I can't say that my home is the cleanest, neatest, biggest, or fanciest home out there. But what I can say is that as long as I have this home, my friends and family will always be welcomed into it with open arms, open hearts, and open minds. I am truly thankful that this Thanksgiving I get to say, "Welcome to my home!" to several family members. I am thankful that they are willing and able to drive several hours to spend this holiday with me, Hector and our 3 children.

Thanks be to God for my dusty, cluttered, warm and inviting home. For this, and for SO much more, I am truly thankful.

Gobble Gobble

There's so many things that I love about Thanksgiving. Getting to spend time with my family would be at the top of my list. But let me be honest... I also really love the food. That's got to rank #2 on my list, if I'm just being completely honest. And in my search for the perfect Thanksgiving poem to put on here, I came across several poems expressing gratitude for family, friends, health, etc. But when I found this poem, I knew it was THE ONE... It expresses exactly why I love Thanksgiving so much. I hope you all find this poem as delightful as I did... :-)

T’was the night of Thanksgiving, but I just couldn’t sleep.
I tried counting backwards, I tried counting sheep.
Still the leftovers beckoned, the dark meat and white.
I tried to fight the temptation, with all of my might.
Tossing and turning, with anticipation.
The thought of a snack became infatuation.
I raced to the kitchen, and flung open the door.
I gazed into the fridge, full of goodies galore.
I gobbled up turkey, and creamy mashed potatoes.
Dressing and yams, unidentifiable casseroles, and even tomatoes.
I felt myself swelling, so plump and so round.
Until all of a sudden, I rose off the ground.
I crashed through the ceiling, floating into the sky.
With a mouthful of pudding, and a handful of pumpkin pie.
I managed to yell, as I soared past the trees.
"Happy eating to all, now pass the cranberry sauce, please!"

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

What's A Wampanoag?

I didn't have a clue what a Wampanoag is, until this past Saturday...

Each Friday afternoon, Samuel comes home from school with a list of vocabulary words for homework. He's supposed to learn the words. And he's not just supposed to be able to read them and spell them correctly. He's supposed to have a good idea of what the definitions or meanings of the words are, and he's also supposed to be able to use the words correctly in a sentence. He has the weekend to work on the vocabulary list, and then he is expected to be able to read them to his teacher by Tuesday of the following week. After that, he's expected to be able to spell them correctly and use the words accurately in composition sentences on a spelling test on Thursday. Samuel's got a great vocabulary, and the few words he has struggled with in the past, after I tell him once how to pronounce it and what it means, he remembers it. I am always so impressed with his vocabulary and memorization skills.

BUT... I've noticed over the past couple of weeks that the words coming home on the lists are getting really difficult. This week's list has topped them all. This is the list:

1) Native American
2) Powhatan
3) Sioux
4) Pueblo
5) shelter
6) tepees
7) adobe
8) tradition
9) Europe
10) explorer
11) colony
12) colonist
13) Wampanoag
14) Squanto
15) harvested
16) Independence
17) American Revolution
18) pioneer
19) transportation
20) slavery

Now people, Samuel's in 2nd grade!!! He's 8... I'm 37 years old, and I've got to tell you, I didn't have a clue how to pronounce #2 and #13. And coming up with definitions off the top of my head for some of these words was, quite frankly, rather difficult for me. How on earth am I supposed to help my child, if I don't even know what some of these words are? Enter http://www.dictionary.com/. Seriously, what did parents do before The Internet and Dictionary.com? On their website, they have this cute little icon that looks like a speaker. When you click on that icon, it pronounces the word for you. How super helpful is that?!?! Anyway, I am happy to say that I did initially pronounce Wampanoag correctly. But I missed the mark on Powhatan... I don't know, but I'm thinking this is a little excessive for 2nd graders. I mean, if I were trying to learn a new language, I'm not sure that I could learn 20 new words and their meanings, how to use them correctly in a sentence, how to spell them correctly and how to pronounce them correctly, all within 4 days! I mean, Powhatan... Sioux... Pueblo... Adobe... The list might as well have read ερυθρόδερμοι Δείτε επίσης; διπλό αντίσκηνο, and αποικία, because most of those words looked Greek to Samuel. Goodness, I am honestly not looking forward to next week's list! I'm anticipating the words maize, cornucopia, voyage, Massasoit, and Plymouth to rear their ugly little heads! :-)

Now, go learn something new today! Hope everyone has a great week!

Maisy

Last week, my dog Maisy had surgery to remove a mass that had formed on her shoulder. Maisy had been showing signs that something was not 100% right with her health since this past June/July. I noticed the mass on her shoulder about a month ago. The vet had hoped it was one type of non-cancerous mass that older female dogs sometimes get. She put Maisy on medication and hoped the mass would shrink. Unfortunately, the mass nearly tripled in size over the course of the month, and the vet wanted to remove it immediately.

Maisy after her operation, sporting her Old Navy tee to cover and protect her stitches...

Once the mass was removed, Maisy was acting fine. But on Wednesday of this week, I received the news that I was dreading; Maisy has cancer. It is a very aggressive, quick-spreading form of cancer that will eventually overtake her organs. Based on what the vet told me and what I've witnessed at home, it is most likely already spread to some of her organs. At best, Maisy has 3 months left in her life. Our vet does not think chemo is an option at this point, due to Maisy's age and just how widespread the cancer already is. As of right now, Hector and I plan to enjoy our time with Maisy, with the hope that she will pass peacefully on her own. But we are preparing ourselves to let her go sooner, should the need arise. Maisy has lived a good, full life, and we do not want her final days to be spent needlessly in pain.


