Forgot something...

I forgot something in my L-O-N-G post! I started Christmas shopping today! One of our local stores had their jewelry 70% off! I had seen a pretty little cross that I had been thinking about getting for Abbigail...REAL jewelry, not kiddie stuff! No, I wouldn't spend a lot of money on it, but at 70% off, it was reasonable to buy for a nearly 9 year old. I decided to go ahead and get one for Bethany, too (one is silver, one is gold...now, which girl gets which necklace?). While I was there, I spotted letter necklaces (A for Abbigail, B for Bethany, duh!) with TINY little diamond chips...and at 70% off...how could I resist? I mean TINY! The final price was less than $10....so, each girl will get a necklace for their birthday, and one for Christmas...which necklace do they get for which holiday...I don't know!!
I can't believe my baby will be turning 5 years old in just 12 days!!!!

Abbigail funny!

Tonight was Abbigail's Christmas program. She did wonderfully!! She was chosen to do a special quartet with 3 othe little girls. She did GREAT!! And she was so cute if I do say so myself!
After the program, we went to Wendy's for supper. Couldn't eat at home because we didn't have water! Hubby has been working on installing a water softner, my Jack-of-all-trades! He lined everything up, hooked up the new pipes...and then shut off our water to splice the new pipes into place. Only problem is that it didn't go together quite as quickly as he thought it would, so he just had to leave it in place so we could go to the program. After we went to eat, he finished the project...and we have water again!!!
Ok, now to the Abbie funny!!! While we were sitting at Wendy's, Andrew told us that he was learning about Kwanza at school...we wanted to find out what he knew, but he didn't know much. He said it was a holiday to celebrate principles. He wasn't sure what that meant. Abbigail perked up and said "I bet Mrs. R would love that holiday!!" Huh?? OH!!!HAHAHAH!!! Mrs. R is her princiPAL!!!! Principle, principal...what's the difference??? :o)

Thenderhearted Abbigail...or Rockey strikes again!

Hmmm...what to title this post? Couldn't decide, so I gave it two names. Can you guess what it is about? Abbigail knocked out a little girl's tooth tonight. Nope it wasn't even loose. Yes, THANK YOU GOD, it was a baby tooth. Now this little girl can sing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!"

So...here is what happened. When I went to pick up my daughters and a friend from dance class (they had a combined class...long story). Well, I was waiting for Pokey Pants (aka, Bethany) to get her shoes on. Our neighbor, P, was standing beside me waiting patiently like a very well mannered child (she is!). Abbigail was in the lobby chatting with some friends and being silly. She was teasing one of the girls and turned to run away from her, and ran strait into another little girl. Knocked her top tooth clean out. This other little girl, C, lost her first top tooth on Monday, and the second on Thursday....however, the tooth lost on Monday was loose and ready to go. Thursday's tooth, not so much. I heard all the screaming and crying and knew instantly that Abbigail was involved, recognized that howl! C was holding "something" in her hand and the blood was starting to flow. Luckily C's mom and I were both there. I ran to the bathroom and grabbed a bunch of paper towels. We finally deduced exactly what had happened, cleaned her up, and she was ok...but Abbigail was still howling. She felt SO BAD! Oh my goodness I have never met someone with such a tender heart. C was hugging Abbie telling her that it's ok.

Abbie cried off and on all evening. She believes that she is forgiven but still feels terrible and has made promises to be much more careful in the future. It was purely an accident, I keep telling her that no one blames her and none is angry at her. Anyway, besides her heartache, she does have a small cut and bump on her for head where she contacted that little tooth.

If you have a few moments and want to say a prayer for my little girl's heart, I would appreciate it. Such a big heart. It loves so dearly, and is so broken when she causes pain to anything, or even hears about suffering. Even going out to eat can be heart-wrenching for her. Pizza Hut had these table tent things talking about world hunger and how they were collecting $1, putting your name on this certificate thing...you know how it works. She read about how some children don't have food to eat and then she had trouble eating her supper. She felt so bad that she has abundant food while children are starving...my girl is going to change the world someday!

