Flat Stanley meets his match.....

There has been something plaguing me for years now. A dark cloud hanging over my head that I just haven't been able to shake. A source of contention, something that fills me with a sense of failure at every attempt. This terrible conundrum is......FLAT COOKIES. Many moons ago, I made the best, most lovely chocolate chip cookies. Mom would frequently ask me to make cookies and not only were they delish but also oh so pretty to look at. I hate to toot my own horn but I have to admit, I made quite a name for myself in STJ. But then the unexpected happened....my cookie baking skills fell FLAT, literally. For years now, every batch of cookies I have made have turned out FLAT! Sometimes pancake FLAT, sometimes with just the slightest mound shape to them but mostly just FLAT! The attempts at a remedy have been numerous....soften the butter, use less soft butter, new baking soda, oven temperature adjustments and to no avail. Still ridiculous looking, FLAT cookies.

Saturday night while discussing my dilemma with Connie (following a particularly embarrassing batch of FLAT STANLEYS), I had a sudden stroke of genius, maybe it was the cookie sheet. Since being married, I have used the air bake cookie sheets we received as a wedding gift as they are the perfect shape to place the cookies on. Prior to marriage, I used regular old rectangular cookie sheets. Ah, this may be just the ticket! Such a simple fix. Could it be this would be all it would take to put me back on top?

Of course, I was anxious to put my theory to the test and finally had the chance on Friday. My trusty assistant, Lily and I popped the Darius Rucker CD in and hit the laboratory determined to send FLAT STANLEY packin' once and for all. Fresh off the science fair, I decided a full on experiment was in order. Three cookies sheets were pulled from the pantry and put into rotation~an air bake, a lightweight cookie sheet and a heavy duty cookie sheet.

As any scientist worth her salt knows, you can only change one variable to produce valid, scientific results so we stuck to the original Tollhouse recipe and got cookin'. After the requisite beater batter test, into the oven went the first pan, the airbake sheet.

FLAT~not as bad as last week's paper thin, see through cookies but not the perfectly shaped, commercial ready cookies of the days of yore. Just as I suspected!

Next up was the heavy duty, big mama sheet. As the timer counted down, the anticipation mounted. I had faith, my excitement was palpable and TADA!!!!

Finally, the perfect cookie. OK, maybe a little more brown than I prefer but the shape was stuff dreams are made of. My hypothesis had been verified and I finally found redemption. The third, lightweight sheet produced another batch of piping hot, irrestible, wonderful little morsels. I pulled perfect cookie after perfect cookie out of the oven and intend to from here on out. It is unfathomable it took me ten years and countless hours of frustration but it just makes the conclusion so much sweeter.

Lily and I are proud of our success and have enjoyed the fruits of our labor. The mystery of the FLAT cookie has been solved and balance has been restored to my universe. It just lucky this worked, otherwise the "sheet" would have definitely hit the fan!

Scissoring 101....

Yesterday Lily participated in her introductory class in Scissoring. This was her first time using a scissors and she loved making large pieces of paper into teeny tiny pieces of paper.

While watching her learn this new skill, I noticed something that made me wonder....is it possible for little children to use a scissors without opening their own mouth while simultaneously opening the scissors?

It was involuntary and very, very funny to watch. Open the scissors, open the mouth and repeat! Much like watching Jason feed the girls when they were babies. He would open his mouth as he was bringing the spoon to their lips as if he were eating the food himself. Also much like me right now opening my mouth as I am typing this and as maybe you while you are reading???

It is my hope this introduction to the fine art of scissoring does not lead to a haircut like the one Grace so graciously gave her baby sister, Ella four years ago!

Wishing you all a fantastic weekend and a lifetime of good hair days!

Groundhog Day.......

Lately, I have been lamenting to Jason about how I feel like I am the lead character in the movie, Groundhog Day. Don't get me wrong, I'm not unhappy or even dissatisfied with my life. I would classify it more as being just the slightest bit a disgruntled employee of my employer, motherhood. Again, not that I don't fully enjoy my children and being a mother but there are days where it seems, well, for lack of a better term, Groundhog Day-esque.

