Oh Deer!

I was on the phone this morning, and heard Anny call out while eating her breakfast, "Mommy, there are animals in our yard!" 

I replied with "Ok Anny". 

Anny regularly "sees" whales and sharks everytime we drive over the bay bridge to Pensacola, so I didn't put much stock in her animal sighting in our backyard.  Until I actually turned around and looked that is . . . .

Bye-bye Bambi, thanks for the visit, you made our morning very exciting!!  Sting rays in the water, deer in our backyard, perhaps I should be watching for sharks and whales as we drive over the bay...

blue crayon day

It's actually more of a blue crayon week than day. 

A nice, bright, royal blue crayon got left in the car today, on the front passenger seat of our van.  Add to this pretty mixture, the greenhouse effect of the Florida sunshine.  No further description needed. 

We dropped off Scott again at the airport for another deployment.  The same now sadly familiar feelings of emotional pain shot through my body, as I tried and failed to contain the screaming tears, and tried yet failed to pretend I was strong, and ok with saying goodbye.  Why do we try to pretend?  Here's a few reasons I suppose:

1- it scares my little girls to see me sobbing
2- if I can somewhat contain my emotions, perhaps the girls wont fully realize what's going on.  Innocence is bliss they say . . .
3. I don't want Scott to feel guilty for doing his job and fighting for his country.  At least I think I don't. 
4. It's not safe to drive with blurred vision
5. Pleading, "please don't leave me, please don't go, I love you, don't leave . . ." doesn't change the fact that he still has to

Forcing me to pull out of my own selfish wallowing, I received the news that a dear friend of mine had a tragedy in her family.  My pain that has become as regular as Scott's deployment schedule, is minuscule compared to what she is and will be going through over the next few weeks and months. 

So what next?  I turn my pain into action.  Comfort and love my friend - scrub melted blue crayon.  Blue crayon does not totally come out.  Heartache never completely washes away.

So what next?  We keep scrubbing, and keep comforting and loving each other.  A very wise woman told me on the phone today, "Virtually anything is possible if you don't have to do it alone." 

Thank you to all my devoted family and friends, who are always there for me when blue crayon days come around.  I love you and am so very grateful.  Way more than a silly blog entry can describe . . .

The front passenger seat- after an hour of scrubbing, soaking up the excess wax with an iron and brown paper, and several different solvents and cleaners . . . and to think when I was little, the blue crayon was my favorite!

Bind my wandering heart to thee . . .

Any of you who keep your speakers on while visiting my blog, may have noticed a change in my music playlist. Inspired by a friend, I decided to choose songs that convey sweet feelings of nostalgia, love, and simple pleasures. Peaceful tunes that inspire thought, or calm the heart. These songs all do that for me.

One tune in particular is special to me, and I have three different versions of it on my list, all instrumental. The American folk tune, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, inspires and uplifts me every time I hear it. Here are the words to this classic and much loved Christian hymn written in 1757 by Robert Robinson, more recently arranged by Mack Wilberg for the Mormon Tabernacle Chior.

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
"1. Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

2. Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Hither by Thy help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.

3. Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above.

4. O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above."

How often have I felt sad, lonely, tired from the scars of life, and prayed to my Heavenly Father to simply save me, heal me, have mercy on my imperfect life, and bring me back to him? Bind my wandering heart to thee . . .

We are all prone to wander, make mistakes, feel sorrow, and pain of our own making. I'm eternally grateful for the healing sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ. With his scars, we are healed. All he asks, is for us to come unto Him, and live like Him; follow his perfect example in every way that we can. When we fall short, as we all so often do, He is there waiting to pick us up, and help us try again. I hear this song, and am reminded of his amazing grace and love for me. It brings me inner peace, and encourages me to be a little more patient, kind, and enduring, to work harder, and give more of myself. I want my life to be worthy of the prayer in this song, "and I hope by, Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home."

Nursemaid Elbow - Common Courtesty Please

No one feels better after a, "You didn't know that? I've always known that" comment.  There are some things that if you're socially competent, or wish to be known as someone with class, you really shouldn't say.  Along with the above mentioned, are phrases that begin with the following:

"I don't mean to be a jerk, but . . ."
"No offense, but . . ."
"I know I shouldn't say this, but . . ."
"Don't take this the wrong way, but . . ."
"I don't want to sound rude, but . . ."

