. I am in the wrong lane and can't get over so we miss our turn and have to take a detour. We happen to go through the Wal- Mart parking lot so I snap a picture of the hula-hooping cross walk.

OK It is kinda hard to see but the pedestrian is hula hooping.

9:05 we finally make our way back to the bank and get money from the ATM. You can only withdraw in increments of 20 so I now have a 20 dollar bill. I need to deliver 11.00 cash to the school. Did I mention Kay is screaming?

9:10 lets stop at Wendy's and get Kay some milk in a little carton. Maybe that will make her stop screaming and it will give us the change we need for pictures. Wendy’s isn't open. A Mexican gentlemen comes out and tells us,
"At 10:00 we open."

So we go to the Circle K store. They don't have little containers of milk only gallons which cost twice as much as usual. They do have little cartons of chocolate milk. That will work. She doesn't get chocolate milk very often but she likes it as a treat. So I offer Kay a sip of chocolate milk after Taylor runs back in and gets her a straw. She takes two sips then looks at me like I am evil and starts to scream again. I guess she doesn't like chocolate milk today. At least we finally have correct change.

9:15 Taylor delivers the money to Mom at school and we start heading back across town to drop him off at school.

9:25 Jeff calls. Where are you?
Bringing Taylor to school.
He isn't at school yet? Wow.
Yes, as Taylor put it, this hasn't been the most efficient day.
I guess so. Well, I just started throwing up.
Oh good. So are they sending you home?
Maybe, but not yet. I am waiting for some one else to come in.
Well, call me when you get to leave.

9:30 finally deliver Taylor to school. Hey, only 45 minutes late. Kay screams because Taylor left. BUB! BUB! SOB! SCREAM! BUB!
Looks like the plan is to scream even louder whenever anyone gets out of the car. This is a fun game.

9:45 arrive back home and feed Kay. She is happy now because I washed her cup. I have an hour before I have to leave to bring her to PT.

10:45 Kay is finished eating and is cleaned up. Time to go. Oh boy you pooped. Kay has a talent for pooping right as we try to go somewhere. So off to clean her up.

I have noticed something when I drive. I will hit every red light possible. I will get stopped by at least 1 train. If a lane is closed for any reason I will be in it and not be able to get out. If there is a bus, tractor, garbage truck, a dude on a bike riding in the road instead of on the bike route which is 15 feet to his right, or a slow moving car I will be stuck behind it.

Looks like we will be late again. We actually managed to check in at the front desk at 11:02. Not too bad. But they needed to update all of our insurance info. Lucy, our PT, came looking for us and Kay went off to play with her at 11:10.

Good news! Lucy tested Kay today and she tested at a 28 month level for gross motor. She has been 6-9 months delayed, now she is 4 months ahead! That girl has been working hard. So no more visits for Kay at JDMC. She will continue to be monitored monthly by sooner start. She goes to see the neurologist in March and she should be getting her new AFOs any day now.

We are so excited that Kay graduated that we have to go find Aunt Sarah and visit her. She is in the cafeteria. Kay gets to see lots of friends. When Kay sees the wheels on their wheelchairs she signs bike.

I am asking around about one of my patients who was scheduled for surgery this morning. No one knows so we head off to the house to check on him. No news yet. Kay wants to play in the waiting area/playroom so we spend some time there. I tell you what I can really get sucked into that place. My one day off this week and I am hanging out at work to play with Kay.

1:00 we arrive back home from our extended visit at JDMC. Kay is sleeping in the car so off to bed with her. I guess they decided to keep Jeff. He still feels sick but he will be off at 2:15 as planned.

1:50 my work calls. My so not a team player co-worker called in “Sick” So I may need to come in. That will make 7 days this week though so they are gonna try to get some people from other houses. Seeing as how we have 6 patients including a new admit and a post op it is really not a good idea to have people who aren’t already familiar with the kids helping out.

2:20 Jeff calls I am late to pick him up because Kay is still napping. I wake her up and head out again.

2:40 arrive to get Jeff only 25 minutes late.

3:05 arrive to get Cam from Grandma's classroom only 20 minutes late. I am getting better.

3:15 back to the house, put Kay to bed again, and wait to see if I get called in. I have now been running around for 8 hours and I don't even get paid for this.

