Thank You God for Best Friends and Bubble Wands that Glow!!

Today, I thought for sure, was going to be a really really rough day for Joshua. I am the one who takes Joshua to preschool daily because dh always leaves before I even get Joshua out of bed at 5:40AM. Crazy life, huh? Well, this morning was all together different. Tony has an all day Educational Inservice (insert yawn here) so he was home long after I had to wake up Joshua (Tony left just before we did). Now, because Tony rarely gets to see Joshua off in the AM, Tony thought "WOW, this is a real treat!" Well, not for mommy it wasn't. Mind you, I am all for them seeing each other off in the morning, but not when the result is a full blown meltdown because Joshua "misses daddy so much!" Poor kiddo!!

Let me back up a bit. When I leave Joshua off at Preschool, it is a real battle! I'm talking full blown screaming, kicking, wailing, crying, "Mommy don't leave me!" kind of battle!! I literally have to have one of the staff at the preschool pry him off of me in order for me to get out the door and all the while, he's screaming and crying how much he doesn't want me to leave him. (insert a tear here)!! BUT when I pick him up in the afternoon, he's running up to me, hugging me hard and telling me all the fun stuff he did that day.

So you see, I go through this daily, BUT when he "gets" to see daddy in the mornings, it is alltogether different in a not so pleasant way. I feel so awful for both of them. I want to just scoop him up, dry his lil tears and tell him it'll be ok. But in his lil world and in his lil mind, it isn't. He's already been through so much in his short little life and I have no way of imagining how hard that is on such a little tyke.

Well, back to this morning.....

Yesterday I bought him a Bubble Wand that lights up and swirls at the top (Toy Story, which he loves) and he fell in love with it and was playing with it this morning taking it from dark place to dark room to show me what it looked like in the dark! We both oohed and aahed at its sight of glowing colors!! Then, in a flash, it was time to leave for work. Darn....we were having so much fun, too.

Joshua spun his light and read his Lightning McQueen book all the way to preschool. Friday is toy day at his preschool, meaning that is the ONLY day they're allowed to bring toys from home to share with other kiddos. This morning he asked if he could bring in his Bubble Wand to show Hank, his best friend. I said, ONLY if you let me take it back out with me because today isn't Friday, as I went on and on explaining why. Joshua agreed. It was deep down inside me my hope that this little light would somehow magically make Joshua feel somewhat better (or forget) about the earlier happenings of the morning with daddy.



Can you imagine making this HUMONGO gianganitc bubble? I am sure your kiddos and my Joshua would LOVE to do it too!!  But no, his is more like the one below except with a spinning color wheel on top that glows!!!!! Hey, he loves it!!!

Just imagine.....Come this weekend.....we'll be Bubble Wand making fools!!!! I sure hope that we get some monstrous bubbles outta this thing!!!! Well......I'm off on an adventure this weekend.....to a NASCAR race with Tony and Joshua. We have season tickets to Bristol, TN and we go 2 times a year (plus other races as well). So.....I'll write more later about this weekend....Something EXCITING is happening besides BRISTOL!!!!!   ~Tina

They Taste Just How I Remember!!

All day, and I do mean ALL day today I had a sweet tooth craving to beat all cravings and I had nothing in my food drawer stash!! Sweet that is. I had plenty of tuna and soup....but that just wasn't gonna cut it.

It was my "turn" to pick up Joshua, as I am usually the one to pick him up anyways since Tony works sooo much OT and we (Joshua and I) decided it was time to hit the grocery store for some "stash".....lol. Yes, if you're wondering, Tony is working OT as we speak. He's working a double today. Joshua and I were searching for "just the right sweet" to eat after dinner tonight.

We searched high and we searched low.....and this is what we came up with......

PEEPS!!!!

Mind you.....

It is now open season on the PEEPS!!!!! Beware you marshmallow treats in

yellow, pink and blue.....your head will be bitten off by my son while he

laughs his lil hiney off as he says, and I quote, "Oh no, there goes my head!"

BTW.....it (they) tasted oh so good and just exactly as I remember it!!

~Tina

Facelifts are too Expensive so I gave it to the Blog instead!

Hello everyone! I hope you're enjoying the new look (Facelift)!! I am THRILLED with it! Nikki Cochrane did an amazing job and I would highly recommend her to anyone!

Well, this past week and weekend was an absolute whirlwind! Joshua and I both ended up with Bronchitis! YUCK. It really knocked us both for a loop. He still has that croupy cough and I'm calling the Dr. tomorrow to see if he can call in another prescription for both of us. I still feel like someone is sitting on my chest constantly.