Sometimes it seems as though every day is the same and things just don't change. When the girls don't listen and continue to do things I have repeatedly asked them not to do or inversely, do not do things I have asked them to do, I just get more and more frustrated. I tell Grace over and over she needs to read her AR book and to stop antagonzing Lily and Ella. I tell Ella over and over she cannot change her clothes forty times a day or use her pants as a napkin. I tell Lily over and over to use her big girl voice and to stop climbing over the back of the couch. Supper time is a constant stream of me reminding Ella and Lily we are sitting at the table to eat, not look at our hands or talk about poop skids, night after night. All just very minor issues and by no means out of the ordinary for children, intellectually, I know this. Emotionally, I just can't seem to get it through my head.

Finally, last week, after ruminating on this for some time now, I was smacked right across the face with the most simple, basic solution. While I cannot force the girls to change their behaviors or even realistically expect them to change as what they are doing is all very age appropriate, I can change my reaction to them. Lightbulb moment! Why have I been relentlessly ordering a change from them without once thinking I needed to change anything about my own behavior? As soon as this bulb flickered, I put it my idea into action. That very evening during supper, Ella wiped her tomato sauce covered hands on her jeans. The night before, I would have most likely become extremely irritated and scolded her. But realizing that wasn't working, I attempted a new tactic. I "walked" a napkin over to Ella's plate and made introductions. Ella laughed and guess what.... she used that new friend, Mr. Napkin, for the remainder of the meal.

Unfortunately, since my big self revelation, I have found this particular mind change does not come easily to me. I was so arrogantly thinking I had made some major progress until this morning. One resolution I made to myself, weeks ago, was to be more motivated about getting my day started. To move along is a very timely and organized manner so I am up, exercised, showered and presentable to the public by no later than 900AM every day. When it was 1030AM and I was just finally getting around to showering, I was angry with myself. As I was thinking this, I began beating myself up about numerous things such as; why I didn't get a more creative baby gift for a friend, what kind of fun activity I can come up with for Easter, if I can pull off a spectacularly exciting birthday party for the girls, why I haven't started marking items for a garage sale that hasn't even been scheduled yet. You know, all things that only someone who has an extraordinarily blessed life and has to create worries due to a lack of real worries has the luxury of anguishing over. It was then I realized I haven't made as much progress on my Groundhog Day-itis as I had thought. I was in the shower at 1030AM rather than 830AM because I spent the morning dinking around. That was no one's fault but my own. I hadn't changed my own behavior. I was worrying about all these insignificant "problems" as I always do because I was allowing myself to worry instead of act. Where did I go wrong? As Albert Einstein so eloquently stated, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." GREAT! There we have it, I am officially insane because that is exactly what I have been doing for as long as I can remember. I get up every morning and behave the exact way I behaved the day before but somehow think things will be different. How does that even make sense, now that I am really looking at it?

In a nutshell, what I have learned over the past couple of weeks is that my "most simple, basic solution" isn't quite so simple and basic. Making internal personality changes is extremely difficult. When I have behaved in a certain way for many years, I can't just switch it off so where do I get off thinking my daughters can? Or anyone else for that matter? Altering a mind set is a process and takes time. Labeling it simple and basic, as I did, is simply and basically setting yourself up for failure. Not only is it time for me to stop stomping around like a deranged, lunatic dictator and demanding change out of my daughters (and possible even out of my husband, I will sheepishly admit), I need to give myself a little break. However, I need to remember if I want things to be different, I need to try different things. Some will work, some will not but at least I need to make an attempt.

As any self respecting bad driver can attest to, if you are in a rut, stepping on the gas just gets you stuck deeper. This is exactly what I have been doing~revving up and going nowhere. It's time for me to ease out of this rut slowly. More jokes, less scolding. More patience and understanding and a lot less flying off the handle. By easing off not only myself but those I love, I will be able to see tomorrow as a new day full of possibilities. Tomorrow I will be able to peek my head out and enjoy the sunshine!

So many stories.....

Where do I even begin? We have had several fun-filled, action packed days and I couldn't be forced to pick a favorite even if I was threatened to have Mexican food removed from my diet. I guess the easiest and most fair way to relive these moments would be chronologically. First up was our celebration of Ella. Thursday and Friday, Ella was KO3's "Star of the Day(s)". With this honor comes a great deal of responsibility; line leading, snack bringing, adoration receiving, you know the drill. Ella took this title very seriously and as the official snack bringer, she pondered and pondered, wanting to bring the best snack around. The obvious choices for her were Oreos and my chocolate chip cookies. As usual with these serious and momentous decisions, it did not come easily. First, the "star" for Tuesday and Wednesday brought Oreos. Ella was distraught and it took quite a lot of convincing for her to finally decide it would be OK to duplicate. My chocolate chip cookies went all Flat Stanley on me and while they tasted awesome, they were just too embarrassing to send to school. I wouldn't allow it and we had to quickly turn to plan B, another Ella fav, blueberry muffins. Ella used this snack opportunity to very subtly profess her love for a classmate and taught me a lesson in the process. While handing out the muffins, she presented Max with the muffin with the most blueberries. How very clever she is! Apparently this is an effective way to reveal a crush as he repaid her with a kiss on the arm.

Friday was a day the girls had been counting down to for a few different reasons: 1. Ella's "Star of the Day" turn; 2. Science Fair!; and 3. Grandma and Papa were coming. It's a wonder they got any sleep at all on Thursday night. You just heard how "Star of the Day" went so I will move on to Grandma and Papa's arrival. The girls were so excited when they saw the Nissan pull up out front, they all three ran outside without shoes on. Of course, Grandma and Papa brought a bunch of candy which is just what we needed more of and Papa immediately put his plan to get them another fish into action. Shortly after they got here, Papa, Lily and Grace were back in the car on the way to Walmart. I would like to introduce you all to the newest member of the Kolb family, Ruby.

Flicka is a male and they desperately wanted a female fish. I didn't quite know why they wanted a female so badly and didn't really pursue an answer. I finally found one this morning though when I heard Ella excitedly ask Grace, "Is Ruby having babies?". Without going into too much detail, I explained Ruby would not be having babies as she would have to share a bowl with a male fish to have babies. Ella told me, "No, Mom, Ruby is a girl so she is going to have babies." Again, I reiterated that would require a male fish. She didn't quite get it but I breathed a huge sigh of relief when she didn't push me for an explanation.

After a quick meal of Papa John's pizza, Jason, Grace, Ella and I departed to set up for the big fair. Boy was I suprised to see the number of entries. As I have mentioned, I have never attended a Science Fair and was pleasantly surprised. It actually was a lot of fun. Ella and Jason paired up and handled "Tornado Alley" and Grace and I presented "Popcorn Party". I was so proud of Grace. Many people approached her display to ask questions and find out information and she handled it like a seasoned pro. When the 3 male Washington High School student judges approached, I couldn't even tell she was nervous (although she informed me via a conversation I overheard her having with a friend, that she was extremely jittery, sweaty palms and all). Jason reported Ella had a little more difficulty overcoming her shyness but did great anyway and received many positive comments on her project. The three big winners are going to be revealed at school tomorrow but as far as Grace and Ella are concerned, they won the moment they received their participation ribbons.

A visit with Grandma and Papa just wouldn't be complete without at least one "situation" and Saturday morning's trip to the car wash for Papa, Grace and Lily provided us with that "situation". Shortly after they left to wash the car, I received a phone call from Dad informing me the door had closed on them and they were locked in the car wash. Obviously we all know it is just plain stupid to take any story from Dad at face value so I immediately told him to knock it off as he was scaring the girls. It wasn't until I heard Lily sobbing in the background and Grace, in a panicky voice, inform me they really were locked in that I believed him. Jason grabbed his shoes ready to rescue them as I called the car wash and relayed the emergency to the attendant who assured me he would save my daughters. Lily had her own idea (after she finally stopped crying). She told Grace and Papa, "Maybe we should say 'abri' to open the door". For those of you not well versed in Dora-speak, "abri" means "open" in Spanish. Remarkably, the door actually opened as she was saying this (due to the attendant's arrival on the scene, not because Lily has developed magical powers). That little girl just never ceases to amaze me! As you can guess, Lily and Grace are not too excited about going to the car wash again anytime soon.