From Africa to Oklahoma -- Rachel Coleman's visit

2008-02-08T11:40:00.014-06:00

Rachel and Vickie a quiet moment

Welcome sign and snacks. We brought in snacks for Rachel and Lindsey. Fruit, crackers, peanut butter, carrots, chocolate covered pretzils, nuts and pralines. I called LeeAnn and she said she knew Rachel loved coconut and Lindsey loved peanut butter and that they like to eat healthy. They ended up being so busy they didn't get a chance to eat any of the snacks. My kids took care of that for them after they left.

Sign for the conference

One of the tables decorated for Mardi Gras

The gang after dinner at Primo's

Rachel and Vickie welcome hug. I can't believe this is the first time we have met in person.

OK my camera is slow. This was supposed to be Rachel giving Kay a hug but by the time my camera clicked it was over. Darn!

Rachel is coming for a visit! We are so happy we will get to see her again. The last time I saw her Kaylynne was only six weeks old. So it's been almost two years. We didn't tell Cam until the night before because we learned our lesson from our first group trip to Utah. We told Cam about that trip two weeks ahead of time and showed him on the calendar so he would be prepared. He was so excited to see his friend Rachel he wanted to go wait in the car (for two weeks) until it was time to leave. That was a long two weeks. So now we spring Rachel visits on him at the last minute.

We checked Cam out of school early on Monday the 4th so we could go on an adventure. We finished some errands, picked up a few more gifts for the Coleman and Brown families, had lunch, and went to check in at the hotel at the Sheraton/Reed Center. After we got settled we went off to meet Rachel and Lindsey at the airport. Their flight had been delayed because of some sort of malfunction on the plane. They tried to take off twice then finally moved them to another plane.

We were delayed by an evil train that would not move. It sat on the tracks for 20 minutes without budging. We tried to go around the back way but couldn't find any clear intersections. It was the train that would not end. So we thought maybe we could find the front of the train and shoot through a clear intersection that way. We finally found a clear spot but had to wait for a red light. When the light turned green the train started to move and the arms blocked us from going again. So we waited for the longest train in history to pass and once it did we had to wait for another one going the other way. ARRGH! We are gonna be so late.

Evil train of doom

With plane delays and train delays we ended up actually arriving at baggage claim at the same time. We made a Welcome to Oklahoma sign and Cam had fun holding it up for them to see. Yeah they are here!

The group with Cam's welcome sign. It is done in purple, green and gold for Mardi Gras since we would be spending Fat Tuesday together.

It was later than expected so they had to go right over to the TV station for Rachel's first interview. KOCO's (ABC) Tyler Suiters. It will air on the 17th, slightly delayed because of the presidential primaries. They rented a car so they planned to just meet us back at the hotel. By time they got finished with the interview and found their way back to the hotel Rachel crashed for the night. She just got back from Africa for heavens sake. I am sure she is so jet-lagged she has no idea if it's night or day. We were glad she got some sleep because Tuesday was crazy busy.

Bathed and P.J.ed and ready for bed at the hotel.

Cam in the hotel bed.

Kay in the hotel bed.

When they arrived it was sunny and 74 degrees outside. During the night the temp dropped to 40 and a thunderstorm started. Tuesday was freezing. OK not Utah freezing, but yucky Oklahoma, wind sweeping down the plains, raining, dreary, freezing. Rachel asked and yes this is normal for Oklahoma. You know the saying don't like our weather wait a minute it will change. That's Oklahoma. We could be out in shorts one day then the next it snows then its 75 and all melts then an ice storm hits and knocks out power then a tornado hits. You just never know. We had a great time despite the nasty weather.

We were very busy. I ran the product and information booth. Rachel did 3 presentations and two interviews. My Mom ran around trying to keep everything running smoothly. And Lindsey went back and forth between helping me at the booth, helping Rachel with her presentations, and talking to media.

Jen, Rachel and Lindsey at the booth

Kaylynne my little Signing Time helper/demo baby.

Here is the booth all tidied up for the next rush.

Jen and Lindsey. We survived.

I think we sold a lot of product at the booth and had a ton of people interested in getting their schools to purchase. We heard some great stories.
My faves: The boy who was there to play music during lunch. He walked past our booth and said,
"Wait, is this that show from PBS?"
I replied, "Yes and Rachel is here right now."
He said, "The Rachel from the shows? She is here right now! Can I borrow your phone?"
So he calls his mother and says, "Hey you gotta get up here. Rachel Coleman is here." Apparently his little sister is a huge fan. So I gave him some tattoos and a card and a bracelet and he was thrilled. His Mom wasn't able to get there in time for his sister to see Rachel but he said he would be his sister's hero for bringing her ST goodies.

