Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

I want to wish my parents a very HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! They have been married for 34 years, today. Yes, to the SAME person! (<----- ha ha, Mom, that's for you!)
See, the inside joke is that when people will ask how long they've been married, they often respond with "To the same person?".

It's seems to be common to be married for that many years, but often, surprising to many, that it's to the original spouse!

So, on this December 21, Happy 34 years! He's to (at least) 34 more!! LOVE YOU BOTH!!!

"We Wisssshhhhhh You a Merry Chrithmath"......

WARNING: This post is loaded with LOTS OF BRAGGING!!! We all know that I'm not a bragger, in fact, I probably down play my girls' successes to others rather than up play them, as I know what it feels like to be on the opposite end of those who do not let up their kids!! So, this is my blog and my moment, I'm going to brag to High Heaven, and there's nothing anyone can do 'bout it! :o)

Hayden has been practicing "We wish you a Merry Chrithmath", along with 4 or 5 other songs for the last few weeks, getting ready for today. The big Christmas program at her school. (Oh yah, sidenote, she now refers to it only as school. It's no longer church-school!) Progress, people!

And speaking of progress....Hayden did nothing short of surprise and inspire me, and warm my heart to Heaven and back today.

Her school director and music teacher Ms. Monica and Ms. Deann have been telling me for the last couple of weeks how much Hayden is coming out of her shell in music. In fact, one day Ms. Monica had tears and chills because of Hayden's response to class! She's taken such a love and interest in Hayden that we could've never asked or hoped for. It's been AMAZING!

We've known since Hayden was small that she's drawn to music, like most kids, but even a little more in 'tuned' with it. It's her 'comfort' zone and she really responds well to music when we're battling her needs for structure or 'quiet time'. Okay, I'm TOTALLY digressing.

Back on track.

They've been telling me that the strides she's making in music class are phenomenal and they can't wait for me to to see her in the program. I was a little skeptical that she would actually perform when it came time. Her first program there last Spring, we saw the back of her head, mostly. She was shy and embarrassed and just wanted out from in front of the crowds of people. Then, in October, at her All Saints program she stood (facing forward) but did not mimic a word. So, obviously, I was ready for her Christmas program, a proud mommy and excited to see her (a whole head taller than the rest of the school) in her pretty dress, regardless if she sang or not.

She walked out with a scowl and I thought that was pretty much how it was going to go. After the first two songs, her class took a seat. And she sat with a pout until it was time to get back up on the stage. Her class, combined with the MWF class sang two songs by themselves, and goodness gracious did that girl turn it on. She was so into the singing and the motions, and even had her eyes closed at one point she was so into it! My mom and I were laughing so that we had tears running down our faces. Not only was I so proud and emotional at what was going on before my eyes, it was also the funniest thing EVER! You know little kids, when they get on a stage they tend to scream. Well, Hayden, in her zone, wanted all voices melodic, apparently! Some little kid in the front row was screaming the lyrics and from the back row, she points and says "SHH!" really loud! It was a riot! She was in her own world, right on beat, right on cue. Singing, moving, dancing. From the moment the music started, she be-bopped to the rhythm right on course. (They had a hard time convincing me, too, that she can stay on beat. They were right again!)

This years Christmas program will be one that I will not forget. After it was over, the teachers all came up to me with tears in their eyes as well. They are so proud of her too, it's heartwarming. Ms. Monica took her to meet some members of her family, and as I followed, wanting a picture of her and Hayden she said the nicest thing to me. I mentioned that I am going to be sad when Hayden leaves there at the end of the school year, and she said that she's going to be even sadder. That Hayden as sure brightened her days and it makes her sad to think that of Hayden leaving and not seeing her every day next year.

I was referred to St. Tim's last December by a friend, in all my haste and desperation to find a school that would be remotely beneficial for Hayden. It just came to her in a thought, while we were talking one day. I hung up with her and called, and boy, was that the best call I've ever made. The response Hayden has had there in undeniably incredible!

Temple Lights

We've been so busy lately. I've been working crazy hours and in the haste, feeling really guilty that I haven't taken the girls to see lights yet. They love Christmas lights. Like all kids, that's one of their favorite parts of the holiday season. So, after we went to a graduation party in Tempe tonight, I decided it was early enough for a pit stop on the way home. We went into Mesa to see the Temple lights.

Their display is one of the best around. In my opinion, Zoolights does not hold a candle to their wonderland, and it's free! As we were driving up, Hayden was worried that we were going to keep driving, and Conal was worried that we were going to stop! (haha)

Although, even on a Wednesday night, we had to park a few blocks away (in the ghetto...since that's the part of Mesa it's centered in), it was so worth the trip!

The girls LOVED the lights and the festive mood floating around! The Fountain Hills Community Choir performed beautifully, singing Christmas Carols on the stage across from one of the beautifully lit reflection ponds. (Did you know that other denominations and local schools perform almost nightly through out the season?) As we took our time and wandered the wonderfully lit paths, Hayden and I were talking about the story of "No room in the Inn", the birth of baby Jesus. We stood at the Nativity scene and I answered her questions and enjoyed seeing her delight. Of course, Conal saw the donkey and immediately thought of "Donkey" in Shrek the Halls. I swear, you can't take him anywhere!

