Summer Vacation in Alabama

We are now about halfway through our vacation. Time just flies when you are having fun, there is no doubt about that. We are so fortunate to have this kind of time to spend with long distance family, especially Tony's family who are all in Alabama and don't get to come visit in Arizona.

We had a short 8 days in Alabama, which whittles easily down to 6 once you count travelling. But we made the most of our time. Jackson and Caroline, Tony's brother Ken's kids, came to spend almost the whole time with us. Jackson is a mere 3 weeks older than Charlie and Caroline is about 5 months older than Lucy...perfect playmates. Charlie was so excited about seeing and playing with Jackson that I began to worry that there was no way Jackson could possibly be as excited to see him, or that their time together could live up to Charlie's expectations. But I was so wrong. These two were peas in a pod, virtually inseparable the whole week. Unfortunately a good bit of their time was spent playing video games, but at least they were "linked" as partners and not just in their own solo world. Here's shot of a group of them on the couch, shoulder to shoulder so they can see each other's game.

Tony's sister Angela faithfully and selflessly travelled down everyday to see us. Yes, we had dragged four kids across the country, and she only had two; however, one of those two was a newborn, Ian Joseph born in May. (Here's a picture of baby Ian with gran. Technically he's a Fannin boy, but if you see him, he's ALL Horn). Any of us that have been there knows what it means to try to leave the house with a newborn. You pack your car to the lid with baby gear and bottles and diapers. When you are completely ready to go, it's time for a feeding, or a diaper change, or God forbid, an outfit change....either the baby or often yourself. Her older son, Trey (6) made a wonderful quartet with Lucy, Caroline and Alexander. They played the games of our childhood - ones involving imagination, costumes found in the dress up bin and lots of humor. It was wonderful.

Tony's oldest brother Andy was there everyday - his oldest, Meredith was struck with chicken pox on our trip there so we were unable to see her. But his youngest Abigail was there all but one night. She is at the magical age of 14 where she thinks nothing of scooping up the nearest available kid and playing with them. She was a near constant companion and friend to Florence while we were there (and therefore a Godsend to Monica). Andy also showed an unmeasurable amount of patience and enthusiasm for the kids, planning getaways to the golf course, bowling, or just to the backyard to play baseball or soccer or to the neighborhood streets to ride bikes and scooters. He kept laughing it off, but I know that my enthusiasm for outdoor play runs on the short side, and I couldn't thank him enough for being willing to go outside whenever they asked. There's a picture of Andy with Florence at a local water pad, and Abigail with Lucy, what beautiful girls.

While we were there, we visited a water pad for the kids to pl

ay in. It was a perfect day - perfectly warm for the ones getting wet and yet overcast for those of us that had assigned ourselves as the "observers". I was worried that my kids would be disappointed since the water pad was a little more low key than some we visit in AZ, but they didn't even notice. It's true what they say about kids: "For pure fun: Just add water". Uncle Andy even convinced Florence it was ok to get wet and helped her find a small "squirt" just for her and flew her into the more pressurized streams.

On another day, we took a hike in Tuscaloosa's Arboretum. It was absolutely beautiful to see all the really tall trees and wander through the woods. Alexander kept asking when we were going to go hiking - all his hiking experience involves bare steep mountains, not this woodsy stuff we were in. The Arboretum had a lookout at the end of a bridge built out of a higher hill. The kids, while still not at the top of the tree level, got to look out over the forest from about 3-4 stories up. It was gorgeous. Florence really kept up well, though she allowed Andy to carry her quite a bit, and also conned Andy and Abigail into carrying her between them a few times. It was cute. The picture on the left is the entrance to the arboretum trails. Andy had cut walking sticks for each kid. The picture on the right is taken on the observation deck. You can see a tree coming right up the middle of it.