Another Fave:
The new Grandmother from Yukon who stopped by the booth to tell us her daughter had just had a baby. She took ASL in college and wanted to teach the baby. She said, "I want to buy it all."
I just looked at her in shock. "You want to buy a gift set, or all the books? Which one?"
She said, "All of it. Everything they make."
She handed over her credit card and paid over 400 bucks for all the DVDs, CDs, flash cards and books. Wow! She said she wanted to bring it to them in the hospital so they could start learning right away. Never too early right!

Also, I loved being at the back of the room during part of Rachel's presentation and seeing the reactions of the people hearing her story for the first time. Not a dry eye in the house! I could see how touched people were.

Rachel Keynote Speaker

I never get tired of hearing Rachel's story. She seems uncomfortable when people tell her, as they often do, "I just admire you so much. I don't think I could do what you do". She says you find the strength to do what you need to do. She doesn't seem to think she does something admirable. She is simply doing what helps her daughters.

I agree that’s true for some people. Some people do step up and take care of what needs to be done. Some people take what is handed to them and are grateful for what they are given and they don't complain. But unfortunately a lot of people don't. I work with kids everyday who have parents who could not do what Rachel does. They walk away (if you can imagine) because they are not strong enough to love and appreciate the child, the gift, they have been given. I am grateful that the good moms, the Rachel's, outnumber the ones who are not strong enough.

Anyway, it was so hectic and busy I didn't even get a chance to take many pictures. Between mine and Moms hopefully we didn't do too badly. Jeff recorded Rachel's presentation (with her permission) since I was running the booth and missed 90 % of what she said. I have watched some of it and was thrilled to see Cameron get called up to help. He was the color green during the colors of the rainbow and he was so excited.

Colors of the rainbow

Cam being green

Rachel gives Cam a Hopkins frog

Rachel sang caterpillar dreams which is one of my and Kay's favorite songs. I played it for Kay and she started clapping and smiling. She wasn't real happy at the conference because she is getting several new teeth. She did like getting to see Rachel though even if she didn't always act like it. Taylor, conscientious student extraordinaire, did not come to the conference because he had two tests that day and did not want to miss school. He did get to come to dinner with all of us that afternoon though so I think he was happy.

No shock Rachel was a big hit at the conference. People said hearing her story changed their lives. Right before Rachel's first presentation, several students from a deaf/hard of hearing class in Wewoka, sang, danced and signed to "We're All in This Together" from High School Musical and they were fantastic.

Rachel and her fans from the Deaf school performance of High School Musical

Courtney, Sarah, Rachel and Cam with babies. Kay is showing her aversion to pictures

We were so glad to have Rachel and Lindsey visit Oklahoma. They are both awesome, amazing women of course. It was a crazy, hectic, but fun time. We want Rachel to come back soon so we can have time to show her some of the sights. Lindsey was so sweet and we were glad to get to meet her. She needs to come back too. We enjoyed having dinner together and I made sure to get a group shot before they had to run off to the airport.

So much fun but, as always, not long enough. Hopefully we will get to make it for the trip to Utah in May so we can see everyone again.

link to photo from the newspaper:
http://www.mwcsun.com/local/images_sizedimage_042130028/resources_photoview

link to story from the the newspaper:
http://www.mwcsun.com/local/local_story_042120824.html

Here is the link to the news story:

http://www.koco.com/video/15337005/index.html

Dinner at Primo's

Funerals and loss

2008-02-02T23:23:00.001-06:00

Today was Bobby's funeral. It was a really nice service and lots of people came. Cam and Kay don't really understand. Taylor does of course but he is pretty tight lipped about how he is feeling. He was upset during the service but he doesn't really want to talk about it yet. Cam knows that his Grandpa Bobby died, but I am not sure he really knows what that means. When I told him, the conversation went something like this.

You know Grandpa Bobby has been really, really, sick.

Grandpa that lives at the soda house, yeah I know he is sick. (They collect coca-cola items so Cam calls it the soda house)

He has been sick for a very long time and he died today.

Oh no. Can we make him all new again so I can see him?