I wish my camera captured some better pictures, but hey, at least it decided to work tonight! I got what I could to savor an impromptu moment of family time in this crazy season, that we seem to lose perspective in so easily.

I wish my camera captured these better, but I wanted to post these anyhow. I love it when Palm trees are lit up at Christmas!

"Gingy" the Gingerbread House

Hayden named their gingerbread house, Gingy. Silly girl! I bought one house (next time I'll get two) for the girls to decorate last weekend. They had a ton of fun, but bickered, of course, over the candy. Taylor ate more candy than what was actually put on the house. Hayden would line the roof with "lights" and Taylor would take them off behind her, eating them! That annoyed Hayden to no end!

I mixed the icing for them and they did EVERYTHING all by themselves. I did absolutely nothing but pipe the windows and door. They frosted the roof all by themselves, and carefully placed the sugary confections where they glistened the best!

Even though Taylor ate all the candy (and only ended up sleeping about 3 hours that night---from a sugar high, I'm convinced), they had a lot of fun working together!

Made from the Heart, A Special Dress

The first Christmas after Hayden was born, my mom asked me if she could make her a Christmas dress. My mom is a great seamstress. But what I like even more than that, is that they are made from the heart.

So, every year (with the exception of 2005), she has made them a Christmas dress. She always asks my opinion on fabric, style, color, etc. I usually give a little bit of opinion, plain and simple, not lacey or frilly. Those are my only requests, generally. Last year I was with her when she was fabric and pattern shopping, and just fell in love with her idea. Then, a few weeks later, we saw a very similar dress, hanging in a boutique for over $100. I'm amazed at what a Christmas dress sells for, especially one that lacks hard work and love.

I think it is so special that my girls have a dress made by their Memaw to celebrate special occasions. Over the years, she's also made them summer dresses, Easter dresses, receiving blankets, baby blankets....really, the list goes on! I know I cannot save each and every dress over 18 years (or however long they'll let her make them), so my plan is to save them until that time has come, and then take the fabric in each dress and make it into a quilt. So that they can show their kids (probably daughters, since that's what we do in our family), all of the pretty fabrics their grandma used to put into their dresses.

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(Hayden a fun dress her Great-Aunt Shoosh gave her for Christmas Eve)

2006

2007

2008

The Nutcracker

Last Sunday, the girls and I, along with Pam and Coop, went with my mom to see the Nutcracker. The Ballet Etudes production was just down the street at the Chandler Center for the Arts. We had great seats...center stage about 11 rows up.

To be quite honest, I was really worried about taking the girls. They've both been to the Broadway production of Annie last year after Christmas at Gammage and did wonderfully, but they know that story, and there is lots of singing and interaction to keep their interest. I, myself, have had a hard time staying focused in the Nutcracker, so I really questioned them making it.

Much to my surprise, they both loved it! It held their interest and totally captivated them. Tay was a bit whiney the second half because she wanted a "drink of milk". But she still was very well behaved and never moved off of my mom's lap. Cooper, did great! He did fall asleep about 5 minutes from the end. But for a 4 year old boy to sit through a ballet, I'm amazed!

My mom got the kids an ornament souvenir to mark our special day. Cooper picked out a Nutcracker and Hayden and Tay each picked a ballerina. Tay's a serial ballerina anyway, so this just fed her frenzy!

Thanks Memaw, for a very fun afternoon!

Family Photos

About a month ago, my sister met us at Shenandoah Mill (where we got married) to take family photos for us. I wanted some updated photos to put on my walls, and also new pics for our Christmas Cards. She did an AMAZING job! We are not the best subjects to work with, but goodness...her patience, creativity and eye for detail is incredible. I am mailing my Christmas cards out tomorrow, so I do not want to post any of those pictures until everyone has received their cards. But here are a few others

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Do I look older? Nah, I didn't think so ;o)

Last Friday, I turned 32. I must say, it was a great birthday! It was so low-key, yet it didn't go unnoticed!

On Thursday the 4th, my bosses took me out for lunch. They gave me a gift of loungewear that I've been wanting. I think every girl must own a Dreamsacks Bamboo Dreams outfit!

Then, on Friday, my sister came over bright and early to do a garage sale. I was up at 5:30am, which doesn't sound like the ideal birthday morning, but it was really fun! Pam brought me a cinnamon raisin birthday bagel (although I don't like bagles! LOL) and Andrew brought me a nice pot of French Press coffee. Conal had the day off, which seemed like a big treat in itself! The kids had a blast playing throughout our neighborhood; riding bikes and scooters and eating a picnic on the driveway! Pam and I continued our sale until late in the afternoon and then did some running around together, while Conal kept an eye on the kids!

That night, my sister took the girls home with her to stay the night. Conal and I enjoyed a really nice dinner with just my mom and dad. I don't think we've been in the same room, much less a restaurant, with my mom and did sans kids in over 5 years. It was so enjoyable to take our time, laugh, joke and have no interruptions!

