Our Geocaching Family Adventure

So there's a friend of mine from college that recently spoke of geocaching on his Facebook status. When someone commented on it - not knowing what the allure was, or even, really, what geocaching was, Tom gave a link to Geocaching, a Groundspeak Project, a new family activity was born.

This sunny Easter Sunday morning, the Cannuck and I decided that we were going in search of our first geocache. After the boys found their bunny baskets, we had a delish breakfast of chesse-eggs, bacon, toast and milk, then dressed for our adventure. Wisely, the Cannuck chose an easy one for our first find. After a nice stroll through our neighborhood and into the park, passing beautiful blooming dogwoods along the way...



...we found it!! I think that TomTom will have to stay in the car, and perhaps the Cannuck will get a new hand-held GPS that's a little more geocache-finding friendly. Honestly, TomTom was a pain, but worked well enough. Here's The Cannuck showing his find...




...I set the auto-timer on the Canon Powershot S5IS and documented our first family geocache find!




Why find one, when you can find two, right?! The Cannuck jotted down a second site that was on the other side of the lake - over 3 bridges, up a fairly steep hill, and off the trail, down through the woods (isn't he thoughtful?!!) So, once again, we were off! This second was not nearly as easy to find. But find it we did, and it was much larger, so had more trinkets inside...





For the second photo, I opted to stay behind the camera, where I'm most comfortable. Here are the boys, where boys like to be best, in the woods on a treasure hunt! I can't tell you how many times Lil' D said, "We're pirates, matey! Arrrh!" Cracked. Me. Up.




That's how we spent the late morning/early afternoon. Big J's now whiling away time on Toontown, the Cannuck has crashed on the couch while watching The Masters, and I'm about to lay down with Lil' D for a nap. A brilliant day, indeed.

Peace & Blessing, y'all!

Sometimes it is GOOD to be in the dark!

   Earth Hour 2009 by WWF - Sign up for Earth Hour!

Catching up on ADSR4 Layouts

Challenge #2 - Cabin Fever ... this one we had to work on together. I provided the idea for the layout, the pictures, title and journaling. Manda did the actual layout with her digiscrap supplies. It was an "intersection".



Challenge #3 - Wild Thing



Challenge #4 - Altered Hugs



Challenge #5 - On the Wings of Love



Challenge #6 - Sick ... Roadblock! Because it was Manda's youngest's 1st birthday, and she had out of town guests, I happily volunteered to do this one.



Challenge #7 - Shanghai Saturday Night



Challenge #8 - 3rd Grade-Dream Big



Challenge #9 - Family Tree



Challenge #10 - These are a Few of Her Favorite Things ... Manda had to complete this challenge, of me, because I completed the previous roadblock, challenge #6.



Challenge #11 - Burning Question ... this is my new favorite layout. Ever.



Challenge #12 - Preservationists ... this was another "intersection". Manda had the idea to use our baby pictures. I created the actual layout and, through emails back and forth, she completed the journaling (which had to cover at least half the page.)


We're now at work on Challenge #13 - a double layout. I'll post that when we're done.

Butterflies are Free

Hi Mom,

I'm about 2 1/2 hours late this year - your 3rd Angelversary - but it's because, as much as I would like for it to, life doesn't stop just because today I grieve anew.

It's a Monday (I just wrote MOMday!) so I couldn't go off and find a secluded spot, as I have the past 2 years, to count down to 8:40am, trapped in a recurring loop of memories of your last minutes, reliving the emotions as I felt them - and saw them mirrored in the eyes of David and Doug. No, today I had to be a Mom first. I got Joshua up & ready for school, fed him breakfast, and walked him to the bus stop. Then it was back to the house where Dylan was already peering out of his windows, watching the school bus take big brother off to school, as he waited for Mommy to help him dress for his day.

Next I had to be a Wife, going into our bedroom where I nudged Stephen out of his slumber, so he could get ready for work. Dylan held my hand as we went downstairs for his breakfast and to watch Super Why!, before I packed hi lunch & bookbag, drove to the carpool line, and dropped him off at preschool.