You get the idea.  Saying you don't want to look like a jerk doesn't make it alright to speak like one.  So please, if you already knew about this, I don't want to hear it.  I'm passing on a life experience I wish I had understood before, or read about on someone else's blog.  It would have saved us some grief, and a late night trip to the E.R.

We all love playing with our kids.  Tossing them up in the air, and hearing that squeal of delight and those sweet giggles keep us swinging and tossing until we've given ourselves a workout no expensive gym membership can top!  Even then, those cute chubby faces are pleading, "again, more swinging?  Please, up high?!"

Not easy to turn down- unless of course this innocent play ends in screams and tears.  Such was the case last night, with our little Merrylee.  We were holding her up high by the hands, and blowing raspberries on her tummy, when giggles turned to tears.  Not all that unusual, tickling often is only tolerated for so long- accept this time a little snuggling wasn't making it better.  Neither were fruit snacks, or other offers of treats.  She just sat there, quietly fussing, and not moving her arm.  We examined it for swelling, felt around for breaks, but didn't find anything unusual.  She didn't like us moving it though, and wouldn't move it herself.  We thought maybe a muscle was pulled, and hoped she'd start moving it again after a little while.  As the evening progressed however, it didn't change, and we got more worried.  She ate her supper, and played a little, but still wouldn't move that arm.

My experienced mother of 6 mother-in-law mentioned the term nursemaid elbow.  You can read about it here.  She was visiting my sister-in-law, and we drove two hours to spend the evening with them.  We got home pretty late, and put the girls to bed, hoping maybe after some rest Merrylee would wake up feeling better.  It was too late to call her doctor, and I really didn't want to take her to the emergency room unless I really had to.  It didn't appear to be broken, wasn't swollen, and she wasn't crying about it anymore.  As any parent who's experienced the late night E.R. trip knows, it's definitely something to avoid if possible.  Lots of waiting, lots of germs, lots of hassle. 

Merrylee, of course wouldn't sleep, thus increasing our worry.   I tried to look up her symptoms on the Internet, but found nothing conclusive or helpful.  Then I tried looking up the term my mother-in-law gave me.  Sure enough, she matched every symptom!  It's basically a partially dislocated elbow, and a very common injury among toddlers and young children under 6.  It's caused by pulling on the child's arm while it's fully extended.  It can happen by something as innocent as Mom and Dad each holding a hand, and swinging the toddler over a curb or step.  Don't tell me you've never done that with your child, because I wont believe you!

Symptoms include crying at the initial injury, and then the child refusing to use the arm, but more or less carrying on like normal, unless something forces him or her to move the arm.  The article suggested to immediately go visit the doctor, or if after hours, visiting an emergency room.  So that's what I did.  Very fortunately, we were the only ones there.  We went through Triage in record time, and saw a doctor right away.  He gently popped her elbow back into place.  It's hard to say if she was crying because it hurt, or because she doesn't like doctors.  (She definitely doesn't like doctors, she cries even at Anny's appointments).  However she immediately regained the use of her arm, and used it to push the doctor away with her little hand.  As we were walking back to the car, her tears were gone, and she was using the arm to point at the "twinkle, twinkle, little stars". 

We got home around three a.m., and all went to bed and slept soundly.  If you're gonna go to the ER, that's the way to do it!  No wait, no blood, minimal drama, and immediate recovery.  She's a happy baby again today, and we're grateful and a little wiser.  Learn from us and pass it on, so your only involvement with this common injury is what you've read here!    

shadows in the water

A family trip to the beach today (still no oil pollution yet, knock on wood!) brought a surprise- 100's of sting rays in the water! They were close enough to touch, just feet off the shore in waist deep water, if they held still, which of course they never did. I hear a stingray sting is painful, however watching them today made me wonder how anyone ever manages to get stung! Maybe they act differently in other parts of the gulf.  As you can see from my photos, as soon as we got close enough to take a picture they'd swim away. If you're local or plan to visit and you're worried, avoiding these animals is easy. They only attack if they're startled, and none of the curious beach bums managed to get close enough to do that. However if you're still worried, to best prevent a sting, "shuffle" your feet in the water. Any possibly buried rays (we never saw them bury themselves, they just skidded along the top of the warm water) will feel the vibrations, and swim away quickly.

We truly live in an incredible and beautiful place!

This may be my last post . . .

... of beautiful photos on our beautiful Gulf Coast beach. I feel guilty praying the oil slick heads west, but I selfishly would rather someone else's beach be destroyed than ours. Not that I have much choice in the matter anyway!

