tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31311502011-07-29T04:03:32.172-05:00The Blog of a normal guy and his wife!Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06544215033964744835noreply@blogger.comBlogger2301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-17511943200004313842010-01-05T01:22:00.001-06:002010-01-05T01:23:29.755-06:00

Here it is! The "Christmas Letter" meant to go out at the beginning of 2009. Due to technical difficulties...for the ENTIRE year...its distribution was delayed.  But, here it is, ready for you to view in two parts. http://clarks.smugmug.com/Movies/Annual/2008/

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-78201267742564225402009-09-02T09:37:00.003-05:002009-09-02T09:40:52.894-05:00

We finally got a TXU electric bill. For 5 1/2 months of service, they billed us all at once for $1200. Yowch! But, they sent us a letter saying that they understood it would be "unexpected" and they'd offer a billing plan. So, they divided it out for us and we'll have it all settled soon. Still no clue what the glitch was, but they did have meter readings for our house for all the months

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-91557802185799490362009-08-17T22:59:00.009-05:002009-08-18T10:37:38.606-05:00

If you're reading this for the first time, please be sure to read the prior entry first, entitled, The Wild Outdoors.Now, you have to know that we had been waiting for this house for such a long time. We saved our money for years and on top of the anticipation and excitement, the months of contract and construction were the longest and hardest 7 months of our lives due to the stresses of moving

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-67840359939480785562009-08-17T21:33:00.002-05:002009-08-17T22:57:09.228-05:00

I'm not a particularly outdoorsy type person. I appreciate wildlife where it belongs - "out there" or behind the glass and bars of the zoo. :-) Even so, I was pleased to find a harmless and beautiful bird nesting in the trees behind our house. He's a wild red cardinal and we first saw him the week we closed on the house. Actually, we heard him before we saw him. It wasn't his beautiful song

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-89042872891428195112009-07-27T18:40:00.002-05:002009-07-27T18:53:30.470-05:00

We had a good weekend!On Friday, William had his infusion so we spent the day relaxing in the doctors office and eating treats. During that time, William read his first complete book. It is called Big Egg by Molly Coxe. It's an amusing tale about an egg too large to be the hen's, so she carts it around the farm asking if it belongs to the other animals. "Is it a cat egg?" says Hen. "No,"

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-86225100688532538432009-07-13T10:53:00.003-05:002009-07-13T11:11:33.481-05:00

We moved into our house at the end of March. Naturally, we had all of the utilities connected or transfered from the builder to us. Due to some "glitch" TXU has not charged us for any of the electricity we have used since we moved in. I have gotten mail from them in our name and I have an account number. When I call, they verify my name, address, account number, etc, but for some reason we

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-54728119320074467382009-06-15T20:28:00.005-05:002009-06-15T20:38:23.210-05:00

Adios amigo! It's time for you to hide...and not just long enough to let the clouds drip their humidity down to our level and then reappear to warm up the sauna. It's time for fall again.

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-65735541926727704222009-06-15T20:15:00.003-05:002009-06-15T20:27:44.477-05:00

With William's recent obsession with Lego sets, specifically getting more, more, MORE, we figured we might be able to cash in on this bit of motivation and encourage him to work hard at staying dry all night. He dons a Pull-Up each night before bed "just in case," but with his heavy sleep and sleep walking, he struggles to even make it past 11pm before finding himself a bit soggy. Tonight, we

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-81526292101038171082009-06-15T20:08:00.004-05:002009-06-15T20:14:47.199-05:00

Our kids grew up a little yesterday. Mary Carol lost her first tooth (naturally - you will recall the dentist removed her two upper teeth after a face-first fall) while eating a granola bar. She swallowed it. She's looking extra gappy now, but it's cute. She's so proud. William completed his first job for money. He's been asking for ways to earn money so he can buy more Lego sets, but when I

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-29324757904945239002009-05-06T01:53:00.003-05:002009-05-06T02:04:35.440-05:00

Many people ask about William and the report is typically the same. Here's the latest, though not much has changed in a few months.William is doing well. He has infusions of IVIG every 3 weeks at a doctors office. Yesterday was his day. It takes 7 hours to administer the whole dose, but they make it pretty comfortable there and we come prepared. He doesn't really experience any bad side

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-39851892135787283472009-05-02T09:11:00.003-05:002009-05-02T09:18:59.022-05:00

Please shine down on me!! I'm tired of these overcast, humid days. They are absolutely wrecking the beautiful, natural light thing we had going in our house. Not to mention how crabby I get when it's so muggy outside. It's time to stop hiding and come on out to play!! Mr. Sun, these little children are asking you, to please come out so we can play with you!