Funny Abbigail

Here's a funny story from today. Since Abbigail came home from school, she has been wearing her light jacket instead of her winter coat, even though it is cold. She asked me if I knew why she wasn't wearing her winter coat...um no, I don't know...why? She fell in a puddle (it rained A LOT yesterday). How did she FALL in a puddle? She was swinging over the BIG puddles under the swings, and fell off the swing into the LAKE underneath! So, when we got home, I looked, and sure enough, her new winter coat is caked in mud, and practically dripping wet! So, is it a GOOD idea to swing over lots of water? I asked her...no, but if it's only damp, she thinks it is just fine!! What a girl! Oh, and by the way, she didn't get hurt from falling...just WET!!

Here's hoping it comes clean, it's in the washer now!

BRRRR...and GRRRR!

When we went pumpkin picking a week and a half ago, I thought something was seriously wrong with picking pumpkins when it was 91 degrees outside. Well, apparently we've decided to skip fall and go STRAIT for winter. Today's high was 44, and rain. COLD! BRRR!! I've had a chill in my bones all day! Turned the heat on at school, and here at home.
Now for the GRRR! Hubby was out of town at a meeting today, so I went to pick Abbigail and Andrew up from school. When Abbigail came out, I noticed that her hair was wet. HMMM....well, I didn't think TOO much of it. We went home, did some homework, and then I took her to girl scouts. I picked her up a little early from girl scouts because the phone guy was supposed to be coming to fix our phone and Internet that apparently don't like the rain. (BTW, that's one reason I haven't been online a lot lately...it's been down off and on for a week now!)
So anyway, we get home and she's freezing, but so was I so I didn't think much of it till she took off her shoes and socks. Her feet were little blue prunes! They were SOAKING WET and COLD! Apparently there was a special visitor at the high school today, someone who played violin, etc. Cool...the students WALKED to the high school which is 3 blocks away. Do you remember that I said there was a HIGH today of 44 and it rained ALL DAY LONG! They made the kids WALK 3 blocks in the rain!! How smart is that???? No umbrellas. Nothing! Yes, she had her brand new winter coat on, which kept her mostly dry, but her feet were soaked, and so was her head! Abbigail didn't complain, she loves music...she would do just about anything to see someone play music...but come on...don't you think the adults should use some common sense??? I'm planning on going to the school during my 15 minute lunch break tomorrow and talking to the principal. Who is going to pay all the doctor bills from the kids who are going to get sick from this? No, I didn't send Abbigail with rubber boots because I didn't think anyone in their right mind would send kids out in 44 degree RAINING weather to play, let alone walk 3 blocks! Yes, I know it is only 3 blocks, so bring in 1 bus and shuttle them...keep them DRY!
As a teacher, I try to take my kiddos outside if at all possible. Even when it is COLD, as long as it is dry I try to take them out for just a few minutes of fresh air. But in the rain??? GRRRR!!!
Thanks for letting me rant...I'll let you know how it goes.

ARRRGGHHH!!

Can you say FRUSTRATED???? I am FRUSTRATED! We alwys buy backpacks for our kids when they go on clearance, for the next year. You know, after school starts they sell all the ones they have left for more than 50% off??? Well, that is when we buy them. We put them away for the NEXT school year. We actually found Abbie's pink one over 1 1/2 years ago on clearance for only $5. It is SO cute! I love it....I almost stole it and used it for myself. Now I'm glad I didn't. Second day of school...and the zipper is broken. One of the zipper pieces is completely broken off, and the other one catches ALOT and won't do it's job wihtout a lot of coaxing. I guess my only consolation is that it wasn't a lot of money, but STILL! I guess we're going back pack shopping again this weekend!

Abbigail's Birthday party

We FINALLY had Abbigail's birthday party this Saturday. I don't know how the rest of the families out there do it, but we don't have 'friend' parties each year for each child...I just can't do that! My kids get to start having parties when they turn 6, and then every OTHER year.

Anyway...we went to the city swimming pool on Saturday and invited a few of her friend's to join us. We got there just as they were opening so we could claim a table in the shade. We put a plastic tablecloth down with flowers as a centerpiece (the wind kept blowing them down, so they didn't stay! Oh well, we live in Kansas, what do you expect?!!)