We also got a chance to visit the new church built at Mary Lou's home parish: Holy Spirit. I know that Mary Lou was excited to fill up a pew with her kids and their kids. It was under construction when we were here last year, but it's finished now with the exception of a few more stained glass windows. Next year when we go, we hope to see one Mary Lou has purchased in honor of Tony's dad, Charlie. He was very active at that church and he deserves a permanent place there, that's for sure. We did all go (also that Sunday) to visit Charlie's gravesite. All the brothers and sister were there and all the kids. I know Charlie must've been tickled to see everyone together all in one place.

All in all, it was a great trip. There were wonderful adventures with all the cousins and I don't think any of them will forget it any time soon. Here's our annual picture on Mary Lou's deck with all the kids, from the top: Trey, Florence, Abigail; Lucy, Caroline, Jackson, Charlie; Mary Lou, Ian; and Alexander.

Summer is here.

Ok, so summer has actually been here for a while. But I'm just now getting around to updating the blog. I have finally been pressured into signing onto Facebook, so now that all my high school friends are suddenly able to track me down, I want to appear competant at the technical writing habits.

May flew by. Mother's Day was rather uneventful compared to everything that happened in April. We didn't do anything special, though we did get together with our neighbors to play a game called "Fact or Crap" that was one of my gifts and a lot of fun. We sat out on the patio on an unusally cool evening and had wine/beer while the kids played video games inside until bedtime. Florence was already down for the night. I'm truly seeing the light at the end of the tunnel - the "baby years" tunnel, that is. One of my other gifts was to go visit (again, without the kids) the Dale Chihuly exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens. It was absolutely beautiful. Tony and I went in the evening to try and avoid some of the heat (we only fared so well, it was still about 105), but it meant we got to see the exhibit after the sun went down. It was gorgeous. I had not been to the gardens since we moved here, so it was also interesting to walk the paths and read up on the desert.

For Memorial Day, we hiked at "Hole in the Rock". This was Florence's first trip on foot - she's been several times in the Baby Bjorn, but this year, she climbed the steps herself. I think her favorite part was sitting in the dirt playing with rocks. The other kids went to the top with Tony. I just try and wave and not think about the damage that could happen if one of them tumbled. They did slide down the "buttcrack" this year - that's a crevice down the face of the "mountain" that is considered the shortcut down.

May was filled with parties celebrating the end of one "year" or another. Charlie and Lucy finished their 3rd and 1st grade years. Each of them finished strongly in school. Charlie had had some struggles adapting to the higher requirements of third grade - reading science and social studies text books and remembering information to answer test questions. And since they are exclusively writing in cursive now, he is constantly having to rewrite his spelling words so they are legible. I'm having great difficulty making this a priority as my own writing is barely legible some days. Often, he would get no grade for homework because he would forget to write his name on it, he's so casual about anything not video game related! But his last report card balanced out in As and Bs, so I truly can't complain. Charlie also had his first orchestra concert at the end of the year. I was so proud of him keeping up with that even when it meant setting his alarm to rise and get to school early. He is now going to orchestra camp which meets every morning. I've even letting him walk home on his own most days. That's a big deal for me! He did very well with his private lessons and plans to continue into the fall. Still not interested in piano. pooh! He is continuing his karate lessons - he now has a green belt.

Lucy did wonderfully at school. She is so intense and conscientious at her work that sometimes it left her in tears at her desk. She's reading really well now, even reads to Alex and Florence some days and is able to finish chapter books with only a little bit of help with some of the longer words. She started back to gymnastics in May - her first session since her broken arm in December. Her strength came back quickly. She also attended a week of camp, but while she had fun, it wasn't quite what she expected, and actually was uncomfortable with being away from home all day everyday. For someone who is such a social butterfly at school, it surprised me to find her clinging to me like a moth to a lamp when it was drop off/pick up time.

Alexander has one more year at home before kindergarten. He is starting to learn his letters and even some words...despite me, really. I haven't worked with him much - we spend so much time playing ball, climbing, dancing etc. I've thought I'd just let him learn at school, but since he is showing some interest, I'm going to make an effort to at least introduce him to the alphabet. He is extremely active, loves playing swords, spiderman, ball. He is also pretty coordinated with balls - he dribbles really well and can hit a ball if you pitch it to him.

Florence is really starting to be a stinker. She can throw a tantrum that makes me worry about her hurting herself. She loves to climb and I have had to pull her off bookshelves, the back of the couch, and the boys' bunkbeds. We're going to have make more effort childproofing than we ever did with the other kids. She is extremely observant - she's learning how to work doorknobs (my life will be over once she learns how to get into the laundry where the catbox is!). She is picking up new words everyday, especially names of people that mean something to her (neighbors, babysitters, etc.) She LOVES to dance. I can usually pull her out of a bad mood by putting the radio on (she's especially fond of 80s music, can't imagine why?!), and dancing with her. She loves spinning around and getting dipped. She is finally starting to get some hair, it's all curly in the back, and she is gonna be a red head. Maybe that explains the tantrums.

We are leaving in two days for our summer exodus out of the desert. June has been very kind to us with very few days over 100. We're really looking forward to the luciousness of the east coast, though, even if it means humidity in addition to heat. We'll spend a week visiting Tony's family (mom, two brothers with two kids each, and his sister with two kids, one a new baby born in May) and then we'll head up to the DC area to stay with Monica's parents. Tony will stay with us for a week, but then head back to work in phoenix while Monica and the kids stay on until the end of July. We'll go camping, fishing, swimming, up to Connecticut to visit Kathleen and her five kiddos, especially the new one, Ms. Aislinn. We'll also head down to Richmond to visit with John Gilbert and his new baby, John Rocco born June 12. John Rocco is doing very well despite his heart condition, better than they thought he would. They may even get to take him home before he has surgery. We are keeping our prayers going strong for him.

The only other new thing for this month: We've finally done the "green" thing and bought an electric lawn mower. I don't know how "green" we are actually having grass in a desert climate - and I have to put "green" in quotes so you'll know I'm not talking about the grass - but maybe with the electric lawnmower we'll at least break even with our footprint. Anyhow, the whole thing was a frustrating exercise in exasperation at trying to train a 100 ft long snake. Unfortunately I tried to learn how to use my new tool at 4 in the afternoon when it was blazing hot. I found myself wanting to run over the cord just to teach it a lesson. But I'm going to give it another shot because the pushbutton start is so amazing compared with the shoulder detaching, cord yanking, starter of the other mower.

For Father's Day, I took the kids to Kiddie Kandids to get their pictures made. It's amazing that I was able to get a good one of Florence, she was so uncooperative, but that's what makes the guys at KK so fantastic. Here's some updated shots of the kids from our trip.

Congratulations, Charlie!!!

Another big event for our family this month was that Charlie made both his First Communion and Confirmation this month (ok, last month, I realize it's already May!!) The Diocese of Phoenix is changing things to reflect some pre-Vatican II practices of combining these two sacraments and giving them earlier. Some say its because they recognize "8" as the age of reason. Ha, whoever says this, doesn't have a 8 year old. I'm not sure Charlie truly appreciates what has happened. After all, he still can't sit still in Mass. This child can play video games without a bathroom break for upwards of 4 hours, but can't give one hour to stillness and quiet listening. And when asked to pick his Confirmation name, he chose Patrick..."because he likes the color green and he's always wanted to know more about the shamrock". Ask a kid, you get a kid's answer. But he did do all the projects and preparation, and willingly I might add. As his service project, he played violin at Christmas mass and regularly hands out programs before Mass. He loves greeting people, though he is still a little too shy to actually say "Good Morning".