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-8344621176673596112009-04-27T11:20:00.005-05:002009-04-27T13:53:18.400-05:00

...and I'm surprised it took 5 1/2 years to finally occur. I did some laundry last night (ha ha, very funny...it hasn't quite been 5.5 years since I washed last) and pulled the second load out of the dryer. It was a darks load, which included my brand new dark-wash jeans. I was very careful, turned them inside out and meticulously sorted the laundry to prevent bleed problems, even caught and

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-14504184817608747162009-04-23T20:09:00.002-05:002009-04-23T20:31:50.957-05:00

Note that this conversation occurred in the car, where all deep thought happens for our kids and immediately followed our conversation about the boxes of toys we were driving to the church to donate. I have no idea how his brain leapt from one to the other.W: "Mom, what would you do if you 'digged' a deep, deep hole and you were at the bottom and you didn't have a ladder to get out? You couldn't

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-89803318093612174902009-04-20T16:59:00.003-05:002009-04-20T17:00:47.486-05:00

...it has been very busy and we are still very busy. Just know that there is lots of house stuff going on around here. We'll get around to sorting it all out and hopefully posting wonderful pictures soon enough.

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-67344195615825460352009-03-29T15:25:00.002-05:002009-03-29T15:29:42.912-05:00

William: you know why birds don't have churches?Mom: why not?William: Cause they can't open doors. Of course, how silly of me! How could birds get in?

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-12290776801714527182009-03-27T13:45:00.002-05:002009-03-27T13:51:52.193-05:00

Our stuff is all on a truck and on its way to our new house. I'm thrilled and eager to be unpacked. By the way... our house came with a pet. We named him Bonkers. He is a wild red cardinal, and though beautiful, not so smart. He flings himself into the windows at the back of our house at least 300 times a day. (hence the name Bonkers).. Come visit us soon so you can see our house and our bird

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-52822008622410989672009-03-25T06:54:00.002-05:002009-03-25T06:54:45.552-05:00

I'm up early! It's house day! Yippeee! Hooray for House Day!

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-42655854388924341182009-03-24T22:24:00.002-05:002009-03-24T22:33:19.093-05:00

Sure, I haven't packed even the teeniest bit of our apartment, but I couldn't resist the urge to announce that tomorrow morning (way too early) is our closing day! The house we've been planning, saving and dreaming for over the last 9 months is finally going to be ours! Sure, we're forking over more money than I've ever had to fork before, and we're taking out a loan for a few times that, but

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-16002403871693104342009-03-19T21:39:00.006-05:002009-03-19T22:38:38.921-05:00

Let me tell you about the house that we've been dreaming about for the past year. It's almost time for our dream to become ours and I'm getting excited for our March 25th closing date. We had two main goals in moving from our old house. The first was more space. Space for our kids, space for homeschooling, space for my crafty side and more space for storage. The second was to find a house

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-20936062653911758252009-03-18T10:06:00.002-05:002009-03-18T10:25:07.105-05:00

Our first day home from our trip was really nice. On Monday, we saw sunrise at Big Ben and the House of Parliament in London, then took a 10.5 hour flight home and saw sunset at the new (and almost finished) house. Whew. It was a long and tortuous day, but we went to bed at 9:00 and slept until 9:30 on Tuesday morning. We picked up the kids from Michelle's house late on Tuesday morning and

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-75332279392533435772009-03-12T18:47:00.002-05:002009-03-12T19:05:55.812-05:00

The second time around, Berlin has been just as grand as before, but there have been some differences. 1. It's really cold here! It's been in the 30s and lower 40s all week. Now, for some, that's not a matter to complain about, but for we Texans leaving 70-80 degree weather last week in our cozy air conditioned houses, coming to a city to walk around outside all day in the 30 degree weather

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-9708680739984988262009-03-06T16:20:00.003-06:002009-03-06T16:20:54.333-06:00

We're packing and bustling to leave for Berlin tomorrow. See you in a couple of weeks!

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-27982408602247870382009-02-23T15:19:00.002-06:002009-02-23T15:22:42.172-06:00

Spring is blooming in the retail world. Mary has noted the beautiful fragrance of the aisles of silk flowers in Hobby Lobby. William is more fascinated with another decoration, "bird jails." He'd like to have a bird jail in his room some day. To you and me, it's just an ordinary cage, but not to the active mind of a 4-year old.

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-62233773868334272382009-02-11T13:49:00.003-06:002009-02-11T13:53:18.220-06:00

We passed a fire truck today and reminisced a bit about William's birthday party, which I neglected to blog about. We celebrated at the fire station and two trainees presented fire safety tips before giving us a tour. The fireman asked "Does anyone know what to do if your clothes are on fire?"No one answered for a while, until Mary added, "Don't put them on."Yes, stop, drop and get away from

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-78121827658807871682009-02-05T20:02:00.003-06:002009-02-05T20:05:43.800-06:00

At our apartment complex, we often park next to a little blue Honda car that has two white Superman emblems on the rear windows. I happen to know that this car belongs to the people living in the apartment above us. The first time William noticed the Superman emblems, he commented and I agreed that it was really neat. We finished buckling and loading and preparing to leave and then as we

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-36724083764764741362009-02-03T17:28:00.004-06:002009-02-03T17:47:16.213-06:00

We lost my Great Aunt Virginia today. She will leave a great void in this world. She possesses the most kind and gentle heart our family has ever seen. She was like a grandmother to me when my parents divorced and we needed extra love and assistance. She and Uncle Henry showered our family with love. She leaves us and her husband of 63 years, as well as the pain and illnesses of this world

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-5244723593969183122009-01-27T16:28:00.002-06:002009-01-27T16:58:30.331-06:00

Sometime back in October, I'd thought long and hard about what could have brought on William's condition. I wondered if it had anything to do with our trip to Arkansas 4 weeks before his symptoms emerged. I thought about Lyme Disease, as the area had gotten a lot of rain that spring and the ticks were rampant there. We looked for ticks each day of our vacation, but did not find any on the kids

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-83473842835800644652009-01-24T11:53:00.001-06:002009-01-24T11:54:27.947-06:00

We found this quite amusing...Should we be worried that the audience doesn't find it so funny?

