Ahoy, Me Hearties!

Avast ye! Ye must hear the tale of the two Buccaneers we encountered today, well in actuality it was a Lassie and a Lad.



Do not be mislead by the fact that they carry a Cutlass, for they are two of the friendliest Buccos these seas have ever seen.

The Buccos' Mother had sewn together a Jolly Roger, but our dreams of a Man-O-War scuttled before any of it came to fruition. Aarrgghh! We hate it when that happens!

Due to the lack of a proper vessel, the Seadog had to Heave Ho the Lad in a little red car, making him look like an interstate Buccaneer.

But that wasn't the only setback today, due to a recall (Thanks, China!) the Buccos did not have any Pieces of Eight, so of course it was time to go Pillage and Hornswaggle some of the houses in the neighborhood,... ahem! I mean the ships in the seas rather.

Everything was in Shipshape form, that is until the Lassie was too busy inspecting her Booty and fell down some steps like she was Three Sheets to the Wind. Shiver Me Timbers!

This picture was taken just seconds before the unfortunate fall, from which she recovered quite quickly, thank goodness.

Once the Lassie recovered, she gave her Mother a look like she was a Son of a Biscuit Eater. I think she blamed her Mother's camera flash. Blimey!

OK, here's the deal, this is way too hard. You get the point,... they were pirates.

Way back when I had started thinking about Halloween I asked Isabella what she wanted to be. I wanted to do the matchy-matchy thing you know, while I can still get away with it, and offered up a number of what I thought were some really good suggestions;

Isabella could be Tinkerbell and Sam could be Peter Pan ~ NOPE
Isabella could be Dorothy and Sam could be Toto ~ NOPE
Isabella could be a Mermaid and Sam could be an Octopus ~ NOPE

She looked me right in the eye and without any hesitation she answered : "I want to be a Pirate! A fwendly Pirate!" Okay, so what will Sam be? "Sam will be a pirate too!" That was it, end of discussion. She never hesitated, never wavered, never once changed her mind.

OK, so pirates it is. I had big dreams of how I was going to transform their wagon into an awesome cardboard pirate ship to pull Sam in, but then life got in the way and the pirate ship didn't quite happen. So instead we pushed Sam in the little red car which he LOVED!!!

Check out his unbelievable driving skills: hands perfectly placed at 10 and 2! Is this kid a wiz or what?

Anyhoo, we met up with our neighbors and off we went: two little Buccaneers, Hannah Montana a Ninja and a Skeleton,... what a crew!


Personally, I think the beauty of having young children is that you go out earlier and you are done earlier. By 7:15pm Isabella declared she was done and by the time I started this post they were both down for the night.

Yo Ho Ho! I mean, SWEET!

Oohhh, speaking of sweets,.... Gotta go check out her loot!

PS: Yes, you too can talk like a pirate. All of the pirate expressions on this post came from this website, in honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day. Seriously! There quite a few websites like it. It's totally fascinating. Do you realize that Booty, Bunghole and Poop Deck are all legitimate words in Pirate language that mean something totally different than we use them for. I tell ya,... you learn something new every day.

Happy Halloween!

Good news and everyday randomness

Good News:

Well guys, we finally got the good news we've been waiting for ~ the Mayo Clinic called my Mom today to let her know that they have accepted my Dad as a patient, complicated profile and all.

My Daddy with his crazy wind blown hair at Shelby Farms
April 2008

We still don't know when we'll be traveling to Jacksonville, FL, but what we do know is that initially he will be in outpatient treatment. He will be going into the hospital on a daily basis until they decide his condition is such that they'll need to hospitalize him, which we anticipate will probably happen sooner rather than later. I didn't speak to my Dad directly today, but my Mom says he's in a state of shock, almost like it's too much for him to take in all at once.

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You for all of your prayers and wonderful words. God is so good! He has purposely surrounded me and my family with an unbelievable amount of amazingly caring people who have made this difficult time much more bearable. I can't imagine what it would have been like to go at it alone. Luckily, I don't have to. Have I said Thank You?