After this traumatic morning, a hearty meal at Texas Roadhouse was definitely in order. Mom and Dad had heard good things so wanted to give it a whirl and they were not disappointed in the least bit. Dad urged Jason and I to order twice the amount of food we really wanted, just so he could have snacks for later. We had an obscene amount of food on our table. It was bordering on embarrassing actually. I am happy to report, we did not consume all of this in one sitting. I was shocked when Dad even had leftovers to box up. I guess it's true, there is a first time for everything. Dad already said we will be going back there next time they are in town and Mom agrees, especially since Dad chowed down the remaining half of her chicken fried steak (along with a half a rack of ribs for his midafternoon appetizer) and feels he owes her another meal!

Following our excessive lunch, we needed to burn off some calories and what better way to do that than shopping. Dad and Jason just couldn't have been more thrilled at the prospect. Actually they were pretty good sports about it and we had a lovely afternoon. After a couple of hours of R&Rat home, Jason and I readied ourselves for a night out with the Kolb adults.

Once we were assured the girls were in most capable hands, we headed south to Renner, SD to meet up with Jason's family for supper at The Monarch. I kind of felt like a total pig gourging myself twice in one day but what am I supposed to do when faced with such good food. Another steak went down and I must tell you if you are ever in the area, the cheese spread that is on the salad bar at The Monarch is worth the trip all by itself. If my purse wasn't so full already, I would have filled a coffee mug and smuggled some out. YUM! Jason and I had a great time hanging out with the family and want to thank John and Connie, once again, for a terrific night out! I resisted the urge to call home and check on the girls, mostly because I knew either Mom and Dad wouldn't even answer or if they did, they would probably just hang up on me. I was certain they were having a glorious time playing Wii and Kerplunk so I wasn't too worried.

After partaking in a few drinks in the Monarch lounge, Jason and I headed for The Attic which is a new bar/grill near our house to meet up with Neal, Lynette, Kristin and Chris for a couple more nightcaps.

Mom and Dad took off Sunday morning and I had three sad faces watching them leave. I would like to thank Mom and Dad for making it to the science fair~it meant so much to Grace and Ella that you made it, for coming to babysit~it was nice to be able to go out with no worries (except for what type of sabotage Dad set up for me) and for being such good parents to me~I know it isn't always easy. Jason and I are both very lucky to have the role models we have as parents and the girls are so blessed to have two fantastic sets of grandparents.

"Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children."~Alex Haley

Ahoy mateys!

Our weekend came early as the girls had Thursday and Friday off of school for a President's Day break. Man, I just love those presidents! Grace is going to follow in her Mama's footsteps and took part in a volleyball clinic on Thursday and Friday afternoons with her good friends, Megan and Zach Zimmer. From the few minutes I was able to observe on Friday afternoon, I am not sure how much progress was made in way of skills but I do know Grace had a lot of fun and I was proud that she wanted to give it a try. Of course, my shy, timid Grace is becoming quite a joiner these days so I really shouldn't have been surprised. She loves going and doing so anytime she gets the chance, she usually takes it. Ella, Lily and I had two hours to kill on Friday afternoon while Grace was volleyballing so we decided to do a little shopping. Actually, I decided to go shopping and the other two had no other option but to tag along. They were good sports though and we were able to find Jason some Valentine's Day gifts (a cooler, a t-shirt, a Hank Williams Jr. CD and a bottle of rum~for those of you who were wondering).