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-18384264804587345442009-01-22T20:15:00.002-06:002009-01-22T20:24:27.169-06:00

We've recently been blessed by our children wanting to say Grace before our meals. To this point, when we asked if they would like to say the blessing, they replied with, "I want you to" or "I don't know how to." I figured no good could come of us forcing them to pray, so we kept leading by example and practicing with them when the moments arise. William broke the dry spell with such a sweet

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-47294582455430069692009-01-03T00:51:00.003-06:002009-01-03T01:12:12.221-06:00

Robert likes to sing. And, he does requests. He also makes requests. At least a few times a day, he will approach me or Doug, usually with a blanket in hand, and he requests "Rock a Baby." I've learned that the baby he would like rocked is himself, in a cradled position. He inevitably follows that request with "Twinkle Stars in da Sky." We finish the trio with "Happy Nose." Now, I required

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-74176720311830042312008-12-19T18:12:00.002-06:002008-12-19T18:18:42.874-06:00

William's surgery was a complete success. He left me at 11:09 and was wheeled to recovery at 12:06. It took a full hour because the catheter was too long the first time and had to be removed to trim it to size and replace it. William has two incisions to heal, one on his neck and one on his chest with a little knob under his skin where they will access the port for his infusions. If we are

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-34708110636649771122008-12-18T22:58:00.002-06:002008-12-18T22:59:11.477-06:00

William will have surgery on Friday, Dec 19th at 11am to have a port placed to allow infusions without an IV.The procedure is fast and "simple." The surgeon said they don't even like to call it an operation because it is so simple. But, being that they will be cutting my 4 year old little boy, I'm a bit nervous. As I understand it, they insert the catheter into the jugular and align it very

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-19582232361303262902008-12-18T22:58:00.001-06:002008-12-18T22:58:35.297-06:00

We finally heard from the insurance company today to say that we have been approved for infusions in the doctor's office instead of admitting him to the hospital every time. This is such a relief in every way possible. The stress of going to the hospital so frequently, placing IVs and staying overnight is so overwhelming, but doing this at the doctor's office will make it more relaxed. We will

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-22767858648098137322008-11-06T14:13:00.000-06:002008-11-06T14:14:35.083-06:00

We visited our usual neurologist this morning. He observed the decrease in William's abilities and also commented that his hands are curled more than even the first visit we had. His reflexes are missing in his legs and now in his arms, which is new. Due to the unknown onset of this condition (sometimes it can be linked to a surgery, stomach virus, vaccinations, etc, but we have no indication

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-36135360257233413732008-11-05T15:27:00.001-06:002008-11-05T15:30:08.548-06:00

I've observed a continued weakening in William over the last twoweeks. I've taken the "wait and see" approach to this point becausethe neurologist warned us that the next test they perform will bepainful and long and because the last time I took him in, theyadmitted him, but he appeared fine the next day. It was 1 monthsince his initial admittance and treatment, and it is one month now

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-70684252502278173662008-11-04T00:58:00.001-06:002008-11-04T15:15:14.471-06:00

I found this site while looking for information regarding National Housewives' Day (Nov 3rd). HaLife maintains a list of daily trivia, but there is nothing trivial about what our country does today. Today is the big day, Election Day!! I think the only thing I can say today to make a difference is, "Please go vote!!" According to HaLife, it is also, Use Your Common Sense Day. Let that apply

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-4443018585803418982008-11-03T12:05:00.006-06:002008-11-03T13:57:30.374-06:00

Today is National Housewives' Day! That'd be me! I manage my household. That's my job, my occupation, if you will.I must say that some days I do it well and other days I need a manager to manage me, but I’m proud that I’m a housewife! I'd love to cook breakfast at dawn with my apron on, have full meals emerge from the oven with beautiful garnishes promptly at 6 each evening and have floors you

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-55213988955595026832008-10-30T01:06:00.007-05:002008-10-30T01:28:02.037-05:00

We made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch last week. Here are a few pictures from our trip. It was a perfectly beautiful day for the pumpkin patch. Just the right mix of warm sun and cool breeze. Every year they dispense a cup of feed at the entrance so we can feed the animals, but never had we had a child so eager to feed them as Robert. Notice the Baby Food Phenomenon occurring with

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-48927770059966392592008-10-27T07:15:00.003-05:002008-10-27T10:33:45.063-05:00