There was one big Mass on a Saturday morning. The sanctuary was packed and overflowing as 60+ kids received these two sacraments. We didn't actually have the Bishop, but his helper Fr. Felt, who gave a very nice homily to the kids. Fr. Scott (our pastor) told me later that Charlie was one of the very few who remembered the proper responses for Confirmation. I gave credit to Aunt Eileen who was his sponsor, and who prompted him as we waited in line to make sure he did his thing right. Ginny and her two little ones attended mass with us. Fortunately, Eileen was able to come without her brood since that helped distribute the adults a little better among the kids who quickly got bored and frustrated with being trapped in church. Next year, I think I'll offer to open a nursery for the families. Charlie's neighbor friend, Sammy, came with us. It's hard to tell what she thought of all the pomp and circumstance (albeit it noisy and chaotic) of our Mass as she attends a Evangelical Christian church down the road. I do think she enjoyed being there for Charlie and what was clearly an important moment. It was a really beautiful service, and I couldn't help but be teary-eyed as my first born reached yet another milestone.





As Eileen stood up for Charlie, Monica stood up for Jimmy, one of Charlie's best friends from Kindergarten. Their parents led us to St. Bridget way back when and even though the boys no longer go to school together (Jimmy still goes to Queen of Peace), they still get together regularly. They just get each other.







After mass, there was a nice reception with cake and then we took Charlie to his favorite Chinese buffet resteraunt. It was a nice break from the usual Saturday lunch at the Golden Arches. This is a picture of Tony trying to feed Lucy some octopus!!!

Happy Easter and Happy Birthday Alexander

This is a full month, so I'm combining some of the posts. Easter was a busy week for us since I played nearly every night at church. The choir had worked really hard, but it really paid off in the Masses. On the mornings of both Holy Thursday and Good Friday, I played Morning prayer services. I also played the masses both nights. Then there was the Easter Vigil on Saturday evening. It's my favorite Mass of the year, and I love how they do it at St. Bridget's. There is tons of music intertwined with the readings, lots of candles; it's very high liturgy and extremely fulfilling. But it also lasts for about three hours, so I didn't get home until close to 11. Then, after meeting with the Easter Bunny, I crawled into bed for a few hours before I had to get up and be at church by 5 to prepare for the Sunrise Service. That was complicated by the fact that rain the previous day had prevented us from getting everything set up the night before. So we had to wipe dry the seats, get everything plugged up and running. The 6:00 mass was pretty much our dress rehearsal for the later Masses. But it was a beautiful day outside, very sunny, but not too hot. In fact, I was wearing my leather jacket at the early mass (I was ticked since I had invested in a new Easter dress), but managed a sunburn at the later masses. We had a hummingbird present and hanging about the alter at all three masses, it was gorgeous. Tony brought all the kids (which he had to dress and feed since I left before they got up) to the last mass of the morning. Not only was he on time, he was early, I was so proud. And the kids looked great too. He forgot the camera, so we don't have proof, but you can take my word for it. We took a few pics once we got home.

The kids had a big weekend too. On Saturday, Tony took them to the YMCA Easter Egg hunt where Florence got to chase down her first eggs. We then all met up for lunch at Village Inn where the Easter Bunny was hanging out giving out balloon hats/animals. What a fun and special weekend for them. This is a poloroid they took for us while we were there.

That afternoon, we had planned on celebrating Alexander's birthday since the three families (Bigleys and Dawsons) were going to be together anyway. Knowing that I was going to be exhausted from working, and having visited Enchanted Island in Encanto park during spring break, we decided to hold his party there. Enchanted Island is an amusement park for the younger set - according to their website, they cater to the 1-10 year olds (Hey! That's us!), but really, it's more for the 1-6. Lucy and Charlie were a little bored, but they had a great attitude for the party. These guys did EVERYTHING for us. They did let us bring cake (they would've provided, but since it's not personal, they encourage people to bring their own), but they gave us ice cream, a table in the shade, a host to make sure we had everything we needed, drinks, food, balloons, a tshirt for Alex...and all for a reasonable amount of money, especially when you consider how much fun the kids had on the rides and how I didn't have to clean up either before or after the party. Alexander loved his Power Rangers party, though he got so many Spiderman gifts, he then adopted Spiderman as his favorite superhero of the day.

He did get to have a home party as well. More presents, more celebration of Alex. Here he is with our neighbor friends. And here he is with Florence planting flowers, one of his favorite activities.