Friday night was consumed with science fair, science fair and more science fair. Grace and Ella both decided they wanted to participate in the school's science fair, which is just fabulous~in theory. I personally have never had one moment's worth of interest in a science fair, have never been to a science fair and generally have no idea how to prepare for a science fair. Suffice to say, Jason and I have both been through a crash course. Ella has been researching one of her favorite topics, tornadoes and Grace is doing an experiment to find out if the temperature at which you store your popcorn affects how well it pops. Grace's experiment involves popping many, many bags of popcorn and then measuring the amount of popcorn popped and number of kernels unpopped. I am pretty sure I am never going to eat popcorn ever again. However, she has become very excited about this project and so far it is turning out just how she predicted which is kind of fun. Poor Lily has been left in the dust during all of the researching and experimenting. Luckily for all of us, she is pretty good about just occupying herself and finding things to do. Of course, having a bowl of tomatoes and a bowl of cookies, doesn't hurt either!

Lily recently discovered a hand me down pair of PJ's. She quickly fell in love with them and has worn them several days in a row. Unfortunately they weren't in the greatest shape to begin with and what was once a small tear was helped along into a big tear. Lily was fairly ticked off at first but then decided she really thought she liked the totally 80's one shoulder look, so much so that she asked me to "Take a picture of me with my shoulder out." I do believe a career in modeling is in her future!

Saturday morning the girls were thrilled to receive a few special little Valentine's Day treats from Jason and I. One item they each received was a pair of flip flops in anticipation of Spring's arrival. Lily has never worn flip flops before and wasn't crazy about the rubbing between her toes. She quickly solved that problem in a very interesting and fashion forward way!

Jason and the girls went off seeking a Valentine's Day gift for me, leaving me home all alone. It was so quiet and peaceful, I didn't even know what to do with myself. (I cleaned, what else?) They returned arms laden with flowers; a bouquet of beautiful red roses and a bouquet of bright, Springlike flowers. After a lunch of a heart shaped pepperoni pizza, we loaded up the vehicle, ready for our annual Valentine's Day swimfest at a local hotel. This has become our Valentine's Day tradition and the girls anxiously look forward to it each year. It was too early to check in though so we made a pit stop at BBQ Heaven to pick out the grill we intended to purchase a couple of weeks ago. Of course, the girls were less than thrilled with our stop as they were ready to swim but were patient and the colors and legos at BBQ Heaven helped with this patience! After one long hour of learning about grills (who knew there were so many options?), we were out of there (without a grill, no less!). I am an impulse buyer but my husband is a muller and so he needed some time to digest all of the grilling info and make an educated choice. I wanted to get the coolest looking one so maybe it's best if he decides!

Finally, off to the Ramada Inn. We checked in and got our suits on ready to enjoy Buccaneer Bay.

There were big slides and little slides. Deep pools and shallow pools. Two hot tubs and one pirate ship. Lily loved the little slide but was very reluctant to go on the pirate ship as she claimed, "I am afraid of the captain.". I am not quite sure what the deal is with that but she did eventually get over her captain phobia and try the slides on the pirate ship. Grace loved the huge water slide and after much coercing, Ella finally tried it and loved it too. As you can see in the pictures, they enjoyed themselves immensely.

All that swimming worked up an appetite and soon we needed to find some nourishment. The captain of our ship, Mr. Kolb made the command decision to shove off in search of the perfect Valentine's Day meal. As you all know, after spending time with my family and friends, there is nothing I love more than food, eating it or just thinking about it, so I was really looking forward to a succulent meal out, a perfect Valentine's Day ending for me. After a lot of discussion and driving around, we finally ended up at..............yep, you guessed it, FRYN' PAN! How unique and special, right? I will admit, I was the slightest bit disappointed to begin with but once I had my first bite of prime rib, my disappointment was gone. It was a great meal of prime rib, chili and hashbrowns with cheese sauce. What more could a girl ask for? After gourging ourselves, we went back for more swimming and finally hunkered down for the night.

Sunday morning we got up and readied ourselves for one more dip.....

Ella was super excited about it, apparently........

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and our stay was over. We had lunch to eat and church to attend. After a quick but oh so wonderfully delicious stop at one of my favorite restaurants of all time, Buffalo Wild Wings, we made it to church early (something that pretty much never happens). Maybe we should stay at a hotel every weekend?