Herand her friends enjoyed swimming, opening gifts, and yummy ice cream cake. They had a lot of fun, but I was very tired by the time we got to go home! Right now she's working on her 'thank-you' cards.

**Here is a hint..Moon sand STINKS! Ok, it doesn't literally stink, but it's a BIG mess, and it gets EVERYWHERE! DON'T BUY IT! And if someone gives it to your kids as a gift, try to return it before you open it up!!! IT's Horrible stuff!**

Ears and needles....

Turns out that Bethany isn't the only one with ear problems. Last night just as I was getting ready for bed (kiddos had been in bed for about 1 1/2 hours and Hubby wasn't home yet from a meeting), Abbigail came out crying. She doesn't cry all that often, so I was surprised. She said her ears (yes, earS) hurt. Hurt BAD. We used the pain drops that the doctor gave us for Bethany, I gave her tylenol, but she was still crying and rubbing her ears. I laid her down in my bed with the heating pad, I laid down with her and rubbed her back. She did seem to calm down and I started dozing off. Every time I was close to dreamland, she would start sobbing again. Poor girl was miserable. Around 11:30 or so she said that she heard popping, and her ear didn't hurt so bad anymore. She said she couldn't hear very well. I was up most of the night with either her crying about her ears, or Bethany crying because she was lonely. Finally around 3:30 I ventured out to the livingroom and camped out on the couch. Finally, sleep....for a little bit. Bethany found me!
This morning I called the doctor to get Abbie in, I just KNEW her ear drum had burst. Hubby was able to take her since I had a bunch of extra kids. She called with his cell phone from the doctors crying "I have to get a shot!" Now, Daddy is always teasing them that they are going to have to get a shot, so I thought that he was playing a cruel trick. He wasn't. Her ear drum had not burst yet, but it was VERY inflamed and swollen. They gave her a shot of antibiotics and she has to go back tomorrow afternoon to get checked again and have another shot. Poor girl couldn't even lay down to rest this afternoon because her "tushie" hurts. After tomorrow's shot she won't even be able to sit down. She is acting like she feels a lot better, but her ear is still pretty plugged and hurts if you ask her.
Andrew was pretty proud of himself that he was the only one going to school today. "I'm healthy, I'm all better!" he kept saying. So cute.
Hope everyone in your neck of the woods is feeling "above" the weather!

Abbie's Dance

Here is one of Abbigail's dances...she's the short one in the pink! Yep, the first one on stage, and little one at the end. Isn't she a cutie...and again, Hubby was running the video camera. (now that we know how to do this, we need to get one of Andrew's wrestling matches up!)

Dance pictures

My girls are both in dance class...recital is coming up in two weeks! They each had their class pictures taken a few weeks ago. These are my pics, not the professional ones....hers are MUCH better! Can't wait to see the real ones. Bethany is the short bee in the front row, what a little poser! Abbie is the short one in the pink.

Weekend in review...Saturday Sports

Saturday was a big day for two of my kiddos. It was Abbigail's last basketball game for this season, and it was Andrew's last wrestling tournament for the year. Andrew and daddy got up SUPER early on Saturday so they could be at the wrestling tournament (1 1/2 hours away) by 6:30AM(!!!!)...weigh in time. Oh.my.goodness...let's just say I was very thankful Abbie had a basketball game at 10:00 and we had to stay home. ;O)

Abbigail's basket ball abilities have grown throughout the season. She has enjoyed it very much. Abbie played hard at her basketball game. (She's the little one in the middle without her arms up) So did Bethany! One of Abbie's best friends, H1, has a little sister, H2...and Bethany and H2 are also best buddies. H1 was on Abbie's basketball team, so H2 & Bethany had ample opportunity to play and be silly.
After the basketball game, we headed off to catch the last half of the wrestling tournament. We missed the first match...Andrew was pinned in this match. His second match, he pinned the other guy in no time at all! The third match was the most difficult. Andrew kept fighting just as hard as he could! Every time the other little boy tried to roll Andrew onto his back, he would spread his legs WIDE so that he couldn't be turned! He was amazing! The other boy was a bit stronger, an had wrestled for a few years....but he never did get Andrew pinned. Andrew lost by points. However...among his bracket, Andrew got 2nd! The boy who pinned him in the first match won 1st, and the boy who beat him in the last round got 3rd! I am just so thrilled and proud of him that he never gave up! He kept fighting with all he had! He was upset that he lost the last match, very disappointed, but we kept telling him how great he did and how proud we were of him. Now he can't wait till next year! In this picture he's watching the boys wrestling before him...Abbie didn't catch any "action" shots this time. One of these days I'm going to figure out how to post videos...then you'll really get to see him in action!