I took you with us. Well, your urn of ashes - the remains of your broken, battered, cancer-ridden physical body. I've come to believe, in the past year, that you - your true essence, your soul, has graduated. I'm sure you're still watching over all of us, because we still need you - dad too. I can smell you both (your perfume, and his cigars,) from time to time. Twice this past year, I've even woken from a dream, positive that I still felt your arms around me, in a hug that I miss so very much.

We've run some errands, you and I. Now I can finally be Your Daughter, sitting in the parking lot of UUCG, where I was once part of the congregation. Where Heather, the former Pastor, counseled Stephen and I, before marrying us at Silver Hill Manor, over 10 years ago now. So, life goes on. Yes, it does. But there's still a big hole in my heart where your shining self used to be.

Not a day goes by when I don't think of you, Mom. But, time - and counseling - seem to be working, as I am not crushed - nearly paralyzed - with grief anymore, as I'd been the past 2 years. Now, I'm just deeply sad, because I still miss you, and want nothing more than to pick up the phone and hear your voice. But that's OK. I'm allowed to still be sad, especially today.

Life around me doesn't stop, however, so I can take the time to melt into a puddle anymore. So I am going to release your butterfly balloon, cry a few tears, and then get on with my day. Because you would have wanted me to. I have a lot to live for, and look forward to, in my life. Stephen, Joshua & Dylan, David, Dough, Tracy, Courtney & Tristen need me to be whole & present.

There is so much I want to do this year. With your ever-present love & guiding spirit, I look forward to discovering the woman I am becoming. I love you, Mom.

Butterflies are free, and so are you!

Always,
~Alyson

Time Passages

Today is my Dad's 5th Angel-versary. How have 5 years passed already? What is so different now, than then? Plenty, actually, but I don't want to get into that yet. Right now I'm struggling with "walking" pneumonia, so I've been off the computer for nearly an entire week. I've been keeping up with my Project365 photos, but haven't posted them yet. I'm great at taking pictures... just suck at the follow-through. BUT, I'm sick, my family has been sick for weeks, so I'm cutting myself some major slack.

I love you dad. Through everything, that is what lasts. I love you. Peace.

Time for a little blog-cleaning...

I'm just about to head over to my Project 365 blog and update it with almost a week's worth of photos, so click on over and check it out in a bit, please.

Now I am compelled to give a shout-out to an amazing blogging woman - Lacy, of Razor Family Farms (you can find her amazing blog here)because I was just a runner-up winner of an Amazon.com gift card! Lacy, my girl, you rock like KISS ... that's her tag line, that I'm borrowing, because it fits! Seriously, folks, you need to catch up on Lacy, Josh, the farm, and their new fam. I wish I had her courage, not to mention her sewing skills, and convictions for leading a simpler life. You are admired from afar. Well, not "far", as y'all are 'just down the road a piece.' Maybe in the spring we'll road trip down for the kids to play, check out the chickens, and treasure hunt in the woods for interesting rocks, twigs, and leaves.

On the Amazing Digiscrap Race front, my partner, Manda, and I have completed the first 2 challenges. I've about finished with #3, and will begin working on #4 this evening, when the boys are tucked in bed. It's an "altered art" one, which is always a stretch for me. I admire them so much, and want to cultivate that style more. The altered art layout I did last year, Many Other Altered Fish In The Sea, was so much fun that I entered it into a contest late last year. And I won (shaddup, Lynn!) a Wacom Bamboo Tablet.

OK, off to tidy up a bit. Later taters!

It's that time again...

I've re-upped for the Amazing DigiScrap Race, Season 4 (ADSR4). My new partner is Manda and we've already gotten started on our first of 12 challenges. After living in GA for about 30 of my nearly 43 years (February 5th, y'all. Mark it on your calendars!), I must admit to being "raised" in the south. Therefore, our team name is G.R.I.T.S. - Y'all! (Girls Raised In The South). Manda's even been nice enough to set us up our very own ADSR4 blog here. And now, without further ado, here's my first layout of the season.




Journaling: Kindness and compassion towards others has always been my strong suit. Practicing compassion on myself, however, is easier said than done. I'm much better at self-loathing - tearing myself apart, if you will. My word of focus and action for 2009 is COMPASSION. I will love, accept, and have compassion for the woman that I am today, while I dream and imagine with compassion the woman that I will yet become. This is my promise to myself.