Well, when someone dies the person goes up to heaven and their body is left behind. He won't be able to talk to you because he is in heaven.

I want to go to his house and see him.

You won't be able to see him with your eyes, but you will always be able to feel him with your heart.

If you feel sad, want to talk about it, or have questions you can always come talk to us about it.

OK. I have to go tell Dad.

And off he ran to tell Dad, "My Grandpa died. That means I won't see him at his house anymore."

After the funeral most of the family came over to our house to eat. It was good to see everyone and we played the slideshow of pictures we made.

I am really upset about experiencing this situation again. I am actually quite angry. Not at the smokers because I know it is an addiction and when they started they didn't really even know it was bad for you. I am angry at the system. Smoking causes people to die horrible, painful deaths. It causes non-smokers who happen to be around smokers to get sick. And still new people start smoking everyday. I don't understand it. I guess people think it won't happen to them. Or if they get sick they will be so old they won't care.

I have seen this first hand twice now. People who die from smoking related illness suffer. The people who love them suffer. My Grandpa was 62 my kids Grandpa was 63. They were not old. They were healthy, active, strong, men. Bobby operated machines on big construction sites. My Grandpa was an electrician on big construction sites.

Think about this. They hadn't reached typical retirement age yet. They weren't even old enough to use a senior citizens discount. If you are in your 20's right now and smoking that means you would only live 40 more years and that is just not enough time. People are waiting and having children later in life now. So if you smoke and wait to have kids in your late 30's you may die before they finish college. Before you get to see your grandkids. It just doesn’t make sense.

I hope that one positive thing from all this is hopefully my kids will never be smokers. I don't know how you could be after seeing someone die from COPD or throat cancer.

On a happier note – My favorite memory of Bobby:
Easter egg hunt in the backyard. Taylor, Heather and Morgan looking for eggs. All the adults were watching. We kept replacing the eggs in this one spot so Taylor would find one then turn around and another one would be there. It was funny, a beautiful day, and everyone was happy.

I love that Bobby loved when I would make my Grandma’s special mashed potatoes. It was his favorite part of meals at our house. He was a good old man who happened to have excellent taste. Thats why he surrounded himself with good people and enjoyed life.

Bobby 7-19-44 1-28-08

2008-01-29T11:36:00.001-06:00

Group picture Christmas

Moving earth

Karen and Bobby Cretificate of appreciation for work at the Murrah Building site

Karen and Bobby

Bobby

Silly face
Wedding

On Monday morning we were all starting to feel a little better so we went ahead and gave Kay her birthday cake and let her open a gift. Later that day I went back to work after being out for several days. Three hours after I got there I got the call. Bobby had passed away at home where he wanted to be. Where he had lived since he was a little boy. He wasn't suffering any more.

I was in with a patient when I got the call. So I took a moment to get it together and then got back to work. I didn't tell anyone because we are so short staffed I didn't think I would be able to go home. A bit later my Mom called and I tried to tell her but I started to cry. My co-workers saw that I was upset and asked me what was going on. Then they covered my patient for me and sent me home. I work with some really great people.

Jeff was really glad to see me. My Mom came over and watched the kids so we could go over to the house. The funeral will be February 2nd.

For the 2nd time in two weeks I got some time off. It is sad that you have to be sick and infectious or have a death in the family to get a few days away from work.

The kids and I last saw Bobby at Christmas. We are so glad we had that time and that he was able to come for Thanksgiving. On Friday the 25th he lost consciousnes and did not wake up again. We are getting ready for the funeral. I helped Jeff make a slide show of pictures and citations from the city honoring the work Bobby did. One of his accomplishments was helping at the site of the Murrah building bombing by clearing debris and prepairing the site for the memorial.

His best accomplishment was being a great guy who loved his kids, grandkids, and his wife of 22 years. They met on Friday the 13th but they didn't let that deter them. They were neighbors and Karen decided to bring over a german chocolate cake she made. He said he was on a diet but she could go ahead a leave the cake anyway. I guess the rest is history.

We will miss him but we are glad he isn't suffering anymore.

Sorry I have been M.I.A. and Kaylynne's TWO!

2008-01-28T12:51:00.001-06:00

Kay made a cake ring.

What a fun mess.

Cam eats cake and plays the candy land game we gave Kay for her gift.

This is her actual birthday. You can see her runny nose and feverish little face.

She is looking a little better here with the gang.

