History of Rap

S and I love old school rap if you can believe or not. If you peruse our CD collection, you'd be amazed at what you can find.

Run DMC

Wu Tang Clan

Beastie Boys

Public Enemy

Digital Underground

Salt-n-Pepa

Eminem

Cyprus Hill

Ludicris

Missy Elliot

...to name a few.

The other night Justin Timberlake was on Jimmy Fallon and they performed this medley. So much fun! Enjoy!!

St. Jude Trikathon

W's signed up for his school's Trikathon even though it may be easier to get a cat on his trike and ride it than to get him to do it. Bah!

Despite that, we do feel that St. Jude's is a worthy cause. Won't you consider donating?

Goodness what a couple of weeks

On Wednesday, it will be 3 weeks since my sister donated her kidney to our father. Seester is doing fabulously. In fact, you would never know that she had surgery if you just met her. She's back to exercising and running around like usual. I only hope that she isn't overdoing it. Daddy seems to be doing fairly well. Right now he is staying at the hospital townhouses (which is another story in of itself) and every morning he gets up and heads over to the lab to see how how his new kidney is functioning. For the most part he's been getting pretty good results, but his creatinine has been a little high. They encouraged him to drink more fluids and said that should help. By Thursday, we thought it had resolved itself because his results finally came back good, but then the weekend hit and they went back up again to the point where he might have to be re-admitted to the hospital. So not good.

It's funny because God works in mysterious ways and sometimes He'll speak to you or let you know He's there in the weirdest ways. On Saturday, Daddy was a little frustrated and talking to me about it when something he said registered with me. He was frustrated because he had been drinking the required amount plus coffee and tea. When he said the part about coffee and tea, I asked him if it was caffeinated or decaffeinated. He replied, "Caffeinated." Oddly enough, I had just watched an episode of The Doctors on Friday and they had mentioned the caffeinated drinks are a diuretic and that you should drink an equal amount of water for every caffeinated drink you have. Basically, the gist is that caffeinated drinks will dehydrate you.

After I told Daddy this, he decided to see if he cut back on the caffeine if it would help. Well, today his blood work came back great! I'm not sure if that it truly was the reason or not, but maybe, just maybe, it was divine intervention.

So what else is going on? You can just call me the appliance slayer. In the past two weeks, I have has a little fender bender, a microwave to die, a dust buster croak, plumbing to be repaired and for the piece d' resistance (said with an exaggerated French accent)...my washing machine hit the dust. Really?! Yup. My friend suggested that I give up Modern life and go the Amish way, but I'm afraid of what I might do to a donkey. I replied that what I really needed was a maid. Ha! Anyone want to supply me with one?

Soooo, now I'm on the washing machine hunt. DH contacted a friend who works at Lowe's and he's offering to get us an energy efficient GE for $250-300. The appliance repairman told me whatever I do not to get a GE. He was adamant that they were carp. He told me he could get me a Whirlpool for that price, but when I mentioned my longing for a front load washer, he was good to give me a name of a wholesaler who could get me a great price on a Whirlpool so I just may try that. Now, I just need to convince DH's that we really need a front load machine even if they do cost a bit more upfront. Wish me luck!!

Another round of Monday fun

It's time for another round of Monday fun. Today's spotlight features baby G who has wholeheartedly embraced the word "Cheeeeeeese" and hamming it up for the camera. His brother not allowing to be outdone quickly jumps in too. Ha!

CHEEEEEESSEEE!

Don't forget about me!

Brotherly love looks a bit like a wrestling match at our house.

I would be remiss if I don't include one of the boys favorite songs. W and I like to peruse YouTube and find fun little clips for a little "t.v." time when it's close to bed and mama doesn't want to pull out a DVD. This something we found and both boys love. Enjoy! :D

For my friends with sweet little babies

I saw this on a friends FB page and thought it was so, so sweet. It reminded of me of my time with the boys when they were itty-bitties. I wish I knew the name of poem, but oh, well!

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow

But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

great oogly-moogly

As I've mentioned before, we signed Will up for fall soccer. We thought it would be a lot of fun and were hoping he'd enjoy it. Well, if you know me, then you'd know I have a way of getting into these situations without meaning too. Hence, the "where nothing is as easy as it seems" tagline in the header comes from and this is no exception.

When I registered Will, they had a check box for anyone interested in being a parent volunteer. I checked that box. Mistake number one. I didn't hear anything back so I thought they must have plenty since it's a big organization. Then, I got an e-mail a couple of weeks ago, again asking for parent volunteers. I shot back a quick reply that I'd be happy to help, but I'd be a little scarce for the month of September as my father was having transplant surgery. But, I never heard back. Again, assuming that another parent had volunteered. Mistake number 2.

On Monday, we go to the parent meeting. They go through a Power point show, and then they put up the listing of teams and every so often a name would be highlighted in yellow. They finally get to Will's team and his name is in yellow. S says, "You know why his name is highlighted?" Me: "Maybe, it's a marker to show where that team ends and the next begins? I'm not sure." Mistake number 3.