Credits:
~ Impressions of Imagination, Studiogirls Collab, Scrapbook Graphics (some elements altered and/or recolored)
~ beaded staple from Winter Sparkle, by Flergs (Studio Flergs)

Fonts: Avant Garde Bk BT, Never Writes Back

Program: DIP10; shadows courtesy of Alien Skin Eye Candy

Happy New Year!

Well, 1 day down, only 364 more to go! I've decided to jump on a VERY large bandwagon and work on my own Project 365. The idea being you take a picture every day, maybe journal a bit about it, and either post it somewhere, or maybe scrap with it (digi or paper). At the end of 2009, you'll have a record of the everday things that make up your family life. I've even set up a Project 365 blog, in case you are interested in following that one. I'll dress it up soon, I promise, I just have a LOOOOOONG list of other digiscrapping things I have to get done.

This was snapped, just after midnight, by our good friends, The Cooks. Our family and theirs spent New Year's Eve together, playing Texas Hold 'Em (adults) and Wii Music & Guitar Hero World Tour (kiddos). A fun time was had by all, including toasts with sparkling cider at midnight. All 4 boys (Noah - 9, Cooper - 4, Joshua - 8, and Dylan - 3,) made it to the magic hour, but you could tell they were sleepy ... especially the little guys.

Peace & Blessings, Happiness & Prosperity, to everyone in 2009. This IS going to be a good year.

I *heart* SNC

Turn up the volume on your speakers, sit back, and listen. Maybe while the lights are twinkling on your tree and you have a cup o' nog that you're sipping. Peace.

Kid & Tiger Ticklers

I miss Calvin & Hobbes. Needed a fix, and thought you might too. It's cold here in GA, but, much to Big J's dismay, not snowy. We'll leave that for Grandma & Grandpa's house, where we visited a year ago. Dunno though... last time it was so cold (with snow flurries on December 1st,) was 1993 ... the year of The Big Blizzard. I was living in DC at the time, and we had 10 inches of snow up there... 10 inches down here too, apparently. In Big J's dreams! Now, it's time to share:

One of my digi designer faves, Lisa Whitney, just did a blog post about this. Rather than illegally stealing her bandwidth, I'll just point you to her blog for your C&H Snowman Fix. Personally, I've always loved the Snow Sharks. What's your fave?

Enjoy!

Counting My Blessings

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and family here in the States or living abroad, and happy Thursday to the rest of the world! Even if you’re not celebrating Thanksgiving today, I’d like you to take just a moment to be thankful for the blessings in your life. You certainly don’t need a special date on the calendar for that!

Especially now, when the world seems topsy-turvy, and your personal life events may not be exactly as you would like, pause for a few seconds and reflect on the good, rather than dwelling on the worries. They don’t have to be big blessings. Even the smallest things, like savoring the smell of a wood-burning fire on the crisp autumn breeze, the sights and sounds of sleeping children and animals, being able to marvel at the stars in the sky, are enough to feel grateful for experiencing.

While I have your attention, I'd like to share a layout I completed the other day. It features my Lil D after his preschool's Thanksgiving feast. The 3 year old classes dressed up as Native Americans. I nearly cried from all of his cuteness ... from his feathered and beaded construction paper hat, to the pasta-strung-on-yarn necklace. The thing that got me the most, however, was the name "bestowed" on him by his tribal elders {that would be Ms. Jamie and Ms. Tracey - his teachers ;-) }... he was called "Free Spirit". A most fitting moniker!



For any digi-scrappers that might stop by, I am offering the Thanksgiving word art stamp as a freebie. It's gray-scale, so you can put your own individual artistry on it. Please respect my personal-use only caveat, and don't share it in groups,on 4shared, MediaFire, or the like. Just send them here, or to Ellie's Angels CT Blog to download it.


Download here

Peace and Blessings to you and yours today, and through the holiday season. Be kind to each other!

Facebook Fanatic

What does it say about my personality that I'm so easily sucked into these time-consuming (wasting?) web sites? First it was MySpace. Truthfully, I was trying to appear "cool" - and I *did* find a long-lost highs chool buddy through there. Having bands and artists I admire "add me" as a friend was an ego boost as well.