Butterfly cake.

OK, I have been sick and, well, everyone's been sick actually, and super busy as usual. So I kept wanting to write a new blog but never quite finding the time to sit at the computer, or form a coherent thought for that matter. Then I kept thinking of new topics to write about and scribbling my ideas on scraps of paper to add later. Well, then I had so many I felt a little overwhelmed so it has sorta been snowballing. Well, we have had a lot going on. So enough is enough I have to get started.

Soooo here is my very belated blog about sister's 2nd birthday. I am gonna cheat and back date it so it looks like I am really on top of things when in actuality I am transcribing this from my notes on 2-9-08. Shhh, that parts a secret. I wouldn't want to look like a slacker.

January 25th 2008

Kaylynne is two years old today!! How did that happen? She has grown so much and the time has flown by. What a beautiful, delightful, perfect, little girl she is. She is walking and talking which is amazing to me. Think about where we were a year ago, well, even 6 months ago. Wondering when she would walk, when she would talk. I know what a fighter she is, what a strong little person she is. So I knew she would do it in her own time. It brings a tear to my eye to see her dancing, running, signing, singing, and talking. I wonder if she can ever comprehend how loved she is.

Her therapists cut down the number of visits because she is doing so well. She is still considered slightly speech delayed but she is pretty much caught up on her gross motor skills. I just knew once she turned two the light bulb would go on and she would start talking all the time. Both the boys really took off on their vocabulary at age two. I already know she understands because she signs to us.

So I came in to get her ready for bed and I said and signed where is your blanket? She signed “Where” for the first time then pointed and said “Right there”. I love it!

She went in Cams room and did a puzzle. I signed each item to her -- truck, boat, train, “You are doing a puzzle!” I showed her the sign for puzzle. When she put in the last piece I said “Yeah! You did it”. She said “Yeah, I did it” and started to clap for herself. WOW! She isn't just repeating, she said an entire sentence and reacted appropriately to it. She is so smart! I knew it all along but how fun it is to see her blossoming like the beautiful little butterfly she is.

Well, we didn't do much for a party. Everyone has been sick. Cam, Kay, and I have the respiratory thing. I have a sinus infection, ear infection, strep and bronchitis. The little ones have a cough and runny nose. I was on so much medication I slept for two days. Taylor and Jeff have the stomach flu. I am sure once we start to get better we will all trade. So poor Kay didn't have a real exciting birthday. I did drag myself out of bed and make her a butterfly cake. She got to open a few gifts and finger-paint with cake so she was happy.

Also Bobby has been very sick so it just felt strange to have a big party. We haven't been able to go over and see him because we are sick and don't want to give him any of our gunk. Jeff has been going over every day and bringing food. Mostly pasta salad, that’s everyone’s favorite, but I made a big lasagna too.

Kay doesn’t care about a big party she is just happy to be with the people who love her. She is such a sweet little bit of yummyness. How the past two years have flown.

Signing Time going to Ghana

2007-12-28T13:11:00.002-06:00

Signing Time has partnered with Signs Of Hope International - they have created internships for Americans who know ASL to go teach the teachers. They also have a teacher incentive program, to encourage the teachers to show up to class and to learn ASL.

A little bit about Ghana and why we are going. Ghana is the size of Oregon. They have 13 schools for the deaf there. Deaf children start school at the age of 4. Many are dropped off for their 3 month semester and their families never come back to pick them up. A week after the semester ends, an orphanage bus comes to get the children who have been left.

Many of the families can not afford the tuition of $83 per semester. Many are embarrassed that their child is deaf.

The teachers have no background in Deaf Ed. They finish college and are assigned to teach at a school. Most are unhappy to find they are assigned to a deaf school. They do not know the language and have no proof that these deaf children CAN be taught.Deaf girls are even worse off. Two years ago deaf girls were finally allowed to go to high school.

When Leah heard this, she was distraught. Her eyes were full of tears and she said, "Mom!! We have to do something!! I'm deaf and I'm a girl and if I was born in Ghana I wouldn't have a chance!"

While filming the last Signing Time shows we interviewed Leah and I asked her what she wants to be when she grows up. She said, "I want to be a teacher of the deaf in Africa." Well, Leah will not have to wait until she has grown up.

Signs of Hope International brought Signing Time DVD's to the schools in Ghana. The teachers and students could not believe that in America a deaf GIRL would ever be on TV.