Happy Birthday to Me

I managed in true childlike style to have my birthday last the whole month. I figured I deserved it. After all, I turned 40 this year. Most people shy away from celebrating this particular milestone, but I figured, I have three degrees, a good marriage, four kids, and we own our house (sort of), so it's not like I'm 40 and still trying to figure out what I want to do. I've achieved alot, with the grace of God, of course, I do recognize that while I've worked hard, I've been truly blessed with everything we have.

April 1, my actual birthday, started out like any other day. I was to work in Lucy's classroom, teach piano in the afternoon, take Charlie to a rehearsal at church, and then Tony and I were joining Ginny and Eileen and their husbands for dinner that evening. While I was all about the dinner out as adults, I was really saving my birthday celebration for later in the month. More on that later. Anyhow, around 7:30 that morning, Ginny shows up with donuts for breakfast. The funny part was how she had them carried in by my parents who had flown in from DC to surprise me. I was so tickled. She had also, with some help from my neighbor, cancelled my working in the classroom and arranged with my sister to cancel lessons for the afternoon. So while I couldn't get out of the church rehearsal, I was able to spontaneously have a whole day "off". We hung out, ate too much sugar (doughnuts and a dirt cake the little boys made), had a beer in the middle of the day with lunch, napped and played with the little kids left at home (the older two sadly left for school at the normal time.) It was glorious. And that evening, the eight of us went to my favorite resteraunt, Red, White and Brew for dinner. I love that place, but somehow only manage to make it there for my birthday. Oh, well, keeps it special. It was a wonderful day. It was especially amazing how mom and dad arrived on Sunday, everyone except me knew, including my neighbor, and somehow, they still managed to surprise me Wednesday morning. In hindsight, I saw the signs...Tony cleaning up, Eileen not calling me back the evening before (Ok, that actually happens quite a bit), Ginny making my hair appointment so it didn't interrupt the day...I'm glad I'm not so "mature" I can ruin a surprise by being suspicious.

Because I was turning 40, I asked my friend and neighbor Tricia to throw me a party. I love parties, but I tend to be the thrower, not the receiver. I figured I deserved one for this milestone. I postponed it until the end of April since my birthday fell during Lent this year. When you're Catholic, and most of your friends are Catholic, a party on a Friday night during Lent can be a little less than you're looking for in a party. So we waited until after Easter.

Tricia got my sisters involved. As part of my gift, Ginny, Eileen, my brother John and my parents through money into the pot to help pay for it. This allowed us to cater the party instead of making all the food ourselves. We went with Joe's Real BBQ from Gilbert, AZ. Having moved here from Alabama, Tony and I have been looking for good BBQ. Well, we hadn't been to this place before, but now it's my new favorite. We, of course, ordered too much food, but we kinda did it on purpose so we would have leftovers. Which we did, for a week, and I still have some in the freezer. We did pies instead of cake, because that's what I prefer, and Hey, it's MY birthday. I got my favorite, Lemon Meringue as well as a few others. We also had veggies and fruit and chips and enough beer, wine and vodka lemonade to serve the neighborhood. I'm going to have to throw another party just to get rid of leftovers! The most difficult thing to get rid of was the fruit/veggies. After all, the alcohol will keep, the meat will freeze, the desserts disappeared quickly (ha!). But fruits/veggies have to be eaten once they're cut, and eaten quickly. We did pretty well with the watermelon, grapes, and cantalope, but I was the only one who would eat the celery, and I'm afraid the peppers didn't make it.