So please keep those prayers coming so that we continue to be filled with faith, hope and physical and emotional strength during our upcoming journey, which has only just begun.

*****

Everyday Randomness:

* My gas light lit up today and it only took $37 to fill up my tank. Yes, from E to F for $37.00. Say it with me people: Hallelujah!!!

* I know we're a bit behind, but we finally carved out 36 lb pumpkin last night. I can't believe I haven't carved a pumpkin in over 25 years. I had so much fun! Isabella picked the stencil we were to use because it had to be a "fwendly pumpkin, not a scawy one". Hey, it looks pretty friendly to me:


* I still have not made the necessary alterations on the kids' costumes for tomorrow night. YIKES!

*Our new countertops (and sink) are finally installed and I love how the kitchen looks. I like it so much I've given up on the thought of painting the cabinets, and that's a really good thing. I was SO over those cream colored countertops that showed absolutely everything. Hmmm, I wonder if I can count this as my OPAM for the month of October. Probably not,... Oh well!

Before:

After:Before:

After:

Up next for the kitchen: some under cabinet lights, window treatments for the eat-in breakfast area and a tiled backsplash eventually.

* We have a family photo shoot with the very talented Marci Lambert on Saturday morning and I am besides myself with excitement, although I do have to find a pair of jeans that fit tomorrow,... this is almost as miserable for me as buying a bathing suit. Ughh!

* I made this for dinner yesterday:
and it was easy and fast and actually tasted quite good. Even Isabella liked it and that's saying a lot these days. It's a Bruschetta Chicken Bake recipe from the Kraft Foods magazine. For my WW buddies out there, it was 6 points per serving, which is a cup. I had about a cup and a half and it turned out to be a bit much. Anyway, I've gotten the magazine for a while now and have made a number of their recipes. You can find this recipe here, and while you're there take some time to browse their site for fast and easy meal and yummy dessert ideas.

* While I was making our yummy dinner last night I overheard Isabella talking to the dogs in the living room and getting somewhat frustrated. The exchange ended with her sighing, walking away while telling them: "You guys are killing me!" Where does she get this stuff?

* And just because they seriously are "Really Cute", just like her hat says, I joyfully leave you with this:

WOW!

I'd like to thank every single one of you for your uplifting words and your prayers.

Unfortunately as extroverted as I can be, I'm also the kind of person who tends to shut down when "bad things" happen. So I am very grateful for this blog which I not only use to tell family and friends about our lives, but has also served as somewhat of a journal to help express my feelings.

That you have taken the time to stop by, read about my dear Dad, leave your comments (here, on Facebook and through my personal e-mail) and pray for our family during this uncertain and difficult time well,... that's just an unbelievable blessing.

As of right now, we're still on hold and waiting for direction from the Mayo Clinic. My Dad is having another blood transfusion today. When I spoke with him yesterday he sounded really good, strong and very hopeful.

I am humbled by all of you and pray for many blessings for you and your loved ones as well.

Thank you!

Have I ever told you about the first love of my life?

Meet Hector:

Photo taken on April 2008 in front of The Commissary
Germantown, TN

He's the first man I ever loved.
He's still the rightful owner of a huge chunk of my heart.
He's 59 years old.
He's a warrior.
He's my Daddy.
And he desperately needs your prayers.

My Daddy has been a dialysis patient due to kidney failure for the last 11 years. Unfortunately, due to other major health complications (liver cancer and heart problems), he's never been considered a candidate for a kidney transplant.

My Daddy has been hospitalized for over two weeks due to unexplained blood loss. Blood transfusion after blood transfusion and his condition improved for a day or so only to deteriorate a few days later. It wasn't until this last Friday that they finally found the source of the problem; the blood was coming from his liver. The doctors basically told my Mom that due to his medical conditions there was nothing more they could do for him.

That same day my Mom was told about the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. A clinic that offers both Liver and Kidney transplants. A clinic that is known for seeing patients whose conditions are advanced and odds of survival are not great. A clinic located where we currently have family living.

