Molly's Birthday

We had a great time at Molly's Birthday Party! I can NOT believe that she is 5. Holy Cow! Here are some pictures from the party. Just a little footnote, it wasn't until all the candles were blown out and all the pictures were taken that anyone notice the beer can sitting on the table. Are we redneck or what?

CIRCUS!

We did it again. We went to the circus. This one was a little more extensive and had the elephants and lions and tigers and even performing camels! Once again Cori and Monica had a ball and this time we invited our friends Myah and Tori and Emily along.

Cori was able to take another pony ride. (I think she will be expecting one for her birthday next month) I said no way to the elephants. I swear that in the week leading up to the circus all i saw on tv were specials about "When Circus Elephants Attack!"

On a sad note, Hanford will be leaving us for good on Friday. He just isn't adjusting to life with a toddler. This is incredibly sad for me, but i know it is best for the family and for Hanford. We are taking him to SISCA in Kettering where they promise they will have no trouble finding Hanford a new home without small children. So our little Shelby-girl will be our only dog. She seems to love children.

Double yuck!

In my last post i speculated that our first bout of flu wouldn't be the last. Well it wasn't. Two days later I had the flu. I am now just feeling human again. Double yuck!

YUCK!

Sometimes, you have those official "Mother Moments". Yesterday was one of those moments for me. Cori and i were playing on the floor yesterday morning when she paused, looked up at me wide-eyed, said "Mama" in a pitiful little voice and then proceeded to projectile vomit the morning's breakfast and part of last night's dinner all over. And she continued doing so 4-5 times before she stopped. All i could do was put my arms around her, tell her she was ok, and let her puke all over the carpet, herself and me. :)

Off to the bathtub we went, where she produced one more puke for good measure and then was totally excited that she was having a bath. Kids recover quickly. It will be days and days before i do. How long does puke smell stay in your nostrils anyway???? Oh well, our first bout with the flu and i think Cori is doing fine. The doctor said it should only last 24 to 36 hours and it has been going around like a wildfire in August. I am sure it won't be the last flu we encounter.

I pledge to do better starting in March!

So much has happened and i haven't written word one! Cori and Monica went to the Circus together with Teresa and I. It was a pretty small circus and well, truthfully, not too entertaining for the adults but the kids loved it. Cori rode a pony and i thought she was going to demand we take it home with us. She hasn't stopped talking about it and the Circus was over a week ago!

Cori can sing Twinkly Little Star, beginning to end without any help. It is so cute!

She is also entering into her terrible two's officially. The other day when we were out to lunch with my mother, Cori threw a fork across the table in protest. It was fun fun fun!

And finally (for this post anyway) my brother and his wife had a baby boy, yesterday at 10:21 am. His name is Brady Douglas Kadel and he is freaking adorable! Yay Brian and Jen!

Look out American Idol 2023!!

Cori is a singer! Not hard to believe as her mother and her father met while singing. It is amazing to me that she is in key most of the time. Her favorites at this time are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Rock a-bye Baby, and some song that Kai-lan sings on her tv show. Of course there are the dozens and dozens of songs that Cori just makes up on her own.

It is fun to watch her concentrate as she works the lyrics out to her own compositions. If it has been a particularly well done song, she will take a bow and say "Thank you Thank you!" She sings in the car, in the house, and when she wakes up from her naps. Sometimes instead of getting her out of bed right away, i just stand outside the door and listen to her sing her little heart out. She isn't shy about her singing either! She belts it out at the top of her lungs. However, she does show that she has some knowledge of dynamics, as she will sing softly and then loudly in the same song. I am telling you she is near ready for production and recording. Anyone have the phone number to David Foster's office?

Sometimes, you just have to laugh

As it is known, i have been taking care of my Mother since she broke her back in a car accident last week. Well, Tuesday night i was admitted to the hospital for emergency appendix surgery! And i was laying in the emergency room, and the Doctor was telling me my appendix was about to explode and they were preparing an OR for me immediately, i started to laugh. Now i know that the doctor probably thought i had gone around the bend, but really, all i could so was laugh. It was either that or cry. My Mother needs my help with her recovery, i had just sent my daughter and husband to the cafeteria to get some dinner, we were about to get a foot of snow overnight in a terrible snow storm and here i was about to have surgery. Ha ha ha!

The good news, surgery went well, appendix didn't explode. I have wonderful friends who offered to watch Cori while Adam was at the hospital with me. (Thank you Jim and Teresa!) My Mother has learned some creative ways to be more independent without hurting herself. I went to the ER early enough that the surgeon and aneasthesiologist were still at the hospital and not snowed in somewhere else where they couldn't get back to the hospital. We have a truck so Adam was able to get to the hospital and back home with minimal trouble. Cori got to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa. And because of the snow, my Dad was off from teaching school and could be home with my Mother for whatever she needed that i could now not do for her.

I am home and feeling better (as long as i take my pain medication) and will be back to normal in 14 days. Thanks to FMLA (thank you Bill Clinton) Adam gets a mini paid vacation and will not be working in the snow but will be at home taking care of his family. So it all worked out well. (Thank you God!)