The Sweetest Sound Ever!

I've yet to figure out how to put video clips on this blog (Ross I need help!), so you'll just have to imagine what this sounds like! I'm driving Chloe to school this morning, and from her perch in the backseat, this is what I get to hear (again keep in mind that the "r" and "l" sounds come out as a "w" from Chloe):

Chloe: "Mom, I'm gonna sing your favorite song."

me: "That would be great."

Chloe: "Away in a manger no cwib for a bed. The wittle word Jesus way down his sweet head. The stars in the sky wook down where he way, the wittle word Jesus asweep on the hay, the wittle word Jesus asweep on the hay."

Chloe: "How was that?"

me: "Perfect!"

She's taken to repeating the last line of songs for "emphasis"--
This is definitely the way to start your day! And even though it was such a busy, hectic day, when I sat down tonight to talk to Micky about the day this was the first thing I told him, and by far the best!

Turkey, Al Roker, and some Dap!

Sorry it's been a while since I posted on here (Wendy!:-)), but after Thanksgiving we were a bit busy with Carolina losing, a birthday party, and the "Blue Hair Convention" I attended Monday night in Myrtle Beach--I'll be sure to write a post about that soon! Any old way~~ Thanksgiving was, to quote Chloe, "FANTASTIC". If you ever get the chance to host Thanksgiving while your 8 months pregnant I highly recommend it! Other than the cleaning up before everyone got here (which Micky helped me with), I pretty much didn't have to lift a finger! We had my family and Micky's for dinner--everyone brought a dish, Micky fried the turkey, and between my mom, Micky's mom, and my Aunt Marsha I didn't have to clean a thing. Mind you, I'm still perfectly capable of cleaning--but who am I to deprive those women of the joy of cleaning up after 25 people! I almost felt bad about it, but then realized that in 2 years-when it's my turn to host again--they'll all be busy playing with the kids and I'll be the one cleaning up!! Seriously, it was very nice of them and I greatly appreciated it!

Giving Thanks. I'm a bit embarrassed to say this, but sometimes I will go days without telling God thank you for all the blessings he's given me. I'm working on fixing that! As for telling you all the things I'm thankful for this year--that would be impossible! So, here are a few funny things from Thanksgiving Day that I'm thankful for:

1. My gangsta' daughter-- Chloe slept late Thanksgiving morning and when she finally woke up she called her dad in to "snuggle" with her. After a minute I hear Micky laughing pretty hard so I had to go see what was so funny. Apparently, she told him a story (he couldn't quite understand all of it but thinks it was about a dream she had), and at the end of the story she held her fist up to him and said, "Give me some Dap!" (for those of you who don't know, this is what my brother, Scott, says when he wants her to do a fist bump with him). She proceeded to ask for some "dap!" all day long! Imagine her dressed in a pretty skirt with cute pink tights (thanks Leah!) and completely ruining the dainty princess image with the "give me some dap!" request! Needless to say, her great-grandparents were a little confused!

2. My husbands humor-- After we had given Chloe her morning "dap!" we all snuggled together for a while watching the Thanksgiving parade on NBC. We realized we are definitely getting old when we were actually enjoying the corny singing and dancing numbers. Well, Al Roker came on to introduce the next act and when he got done Micky said (with all seriousness), "You know, no matter how we dress Mr. Potato Head, he always ends up looking like Al Roker." I almost choked on my chocolate milk! And yes, we know we talk about Mr. Potato Head too much, but we spend a lot of time putting outfits on that guy!

3. My dad's narcolepsy-- Most of you know that my dad can fall asleep anytime, anywhere: standing up, sitting at a loud football game, sitting on a bar stool playing Trivial Pursuit (he actually did that at the beach one year and fell to the floor from the stool--it was hilarious!--and he wasn't hurt!). Here's a picture of him at about 3:30, two hours before he even had any turkey!










4. Cousin Eddie-- If you've never seen Christmas Vacation, you are missing out! I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't love it--and I think that's partly because everyone can relate to it--we all have at least one "Cousin Eddie" in our family. (We have 2!) We're planning on having a Christmas Vacation themed Christmas party next year, and I'll bet that over half the guys show up with white shiny shoes and a white sweater with a black Dickie showing through underneath it! It's been tradition in our family for years (ever since mom laughed so hard she could've used Depends in the theater!) to watch Christmas Vacation on Thanksgiving night. It kicks the season off for us! And we all have our favorite lines. One of my personal favs comes from the snooty neighbors, "I don't know Margo!"


Thanksgiving was a hit and I'm doing my best to remember and thank God for everything that I have and all that I am. Thank you!

He makes me laugh!!