Yeah, I got an e-mail today with the team member's information and that yellow line clearly signifies the parent of said soccer player as Activity Leader which is a farking roundabout way of saying COACH. OMG. Thud.

Seriously, I thought parent volunteer was something like team mom. You know, the one who makes sure the kids have snacks and something to drink. Mistake number 4. Great oogly-moogly. I've never even played soccer! And, really, don'tcha think they should have responded to me in some way?!

So, with a voice of authority, I walk in and tell S this news and declare that he is now Activity Leader/Coach. Love ya babe!

thankful

Tonight, I sit here exhausted, relieved, and more than anything...thankful. Thankful for the gift my sister was able to give to my father. You see, today, my sister "Seester" give my father a kidney and the gift of life renewed.

The Bible says "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13. But today my sister showed great love, amazing love. Thank you God for the gift of my sister. Bless her all the days of her life.

So how was today? Long, emotionally draining and wonderful. I arrived at the hospital a little after 5 am and spent some time visiting with dear seester. Then I went and visited with my father. They got us down to the OR right off the bat, but after there, we spent a lot of time waiting. They rolled both daddy and seester down to pre-op right around 6 am. Seester's surgery was to begin at 7:15 but didn't get started until closer to 8:30. We had been told that they would move daddy into surgery an hour or so after seester's surgery had begun. But at 10:00, they called and said they were having a more difficult time removing the kidney so it would be little longer. Fortunately they had given daddy some "I don't care" meds and he napped while his friend and I wondered if we would ever get to eat breakfast. When he woke from his "I don't care" nap, he fully proceeded to entertain us in his "I don't care" loopiness.

At 10:30, the medical team said "Let's go" and we went. Officially his surgery began a few minutes after 11 am. While daddy's surgery went without hiccups, seester's took a lot longer than we had anticipated and we were getting quite a bit concerned. A 1-1/2 hour surgery had morphed to an over 5 hour journey. Thankfully, it was nothing major and she returned to her room to recoup by late afternoon.

Seester had just been moved to her room when we received notice that daddy was in recovery. I can not really explain how I felt in that moment. I literally felt a weight lift off of me the moment the doctor told that he had done well and the kidney was working fantastically. What a great moment!

We figured that we would see daddy shortly, but that did not happen. Just like every other thing today, our time would drag on out. A little before 6 pm (marking our 12th hour in the waiting room), I went to the patient information desk and worked some magic with the staff. Somehow, I convinced them to allow the 6 of us in groups of 3 to see daddy so we could all go home and get some rest. Thank you, Jesus, you knew we were weary.

When I last saw them, they both were hungry and ready for some real food. I will take that as a good sign. :D

First day of school

We are ALL happy about school starting.

Yesterday was G's first day at Parent's Day Out and it was W's 1st day of 3K pre-school. I have been looking forward to this day for quite sometime. Partly because I need a little break from the kids from time to time, but also because they need the intellectual and social development that only comes from being around other kids in a more formal setting.

W went to daycare while I worked and really misses being with other kids. But, he's also smart. I know all moms think that of their kids, however his teachers in the past have commented on how bright he is so maybe I'm not completely biased. We met his teacher, Ms. G, the other night and I was really impressed with her. She's been teaching for over 16 years and was recently certified as a Love and Logic Facilitator. I had been listening to Love and Logic podcasts for a little while. For parents, it provides simple and easy-to-use tips and techniques to help parents have more fun and less stress while raising responsible children. For teachers, it helps them spend more time teaching and less time disciplining students. His teacher does teach courses in Love and Logic so I think S and I will take it in the spring after my dad's surgery is over.

G, on the other hand, hasn't ever really been away from me so this is all new to him. He'll spend most of his day just playing, but they do start trying to incorporate some sort of a Christian curriculum appropriate for his age group. He has 2 teachers, Ms. D and Ms. S. , which is needed when you have a classroom full of active toddlers. I have no doubt G will love it, too. He is so curious and full of energy so this will give him something new to learn.

On their way into school.

Big question: How did the first day go?

G and I walked W to his room and introduced him to Ms. G. Immediately, W was looking over her shoulder and sucked into the vortex that spotting new toys can only create. He didn't even notice that we had left the room because he was too busy digging into the toy bins.

W and Ms. G.

(Notice the new toys already stockpiled in his arms.)

For little G, he walked into the room and I could tell that his little mind was trying to process what was going on. I really wanted to get a picture with his teachers and him on his first day, but there were so many little ones upset that their mommies had left them that it just was not possible. G was starting to check out the toy rack when he noticed his some of his classmates and then it was like a lightbulb went on and he realized "Oh, carp. My mama's about to leave me." I had almost made it to the door when that realization clicked and his water works began. The little sad face almost broke my heart...until I got to the door and realized that mama's sweet freedom for a few hours was at hand and then you could not wipe the smile off of my face.*

Happy boy home after school.

*G's tears didn't last for long his teachers reported later that afternoon. I received a great report that he had had a fantastic day.