HyVee and science fair projects were beckoning. Our fridge and pantry fully stocked once again, we settled in for one last night of feverish science fairing. Other than a few finishing touches, I am elated to say, they are done and ready for the big night, which is Friday!

You know, every time I go to do a post, I tell myself, keep it short, concise and to the point. It seems that is something I am unable to do. Some may say I am long winded. (Could this be why I was voted "Talks Most/Says Least" by my High School class?) I prefer to describe myself as detailed! Anyway, to make a long story short, we had a "LOVE-LY" weekend and were able to spend it just how we wanted, together!

My PDA.....

After hours and hours of toiling, mulling and anguishing, I decided what better Valentine's Day gift for Jason than a public declaration of love. Since I don't have access to a sky writing plane and I have already done the make a t-shirt proclaiming my love and wear it in public, I decided this blog is my best option. Last year for V-day, I wrote and presented Jason with 20 Reasons Why I Love You....(based on prior postings, you have probably figured out I like doing this sort of thing). Here is my list for all to read and realize I have seriously lucked out in the husband department....

20. I love you because you are nice to my family.

19. I love you because you are a loving and involved Dad to Grace, Ella and Lily.

18. I love you because when I am telling a story, you act it out by nodding your head and moving along with what I am saying.

17. I love you because you are so funny and can always make me laugh.

16. I love you because you make your own lunch.

15. I love you because you help with Grace's field trips.

14. I love you because you love UFC and Pinks so much.

13. I love you because you make me feel safe and comfortable.

12. I love you because you come home at the end of the day and that is my favorite part of the day.

11. I love you because you are friendly and can talk to anyone (even if those anyone's happen to be chicas).

10. I love you because when I come home from shopping, you don't get mad about me spending money and even tell me what I bought is cute.

9. I love you because you make every day events so much fun.

8. I love you because you are the most genuine, sincere and honest person I know.

7. I love you because sometimes you help the girls pick out their outfits.

6. I love you because of how patient you are with all your girls, especially me.

5. I love you because you always make time for us and always put us first.

4. I love you because you understand me.

3. I love you because when you tell a story, you always (try to) talk like the person you are talking about.

2. I love you because you love me in spite of all of my faults and make me want to be a better person.

1. I love you because I know with every ounce of my being that I can count on you.

Jason, I love you with all my heart. Happy Valentine's Day!

Extreme Makeover-Kolb Edition......

Yesterday was a big day in the Kolb household! I made the command decision it was time for haircuts around the horn (well, for the girls anyway). It's been quite awhile since their last snip session and they were all beginning to resemble the shaggy dog. I thought it would be best to ease Lily into the idea as this would be her first foray into the stylist's chair. She, of course, was thrilled with the idea. I told her, "Once you are done getting your hair cut, you are going to look so beautiful". Her response was, "I am beautiful". Wouldn't it be great to have that confidence?

I surprised Grace and Ella with the news as they walked in the door afterschool. The announcement was met with whoops of joy, just as I expected. As we were trying to get on our merry way, Lily decided it was time to completely lose her cool and freaked out to the maximum; complete with foot stomping, door slamming and tears as big as horse turds. She was adamant she was not going to be getting her hair cut. Thankfully, Grace and Ella were able to work their big sister magic on her and she wiped away her tears and fears! Oh, thank God for big sisters! Anyway, without further ado, the before and after pictures.

BEFORE
AFTER #1

AFTER #2

AFTER#3
BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

As you can probably tell by their smiles, they were all pleased with the results. I don't think Grace and Ella stopped smiling all night. They were both very excited to go to school today (although Ella was concerned about the boys falling in love with her again!). I wouldn't be surprised if they come home with many special Valentine's!

This's and that's......

I am feeling a bit scattered today and have blogging on my list of things to do so I really feel I must get it done. However, I have been desperately trying to think of some insightful, witty or ever slightly clever entry and just haven't been hit with inspiration but here it goes.....