The Canuck pshawed MySpace in favor of FaceBook. Reluctantly, after a time, I made a Facebook page too. Now I have a Fairy Garden, that I check several times a day, growing flowers and herbs to save precious acres of rainforest. Then there's a Tiny Adventures Dungeons and Dragons app that has REALLY drawn me in.

I was always an observer in high school, but finally got the nerve in college to ask some friends to show me how to game. Admittedly, some of them were a little TOO into it, KWIM? But now I am obsessed with deciding between a half-elf cleric female or eladrin paladin female. Maybe I should try being a male character? Which level adventure should I choose? What potions should I bring along. See? Insanity!

My latest, as seen in my sidebar, over there on the right, is Hatchlings. I've collected more than 200 eggs, and I'm shooting for at least 500, so I can get a limited edition soccer egg. Ridiculous, but here I am, checking my friend's nests to gather more eggs.

Surely this will fade in time. I won't feel the need to out Scramble my friends, or feel crushed when The Canuck wipes the Scrabble board with me.

Guess what? I scrapped! Yesterday I actually completed TWO digi layouts, and I'm working on another now (in between checking on my D&D character, fairy garden, and hatchling nests, or course!) Oh, and don't get me started with status updates!

How are things in your neck of the woods?

Are you afraid?

I know where I want to be the day after Thanksgiving (hint: it's NOT fighting crowds for "Black Friday" sales). Figured I'd give it a week to die down (ha ha,) and then try and get into the theater for an early show. Maybe my 16 year old niece will go with me?

All 4 U

I have a new cyber buddy. Her name is Lacy and she has a fanTABulous blog that you must go read. Now. Go on, go! Oh, you need a link? OK,here it is!

Lacy's also my main (ok, almost ONLY) commenter on my blog. She recently even featured my link among the links of her hundreds of fans.

I'm honored. I'm humbled. I **really** need to update this, meaningfully, more often.

For you, Lacy, I'm going to make more of an effort. To show good faith, I'm even going to post a few of my more recent layouts. As a matter of fact, that's ANOTHER thing I need to get back into the swing of doing - layouts. I owe my CT bosses more than a few. I've just been tending either a sick child or a sick me for what seems like weeks, and I don't have the energy, nor imagination to create.

A few weeks ago I told my therapist (what? You're surprised?!) that I'd make a layout titled, "Practice Compassion", because that's what she wants me to do... be compassionate with myself. I'm having a hard time, though, envisioning me practicing compassion on myself. Pretty sad, eh? SEE! There I go again! Ugh.

Alright. J's on the bus, motoring towards school. I'm going to let D sleep until 8am, then get him up and ready to go back to school (he was out Wednesday and Friday last week - with a Wednesday trip to the pediatrician, because of an upper respiratory virus.) Then it's off to J's school for the first parent-teacher conference of this school year. Mrs. F actually asked if we could schedule it on my regular volunteering day because she has no concerns about J, just needs to go over the reading levels and have me initial a few things. I'm supposed to stay a couple of hours after to help the kids with their multiplication tables, but I'm still not well from my weekend-onset illness, so I think I'll leave early and go to the chiro before I have to pick D up at 1:30.

Wow, look at this! I actually wrote something. Go me! Time to slap up a few pictures and call it a post. Have a nice day, wherever you are. And stay warm! It was 33F this morning. Brrrrrrrrr!













Credits can be found in my DST gallery.

VOTE!

Exercise your right. Vote. If you are a citizen of the United States of America, you have the privilege to help elect the next president. Let your voice be heard.



Tomorrow will dawn a bit brighter, with hope on the horizon. Believe.

No Tricks, Just Treats!

Halloween is tomorrow, and the boys are VERY excited. The candy factor is in play, for sure, but we're trick-or-treating with our best friends (my BFF Lynn, and her boys, which are my boy's best friends, and our husbands are pals too!) One of the families in their subdivision has erected a haunted castle that takes up their entire driveway and half of their front yard. THAT is causing more excitement than the candy and friends, I think. I'll take my camera along, but not sure how good the night shots will be.