Then, to beat all, Tony's favorite Aunt (Aunt Kate) passed away last week and we had the visitation and funeral to go to. I felt so awful for him and was thankful that I am here for him. My heart bleeds for him. He's so sad. We just have to remember the sad ones are the ones left behind and we need to support each other. Aunt Kate is in a much much better place and is no longer in any pain or confusion.

One of Tony's cousin's also adopted from Guatemala (and Russia as well) and I'm excited that we'll be in contact and hopefully will be getting together and getting the kiddos together. She doesn't live very far from us at all. I finally got to meet her and her daughter this past weekend.

NASCAR is in full swing!! I'm sooo excited and we'll be off for Bristol, TN in 10 days!! Joshua is sooo excited too. He absolutely LOVES NASCAR racing. This is truly one of my favoritte things we do all year long.....going to the races! I love the atmosphere, the noise, the fans, the rumble of the cars as they pass and you can FEEL it in your chest, & well.....just all of it....LOVE IT!!!

OMGosh.....I got the most exciting friend request on Facebook the other night. It was from Joshua's FM (Foster Mother)!! I'm thrilled because we've always been able to keep in touch via e-mail but now they'll be able to see pics of him growing up on a daily basis and we can even chat. How cool is that?!

Gotta run.....gotta work in the morning......Blessings to you all......

~Tina

What did you just say???

Sometimes our precious children say the darndest things don't they? Well, just a bit ago, Joshua did just that. We were coming downstairs and he wanted to "win" and be the first at the bottom of the stairs, as always. But I told him it was my turn and I was ahead so I "won." He wasn't very happy (sore loser) and told me in no uncertain terms that if "you win again you'll be dead!" I immediately put him in time-out (which we're phasing out but in this situation, I felt needed a bit of cooling off and time to "think/talk about it").

I remained calm and surprisingly never cried. You see, many moons ago, my oldest daughter, Bridgette, told me one time that she hated me (she was a small child when this happened) and I cried my eyes right out. She came in the bathroom where I was crying and realized what impact she'd had on me after saying such a horrid thing to me. She apologized up and down to me over and over and NEVER said anything of the sort again, at least not to me....lol. Nikki never said anything like that to me before. So, today was really something of a shocker of sorts.

I know he's almost 4 (will be 4 on the 20th of this month) and most likely doesn't understand totally about death. But I want him to realize that this is one of the meanest things one can say to another person and he shouldn't say it at all. I wanted this to have an impact.....not just casually saying it in passing after he said it, ya know. I only had him sitting there for a minute or so when I went to him and asked him why he would say such a thing as he wanted me dead. He said, "because you won." me: "do you know what dead means?" him: "it means you're like this...." he put his hand out straight and didn't move it, "...and you never move it again." me: "So you sorta understand about being dead?" He shook his head yes. I then went on to say, "you know that dead means that I would never see you again, I'd never be able to take you anywhere, or buy you anything again." He then started to cry and said, "You mean only daddy would take me places?" me: "yes" Him: (crying) "I don't want that!" me: "That is why you never say anything like that, ok?" He shook his head yes emphatically.

Well, I'm alive and well, hopefully for a LONG stinkin' time!! LOL! God still isn't finished with me yet. I'm a wife and mother of 3 amazing children. I work at a church as the Administrative Assistant and feel that is a ministry in itself. I have a lot left to do......I want to go on a Mission Trip someday. I've wanted to since I was a teenager and was going to go to Saltillo, Mexico with our Church youth group and couldn't go because I'd gotten into a bad car accident. My mom wouldn't let me go because I had a blood clot on my brain and thought that in case something happened while there and I needed immediate medical attention, I would be sunk. I can tell you honestly, I was sooo angry at the time that she didn't let me go. I didn't understand....but I was a dumb teenager looking at the situation with a 16 year old mind. Now, looking back with a 44 year old mind, I know my mom made the right decision. But, I've still not gone on a Mission Trip yet....but someday....I'm tellin' ya, I'm going to do it. It is so much a part of my heart. My absolute favorite hymn is "Here I Am, Lord". For those of you who don't know the song, it speaks of being open to God to being sent wherever He needs the person to go. That is how I've always led my life. I've taught Sunday school for MANY years and when they ask me what age/grade I want to teach, I ALWAYS say, "wherever you need me."