Dance outfits...

Ok, that was really not nice of me to post pictures and not allow my mom and dad to see...so here are some pictures they are allowed to see.

We were able to get Abbigail and Bethany's dance recital costumes this week. They are so adorable. We had to try them on to make sure they fit, and then the girls wouldn't take them off! They followed the "no eating or drinking" while wearing their costumes rule. I let them wear them for about 45 minutes, then made them take them off! I was so worried that something would happen to them! Now we just need to get Bethany some tights to cover those winter white legs!Three guesses what Bethany will be for Halloween this year...:o)

Mrs. Wonderful

Mrs. Wonderful (Abbigail's teacher) sent home a note on Friday to let the parents know as much as she knows concerning her health and cancer. She is such an amazing witness of faith in the face of this tiral. She is a PUBLIC school teacher....but she doesn't let that bridal her faith. One paragraph in the letter says

"Although this caught me by suprise it did not catch my Heavenly Father by surprise and He has given me peace for such a time as this. I know He has a plan for me as well as the education of your student."

She asks for prayers . She also finishes the letter by quoting Jeremiah 29:11 from the Message version of the Bible "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out--plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for."

Despite the scariness of having a teacher with cancer, I am so thankful that Abbigail has had Mrs. Wonderful for her teacher this year. She has grown so much. She loves Mrs. Wonderful. She has learned not only reading, math, etc...she is also learning to trust in her Heavenly Father by the wonderful example of this woman.

Abbigail hasn't talked about Mrs. Wonderful's cancer very much this weekend. However, we did check out a few children's books about cancer from the library and I saw that she was reading them. These books are rather dated and basically just give the facts, not stories about people surviving and beating this stuff. The librarians are looking to see if there are more books out there on the topic of parents or teachers with cancer, fiction type of stories about other children who deal with the grown-ups they love fighting cancer. If you know of any, please leave their titles and any other info you may have in the comments. Our little town is trying to help these kids and we need help.

Please keep Mrs. Wonderful, her family, and her class in your prayers. Thank you!

My heart is hurting

I've talked about Abbigail's teacher on my blog before. She is a WONDERFUL teacher, the best I have ever seen. She is a Godly woman who follows Christ. This is hard to find in a public school. Every day I ask Abbigail how school was, and she usually says "GREAT!" with so much enthusiasm. The past few weeks, though, things haven't been so great. Mrs. Wonderfu (not real name, going for privacy here) has been gone a lot. Her father was in the hospital earlier this year, and I thought something might be wrong with him. I never expected this. One of my child care moms has Miss Wonderful (Mrs. Wonderful's daughter) in her class. The daughter told my friend that her mom has been diagnosed with cancer. She told me not to say anything, that the only reason she was telling me was so that I could be there for Abbie when Mrs. Wonderful tells the students. Well, now there are emails going around our small town asking for prayers, so it's obviously not a secret. Multiple Melenoma. I just want to cry. Why? Why? Why? Hopefully the have caught it early and it can be easily beaten! Please keep Mrs. Wonderful and her family, and her second grade class in your prayers.
How do I help my little girl who loves this teacher SO much??

Update...When I picked Abbigail up from school she said she had something important to tell me. Mrs. Wonderful has cancer. She said that the teacher wasn't going to tell the kids yet but that the phone in the classroom rang all day with people calling, so she thought she'd better tell the kids before they heard it through the "grapevine". She explained that this kind of cancer is in her blood, and that there is medicine for it. She will be missing a lot of school so she can have the medicine. Abbigail said that one of the kids asked if she was going to die. (sniff, sniff) Mrs. Wonderful said that she hoped not, but that if she did she knew she would be in heaven with Jesus. Please join me in praying for this wonderful teacher, woman, mother, and wife. Abbie kept saying "I just hope she lives." Me too, baby...me too.