Today is our day. It's Doug's and my birthday! Doug turns a nice cubed number today. I, on the other hand, have hit a prime age...one that by tradition is perpetual bliss for women. So blissful, in fact, that I'll be making this an annual affair. Today is my 1st annual 29th birthday! Until this morning, I was really nervous about turning 29, but today it doesn't seem so bad...must be the

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-68007652385381204232008-10-26T00:58:00.004-05:002008-10-26T01:08:46.051-05:00

We've been through a lot of upheaval in the recent months, all for a new house to call home. We talked, we negotiated, we put our house on the market, and kept it sparkly clean for 7 weeks before closing. We visited model homes, flipped through dozens of home magazines, picked flooring, tile, paint, cabinets, grout, doors, bricks, carpet, railing, moulding, appliances, outlet placement...This

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-57893683798164313422008-10-22T17:01:00.002-05:002008-10-22T17:11:50.594-05:00

After a release from the Neurologist, William experienced a relapse 2 weeks ago. I noticed a significant weakening and his slapping step returned. It was a Friday and I feared not reporting it before the weekend, so I called the pediatrician, who spoke with the neurologist. Our pediatrician saw us that afternoon and could not find reflexes in his knees. She and the neurologist decided to send

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-57583148285176098562008-09-19T20:12:00.002-05:002008-09-26T20:16:37.631-05:00

William visited the Neurologist for a follow up appointment. William's reflexes have returned!! That means that his nerves are healing. It is wonderful that it has been such a short time, which will prevent further complications of muscle atrophy and prolonged weakness. With reflexes, he will collapse less, though he will still stumble as he is just a clumsy kid in general. Dr. Chudnow, the

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-28035471207746005022008-09-17T10:48:00.001-05:002008-09-17T10:49:31.274-05:00

I've been back filling the blog, so you may want to start back at August 15th to catch up on all of the changes.

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-13587478227407054412008-09-09T12:44:00.003-05:002008-09-22T13:11:42.233-05:00

After his second treatment, which was uneventful, we were just lounging around the hospitial for 3 more nights until he would be released to go home. William was antsy and wanted to leave. He did not like lying in bed all day, despite the many DVDs we allowed him to watch. He was allowed to go to the playroom to play, which we did often but it was closed on Sunday and closed at 6pm each

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-79444980749772816532008-09-05T11:48:00.002-05:002008-09-22T13:12:03.927-05:00

That morning he was thrilled to get a breakfast taco, but he ate pickily, which is entirely unlike him. He was in good spirits, but tired. A few visitors came to see him and they brought gifts, balloons and toys for him to play with. We must have seen every professional in the hospital that morning. Some to assess his breathing, some to assess his movement, some to make sure he was still

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-14578894965762619462008-09-05T10:47:00.000-05:002008-09-17T10:48:17.154-05:00

The doctor told us that we should not waste any time getting to the hospital if we were going to get the diagnosis before all the doctors went home. He was requesting a spinal tap/lumbar puncture and an MRI, though the MRI would and could probably wait until the next day. We told William in the car that we were going to a hospital, where doctors were going to try to find a way to make his legs

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-68715281672324004122008-09-04T10:31:00.000-05:002008-09-17T10:36:13.939-05:00

GBS occurs when a person’s body attacks a virus, but some how gets confused and the immune system begins to attack the nerve bases at the spinal cord instead. In this way, it is a hyper-immunity. This causes paralysis from the bottom up and as it progresses it can cause paralysis of the diaphragm or heart muscles. GBS is a temporary condition that usually resolves itself, but given the dangers

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-75837524675355182682008-09-04T10:29:00.000-05:002008-09-17T10:30:59.100-05:00

Doug and I took William to the neurologist on Thursday afternoon, hopeful, but scared. After a patient history, he examined William and found that he has no reflexes in his lower body. He banged on William’s knees until he was crying in pain, but got no response. He told us that he suspected Guillian Barre Syndrome and that William would have to have a spinal tap to confirm it. He told us

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-68393339105796641982008-09-03T10:28:00.000-05:002008-09-17T10:29:08.649-05:00

I called the pediatrician’s office at 8am on Tuesday morning and he was seen at 8:40. I had hoped to email the doctor a list of his symptoms before showing up so I wouldn’t have to blubber in front of him, but they aren’t set up for that kind of thing. Instead, they left a note on the chart so that I could discuss it in the hall with the doctor first. That worked out just as well. When she

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-80626361217475977332008-09-02T10:08:00.001-05:002008-09-17T10:27:22.632-05:00

For the month of August, William had complained at naptime about pain in his legs. It was always temporary, but after 3 weeks, I took him to see the pediatrician to lay it to rest once and for all. She examined him, drew blood to test for leukemia, and sent us for x-rays. The x-rays were perfect, just beautiful. The blood work came back that afternoon and was negative for any signs of cancer.