Two stand out moments (in my mind, anyway) from the last week:

1. Lily and I were discussing her terrific potty training accomplishments (as I may have mentioned awhile back, she is all undies, all the time-even at bedtime! Pretty good for a two year old!). I told her she is doing a great job and she gave me a big hug and said, "You are a great mom!" Talk about making my day! :)

2. While eating supper on Wednesday, Ella was expressing her "frustration" (yeah, right) at Tanner (a classmate) blowing her a kiss. She reported, "Tanner blew me a kiss, just like Ty did. Those two boys, I'm gonna be watching them!" Of course, she had a huge smile on her face while talking about this grave issue so I am thinking she was possibly somewhat flattered by the attention!

Thursday we had conferences and both Grace and Ella received rave reviews from their teachers. Grace earned very high marks on a writing assignment she completed. She was given the choice between writing about a particularly good or bad recess or about being a teacher for a day. Obviously, she chose to write about being a teacher since that is her first love. This assignment was then given to a teacher from a different school for grading. Mrs. Loge (Grace's teacher) said Grace's score was the highest she has seen. Jason and I have not seen this paper yet but are hoping to get to read it. Mrs. Costello (Ella's teacher) spoke about Ella's determination and desire to impress neither of which were surprises to us. Since being introduced to writing and math, Ella has logged many, many hours at the kitchen table working on each subject, all on her own, all because she wants to. The girl has drive like no one I have ever seen!

Friday while out doing shopping, Lily, once again, stopped me in my tracks with her insane vocabulary. Grace and Ella were gushing about a pair of shorts they both thought were SO CUTE! Lily, always one to jump on the cuteness bandwagon, took it to another level by exclaiming, "Those are so stinkin' adorable. They are just so incredible!" I think that is just how I would describe Lily!

Saturday was quite a mixed up day. I had it all planned out, as you would expect, and again, as you would expect, my plans were derailed. Ella had a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese at 10AM. Wow! Brave parents-definitely not my cup of tea. And then all three girls were invited to Emily Denevan's bday party at 12:45PM. The plan was for Jason to take Ella to the first party, then all of us pick her up, drop the 3 off at Emily's and Jason and I were going to use our two hours of child-free bliss grill shopping. We had purchased chicken legs and thighs in anticipation of this big moment and were greatly looking forward to replacing the grill we bought with wedding money almost 10 years ago! Unfortunately, Lily threw us all into a tail spin. Shortly after waking up, she began complaining of a sore neck and this quickly snowballed into full on wailing and neck clutching. Jason and I were extremely concerned as she was obviously in a great deal of pain. While he did the birthday party transporting, I took Lily to Urgent Care. Just getting the poor baby, out of her jammies (she insisted on getting dressed, against my advice) and into her car seat was enough to just about put me over the edge. When I arrived at the desk at the Urgent Care clinic, I was sweating, stressed out to the max and on the verge of tears myself. My presentation must have indicated as much because the receptionist but us on an express route to an exam room which was much appreciated. After a quick examination, a strep culture and a finger prick, poor Lily was in quite a state. The doctor was unable to find any evidence of an infection and chalked it all up to something muscle related and sent us on our way (Lily still unable to turn her head and still sobbing) with instructions to give Motrin and watch for a fever and swelling (either of which would then lead to a trip to the ER for a CT scan). Upon arrival home, Lily quickly fell asleep and appeared peaceful. A couple hours later she woke up and immediately began howling in pain again. A call to our regular pediatrician set our minds at ease when he recommended waiting and watching for 24 hours before running to the ER. Luckily we spoke with him, because about an hour later, she had completely snapped out of it and was back to her good ol' self, laughing, running and hiding from us.

I can't even put into words the extent of my worry and where exactly my mind went. At the risk of being melodramatic, I believe God puts these types of events in front of us to give us a moment's pause. To allow me to re-evaluate my priorities and really figure out what is important. I believe this may be one way of God answering my continual prayers for patience. I can tell you without hestitation, my ability to listen to the tears, whining and complaining over the last 36 hours is much more than it was prior to this mini-emergency. I am sure this will wear off in time but I am going to do my best to keep those memories of my fears close at hand as I know to many parents, those cries would be welcomed and wonderful sounds.

