WV Part 3

Pooh=The driver, the tired mom, the memory maker, the caregiver to every cough and fever on the trip.

Bub & Levi=The boys on the move. (That's all I'm going to say)

Sierra=The new hunter of the family. She wanted to shoot Bub's bee bee gun, she never missed a shot, and she enjoyed it very very much.
Madeline=The quick to respond to the little ones. She was a big help with Levi & Sienna. In this picture she lifted Sienna up to ring the dinner bell. (Yes, you heard that right)

Sienna=The entertainer. She is 3 and loving it!

All and all it was a good trip. Here's a few points I'll leave WV with

1. It's always good to see aunts and cousins that you haven't see in a long time.
2. I will never eat at Bob Evans again.
3. Every child needs their own head phones.
4. All animals are not my friend.
5. Me and my child do break things on accident a lot. (We are sorry)
6. I can survive a road trip.

WV Part 2 (The Tree)

Dad's Christmas tree needed its own post. This tree is the biggest one I've actually seen in someones home before. I had Maddie stand next to the tree so you could see just how big it was. Every Christmas tree has special ornaments on it unique to each family. The very special thing about this one was it was the entire family. Each grandkid had an ornament with their name on it, and even Wendy & me had one with our names on it. I guess it really made me feel special and cared about. My ornament was a frog....again made me feel special. The kids loved finding their ornament with their name on it. I took a picture of each one, but I only posted these two.

WV Trip Part 1

My sister, our 5 kids, and myself took a road trip to see my dad in WV this past week. The trip started off pretty good. Of course all the children wanted to bring all their Christmas gifts with them, but we were limited on space so we allowed them one carry on bag plus the basics. (You need this information for later on posts)

Our first stop was lunch for the children we decided on Bob Evans for some gravy and biscuits. I haven't been to a Bob Evans in 15 years, and my children have never been. (The reaction from my kids....alright)

We discover along the way that the child that sits in the middle along the back seat gets in trouble the most. This held true with Bub, Sierra, and Sienna. Just one of those things that we had no idea why. We arrive in WV after several potty breaks and munchies later. (Out of 7 of us you know we couldn't have the same bladder holding tanks.)

Dad lives in a beautiful hollar completely isolated from the world. He enjoys this very much. There is more animals on that mountain side than the zoo. (I'm not kidding) He has seemed to make friends with them. I say this because they come right up to you. They don't scare easily. I was a little reserved about going outside, because Dad has told me all the stories of the bears this summer. It seems the bears had no problem walking right up on his porch and even looking in the windows. For him this is no big deal, for me VERY BIG DEAL. Anyway, Dad had made his famous deer jerky for us all. Everyone liked it, except Pooh. She doesn't like it, and don't trust Dad when he told her it was beef. She didn't fall for it when she was a kid, and she's not about to fall for it now.

Calling A Truce

Yes that was our big gift for each other....a truce. We decided to call a truce for three days. It was really nice. Of course today was back to reality, but it was nice while it lasted. Just thought I'd share with you all.

Christmas at The Morrow's

Merry Christmas everyone. I see in the blogging world I'm about the last one to post. Saving the best for last I suppose. Christmas was very good this year. Everyone was nice, kind, appreciative, grateful, loving, and a sheer pleasure to be around. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Due to the large amount of pine needles we were losing we took our tree down after breakfast on Christmas day. We are seriously considering artificial for next year. This year was so relaxed Christmas morning. I was able to shower before the kids woke up. They are getting older and things are changing. They stayed up late with us laughing and goofing off, and slept in a little on Christmas morning. It was nice.

Heather and Casey made it over for brunch. It was great seeing her. Her hair is growing so much (oh how I miss the hormones for growing hair and nails while your pregnant). I loved being able to sit down and talk with her. Another great moment for Christmas.

Later on we went over to Pooh's house. She had a lovely display of food along with a very appealing dessert plate. Everyone had a very nice time. It is always good to be with family and friends.