Micky and I have been together for 13 years--8 married, 5 dating-- so that's almost half of my life. People will often ask me how we keep things "fresh," or do we still feel "crazy" for each other (I know I do). I find these questions annoying but try to understand that most people asking them are really young and just haven't met that person you love enough to look at everyday for the rest of your life! In my mind a good marriage takes trust in God and each other, respect, love, passion, and a ton of laughter! Some days we may not get to experience a ton of laughter or passion (not everyday is perfect!), but the 3 main things--trust, respect, and love--are always there. That's not to say we don't disagree or argue every now and then--I personally think that's healthy for a relationship. It's in those times that our personalities can feed off of each other--I can actually calm down a bit, and Micky can actually get loud over something! It's great, and so far it seems to work for us! But I have to say that since we've had Chloe in our lives, the thing that has kept us happy more than anything is all the laughter! And he can really make me laugh! Not just at the funny things that she does--trust me there are plenty!--but also watching how we react to her or things she's done can be hilarious! Lucky for me and Chloe, Micky is a great dad, and there aren't too many things sexier than watching the man you love playing and getting dressed up in all of Mr. Potato Head's gear by your 3 year-old! Anyway, the point of this post was not to go on and on about my love for Micky, but to share one of our funny (you'll probably think gross) moments from last night!

*WARNING--NEXT PARAGRAPH NOT INTENDED FOR THOSE OF YOU WITH A WEAK STOMACH!*

Let me start by giving a little background information: 1. as you may know, Chloe has had the "crud" for a little over a week, no fever just a nagging cough and runny nose. We've been giving her cough syrup at night to help her sleep. 2. This may shock some of our "organic only" eating friends, but we had hot dogs for dinner last night. I love them, Micky loves 'em, and Chloe will eat anything she can dip in ketchup! We don't have them very often, and don't worry we only gave her one tablespoon of bacon grease and 2 shots of tequila to go with it! Fast forward to 9:45pm Micky and I are in our room talking when we see a little head peeking around the corner. Usually this is Clyde coming to get his 15 minutes of play time, but last night it was Chloe asking to sleep with us. Again, this may shock some of you, but we said sure, come on in. She doesn't ask often and there's usually a pretty good reason when she does. This should have warned us! Fast forward again to 3:15am, this is where it gets gross, Chloe sits straight up in bed and says I need to go potty. Micky picks her up to take her and before they're out of the bed--blughhhh-- you know it, we get to see the hot dog again! It's on the bed, carpet, hardwoods in the hall, door frame to the bathroom, all over Chloe, and a little actually made it to the potty! Trust me, she could've given Linda Blair (The Exorcist) a run for her money! My first comment was, "pull her hair back!" All of you ladies know how annoying it can be to get that stuff in your hair, especially when there's a tequila scent to it!(just kidding mom!) Now most of you know that even though I'm a nurse and love blood, guts, maggot infested wounds, etc.,--vomit and mucus just aren't my areas of expertise. I can't stand them. So, while I was cleaning up Chloe, Micky tackled the rest of the house! I thought to myself--God I love this man. And then, he actually made a joke about how hot dogs apparently don't digest much. You know it's love when you're both on your hands and knees cleaning another persons puke and can actually be laughing about it! Well, we made it back to bed and as soon as the lights were out Chloe popped back up and needed to go potty! I ran faster than any 31 week pregnant woman ever has, and she made it to the potty this time! We get her all cleaned up, she seems to be fine--no fever and is also joking about the nasty goo, and we head back to bed. The lights go out and Micky says, "Take two!" Looking back, that comment isn't quite as funny now, but at 3:45am this morning I thought it was hilarious!

Big Ears

Now that Chloe has reached the "why?" stage in her life, there's usually not a day that goes by that we don't have at least 20 conversations that involve her asking one, if not all, of these questions, "why, how, why not, how come,"--and my all time favorite, "are you sure mom?"! I try my best to stay patient throughout these conversations, but after about 20 minutes of trying to explain why you can make a right turn on a RED light (because you know that red means stop!), I usually end the conversation with one of these statements, "just trust me on that" or "that's the rules" or my personal favorite, "we should ask your dad that when he gets home!" Let's face it, I don't know all the rules of traffic, how can I be expected to explain them to a 3 year old?!? Anyway, I thought I'd share one of our most recent "why/how" chats. This one was surprisingly short, and it took place a week ago on the way to Chloe's doctors office. Yes, she officially has the "crud"--don't you just love paying the co-pay to hear that brilliant diagnosis! But, hey, the cough syrup is at least helping her sleep now!
Let me set the scene--we're driving on I-126 going over the bridge. Please keep in mind that for Chloe any "r" or "l" sound is replaced by the "w" sound!



Chloe: "I can't see the wivew mom"

me: "It's too low right now. We need some rain."

Chloe: "Doesn't God make it wain?"

me: "yes"

Chloe: "God?"............."God?"...................."GOD?"........."Mom, he can't hear me."

me: "yes, baby, God can hear you anywhere remember?"

Chloe: "oh yeah, God has weally big ears. God?, can you pwease make it wain so I can see the wivew?.................. Mom, he's not answering."

me: "Well.... we can't always hear God, but I'm sure he heard you and is working on getting us some rain soon."