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-30514450374461282282008-09-01T10:06:00.000-05:002008-09-17T10:07:15.465-05:00

After having our house on the market for just about 3 weeks, we received an offer. It seemed low at first, but after a bit of negotiation, we were able to agree on a price beneficial to both of us, which included a closing date less than one month away. I allowed myself to avoid packing and preparing because with 28 days to go, there were a lot of things that could potentially go wrong. But

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-2962093829689453892008-08-20T22:53:00.002-05:002008-08-20T23:23:59.581-05:00

It's become real, by necessity, that we are moving in a little over 1 week. We started the packing process yesterday. Doug's mom came over in the afternoon to help me pack and boy did we get to it! Mary swept through the house gathering knick knacks and decorative items. They are easy to pack for storage, since they are not necessities. The house immediately looked barren and devoid of

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-81301331348346779602008-08-16T12:30:00.005-05:002008-09-17T10:58:19.609-05:00

I mentioned below a canoe trip during our Ozark vacation. We rented a canoe with the plan to travel down the Buffalo River, just Doug, myself and Mary and William. We prepared them mentally for life jackets and oars and rapids and NEVER standing up in a canoe. On the windy drive to park our car at the exit point Mary and William eagerly asked questions about the boat and whether it would tip,

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-2083043481401511932008-08-15T00:20:00.006-05:002008-08-15T22:28:03.954-05:00

I realize that we are way behind on keeping our blog up-to-date, but that has been type of time we've been having these past couple of months. B-U-S-Y!Back in June, we did such things as study Dr. Seuss' Horton books and then take a trip to the dollar theatre to see the recently released movie, Horton Hears A Who. We celebrated a cousin's pirate birthday party, curled Mary's hair for the first

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-38943116222958449282008-06-20T01:57:00.004-05:002008-06-20T02:23:51.647-05:00

Since Robert has started walking everywhere he goes, he's gotten a new perspective and so have I. He now walks up to me, but keeps enough distance from my legs so he can tilt his head back to see me without toppling over. It seems like a small thing, but the lack of ankle clinging is a nice bonus to the walking stage. For some reason, when he looks up at me from his new position, with his blue

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-25287590777714669942008-06-07T10:33:00.002-05:002008-06-07T10:36:00.244-05:00

Robert is walking! He finally did it on his 18 month birthday (today). The past couple of days have been a lot of practice for him with a lot of crawling still. But, today, he's walking around and when he falls, every 10-20 steps, he stands up again and walks. He's so proud of himself. We'll be capturing some video soon of this early, wobbly, high-knee stage. He's really adorable toddling

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-16573019469538758322008-05-16T10:56:00.002-05:002008-06-05T01:48:52.472-05:00

It's a little late in coming, but I wanted to report on my wonderful Mother's Day. The day before Mother's Day, I spent the vast majority of the day at a homeschool bookfair in Arlington. But, before I left, William ever-so-sneakily asked me what my favorite kind of cookie was. I listed a few and got out my Cookie Cookbook just in case. :-) When I returned home, there were no signs of

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-74412512134334805872008-05-04T17:32:00.002-05:002008-05-04T17:38:10.602-05:00

Here it is! You made it. I know you've been missing the monthly Lisa-grams (as have I, really), but this is the next best thing. Enjoy the smaller, but more frequent updates! Here's a new picture of our everyday life:William on the play ground: There are lots more pictures at http://clarks.smugmug.com/

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-28606170917599847592008-04-21T10:58:00.002-05:002008-04-21T11:55:13.949-05:00

Doug and I have noticed a trend recently for bank branches to pop up on every corner. Years ago, we joked about Walgreens because when we gave directions to our first apartment, each turn's landmark was a Walgreens. Well, now it's banks. We passed one intersection yesterday that had 3 banks! Not just one on each of 3 sides of the intersection, but all 3 were on the southwest corner of the

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-23604551848236694632008-04-19T19:43:00.002-05:002008-04-19T19:50:23.250-05:00

My cake making hobby has always been a source of temptation for William. Luckily, as I made a baby shower cake today, Doug took the big kids out for fun. Robert and I hung back to deal with sugar. Robert was playing on the kitchen floor while I darted from side to side preparing the icing, cake board, etc. I turned around to this scene. The child can't walk, but much like his brother, he

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-55600156001268193342008-04-13T21:36:00.006-05:002008-04-14T15:52:51.842-05:00

Robert finally, finally did it!! He took his first steps this evening, at 16 months, 6 days old. We were at Gramma and Grampa's house for the afternoon and just before we got ready to leave, Robert walked from me to Grampa. He took 5 steps, wobbly but strong, before reaching Grampa's arms. You would have thought I'd won a million dollars by the way I reacted. Doug had been playing the piano

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-74598471532548062592008-04-08T14:57:00.002-05:002008-04-08T15:44:12.316-05:00

We had a second wonderful spring-time Family Day, courtesy of the kids' Mother's Day Out program. The school planned a trip to the Dallas Zoo and got us the group rate for entry. We'd never been to the Dallas Zoo as the Ft. Worth Zoo is usually considered superior. But, I must say that we weren't too disappointed in this trip. The zoo is small, but that's perfect for 3 and 4 year olds who

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-19105944256749863622008-04-07T14:33:00.002-05:002008-04-07T14:45:59.767-05:00