Things that make a momma proud.

Abbigail. My daughter, my heart. Oh my little girl is growing up. But in growing up, she is developing a faith in God...a faith so strong it makes my heart happy and my eyes tear. Sometimes she says something so profound that my breath catches in my lungs and I just want to cry for shear happiness! Today she brought home her December journal from school. At the front there were a list of topics from which to choose to write about. Here is one entry:

Can you see why I'm so very proud??? This is the best gift I was given this year!!

Playing in the SNOW!!

We were only home for about 1/2 hour yesterday...but Bethany and Abbigail took advantage of this time by playing in the snow. They were a bit sad that they couldn't make a snowman, but the snow was just too cold and powdery. They made a couple of cute snow angels, and tried to get me with snowballs...but see...they couldn't even do that! :-) The snow simply could NOT stick together...you can see the powder flying up, but it didn't get me!!! ;-)

Yes, those are bags of trash sitting by the fence...our trash can was frozen shut and I didn't have gloves on when I took them out. I went back out and got it open so the trash could be put in it! Andrew decided his little bit of free time could better be used playing the Xbox instead of freezing his fanny off...I was busy getting LOTS of things ready for today (potluck at church, Sunday School, and the Children's Christmas program). I'll make a post about today another time, right now I think I'm just going to go turn off my brain for a while, I'm exhausted!!!!

Abbigail's Dance

Yes...I know...3 posts in one morning...I don't' know what I'm doing!!!! :o) Just wanting to get caught up on pictures I guess.

I posted pics of Bethany's dance class last week. Ever since, Abbigail has been asking when I'm going to post pics of her in her dance class...so here they are! I arrived just a few minutes early so I could take pics. They were practicing/learning a song for the spring recital...Elvis' Jail House Rock. It's going to be pretty cute! (Abbie's in the red shirt right in front)

How quickly they grow up! I commented on my cousin, Loni's blog the other day to enjoy the cute little ballet outfits while they last...Abbigail's group is "too old" for that "baby" stuff. They are more into yoga pants and stretchy clothes than the leotards and tutus. Though I'm pretty sure Abbigail would still like to wear it, it's just not the "cool" thing for these older girls. So...comfy clothes it is! I'll be enjoying it with Bethany a while longer!

The Soud Of Music...CALL BACK!!!

Well, out of about 30 girls, Abbigail and two others were called back to try out again. They all did a great job. The first try-out, Abbigail read a nursery rhyme, but this time she had to recite Mary Had A Little Lamb...we've never just said it, it's a song! Poor girl was a bit confused. But she sang awesomely! Even had a bit of vibrato (SP???) in her voice. Where did that come from??? The two music/drama teachers said that they would be calling us shortly to let us know their decision. It's tough, because we know both of the other little girls, and their families...all three of them would be good...I think I know of two little girls who will be sad shortly, and one who will be happy...but who will the happy one be?

Ok...I didn't even get to publish this and the phone rang. I know who the happy and sad girls are now. We have one sad cookie on our hands. They said she did a really great job, and they would love to have her come do children's theatre in the summer, but our dear friend, Abby is what they were looking for. It's probably for the best, rehersals went until 9:30, and our Abbigail needs her sleep. Now she can focus on dance and school. But oh, is she sad. "I REALLY wanted to be Gretyl!!" She keeps moaning. Poor kid is heartbroken. We had talked about how it might not be her, and she should be happy for the one they choose, but it's hard not to get something you really want. I hope she doesn't loose heart, that she will try again.

Abbigail, I love you. Just as you are...just what you are. I love to hear you singing and see you having fun. I am proud of you for trying, and doing such a great job. You are perfect, just the way you are. You are God's little princess...and my little girl. I love you! I know you will hurt for a while, but I pray your heart heals soon...I want to see you smiling!

CONGRATULATIONS ABBY!