Chloe: "Is it because I have small ears?"

me: silence (trying not to laugh)

Chloe: "I wish I had big ears like God and Dumbo. Can God fly like Dumbo? Does God have a mouse friend too? Was God's mom sad when he was a baby because his ears were so big? When I get growed up, will I have big ears too? Can Nina get big ears too so we can both hear God? How come you can't hear God--did your ears not get big yet?...... I don't want to go to my doctor's office. Can my doctor hear God yet?"

me: "We're here"



I like to refer to that as a rapid fire questioning session. And trust me, she didn't forget a single question she asked, and I had to try to answer all of them as we waited forever in the waiting room!

WOW!

Last night I had the privilege of hearing the Benedict College Gospel Choir perform, and they were amazing! My friend Ellen, who I feel the need to thank yet again, invited me to a women's event at her church, Gateway Baptist in Irmo. First off, that place is HUGE--and they haven't even built the permanent sanctuary yet! The whole event was first class, and it was so nice to have an evening with ladies! There were about 415 women there, seated at some beautifully decorated tables, and there was of course a fabulous meal! Before and after the meal and speaker, there were tables set up in the back selling Bead for Life merchandise. There was some of the most beautiful beaded jewelry, purses, and other accessories I have ever seen. A friend of mine even found some handmade, stuffed safari animals that will go great in her future baby's nursery. The funds raised help support "community development projects in health, education, employment, and housing to the impoverished in Uganda."
After dinner, the Benedict Gospel Choir performed 4 songs-- and I was blown away! There were only 20 of them singing, (4 musicians joined them--1 on drums, 1 on bass guitar, and 2 on keyboards) but when they sang it sounded like a choir of hundreds! They weren't loud, they were just commanding, and the beauty of their voices brought tears to my eyes. If you ever have the opportunity to hear them--don't pass it up! As a matter of fact, some of my friends who were there last night have suggested we try to see their Christmas concert. Count me in!

www.BeadforLife.org

My good friend Matt!

For those of you who missed my wonderful time spent with Matt Lauer this past April, check this out. I need to thank my cousin, Natalie, in Florida for putting this together! You can pretty much see me, Beka, Christy, & Carol the whole time over there shoulders, but if you'd like to skip ahead to the really good part, just go to 5:20 on the video. :-)
just copy & paste this to your address bar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7sbUFVfeiU

And, yes, I am fully aware that I look like a complete idiot--but I was completely shocked when he spoke to me and wasn't quite sure what to do!

Gotta be kidding me!!

OK, so, yesterday I got an email from the people at Google giving me some info about an ad program they have. Basically, you let them put some ads on your page and you can get about a penny if people look at it enough or something like that. They're pretty strict about what they'll put up--no vulgar ads or porn or anything like that. They scan your blog to see what you're into and then THEY pick ads they feel are appropriate. Well, I said sure, why not? Maybe one day I'll receive a check in the mail that will actually pay for a tank of gas! Well, I told Micky about it and was all proud of myself for "discovering" this amazing thing. THEN IT HAPPENED! The FIRST thing I did after I got up this morning (besides empty the bladder of course :-)) was check my blog to see what ad they thought would be a good fit. The NEXT thing I did was laugh hysterically for about 5 minutes--which caused Micky to get out of bed and see what on earth was going on. Apparently, all the recent blogging about Chloe and her silly Aunt Christy's school :-) has put Clempson at, or near, the top of key words that popped up for the ad guys. Oh the JOY! From here on out, they will be referred to as "the school who shall not be named"! Micky got a good chuckle out of it too, and his only comment was, "I'm glad you haven't been writing about sex toys or something like that!" Don't worry mom, I never will! Although, at this point, that might have been better :-)!!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road...

Anyone with kids will tell you--once they're old enough to know what Halloween is about-- it's not an event that last for just a day...it can go on, and on, and on! We've still been very fortunate that Chloe hasn't gotten too crazy with it yet. I'm sure it's coming. It only seemed to last about a week here. And like my good friend Carla said--at least it wasn't a 3 week event like last year. I totally agree-- this year was much better and actually went by without too much fanfare.
Last Wednesday, the 24th, we took Dorothy and Tinkerbell (a.k.a. Chloe & Nina) to the "Halloween Happening" at our church. Due to some much needed rain we finally received, the festivities had to be moved indoors. The girls did not let this spoil their fun, and proceeded to have a dance party right in the middle of the Fellowship Hall. Mind you there was no music, but when you've got moves like these 2, who needs it?!?











Chloe got to pick an outside and inside pumpkin this year. Micky and I decided it would be fun to let her paint the inside one. So~ Tuesday night when Micky got home, he and Chloe proceeded to create this masterpiece!



Halloween day was pretty busy. Chloe had school in the morning and of course had a party there. I'm not sure how the other parents would like it, so I won't be putting any pics from that party on here--but they had a policeman, Batman, Superman, 2 Tinkerbells, Wendy (the twins were Tinkerbell and Wendy--how cute!), Snow White, a witch, a fireman who didn't want to put his suit on!, and of course Dorothy. They were all very cute and had a great time at their party. Halloween night we did our usual--our families came for dinner and to help us ridicule the kids who were too old to be trick-or-treating (just teasing)! It was a nice night, and we were actually done by 9!! I'm already trying to think of what Chloe and her baby sister can be next year?!? I think I've got plenty of time to come up with something!