Our Easter Sunday was full of celebration and cheer. We dressed ourselves for church, snapped a couple of pictures of the kids and opened Easter baskets. Celebrated Christ's resurrection at church and posed for pictures in the wind. We hunted for eggs in Gramma's back yard. After lunch, we visited Great Grandpa in the rehabilitation center, then drove home for our naps. The least exciting,

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-27196779957602613382008-03-22T10:59:00.002-05:002008-03-22T11:10:15.424-05:00

As part of our Kindergarten celebration of Easter, our class made Resurrection Buns. You can see the whole process in the School gallery at Smugmug, but the long and short of it is that we wrapped white marshmallows (representing Jesus' purity and sinless life) in biscuit dough and sealed it tight like the tomb. We brushed them in butter and cinnamon and sugar, then baked them.When they came

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-40643107706321988372008-03-17T10:14:00.003-05:002008-03-17T16:42:39.686-05:00

This past weekend, Doug kept the kids for me and I packed up bag after bag of scrapbooking/stamping materials and headed to Ft Worth for a weekend getaway. I planned to work only on Robert's baby book. At this point, he is the only one with a baby book, but it is fresh in my mind and I was inspired to record his babyhood. I listed the pages I wanted to include, printed the photos, printed

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-11095914584186819072008-03-12T13:19:00.003-05:002008-03-19T13:32:22.101-05:00

Every year we take a trip to the Dallas Arboretum to experience the arrival of spring. This year, our trip was scheduled after a week of snow, so we weren't sure how the flowers would have faired. As it turns out, there were still many flowers, but it was it was clear that a good number of bulbs had been pulled and replaced by pansies, which withstand the winter weather more. This year was

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-56917011107783728392008-03-08T09:53:00.000-06:002008-03-17T13:38:19.275-05:00

We always enjoy celebrating birthdays at parties, so we especially enjoyed celebrating Thomas Hebert's 1st birthday. He's a sweet little boy with a charming smile. He celebrated with a dog party, complete with trick-performing dogs and everything! We had such a blast (even Robert!) and despite Mary and WIlliam's fear of dogs, they really enjoyed the dogs in the back yard. We played "Hot Dog,"

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-69084437617315727942008-03-07T21:03:00.001-06:002008-03-16T21:26:35.373-05:00

Any time it snows in Texas, it's a big deal, but to kids it's like Christmas all over again.This week, we got nice thick snow twice (separated by a day in the 70s). It came down in huge flakes, stuck nicely on the ground and packed firmly for angel making, snowball throwing (at the trees, not each other), and snowman building.The first snow occurred overnight, so we only briefly got to

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-68821361839452569252008-03-05T20:02:00.002-06:002008-03-05T20:05:55.232-06:00

In the past week, Mary has really expressed how she feels about certain happenings. Sometimes these things are "berry pretty," some are "a hard time" (meaning they are difficult), but my favorite of all is when things are "resgusting."

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-61510473670798156522008-02-19T22:06:00.002-06:002008-02-19T22:26:43.145-06:00

It's all happening so quickly! Last week Robert wouldn't even hold my fingers and move his feet, but this week he grabs hold and charges forward giggling and jabbering across the whole length of the house. This kid loves to move. He's thrilled with the idea of walking, but his balance leaves a lot to be desired and sometimes as he walks one or the other of his feet points straight out, as in

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-66565923400150525572008-02-18T00:53:00.004-06:002008-02-25T10:30:49.550-06:00

...ok, maybe not THE sweetest because baby coos and giggles rank right up there.   I've been in tears several times the last few weeks as Mary sounded out words and read her first books.  It's just such a sweet sound to me.  "mmm-aaaa-t, MAT!"   Here's your chance to listen to the sweet rhythm and intonation of an early reader.  (click on the image to load the video) "ran anD ran anD ran anD

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-60866317470969979462008-02-17T22:23:00.002-06:002008-02-17T22:30:48.532-06:00

All is well on the Kindergarten home front.  We've completed 2 weeks (4 sessions) and have progressed well during that time.  Our schedule is still in flux and will continue to be adjusted as we learn what's best for all of our kids.  William has joined in the group as a Pre-K-er.  He absolutely will NOT let himself be left out.  He's sprouting little buds of enthusiasm for reading.  He's still a

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-1070803456940403172008-02-02T09:43:00.001-06:002008-02-02T09:50:04.516-06:00

Since the passing of Doug's grandmother in December, we've had a lot of discussions with the children about her "having a lot of birthdays" (amazing how a concept like 'old' is lost on a 3  year old) and now living with God.  William is always quick to say that when he has a lot of birthdays, he wants to live with God too.  Thursday we had the discussion all over again, with the usual exuberance.