On Saturday, the digi-scraping world is celebrating International Digital Scrapbooking Day. IDSD is a *huge* thing in our little cyber-community. Every scrap shop under the sun is having sales and contests and freebies galore! I'm on 4 CTs (creative teams) that sell at 3 different stores, so here are some ads to pique your interest:
Monica, of Studio mgl at Scrapbook Graphics has this going on...



Ellie's having a "going out of business sale" at ScrapMatters. On November 1st she'll be joining **shhh...it's secret for another 24 hours**, so go here and grab some of her designs. I don't know if all of them will make the move over to her new store.

I'm not sure if Sunshine Studio Scraps is doing anything in particular for IDSD because it's Sunshine Wonder Week. Check the forum for the happenings.

And last, but certainly not least, is my pal (and first CT boss,) Stacey Kluczny. Her store is located Scrapbook Elements. They are having a HUGE free-with-purchase kit, called Welcome Home.



There ya are! Plenty to keep you scrap-happy on Saturday. I'll be back at some point to post Halloween pics.

Be Safe!!

Cool Beans!

Sometimes I have so much to say, I just don't know how to say it? And, frankly, I don't have time right now. But I do have time to share this. As I've said before, I've already voted. But perhaps you haven't. Perhaps you are still "undecided". Here are a few old friends to make you think for a moment:

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Stand Up!!

One of my favorite digiscrap designers, who happens to be an American living abroad, had this video on her blog today. I'm not really a fan of rap music, but dang if this doesn't speak to me! I'm be-bopping out, with my earbud in, and Big J is saying, "Mom? What are you doing??!" So I unplug, and let he and Little D listen, and they start marching to the beat.

I need to send this to people. Everyone needs to hear this and stand up!

Self-promotion is not always a bad thing!

Hi out there. Just wanted to let you know about some things happening in my digiscrap universe. Today was my day to post on Ellie's Angels CT Blog. If you're up for a challenge, click through and give it a whirl! Here's the layout I did to go along with it. The picture was taken during last weekend's trip to Franklin, NC with the fam and inlaws.

Campfire Memories credits here

One of my other CT bosses, Monica, has a new grab bag full o' fun goodies in her store at Scrapbook Graphics


I've seen what's inside, and it's SO worth the $3.00!

OK, that's all I have for now. I'll let you get back to your regular life now. Thanks for stopping by!

Declare Yourself!

I voted. Did I tell you that I voted? Well, I did, last week. See, here in GA, we have early voting. You don't even need a reason, except that you want to be counted. You want your voice heard. You want to stand up to the establishment and let them know, that you cherish your rights and you want a say in the future of this country. In our future. In our children's.

If you can vote early, do so. If you can't, make sure you vote on November 4th. There has never been a more important election. Since you're trolling on the internet already, go ahead and take 4 minutes, 53 seconds and watch this video. Then put it on YOUR blog. Email it to your friends. Put it up on your MySpace and FaceBook pages. Get the word out. Declare yourself.

Stretching and Growing

Don't laugh! This is my FIRST EVER paper pack. It was for the September colour challenge at DSO (http://digital-scrapbooking.org)and it took me ALL MONTH to get up the courage to post it last night - about 15 minutes before midnight!

So, if you're a scrapper, and you think you can use these somewhere, sometime, feel free to download them! HUGE special thanks to Redju Scraps and Ilona Havenaar for their CU products, which I used to create the papers.



DL link is here. I tried to take the PW off 4shared, but it didn't work, so the PW is fallcolor (one word, no caps). Enjoy!!

Reminder for me

When Blogger lets me edit my layout again, remember to add this code to the sidebar for a daily Norman Rockwell painting:



Time to get J to the bus. Grandparents are visiting from Manitoba for the next 2 weeks. They brought J and D some new Lego. Life is good this morning. :)

One of the best things about Autumn...

Corn mazes!! And u-pick pumpkins, and hay rides, and the smell of wood smoke in the crisp evening air. Ah, Autumn. I do love you.

