A Proud and a Paper Preschooler

I have crafted something for the first time in I can't remember when!!! Yipee!! A couple of weeks ago I sent home a roll of paper with an outline tracing of the child with each of the children in my classes. Sent home as a "do with your family project", the goal was to make a paper preschooler and send it back to school. I would then display them in the hall for a super visual for Open house ( coming up next week). We have has a great response and were running out of space in the hall and I needed to get Lylah done so we could get her on the wall. So I traced her on the paper and she painted her arms and head and hands. Then on a separate paper she painted random colors that she was interested in. When it was all done I collaged it all together in an Eric Carle kind of way. You may remember his techniques from The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear. I added a few of her favorite things represented in photographs. She modeled her "duck boots," (duck slippers) and I took a picture of one of her favorite books, Peter Rabbit, and her Olivia stuffed animal. Glen was pretty sure I might be overdoing my project ( in my usual way) and possibly "showing up' the other families. But I assured him that there were plenty of pretty fancy specimens on the wall and Lylah would not totally stand out. But in the end, hers was pretty cute and I loved it. You will see by Lylah's proud face that she loves it too. She went and got her duck boots, Olivia, and book to show me that they match before she ate breakfast that next morning. I pieced it together after she went to bed so she did not see it until she got up.
It is a fun project though. Got my creative juices flowing. She visits her paper self every day before and after school. Proud of her "Good Job, Yaiya!"


It was been a long and heartbreaking weekend this weekend. I will write more soon. Right now I am tired and in need of some serious sleep. My final thoughts for today are that God is good and He loves me and us all so much. I am clinging to this today and to the song we sang in church yesterday by the David Crowder Band "oh how he Loves Us". It's beautiful and speaks so well to my soul just now. Do you know the David Crowder Band? They have wonderful and beautiful style that speaks to me so well. Fleshes out the words I feel and believe toward Jesus so perfectly. I love to praise God with song and then have such with songs and they have such beautiful songs of praise. Give them a listen. More later. Bed for Me.

Here ya Go Henry

Lylah's job is to set the table. She loves to do it. So I usually give her the stuff she needs and she goes about placing them on the table. She is really getting the hang on getting the spoons and forks and knives in the right spot...when I am there for a bit of guidance. A few days ago I was cooking and she was so excited about setting the table for Daddy to come home for dinner. She reached in the cabinet and grabbed about 12 forks and distributed them all around the dining room and table. Henry even got one as he was sleeping under the table. I heard her say, "Here ya go, Henry" But is wasn't until later that I saw what she did. Cute.

Pretty Scary But All Better Now

We went to the emergency room Monday morning after I went to get Lylah up for the day and she was unable to stand or walk. She just kept falling over and said her legs felt wiggly. She did not have any pain to complain of and had had no falls or anything serious happen recently. She was running no temp and seemed otherwise fine. But to have your super duper motor child not be able to run, or walk, or jump, or stand is a big, scary thing. She was pretty excited to be in the hospital. I got this very adorable picture of her laying down in her hospital bed. And you can see she is not at all upset to be there ( as we all were). I took my camera so that I could document her walking in case it got worse. I did not think to video her when it first was happening and she could not stand or walk at all. I got her about an hour later when she was able to walk but walked like her foot was asleep and her walking was a like like a twisted waddle. She looked like the little sweeties I work with at school who have CP. I was worried. We were all worried. They sent us home with no answers and we were all worried.

She got Black Cookies at lunch and was ( in retrospect) beginning to feel bad. She just kept saying, " Mommy, oh Mommy Mommy... Hold me like a baby, please"

Later in the day she started a fever and was really feeling bad. We rushed her back to the ER and she said in the car, " Mommy get me out of this seat. I NeeeeD Medicine. Make me feel better, please. Ok Ok Ok Ok " It was heartbreaking. She had a cough and congestion and got choked up and puked on herself as we pulled up to the ER. That was very upsetting to her and she just wanted to be cleaned off. They did more X-rays of her chest and throat culture and flu test and it was all negative. Dr. gave her an antibiotic for a red throat ( probably not necessary ) and we went home again with still no real answer.
Today I took her to her Dr Bartulica. ( which she can say and it is so cute). He said the he saw another child Lylah's age this week with the exact same thing. They had been to the children's hospital and gotten some blood drawn ( I thought they should have done something like that here but they didn't) and it showed a viral thing that will work itself out. After 24 hours the other child was functioning normally too. So I feel much better about the whole thing. He said it is not COMMON but it is not unheard of that a child will have a symptom like the inability to use her legs as a result of a viral thing. it clears up quickly and leaves no ill affects behind. So PRAISE GOD!!! She is fine, except for the getting over a respiratory cold thing. She has a hard time when she is stuffy. Can't breathe through her nose exclusively and so she cannot suck her fingers and sleep like usual. She even told me today, " Mommy, I can't get my fingers in my mouth... my nose a yucky" So it will be another long night of me going back and forth from her room every 30 min to an hour when she wakes up over and over. But I'll take and love it. She is OK and I am so happy. So thankful. Jesus answered our prayers again. Thank you Jesus.

Couldn't have done it without GPS!!

I went to my college friend Lisa's wedding on September 4th. It came together as a mini college reunion as there were 7 of our college girls group there for the event. Everyone has been doing a great job of keeping in touch and even getting together yearly, for the most part, ever since we all graduated. The last of the bunch got done in 1998. I really can't believe it's been that long. Now I will say the cliche line, " I feel so old." But it's true. I still feel like it was just the year before last or something. Maybe that has something to do with us all keeping up with each other or maybe it has something to do with the fact that I still feel like I really haven't grown up yet.... Who knows.
Any who, the weekend was a blast. We all piled in one hotel suite and drove around Minneapolis in a caravan of rentals and my car. we defiantly could not have made it without our GPS. I don't know how we ever did it before. Well I guess we just had to pay attention to our surroundings. I have found with the GPS that I just do what she tells me and don't try to remember my way because she will get me there with her persistent, "Turn Right....recalculating...TURN RIGHT." I have a serious problem with distinguishing my left and right. I believe it's a bit of dyslexia that also manifests itself in my spelling issues and reading speed. I digress... The point is that the blessed GPS said, " turn right," and I would always begin to glide left. So there was always a designated passenger assigned to keeping me going to the actual right and not my own crazy way.
It was a great weekend full of LOTS of deep, and not so deep, conversation and lots of activity. I came home POOPED out and had to go right back to work. I am afraid the classroom suffered that week as I was a ZOMBIE all week long. I was really wanting to be a faithful post-er, but alas, I was a pooped out pregnant person trying to hang on for the weekend and a little rest.

Top Picture: Here is Me, Lisa ( the bride), Loveday, and Amy
Second down: Alicia, Me, (Jennifer) Loveday, and Nicole at the reception
3rd down: Me and Amy
4th down: Me and Loveday
5th down: Lisa and Kerry dancing to "Dancing Queen" put in the mix as a tribute to "the Cumbrland Girls"
6th Down: Beth, Loveday and Nicole dancing to "I Like Big Butts" yes it was on the play list...the crowd went crazy. You should have seen Lisa's grandparents dancing to it...totally oblivious to the words I hope.

Here are a few shots of the most wonderful wedding I think I have ever attended. It was such a celebration and the reception was so fun too. The service was such a worship experience and I could feel the love and excitement for the couple in the air. every person in the place was thrilled for them and celebrating the union for Jesus and for each other and others that their marriage would bring. Seriously, it was so neat to be there. Sometimes the guys your friends end up with you just think to yourself, " Well she must love him and he must not be SO bad if she loves him..." But not in this case. He was just so perfect for her. I'm so happy for them.