Even though I tried to prepare myself before the vet called with the biopsy results, once I heard the news, I was completely unprepared. The vet asked me if I was okay, and I could not even muster up the strength to say no. My desire to not let my time with Maisy come to and end is overshadowing the reality that I need to keep Maisy's best interest at heart. This has proven to be a very difficult few days for me, even more difficult than I imagined it would be. She is still here, but I just can't seem to come to grips with the fact that within a few short months, maybe even weeks, she won't be.

Maisy came to be my "furry child" at a particularly difficult time in my life. She was a loyal companion, providing me with endless hours of unconditional love and affection at a time in my life when I needed just that. It's impossible for me to think about that time in my life and not think about how Maisy came to be a part of our family. She will be greatly missed. I know that there is so much pain going on right now in our country, but I truly covet your prayers that my heart will be at peace when it comes time to say goodbye to my sweet Maisy.

It's Potty Time

Anyone who has ever said that a mother of 3 should know what she's doing by the time the 3rd child comes along obviously did not have 3 children of their own... Isaac proves to me again and again that he is truly a unique individual, and will do things his own way. Thus, on occasion I am left feeling just as unsure of my actions with him as I did with Samuel and Avery, and I am constantly having to re-learn my way of doing things to fit his personality.

Potty training... Ooooooooohhhhhhhhh... I said those 2 little words, dreaded by mommies of toddlers everywhere! Potty training Samuel was a nightmare. Potty training Avery was a piece of cake. Avery and Samuel potty trained at the same time. I tried to potty train Samuel when he was 3, then again at 3 1/2, but he wasn't ready. I finally potty trained him when he was almost 4 and Avery was 2. Samuel could have cared less about potty training. Avery was always wanting to please me. Samuel fought it tooth and nail. Avery was constantly seeking the praise that came when she did go potty, which is why we spent the better part of our days on the potty or in the restroom from the time she was 23 months old until she was 25 months old. That was when I had enough and wanted my life to be more than just "going potty" every 2 minutes, and that's when I put an end to all of that nonsense... :-)

And now, here comes Isaac. He had been going potty very willingly for several weeks. He was so agreeable to everything. He didn't fight it, but at the same time he didn't feel the need to be in the bathroom every 2 minutes. I thought he was close to making the full transition into pull ups or underwear and that he was going to be my easiest potty trainer, but then he completely lost interest in going potty. I didn't know what happened. I stepped back, unwilling to push him and repeat some of the mistakes I made with Samuel. But then this past Friday, as I was using the restroom, Isaac asked me if he could go potty. I sat him down and he went on cue! So I asked him if he wanted to wear "big boy underwear." And to my surprise, he said yes. He wore underwear all day long, had a few accidents, but did good overall. Saturday was still not great, but an improvement from Friday. Sunday, he came home from church with a dry pull up (I wasn't about to make his Sunday School teachers deal with him in underwear!). And he only had 2 accidents on Sunday. And here we are on Monday. He has not had a single accident today. YEA!!! He's doing better than I ever could have imagined he would. Still, I'm having a problem... It's a problem because I never dealt with this issue when I was potty training Samuel or Avery.

Isaac does not want me to put a pull up on him at nap time or bed time. But he simply can not make it 2 hours throughout his entire nap, let alone all night, without a pull up on. Samuel ALWAYS wanted the pull up on, and Avery just went along with that plan because she wanted to do whatever Samuel wanted to do. So every day at nap time and bed time, I'd put pull ups on Samuel and Avery. Last night when I put Isaac to bed, he kept calling out for me to come get him so that he could go potty. It took him over an hour to finally go to bed, after he broke down in tears because he did not want to go pee pee in his pants. Same thing at nap today... He didn't want me to put the pull up on him, but then about a minute after I put him in bed, he was calling me to take him to go potty.

So loyal blog readers, friends, and family, I ask you what I should do. Is it better to simply insist he wear a pull up when he's in bed while trying to explain to him that it's okay to go pee pee in his pull up, and just fight through that with him to spare myself (and Isaac) the frustration of bedtime accidents? Or is it better to allow him this bit of independence, and just wash his bed linens and clothes twice a day? I would really appreciate your advise.

The Fabulous Five

Batman Sr., Batman Jr., Spiderman, Super Girl and Super Mom... Together we are The Fabulous Five!!!

When Samuel first mentioned to me that he wanted to be a super hero this Halloween, it got me thinking... What makes someone a hero, let alone a super hero? You might be interested to know, as I was, that according to http://www.wikipedia.com/ a hero (or heroine) refers to someone who, in the face of danger and adversity, displays courage for some greater good. I like that! But I like this even more... A super hero is someone who possesses a strong moral code, a sense of responsibility, and a strong belief in justice. It also talked about how super heroes always have a "supporting cast." Hmmm, a supporting cast... And so I searched even more. And then I found this information on super heroes and their supporting casts. I love what I found...

"One of the biggest lessons that repeats throughout with super heroes is that although everyone has special characteristics that make them unique, ultimately the power to succeed comes from a cooperative effort, and no one person can do it on their own. Super heroes, like people, have to learn to put aside their differences of opinions, their prejudices and their personal biases, and learn to work with one another despite disagreements. Super heroes are not so different from humans. We too have to learn who we can count on in difficult times and who we can trust to protect us when we feel vulnerable. With both male and female characters, super heroes offer a role model for every child to look up to."

Well, despite how you feel about super heroes, I loved what I read. In fact, I loved it so much that I decided to make our entire family dress up like super heroes this Halloween! Yes, it's true that at first Avery wanted to be a fairy, Isaac wanted to be a frog, I wanted us to dress like the cast of The Wizard of Oz, and Hector didn't want to be anything for Halloween. But we put aside our differences, and worked together in a cooperative effort for the common good. And so it was, that we all came together and became The Fabulous Five!

We had a great Halloween, and we hope you did too.