If you're ever in this neck o' the woods, I highly recommend a drive out to Washington Farms, in Watkinsville, just east of Athens. The smaller Washington Farms is a u-pick strawberry patch about 6 miles from the house. But the main farm, a good 45 minute drive away, is THE place to go during the fall. It used to be just a u-pick pumpkin patch with a tractor-drawn hayride to entertain the kids. Now, it's SO much more. Big J is super-excited about the corn maze - especially since we tried the one in Lancaster County, PA this summer. Grandma and Grandpa are flying in from Winnipeg on Thursday night. Weather - and Lil' D's attitude - permitting, we're going to take a drive out to WF on Saturday, after Boomer's soccer game and pictures.

Want to join us?

I'm a day late, but Blessings during the Autumnal Equinox!

Dancing With The Universe

Wow. The entire planet, dancing together, to one song. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon this video today. Watch it. Change your life, it might. ;)



Now go and read this: Dancing With The Universe

Peace.

Vote for ME!!

What is wrong with me?

It's 1:30 in the morning. I should be in bed - asleep - because I have to get up in 4 hours to start another looooooong week of getting kids up, dressed, fed, to school, occasional housecleaning, laundry, cooking, and other things in life. All the while, gas prices are going through the roof. Will I have enough gas to do the things I NEED to do this week (nevermind the things I WANT to do.) Food is so much more expensive too. The Canuck just got paid and already I'm wishing it was 15 days from now and he could get paid again.

His parents are coming in 10 days. The house is not ready. Every time I think of doing something to ready the house, a wave of fatigue washes over me, or a crisis happens, or a child needs me, or it's 1:30am and it's too late/early to do anything that will make noise.

Where did this passive-aggressive streak come from? How can I get rid of it? Why am I so miserable in my life? It's not like anything is MAJORLY wrong - thank the Universe. I'm such a mess.

Saturday Sing-Song

Go, Georgia Bulldogs! Go, Georgia Bulldogs! Despite a lot of penalties, and a nail-biting final 2 minutes, the Dawgs prevailed over South Carolina and Steve Spurrier. Unfortunately, without Beanie Wells, Ohio State is currently being tromped by USC. But my dawgs won!

I also want to point you to an articulate post by Erica Jong ... it's a "Dear John" letter. I'd love to know what you think.

Haven't felt like scrapping much the past couple of days, but I have a lot of commitments I need to get pouncing on, so I'm going to give it a shot tonight. Wish me well.

Hope you have a peaceful Sunday.

Chat n' Scrap

Be there or you'll miss out!

Remember

It's my turn to post on my CT (that's "Creative Team", for you non-digiscrappers,) and here is today's post:

September 11, 2001 changed our lives forever, and on this 7th anniversary, I'd like to mark its significance in some small way. For today's challenge, I'd like you to create a layout about an event or memory that made a huge impact in your life. It does not have to be a tragedy - in fact, I think it would be uplifting to make joyous pages on this day. But I would like you to use the colors of your country's flag in your page. For those of us in the United States, obviously, that would be red, white and blue. But for our friends in, say, Portugal, I want to see reds, greens and yellows in your layouts.

Ellie has generously given her Angels permission to create the occasional freebie from her kits for use on this CT blog. So, I've created my very first WordArts to help inspire you!

Download

Challenge:
~ create a layout depicting a significant event or memory in your life
~ use 1 of the 5 freebie WordArts
~ use the colors of your country's flag in the papers, elements, or alphas on your page
~ submit your LO’s in the comments thread here along with a contact email! We love to show off your awesome creations and next Thursday, YOU may be the winner selected to receive a coupon for Ellie’s shop!

Here's some inspiration:

from Me!



Peace and Blessings... now get to scrapping!

*bleh*

I'm sick.

I hate being sick.

I have kids to take care of. I can't be sick.

I'm sick.

Here are some more recent layouts, since I have nothing productive, or constructive, to say. I'm actually in all 3 ... 42, 23, and 22 years old.

whoops!

Looks like I forgot to post yesterday. Ah well.

Things I've learned today:
~ how to zip a file in XP
~ how to take a screen shot in XP (so now I can save wordle clouds!!)
~ I've had to raise my voice, ok - YELL, at Joshua way too much this weekend. My throat hurts. Or maybe I'm just getting sick.
~ Lil' D smells really good after a bath.
~ A family walk after dinner makes the boys go to bed easier.
~ I *can* design word art!

Here's a recent layout, because this post feels Aly-Lite.