Here is a picture of my sisters, Ginny, Eileen and Susannah with my friend and neighbor Tricia and her husband Ray. I had spent weeks preparing the backyard, overseeding the lawn, watering the heck out of it, throwing away toys that had been beaten to death by the sun and planting flowers with Alex. Here he is with some of his handiwork. I also revived the fountain in the front with a new pump/plug, hoping that everyone would ooh and ahh over the fountain and not notice that the grass in the front was dead, and my goodness the house needs painting! We rented tables and chairs for the back patio/yard and covered them with purple tablecloths. In the planning stages, we had messed around with the idea of an 80s theme, but in the end, decided to spend money on food/beverage instead of decorations and took advantage of post-Easter sales to decorate in Spring pastels. My neighbor's husband, Ray, who's in construction borrowed some lights from his work that we strung along the back fence all the way around so that the backyard once it got dark, was lit up nicely. It was truly beautiful, especially once my friends started arriving. My sister Susannah was able to fly out and join us, so it truly felt like a special occasion. Here is a picture of some church friends - Dan and Sue I know through Religious Education, Andy, his wife DeAnn, and Nancy I know through choir.

The best part of the party was that some friends of mine in a band volunteered to play for the occasion. They are some friends from church, including my old music director Jaime and his wife Kari, my friends Leon and Ed from church and Phil that I've only met once or twice. They play regularly at weddings, etc., but wanted a chance to get together just for fun, so we were blessed to have them come and grace us with their covers of pop music. It was amazing. They played while everyone ate, and after dinner, they played while everyone danced. It's so nice to see that giant concrete pad in the backyard get some good use. Bottom line, it was a great party. I really felt loved, from the attention showed me that night, to the help from my sisters and friends preparing for it. It was exactly what I wanted, and even better than I could've imagined. Happy birthday to me!

Here's a few extra pictures from the day after. Susannah with Lucy out in the backyard (Lucy had gone to a glam party for a friend's birthday.) Here she is with Florence, who took to her like a hen on a junebug. And here is Florence enjoying the balloons who may have lost their "float" but not their ability to entertain!

Happy Cranioversary Florence

Florence had her one year check up this month with her neurosurgeon. She passed with flying colors of course. The doctors are going to watch one area of her forehead carefully to see if it continues to smooth out, but are otherwise pleased with her progress. They wouldn't do anything until she was 5 anyway, but I figure unless it's something seriously visable, we won't subject her to any more surgeries. Her scar is barely visable, and once she has some hair, it's not likely to show at all, I hope. It's hard to imagine that a year has already passed. Just one year ago, I was thinking of running away with her rather than allow them to take her from me. But she is doing so well, we have no regrets. Here she is with sister Lucy in their cutie matching sweaters.

Physically, she does just about everything the older kids do. She climbs on the couches, the outside playset (she bats my hands away when I try to help) and has even figured out how to drag the kid chairs over so she can reach things. Here she is on a playslide out in the backyard.

She talks all the time. You can't understand her, but it's very conversational and she is CLEARLY trying to communicate something to you. Most often in the shape of a question. She throws a mean tantrum when she doesn't get her way. I'm trying to stay on top of these. She's learned how to bite and scratch, and will even bite herself to make a point.

She loves balloons, and balls and baby dolls. She LOVES music. Very often I will catch her in with Charlie while he is practicing his violin with the taped accompaniment, just dancing and twirling and bouncing. It's adorable. I have videotape, I just have to figure out how to get it on here.

It's been an incredibly busy month with my birthday (the big 4-0), Alex's 4th birthday, Easter, and Charlie's first Communion. Stay tuned - I'm hoping to update and post pictures of all of them.

Almost 40....

I'm a terrible blogger. I guess I keep waiting until I have some time to sit down and be creative. Pretty much, never. I finally finished a huge recital yesterday. Tuba. Somehow I've become the go to person for the low brass accompaniment in this town. You know what they say, though: "Find something no one else wants to do...." Anyhow, the recital went really well. This was a Masters Recital over at ASU. Previously, I've only done competitions and juries (well, one recital) at Mesa Community College, so this was like big leagues for me. I got called because no one else would play this piece. Truthfully, when I agreed to it, I thought I had already played it. Stupid, stupid...never agree to music over the phone, and never quote a price until you know what you're doing. I learn something new everytime. I did work really hard on it, and I feel like my chops returned, but since it's been so long since my days of 2-3 recitals a week, my nerves are not quite what they used to be. More of a wet pasta than the steel of a few years back. But it went well, I got many compliments, and already one of the teachers from MCC wants me to help him make a tape. Doors are opening...