We are looking to make this a yearly trip, where we can go inspire, teach and show these children the possibilities for their futures. It is our goal that on our future trips we will not only teach and inspire, but we will be building playgrounds and dormitories at these schools as well.

If you know someone who would like to support these efforts, they can make a tax deductible donation to:
The Signing Time Foundation
623 E. Fort Union Blvd. Suite 202
Midvale UT 84107
or online at www.signingtimefoundation.org
Please make a note that the funds are for Ghana.
You can make a difference with any amount!

This is an amazing story. Leah is living her dream and going to make a BIG difference. Please donate if you can and pass this story on to everyone you know.

read more digg story

Happy Holidays again and again

2007-12-27T13:41:00.002-06:00

Yes, some of the movies Cam got were the new Signing Time shows. He has been watching them a lot with Sister.

We set up the fish tank but haven't gone to get any fish yet.

We still haven't made cookies.

We still haven't read all of the Christmas books.

The package arrived from Mississippi today around 1:00 so we have more gifts to open when everyone is all together in the house again tonight.

I didn't get called in to work yesterday but I do have to work today. I still haven't done many of the things on our Christmas to do list. I plan to just spread it out for at least another week.

I like this not stressing about everything being done and perfect. The kids don't seem to have noticed. All is good.

It is more important to enjoy this time together. Too soon school will be back in session and we will be scrambling to figure out child care now that we are both working full time again. I like chilling in the house with my peeps as much as possible.

This is interesting. A website that tells you how much your blog is worth in advertising dollars. Mine is worth 0 but I am not letting that get me down. Really I'm not. Sniff.
http://www.business-opportunities.biz/projects/how-much-is-your-blog-worth/

Santa comes even if you don't have home made cookies and believe it or not, even if you pee on him.

2007-12-26T16:31:00.001-06:00

There is a scientific formula that shows a direct correlation between how fancy your holiday cookies are, how many kids you have, and how many hours you spent at work during the week leading up to Christmas.

I don't have time for scientific formulas that show direct correlations between anything. So I will just say when you have 3 kids and you work close to 60 hours in the week before Christmas Santa doesn't get his usual homemade cookies. He gets Oreos. If he's lucky he gets holiday Oreos with red middles and Christmas pictures on the cookie part.

When I first got married I spent countless hours making sugar cookies from scratch and carefully decorating each one to look like a perfect little star, angel, or Christmas tree. I also made homemade fudge, peanut brittle, pralines and many other varieties of cookies. Everyone got a tin filled with goodies.

After Taylor was born I continued the tradition. Once I went back to work it still continued but with a few less varieties. I started to work more hours and the cookies were not as carefully decorated. Maybe a few more were the cookies that come in a tube from the supermarket.

After Cameron was born the cookies were sometimes not decorated at all. Or I would just give the kids the frosting (now store bought) and sprinkles and let them go at it.

Now we have 3 little darlings and we both work full time or more. This year I bought some Oreos, just in case, and some sugar cookie dough in a tube. The plan was that after I got home from work on Christmas Eve at close to midnight I would bake those sugar cookies and carefully arrange them on a dish for Santa.

Except I had to finish (start) wrapping gifts and clean the house and make sure the turkey was defrosted, find the Christmas books, and clean poop, etc. Then I realized I had forgotten to buy frosting. The stores are closed. Do I feel like making homemade frosting? Do I even remember how? NO. So those Oreos, just in case, were a good idea.

I still haven't baked the sugar cookies in a tube or even gone to get frosting. Yet, the world continues to turn. Christmas still happened. We all survived and it was still a pretty darn good day. Funny how that happens.

This same phenomenon occurs with other aspects of life such as fancy Birthday parties, the number of pictures taken of each child, the accuracy of baby books, and the neatness level of your house (or how close your residence is to being condemned).

Any way, the point is Santa still came and ate those cookies. He still left gifts even though Sister peed on him when she went to visit. Santa is apparently a lot like Moms. Loves the kids no matter what they do, how much time the take up, or how messy they are. Santa is a very patient person who likes Oreos, just like me.

Here are some elves that may look familiar: http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1119469490

Here is the face Santa makes when you pee on his lap:

This is why it is not good for a toddler to have to wait almost 2 hours in line to see Santa. Saggy, old diapers drip when kids get a little excited.