Credits for "My Road Less Traveled"

Stand Up

Stand Up 2 Cancer

It touches us all.


I miss you Mom. Every day. Elaine Terna Weller, 1939-2006, died fighting CML - Chronic Meyeloid Leukemia metastasized into Leukemic Menengitis.


My Mom (11 days before she died,) with my Second Mom - Dottie - who died one year ago, fighting breast cancer, which metastasized as brain cancer.


My Aunt Marcia - who died March 2001 from lung cancer, and my Dad - who died January 31, 2004. Dad had congestive heart failure, emphysema, lupus, and would have non-cancerous polyps removed from his colon every couple of year. Their father, my paternal grandfather, had multiple skin cancers removed and colon polyps. Their mother, my maternal grandmother, had vaginal cancer.


My Mother's youngest brother died in 1959, when he was only 4 years old, of brain cancer.

SU2C
SU2C
SU2C
SU2C
SU2C
SU2C
SU2C
SU2C
SU2C
SU2C
SU2C
SU2C

Cancer sucks.

Potty-training and Politics

This is why The Huffington Report has become one of my favorite feed reads:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/rnc-video-diary-bringing_b_123711.html

If I could figure out a way to imbed the video, I would.

What are your thoughts?

And, while we're at it - any tips on potty-training a 3 year old that isn't the slightest bit interested, but NEEDS to be to continue going to preschool? Is there a "fool-proof" weekend method I'm unfamiliar with? Please? Anyone? Bueller?

A Big Day for Little D

Well, it's nearly 1pm, and I'm just getting in my "morning post" - but that makes 2 blogging days in a row. Probably a record for me. Anyway, the reason for the delay is because I am frazzled beyond belief. My little guy is gone at preschool.



Yeah, yeah, yeah, he was in a 1 - and then 2 - day a week Mom's Morning Out Program last year, but that was HEAVILY suggested by his speech therapist, pediatrician, and MY therapist to help both of us. And it did. But he's been home with me since May 13 ... nearly 4 months.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more than a little excited this morning. Truth be told, Lil D was too. He's used to us leaving the house at 8:20 to go around the corner to the elementary school where he has his speech therapy on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That means he doesn't get to watch all of Super Why - his FAVE, after the beloved Wonder Pets (insert angelic music here). So, when Super Why was halfway through this morning, he said, "school Mommy? Dylan go school today? Come on, Mommy!" Very cute.

He even posed nicely for his Official First Day of School Photo (yes, it MUST all be capitalized. This is a BIG moment!) and we got to school almost on time. He was even encouraging ME going up the stairs, "hurry up, Mommy!" Then we got to the classroom. It's a wonderful classroom - the Jungle Room. Very colorful and engaging. D went straight to the magnets on the mini-fridge and began arranging them, while I dropped off the 3 bags of school supplies (for PRESCHOOL!) and hung up his bookbag. One of his teachers (there are 2,) showed him where to put his snack and lunch bag, then I whipped out the camera for In-Class Official First Day of School Photos (capitalized AND bold!) Almost too soon it was time to say good-bye. I was the last parent out of the classroom. He was beaming smiles at me as I gave him a big hug and kiss, and gave him a Kissing Hand (read the book, if you don't know what I mean.) But as I headed for the door, there was the, "Mommy?" and deer-caught-in-headlights look. I scooted out the door and into the stairwell as his teacher cut him off before he hit the door and was trying to get him back to color pictures. I didn't hear any crying, so I'm going to tell myself there WAS no crying. Of course, his classroom door is right by the stairs, so I had the opportunity to make a quick exit, instead of walking the gauntlet of doors with crying children behind them.

This is a good thing. He's going to make friends, learn new things, his speech will continue to improve, and watching the other little boys go to the bathroom unassisted will help things along in that area too. Actually, I was FINE until I hit the soccermobile and read the note on the little brown bag his teacher thrust in my hand as I was walking out the door. It had a little poem on it, and "gifts" inside. I cried, dammit. Only for a bit, but I have this empty space in my morning where D used to be.

It's about 15 minutes until I leave to pick him up. In retrospect, time flew by and I got a lot accomplished. But I sure did miss my little guy. I'll post pictures when he naps - mere moments after getting in the door, no doubt.