Back in February, I threw a Mardi Gras Party for my MOMS group. This set off a string of Kings Cakes. King cake is actually a bread, so I got some good use out of my bread machine. I even hid the baby inside. I also found that it is such a southern tradition that even my friend from Georgia didn't know what it was. It's primarily a New Orleans thing, but since Mobile claims Mardi Gras as well, we knew about it in Alabama.

The kids are doing well. We're managing to fend off most of the winter illnesses. Except for a stupid stomach bug that keeps making the rounds in various extremes. Charlie's my carrier. He gave it to me and I was so bad off Tony had to take off work. Now Charlie's got it again, though it seems more mild. But after visiting my friend in the hospital with her baby who has RSV and pneumonia, I'll take our little "crappy" illnesses.

Charlie is doing very well in violin. He's getting good praise in orchestra too.He's so diligent about his practicing, and I love to hear him all the time. He's been funny about listening to me practice - "Why do you keep playing that one part over and over?" He usually just plays everything through and calls himself finished. He is doing well in karate as well. He got his green belt a few weeks back and even one two medals (2nd place) in a tournament last weekend. I was proud of him. I've started letting him walk to school by himself on occasion. He likes to play wall-ball with some buddies before school, so if he does all his chores and practice, I'll let him go a little bit early. Of course he has to pass the quiz before I let him out the door: "Do we talk to strangers? What if someone is looking for a puppy? What if they offer candy" I try to get creative, but he knows the right answers. I don't worry too much since it's only down the block and I'm ususally 4 minutes behind him. But I did cry that first day, but Tony said it was ok, he was old enough.

Lucy has been cleared by her doctor for all activities she wants after her broken arm incident. She is still lacking just a bit of flexibility in her elbow. Her Dr explained this is because her arm bone, in healing, filled in a divit that is naturally there to allow the arm to fully bend/extend. As she grows, the divit will return. Isn't that interesting?! It's this same divit that makes that area a common break in kids. Lucy has also turned 7 in the last few weeks (ha, month). She had a little birthday party with all her little girlfriends. They came over for "tea" and an afternoon of glamour with makeup, hairstyling, and fingernail polish. It was hysterical to see all these girlie girls together. Her favorite gift was from her daddy....a geniune ipod - yes, an older model bought off of Craigslist, but one with a screen that plays movies and all the Soundtracks to High School Musical movies.

Alexander is doing Kindermusik again. It's been a slow start, but now he actually goes to class with a few other kids without me. Florence and I hang out in the lobby until he's finished. It's so big boy of him. He's been so patient with me as I was preparing for that recital. He about knows every movie we own by heart, poor neglected thing. I would try and have a few outings. Here we are feeding the ducks at a nearby pond. Florence loved this to, but she seemed determined to find her way into the pond, so it wasn't as nice for me....much chasing and screaming....from both of us.

Florence is approaching her one year "cranioversary". It's hard to imagine that this time last year, I was afraid to put her down because I wanted to hold her as much as possible. And now, she is such a stinker, and so independant. She pulls chairs over to reach things, she is starting to say new words everyday, she knows many of her body parts, and OH, she loves to dance. She can't hear music without bouncing and twirling. Here's a pic of her getting ready for bath...I used a far away one so it's not obscene, but if you look over her shoulder, there's her papoo hanging from her dress. She's a funny girl. She loves making people laugh, and I can't help it when I watch her tiny dimpled butt run around the house.

So there we are. You probably won't hear from me again until after Easter since I'll be at church everyday that week. But by then I'll have made it over the hill. I'm planning on dinner with Ginny and Eileen and their husbands (and mine of course) that night, but I'm saving my big party for after Easter. Who wants to have a party when everyone's given up desserts, alcohol, etc.? I gave up dessert....the pounds should've been falling off of me as I usually have something every day. But no. I'm the only person who can have a 48 hour stomach bug and still not lose any weight. I give up!