This morning my Mom met with one of the doctors who is a liaison between Puerto Rico transplant patients and the Mayo Clinic. After reviewing my Dad's charts she expressed concern over the fact that my Dad's profile is quite complicated, that maybe they had waited too long and that she could offer absolutely no guarantees. My Mom explained that the Mayo Clinic was our only hope at this time and that the only guarantee we were certain of was what would happen if my Dad left the hospital to go home. In a nutshell, the doctor said that if we are to move forward we have to do it quickly.

The Mayo Clinic requested some additional medical information/charts and are in the process of evaluating his case and determining what the next step will be. My parents are sitting in a hospital room just waiting to hear from them.

I am a Daddy's girl in every possible way imaginable, so needless to say the last few days have been emotionally difficult and heart wrenching. We have been discussing some different scenarios recently, but the entire family is on hold until we know what the next step is. Regardless, I'm pretty sure the kids and I will most likely be doing some travel soon.

So, here's the part where I'm recruiting as many prayer warriors as I can. Of course I can ask you to pray for a miracle, because there is nothing God can't do. And if you feel compelled to pray for the miracle of healing for my Dad, by all means please do so.

But the prayers I am requesting right now are prayers for direction, prayers for peace of mind, prayers for safe travels, prayers for wisdom and strength and the ability to discern what it is the Lord wants us to do.

I'm pretty tired right now and think I'm going to bed soon, but I'd like to thank you in advance for your prayers and I will do my best to keep you posted.


"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

Matthew 18:19-20

Weekly Weigh-In

Alrighty guys, I'm back on the weight loss wagon. I went in for my weekly WW weigh-in today and although it's been two weeks since I've attended a meeting and I didn't even go to weigh in last week, I'm quite pleased to report that this week's news was good:

Pounds lost this week: 3.0 lbs
Total lost: 17.2 lbs

In reality it's more like 5 lbs lost this week, due to the 2 lbs I gained last week, but hey that's what I get for not showing up when I'm supposed to.

I'm super excited about this week's weight loss and quite motivated for this coming week as well. So please keep your fingers crossed for me,...

School Pictures

So, we got Isabella's preschool pictures today and although they are not bad, I certainly didn't love them as much as I loved last year's pictures. Last year I liked them so much, I actually used one of them on our Christmas cards. This year she's either so very serious or her smile is as fake as George Hamilton's tan. Seriously!

Here are a few of them for your perusal. Because they are scanned copies they look a bit darker than they are in person, but you get the point. There were a total of eight poses and all of them either look like this:

So Serious

(What's a pampered three year old got to be so serious about?)

Or, they look like this:

Fake Happy(Doesn't she look like something might be hurting?)

Now listen, don't get me wrong: I absolutely adore that face regardless of the expression it's got and I'm thrilled because I have seen first hand how bad it could have been. Trust me on that one.

Mama Don't Play

When Isabella started school back in September I was informed that she would be the Star of the Week in her class during the week of October 20th. Well, the time has finally arrived.
One of the things that the Star of the Week does is bring a poster with pictures and information about themselves to share with their class. I honestly have not seen any of the other children's posters, but that's because I keep forgetting about it during the drop-off and pick-up times. So I'm not really sure what the others have brought in. But, as you can see Mama had lots of fun putting this little baby together.
Her poster board includes a recent picture of her, a couple pictures of when she was a baby, pictures of her family and pets, a picture of her last birthday celebration, The Backyardigans (of course!) as her favorite TV show, and pictures of the activities she enjoys doing the most, which are playing/running outside, cooking with Mommy and Daddy, drawing or painting and dancing. I also threw in a few flowers, stars, a heart, and a butterfly as fillers.