Maddie Update

Today was her big pulmonologist appointment at Rainbow's Baby & Children's

Hospital. She was less than thrilled about the somewhat more Baby decor. But anyhow, she toughed it out. She had a chest x-ray, breathing test (that she hated), and (Emily I know you'll love this ) a 16 count allergy test done. As she endeared the allergy test, she kept telling herself if little Evan can endure this and not scratch so can I. Her ONE spot that was unbearable was the one control spot. She tested negative on all other allergies. She needed above an 80 on the breathing test, she "scored" (for lack of a better word) an 118. A 118 and that was her not understanding what the tech was trying to tell her the first two times. The tech was geared more to younger kids, and was very HAPPY. This drove Maddie nuts, don't ask me why. She is being weened off of the steroids over the next week, and within the next three weeks will be completely off all of her meds for the big exercise on the treadmill and take the same breathing test. They need her to be medication free for this test. The need to see exactly what is going on, and diagnosis and treat her accordingly. A cardiologist will also be overseeing this test to check on her heart during an attack, and see if her body responds appropriately to exercise. (It almost makes me wish he would check mine out to see if my body responds to exercise the correct way, because I know as a chubby girl I have felt many times that I'm dieing during exercise. Wouldn't it be nice to have a cardiologist on standby just in case?) Anyway, the pulmonologist thinks there is a possibly that it may not be asthma and may be a problem with the vocal cords closing. Here all this time it isn't so much that she is wheezing, but the stridor sound that is so noticeable. (Stridor sound different than wheezing) The vocal cord thing is somewhat rare and is usually from high intense sports (ex basketball), along with some other factors. Madeline could almost narrow it down exactly when she needed her inhaler, and what would usually cause an attack. The doctor is taking it one step at a time though and eliminating things one at a time. She will also be seeing a endocrinologist. She will be taking a more intense thyroid test along with checking on additional hormones. (Long story to go along with that later) Overall it was a good visit. It helps me realize that what I've been saying all along about her not having asthma may actually be right. There is something about a mother's instinct that is strong and shouldn't be ignored. The doctor also told me it was an excellent thing that I didn't double those steroids to 640mcg, because it would be so much harder to ween her off. If anyone is keeping score that is mom 2 doc 0.

Dream Christmas

What is your dream Christmas? I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Well I'm about to share mine with you sit back and enjoy.

• Tactful Christmas lights out front. (No blow up items, no moving items)

1. A simple tree with my design. (This means no husband input, no garland, no icicles, no input)
2. Christmas shopping done on fluffy clouds with no carts needed and free chocolate samples at every store.
3. Horse and buggy transportation through an old fashion Christmas town with hot ta tees in my Thermos to keep me warm.
4. Christmas choirs performing in my old fashion Christmas town.
5. Children being happy. (Not because of gifts, but because of love)
6. Adults being happy. (Not stressed, no over whelmed by the bustle of the holiday)
7. Being together with family and friends on a special day that makes everyone happy. (No conflict of schedules here)
8. Merry Christmas everyone....hope you all have a dream Christmas.

Choir Program

I'm not going to lie I did tear up a few times. I love Christmas programs. There is something magical about Christmas songs for me. Now you add my baby along with it, it's twice as nice. She really really enjoyed herself. She sang from the heart, she sang with passion, she sang beautifully. Mom even noticed how much she was enjoying herself. They had the 6th grade, middle school, high school, and treble choir (which was high school girls, and from what me and Wendy figured out was an Acapalo choir) The middle school was the best, and I'm not just saying that. There was harmony with them on stage.

It was a lovely time, a little long, but lovely. (By the way Pooh...you see where Maddie is...go two people to your left...that boy is Jordan...you need that information later on) Maddie also said that me and Aunt Poohie are not allowed to sit by each other for future programs. She said "why was Grami not sitting in between you two?" I still feel like a kid at 33.

Laughed till I Cried

Tonight was Maddie's Choir program. It was great!! My baby is in 'choir' not just Christmas plays. It's very different. I am going to post a lovely post up about how delightful it was, but for now I'm posting the video. The background to this is the kids came off the stage to get their families up andsinging the 12 days of Christmas was motions. Aunt Poohie was at the end of the aisle, her and mom got up to do the motions.....I was videoing. You can't see a thing in the video, however you can hear Pooh yelling at me, and me laughing hysterically. I think everyone needs a laugh like that from time to time. Hope ya enjoy.

From the Mind of the Great

Don't argue with the title we are all great in our own minds. Sadly this picture was taken after I did my roots, it appears I may have missed a few more spots than I thought. Anyhow, today's topic on my mind is cabin fever. Day one of the snow brought me great joy. I did some beauty maintenance, cleaned my house, spent time with the kids, worked on my classes. It was a great day. Day two not as spectacular. The kids spent most of the day fighting or starting fights. The house started to get messy, and beauty upkeep went to the wayside. I've come up with a few ideas for future indoor days for the winter time:

1. Make the children put on regular clothes by noon.
2. