8 is GREAT!

It's been raining a lot the past couple of days here in AZ. We have loved the wet weather. It brought an unusual visitor to our front door. A big toad. Taking turns holding the toad. Chasing the toad around the backyard. It's in front of Lauren, camouflaged by the grass. Here is a video of the kids playing with the toad. I love all of the girly screams! :)

A friend posted this on facebook. I don't even know who said the quote, but I loved it so I thought I'd put it here. "When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen. Either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly." I've had to practice faith lately. I started working last April doing Music Therapy. At the time I felt strongly that I needed to go back to work. So, Jason would come home from work and I would go in the evening and work with kids with special needs. Within the past couple of weeks, however, I have been feeling that I need to quit. It's been a hard decision because we could use the money and I didn't want to disappoint all the people that I've just started working with. Even though I only work a few hours a week, I've realized that I really need to be home with my kids. Motherhoo...

Okay, so my last post was a lot more uplifting than this will be. I'm just in the mood to vent. So, take it for what it is and know that I'll put in a 'Pollyanna' moment at the end, just for good measure. So, yesterday-- wait, back up. Hanna my oldest daughter has seizures (complex partial, which in layman's terms is not quite Grand Mal but she screams, babbles and grabs everything around her). For the past several months she's been on a medication called Neurontin. We've been playing this game with the Doctor-- she has seizures, he ups the medicine, she has seizures, he ups the medicine again. The higher the medication the more likely it is that she will have those lovely side effects (mostly aggression). So anyway, the last time we talked to him, he told us that he wanted to see us in his office. So I got the referral and scheduled an appointment-- a month away (that's the earliest he could see us, of course). In the meantime, he upped her medicine...

I am a writer. At least I'm aspiring to be. I had never really thought about writing-- my talent was music-- until I was in high school. I actually had never even considered myself a reader. But as I look back on it, my elective classes were Western Lit, English Lit, Ethnic Lit, and so on (ok, too much back story). So, in my Western Lit class, my teacher would give us these creative writing assignments. I did the assignments and he started raving about my writing. That planted the seed. Fast forward 15 years. I had this little thought in the back of my head that said, "I want to write." Then another thought would come, "I don't know what to write about." and that was it. Then my dad (just out of the blue-- I think not) gave me a guide to young writers book. I skimmed through the book (because that is what I do with textbooks), and saw something that stuck with me. Just start writing! So I did. I started that first paragraph and all of a sudden the flood gate...

Kamary is our only Summer birthday. Everyone else celebrates their birthday from November through February (except for Mom & Dad, but we don't count). She has to endure the endless torture of watching everyone celebrate their birthdays month after month while she has to wait. finally....the big day arrives! Getting ready to open presents She got "real" lip gloss, not the baby stuff! Opening a card from Grandma & Grandpa Wheeler They gave her some great science experiment kits. It's right up her alley! Now she can be a true rockstar! She wanted the house decorated with streamers and flowers. We used silver balloons and streamers with pink and white carnations. For her cake, she wanted a cheesecake with berries all around. In the middle are the initials G.B.K. which stands for her little club she's formed (members include: her, her cousin and a friend from school). Her birthday dinner included salad, salmon and homemade macaroni and cheese. Blowing ou...