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-32440932503140409802008-02-01T17:30:00.000-06:002008-02-01T17:43:05.228-06:00

I've been waiting for and dreading the arrival of this time for a few years now.  To tell the truth, I'm still not quite ready for it.  But, Mary has made it quite clear that she is ready to begin Kindergarten.  Yesterday, she read a good portion of Hop on Pop to me.  Today, she brought me a paper that had been in a box of clothes that said "Winter."  She said, "Mom, I spelled winter!  See!  It's

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-13666554631603974442008-01-31T11:49:00.000-06:002008-01-31T12:54:07.281-06:00

Imagine, if you will, a Target parking lot.  There is our car, nestled between a few others.  I've just finished our shopping and have pushed the buggy through the gusty winds to the driver's side.  I open the sliding door, place Robert safely in his seat, buckled and out of the wind.  Our purchases are resting inside the large rubbermaid bins I bought and need to go to the passenger side as well

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-58840212532607476942008-01-30T20:44:00.000-06:002008-01-30T20:45:21.028-06:00

Did I fall asleep for a week or something?  How is it already February?

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-65762448483530727412008-01-16T21:48:00.000-06:002008-01-26T11:15:34.470-06:00

On Jan 12, we hosted Mary's fourth birthday party.  I wanted it to be very special for her and I wanted to try something different than the loud whole-family parties we'd had in the past.  After much deliberation, I put  together a Mommy-and-Me, Berry Sweet Treat party.  What is a Berry Sweet Treat Party?  If it's yummy and sweet and especially if it has strawberries too, it's a Berry Sweet Treat

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-88971670879829847262008-01-09T01:00:00.000-06:002008-01-09T01:20:08.056-06:00

This evening around the dinner table, Mary told Daddy about the little red hooded capelet she wore to school today.  She truly did look like Little Red Riding Hood, which is what I had said to her when it became obvious that I had somehow neglected to tell them of the little girl who visits her granny only to find the Big Bad Wolf instead.  So, I proceeded with the story there at the table as

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-60354881500051704822008-01-03T15:04:00.001-06:002008-01-04T13:47:34.077-06:00

A new year has arrived.  It always feels like some large transition should take place, but when it comes right down to it, it's just the next day and not much different than the day before. I've always shunned resolutions, probably for the same reason we don't celebrate Valentine's Day.  I don't like to be told when to do something I should be doing anyway - it's a big demotivator for me.  Call

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-2659970758639553362008-01-01T10:34:00.000-06:002008-01-01T11:48:04.698-06:00

Lisa got a video camera for her birthday this year, and she's been filming events/vacations since November. However, 5 hours of raw footage isn't much use to anyone as-is, so we've started the process of editing it.I purchased Final Cut Express 4 for her as a late Christmas present and that night we created this video of Robert's first haircut. It's hosted on smugmug and is hi-def (720p, the

Douglashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06544215033964744835noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-51230311921676592412007-12-26T08:12:00.000-06:002008-01-05T08:41:57.133-06:00

We enjoyed a wonderful celebration in the days leading up to Christmas.   The kids decorated their own tree. They sang with their classmates at school.  (video coming soon) Mary Carol sang "Away in a Manger" in the children's choir at church. And, in the weekend leading up to Christmas:  We visited Nisey (Lisa's mom) for a Christmas meal and presents.

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-16066710686123174652007-12-17T11:04:00.000-06:002007-12-17T11:43:21.456-06:00

4 years ago today our sweet little girl was born. I cried at her first breath and left the hospital 4 days later to begin the great unknown of parenthood. It wasn't long before she'd slipped so gracefully into our hearts.One year later, we shared the most precious little celebration over a blueberry muffin and watched as our baby turned into a little girl.  We watched her precious, smiling face

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-30175348008851170702007-12-07T23:50:00.000-06:002007-12-08T00:16:41.918-06:00

One year ago today, Robert entered this world. It doesn't seem that long ago, but it seems I have more than a years worth of happy smiles and memories with him. Today was really much like any other day for Robert. We've slowly come to see him as the little guy with the big smile, tiny, adorable teeth, a turbo crawler with expressive eyes and an excitement for new things. He grew into this

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-46049120177638278712007-12-05T16:00:00.001-06:002007-12-05T16:01:12.677-06:00

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-76176037668219635702007-12-05T15:56:00.000-06:002007-12-05T15:59:46.390-06:00

We had the children's holiday portraits made today as well as their birthday pictures. Take a look at our Christmas angels.You can get a sneak peek at the birthday portraits in their individual smugmug galleries, but you'll have to wait for them here until their actual birthdays.

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-42449956608864209692007-12-05T15:16:00.000-06:002007-12-05T15:35:40.218-06:00

Each morning since Thanksgiving the kids have asked this question within an hour after waking. It's difficult for them to distinguish between the Christmas season and the actual day. So, every morning I tell them that it is Christmas Time, but not Christmas Day. We haven't emphasized many of the celebrations on Christmas because we find it sweet that they are truly anticipating what they know

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-64651605191349668372007-12-04T15:07:00.001-06:002007-12-04T21:03:26.690-06:00

This Saturday was William and Robert's birthday party. We thoroughly enjoyed hosting a few of our friends and family to celebrate William's 3rd birthday and Robert's 1st. Here are a few pictures from the festivities. A is for ArriveB is for Build a puzzle..............................................C is for Cupcakes D is for Diaper Derby..........................................E is for Egg

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-8794112914687012962007-11-28T10:57:00.000-06:002007-11-28T11:03:45.851-06:00