Special shoutout to my good friend, Vanessa, who took all these beautiful pictures! Check out her photography blog here: http://momentsbymurray.blogspot.com/ She's very talented!

It's a Love Story . . .

One of my very best friends sent me a link to this You Tube video, and it made my day, on a day when it needed to be made.  Reading that you'll think this is some inspirational or possibly spiritual video.  Nope! While both are great, the medicine I needed this time was humor.   

This week I feel exactly like the mom in the video does, in the "three years later" part of the song, only it's 5 years later for us.  Same boat though.  Enjoy, and pass on the link to another overwhelmed mom in desperate need of something to laugh at!



Five stars from this exhausted and emotional stay-at-home critic!

Can a photo display true happiness?

yes, yes it can.

When in Rome...

Merrylee and Daddy sharing a munchkin

Anny's "finished" pink frosted donut

When in Rome...

There are over 400 Dunkin Donuts in just the Boston area. Here we are doin' as the Romans do ...

Mommy's Baby

Most friends look at Merrylee and exclaim,

"Wow, she looks so much like her Daddy!"

May I present the following evidence that she is indeed, my child too?

Mommy 1984

Merrylee 2010

half empty, or half full?

HALF EMPTY

1. a 4 day visit from my parents and little brother turns to a 2 day visit, due more snow in VA and flight cancellations
2. the 2nd day of their visit, I get to experience my very first car crash (not my fault!)
3. my babies and brother were in the car at the time
4. there's almost $5000 of damage to my car
5. the state trooper writes me a ticket and puts a "point" on my license for not having proof of insurance with me (learn from my mistake, and go make sure that paper is in your car!!)
6. to dispute the ticket and drop the charges, I have to go to court to show my proof of insurance
7. Today, the day after my mom went home, all three of us came down with nasty colds, accompanied with fevers
8. Because we're sick, I have to cancel my babysitter and much anticipated spa night with a good friend, who's husband is also deployed
9. Do I even have to mention, this all happens while Scott is gone?!!

HALF FULL

1. despite all the snow and flight cancellations, my parents still manage to come down for a visit and I don't have to be alone for Valentines Day
2. my very first car accident happens with my parents there to walk me through every step, keep the girls happy, and me calm
3. no one was hurt, and the driver of the other car is a decent person who admitted fault
4. the other driver was fully insured, his insurance is covering all costs, and had us set up with a rental car right away
5. when the insurance agent called with a damage report, the damage is less than what our car was worth (in other words, our car wasn't totaled!)
6. my mother changed her return flight date so she could extend her visit, and help me cope with the stress of getting through an accident
7. We had a fun day being spoiled by Grandma, and went around Navarre pretending to be beach tourists. She bought us Navarre Beach t-shirts, sea shell Christmas ornaments, salt water taffy, and other tourist trap goodies, and we ate dinner at a restaurant on the beach
8. Today, the day after my mother went home, is a beautiful, sunny, 60 degree day, and I was surprised by a delivery of a dozen pink and red roses from Scott. The bouquet he sent for Valentines Day is still bright and beautiful too, and my mom left us her Valentines Day flowers from Dad, so our home is full of sweet, fragrant flowers, reminding me that I'm loved, blessed, watched over, and that although not always easy, life is indeed beautiful.

The prettiest hair takes longest to grow

My mother has often said, "Every mother believes her child is beautiful. Some of them are right!"

Well, I both think my daughters are beautiful, and that I'm right! Anny has this soft, fine blond hair, that naturally does a sweet, curly little flip at the sides. It has been 3 1/2 years in the making, and recently has finally been due for a first haircut.

Here's our photo-documentation of this special day:

Before

I love the view of her little face in the mirror here!

And the finished product!

What, you can't tell a difference between the beginning and ending shots? That's because our stylist, Katie, is so talented. She preserved the little girl sweetness of Anny's hair, but still evened out the layers so it will lay better, and trimmed the back up a little, eliminating the baby mullet look she was starting to grow! Check out the photos I took of Anny's hair the next day, now that it's lighter, and laying how it should! This is how she now looks everyday, with as little care as running a comb through in the morning. Her natural curl and precious baby girl flip are back, and sweeter than ever!

Special thanks of course goes to our dear friend and awesome personal stylist, Katie Craig! If you're in the area and looking for someone fabulous to trust with your precious locks, she's your girl. She's been cutting and styling my hair for almost a year, and I'd never go to anyone else! I even trust my babies with her. If we're still in the area in the next 2-3 years, she can do Merrylee too!