After a full and blessed day, we met up for a couple of cocktails with Bonnie and Andrew at a new neighborhood pub just down the street. Murphy's Law! We had a great time, an evening full of laughter, and a day full of enjoyment and love.

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes!

Trimming the tree: A photo essay

'twas the 30th of November Two, deep in thought, girls carefully contemplating where to place their ornaments.

Darn, I blew my cover so the Ham decided to put on a show .
Excuse the bathing suit coverup....it is only 80 degrees out today!
This is the snowman that sparked a toilet paper snowball fight that lasted over two days...in my living room! Oh yah, and snow angels too.

In the midst of telling the Christmas tree the list she's going to give Santa.Better yet, she found the perfect Santa and sat on his lap. No joke, see him down there to the left?
Still hard at work. Diligent, leader, self motivator, decorator.
The End.

Did I mention...

Hayden pulled her third tooth out on Saturday? I swear, this girls bottom grill is gonna be all gums before long!

Well, actually, she has two new (big) teeth coming in place of the first two baby teeth that vacated their original homes!

CHEESE!

Chloe, C-hole, Cholochido

I was never a dog kinda girl. We always had dogs growing up, so they were just a part of my life. But they really weren't my 'thing'. A little over nine years ago, on a Saturday morning, Conal and I walked into a PetSmart where a local not for profit organization was adopting out dogs. I sat down on the ground next to this black lab/vizla mix and fell in love with her, instantly. She climbed into my lap all wirey and crazy and licked my cheek up and down. I looked at Conal and practically had to beg. Of course, he couldn't tell me no. We had to call Uncle Pete (since we were living in his pad) to see if it was okay that we bring a dog into our brood. Him being the dog lover that he was, gave us an instant approval and upon one request, we send a pic. Chloe instantly became a member of our family. She's slept more nights in our bed than our kids ever have (well, they've never slept in our bed, so that's not saying much!), she was our first child, and truthfully, she was the first real commitment in our relationship. It was a given, if we split up, there was going to be a battle. See, she stole Conal's heart even harder than mine once we got her home!

She's had a little lump growing on her front left leg for about two weeks. We thought it might be fluid on the joint (or something along those lines). Conal took her into the vet today and it was discovered that she has Canine Osteosarcoma (bone cancer). I was instantly saddened and obviously dramatic, he came home and seemed remotely optimistic. My mom was here so we really didn't 'talk' much about it until after she left. We read the handout that the vet gave us, and decided to call her. We had many questions about treatment, medication, care, etc. We were saddened by her response, as we definately didn't expect to get a Cancer diagnosis from there today.

Apparently, this is a rapid growing bone cancer that has eaten away an entire supporting bone on her leg. It has metastesized (sp?) into a round ball of cancer that surrounds the joint and that's what we're seeing. That's what she's been licking like crazy. The vet also did an xray of her chest to look for any large masses in her lungs. There were no large masses detectable, but she said that with how bad it's tackled her leg, she's pretty sure that she's got cells throughout her soft tissue as well. We could find out for sure with further testing.

They prescribed Chloe an anti-inflamatory to regulate the swelling and help with some of the pain. Treatments are amputation with chemo, radiation or euthenasia. The amputation with chemo will buy her probably about another year, but as she said, you cannot put a time on anyone or any animal's life. So she could live longer, or less, at that. She also said that she knows we have to make a decision for ourselves, but amputation would solely put a bandaid on the boo-boo, so to speak, but not 'fix' the problem. For there is such a high likelihood that there is cancer through out. It is not a curable cancer, so it will never fully go away.

I asked her how long she thought we may be looking at, 4 or 5 months? She said that she thinks that's really optimistic, she would say probably about 2 months or 3. But again, that's not for anyone to determine.

Basically, Chloe is over 13 years old and even though she is so healthy otherwise, active and young and heart, she is sick.

The vet doesn't believe she's in much pain right now. Discomfort, but she's still walking around with only a slight limp when she first gets up. She's jumping and still climbing up onto our bed and hopping off of it.

Conal and I have both shed many, many, many tears tonight. We've decided that we're going to keep her as comfortable as possible. We have a 10 day supply of meds before she would need to go back in for further testing and more blood work and another x-ray, and we will make a better decision then. We have always been of the mindset that we do not want any of our pets to suffer. We're not sure what the first 4-ish years of Chloe's life were like, so we've let her live a lifetime of riches (in a dogs world!). We don't want the final days, weeks, months, years of her life to be in pain or sorrow. We'll know when the time is right, the vet told us the first signs of real pain to look for, and recommended us not going beyond that. For now, she shall see days filled with nylabones and nights filled with down comforters!

Fiesta of Lights Parade

On Saturday, of Thanksgiving weekend, my mom had invited us and to go along with them and our kids to the Fiesta of Lights parade in Tempe. Since I brought up the caboose of the week-long flu, Conal and I stayed home, but my parents still took the kids! They had such a fun time with Memaw and Papa!