Sunday we capped the weekend off with a Hot Cha Cha themed birthday party for Jason's mom. After 12 years of protecting the Carter family secret recipe, I unveiled it to the Kolb family and I hope they all enjoyed it. We had a great time at the party and were glad to have everyone over.

The birthday girl!

Rachel, Ann Marie, Grace and Emily

Ella holding Victoria~Ella was really excited because she is pretty sure Victoria likes her!

Theresa and Johno

Mary and Lily couldn't take the excitement of the party and had to retire to watch Tom and Jerry!

This week looks pretty busy for me again (which explains my scattered brain). Anytime I have more than one item that is somewhat off of my beaten path, I get a little goofy. For the past several months, I have been working on a project to provide prepackaged school supply kits at our school and this afternoon all of my planning is coming to fruition. I have a table reserved at the school's hot dog feed to provide information, handle any orders and answer questions. I am really hoping it goes well as I have put a lot of work into it and in typical Jessica fashion, am taking it very personal. In addition to this monumental event, Grace has Girl Scouts tonight, I have volleyball tomorrow, we have to get our car fixed on Thursday, Grace is participating in a volleyball clinic on Thursday and Friday and we have our annual Valentine's Day family swimfest planned for Saturday night. Not to mention, I do not have the SLIGHTEST idea what to get Jason for Valentine's Day. Oh, the pressure! If any of you have any thoughts on the perfect gift to get for the man who has everything and wants nothing, please pass these thoughts on to me. I pride myself on coming up with really great, thoughtful gifts and I am failing this time around. HELP!

In light of our incident with Lily and also with the upcoming holiday, I would like to wish you all a week of patience, an appreciation for the important people and "things" in your life and of course, LOVE!

Highlights of the week....

Another busy week is coming to a close and I am too tired to write a full entry with paragraphs and everything so here are some of the highlights of our week:

*FISH REPLACEMENT: A trip to Walmart was in order for Dorothy's replacement so that was our mission on Sunday after Mass. Ella perused the entire fish population and with no hesitation, made her selection. Our new friend was immediately dubbed, Flicka, and is currently resting comfortably in her new home. Flicka is actually a he but Ella says she can make it a she if she wants! I mean, really, how can you tell if it is a boy fish or a girl fish anyway?

*LILY THE STORYTELLER: Lily continues on her path to becoming a bigger storyteller than her Papa~I was in the shower and Lily came in eating a piece of beef jerky. When asked what she was doing, she replied, "I'm having a beef stick. Dad said I could". This would be just fine except for the minor fact that Jason was not home. When I reminded her of this, she very quickly and smoothly informed me, "Dad called and said I could have it. He is going to call you back in three minutes". If she keeps her stories up like this, she will take over the crown from Papa in no time!

*JOHN'S NEW KNEE: Jason's Dad's knee replacement surgery went off without a hitch and he is going to be back to 100% before we know it. Love and prayers to him while he continues to recover!

*ELLA'S GLOVES: While visiting John in the hospital, the girls each scored themselves a pair of surgical gloves. This was a highlight for the girls as they play hospital at home all the time and this piece makes it just a bit more official. The highlight for me was when I looked over at Ella while we were eating supper at Fryn' Pan and saw that she was wearing them while she was eating. Only Ella!

*JAKE'S PIZZA: No further comments necessary!

*GRANDMA THE WARRIOR: The girls were taken by surprise on Saturday when Grandma ambushed them with a pillow fight. They laughed and laughed until I thought they were going to pee their pants (Grandma included)! Of course, Grandma didn't know her own strength and knocked Ella over but they recovered nicely and kept on fighting until I called for cease fire. I know I am not a fun Bobby but I could just see Mom breaking an arm, hip or some other necessary part of her body.

*GRACE, FUTURE SPORTSCASTER: We were watching the tail end of the Super Bowl and Jason had missed the final Cardinal's touchdown and exclaimed, "Oh the Cardinals are winning!". Grace was quick to very prissily inform him, "Yeah, Dad, they got a homerun!". DUH! Boy did she tell him!

Wishing you all a week full of highlights!