Anyway she totally loves how her board turned out and enjoyed telling me all about it this past weekend. I just hope she's as comfortable explaining it to her classmates and teachers in class today. It was kind of funny when I handed it to her teacher this morning. Something tells me I might have gone a bit overboard. Oh well,...
The other perk of being the Star of the Week is that you get to bring in one of your favorite books and it's the book that's read during story time. Well, her book of choice was "The Gruffalo" by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler and I am so happy she picked this specific book because personally I think it is as cute as can be. It was one of the books we received through the Dolly Parton Imagination Library Program and we have enjoyed reading it time and time again.

BTW, the Imagination Library Program is fantastic and if you live in an area where it's offered and have children under the age of 5 you should totally take advantage of it and enroll your kids in it. In a nutshell, your kids receive a free book every month. Since both of our kids are enrolled we get two free books in the mail each month, which Isabella loves and eagerly looks forward to. We found out about the program when Isabella was two years old and enrolled her immediately. Sam has been enrolled since birth. They send books until the kids turn five years old. So as you can imagine we've received quite a few of them so far. And hey, did I mention it's free? To see if it's offered in your are click here.

I can't wait to hear how the Star of the Week's first day went. I'll make sure and let you know.

I've been bad! Really, really bad!

If you've read my blog this past week then you might already know that it has been a TERRIBLE week WW-wise.

Since last Friday, which was my last weigh-in day, I've had oh I don't know about 7 bad days, some much worse than others. There have been quite a few instances of eating out and/or eating some serious junk. It's been a hard and stressful and busy week for us and I've missed every opportunity I had to go and weigh-in. I am definitely not pleased with the fact that I was absent to my weigh-in on the week that I most likely gained weight, but there's not much I can do about it now. And besides, I am totally committed to making this coming week a great one.

So, I'm really sorry for the lack of an appropriate WW update, but I promise to work my hardest this week and update you next week,... even if the news isn't good.

Cedar Hill Farm Adventure

Today we went on our annual Pumpkin Patch visit. For the last two years we've visited Uncle Fudd's Pumpkin Patch (you can ready about last year's visit here), but the truth is that after last year there was a "gross and creepy factor" that I just haven't been able to shake off. So we decided to change it up a bit this year and go to Cedar Hill Farm Pumpkin Patch in Hernando, MS instead. And boy, are we ever happy we did? It was awesome!

Although it's a bit of a hike at about 45-50 minutes away, it was extremely easy to find. The $8.00 admission charge covers a ton of stuff ~ train rides, hayrides to the pumpkin patch, a corn maize, a petting zoo, access to the playground, and pig races amongst other things. For additional money the kids can have their face painted, go on a pony ride, shoot a corn cannon, and a bunch of other activities. Scott and I were in awe over how unbelievably clean and well kept the grounds are (including the bathrooms!), how much there was to do, and how affordable everything was. The fact that the weather was fantastic was also a huge bonus. We've definitely adopted Cedar Hill as our new Pumpkin Patch tradition going forward. Here are a few pictures of our fun little adventure:

Scott and the kiddos:

When these people say face painting, they mean face painting:

Here's Sam being the happy go lucky baby that he normally is:

Hey, for once I'm in front of the camera (well, kind of,...):

Isabella on one of the two pony rides she took:

Sam and his very own little pumpkin:

One REALLY bad thing that happened today was that midway through our very fun adventure my camera battery died on me,... DEAD!!! And unfortunately I did not have a backup battery or our little point and shoot with me to continue the picture taking extravaganza. So I thought I'd improvise some by using my cell phone camera to capture the train ride, the hay ride and the pumpkin patch. Pretty resourceful, don't you think? Well after I took a few pictures, what do you know? A box pops up saying that my "picture memory" thingy is full. What? Are you kidding me???

So, I did what any photography obsessed mature individual would do in this situation ~ I pouted for just a few minutes, put everything away and enjoyed the rest of our time at the farm. It was such a great day!

By the way, I'm sure I'll post some pictures of the 36 pound pumpkin we picked at the patch after we've carved it. Can you believe I haven't carved a pumpkin in over 25 years? Geez, I can't wait!

Gotta go now, I have big plans for tonight and I have to go get ready. Dinner and drinks with my wonderful friends Hannah and Charlotte. Yay!