Last week, while we were on vacation, William had his 3rd birthday! We were in Sedona that day and celebrated with the family. Gramma and Grandpa treated us to ice cream. William chose to eat (and wear) chocolate. He opened his present from Mom and Dad, which was the hit of the trip. Buzz Lightyear...to the rescue!! Here is our precious 3 year old boy on his special day. On the drive back

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-35900940363616832372007-11-27T16:20:00.000-06:002007-11-27T16:26:15.827-06:00

I took Robert to the mall for his very first hair cut. He hardly has any hair on top, but he was growing some shag in the back, so it had to go. I juggled him, the camcorder and the still camera and watched as he sat still and happily while the young lady trimmed away. In fact, he did so well that she got the electric trimmer out and buzzed around his neck. He loved it! Here are some photos

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-66921338804466543252007-11-27T16:14:00.001-06:002007-11-27T16:31:00.876-06:00

The time has finally come. We talked up how important William was now that he is 3 years old and how 3 year olds use the potty and wear underwear. He recently told me that he didn't like the potty because he was afraid he'd fall in and I'd flush him down, so I broke out the old potty chair and he seems to like it much better. Yesterday was his first day to give it a try. He sits nicely, but

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-31581351865293367362007-11-27T15:49:00.000-06:002007-11-27T15:57:26.379-06:00

We returned safely from our Thanksgiving vacation. It was an 8 day caravan from DFW to Phoenix with Doug's half of the family. We stopped in Carlsbad, White Sands and Sedona too. With 2 days left to our trip, we drove from Phoenix to Taos, NM to visit my brother and left the extended family behind. The weather in Phoenix was beautiful. Sunny and 75 all day. We couldn't have asked for better

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-23218772483156974252007-11-12T01:15:00.000-06:002007-11-12T01:24:59.839-06:00

...we'll just have to put the clothes on anyway and snap a picture. I got tired of waiting for Mary to be able to wear her long sleeves and beautiful rich autumn colors, so we just did it anyway and she was a little toasty. Here are our 3 beautiful children celebrating autumn.

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-51561463716349358162007-11-08T23:40:00.000-06:002007-11-08T23:55:45.564-06:00

I got my hair cut today. It was time and I wanted to lose several inches. I did it while the big kids were at school. When they saw me, William asked "why is your hair short like mine, Mom?" He had just gotten his hair cut. But since I was also experimenting with a new style, using my natural wave in my hair instead of spending seemingly endless hours straightening while drying it in the

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-34470910174628626202007-11-05T16:58:00.001-06:002007-11-05T17:04:43.950-06:00

A few pictures from Halloween:

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-27827349291879774912007-11-05T16:41:00.000-06:002007-11-05T16:58:03.570-06:00

We stayed at Gramma's house on our birthday for Sunday morning convenience and while we were there Mary was sick. She woke up in the middle of the night and came down stairs to find me, but got distracted before she made it to me. I woke up to find all the lights in the house were on, but it wasn't our house, so I couldn't be sure that Gramma hadn't turned them on herself. Then it was pointed

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-85425429382353439832007-10-28T20:40:00.001-05:002007-10-28T20:52:16.606-05:00

It's been mentioned before in this blog, but Doug and I share a birthday. It was yesterday. We started out with 5 overlapping commitments this day, but we cancelled 2 and one was tentative and never came to fruition, so overall not a bad day. We are kind of mellow birthday celebration people, so we never plan anything too elaborate and this year was no different. I did ask for and receive a

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-63383729679275805482007-10-28T20:36:00.000-05:002007-10-28T20:40:20.080-05:00

...almost a month! We've been swimming upstream this past month just trying to keep up, but all of it was a good kind of busy. We've gone to the pumpkin patch, had a stamping weekend, baked fall themed cookies (twice!), celebrated a whole families worth of birthdays in one week, and added another family member that week too. My sister, Michelle had her baby girl, Virginia. She was a tad early

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-16708846940505656252007-09-29T09:18:00.000-05:002007-09-30T00:05:38.905-05:00

...then this. I got a cough about 3 weeks ago. It started as a cough with no nasal drainage whatsoever. Just as I thought that was getting better, I got a "runny nose" type cold on top of that. So after a lot of drainage and coughing, I noticed (about a week ago) that one of my ribs really hurt when I coughed or moved certain ways. Doug was tired of all the hacking (and complaining) and it

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-32547633968496863882007-09-25T20:19:00.000-05:002007-09-25T20:37:54.424-05:00

I'm getting so excited about this holiday season. I can't wait. I really love fall and I've been decorating bit by bit. I've got plans whirling around my head for things I want to do. I've got a Thanksgiving garland hanging on our mantel already and harvest scented candles at the ready. I keep eyeballing the pumpkins appearing at various stores and can't resist buying fall clothes for the

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3131150.post-74592005077049759192007-09-25T12:56:00.000-05:002007-09-25T12:57:49.316-05:00

After about a month of having only 3 teeth, Robert cut the second top tooth and he's so cute! I'll try to get a picture of him showing them off. Man is it sharp!

Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14523968150640979701noreply@blogger.com3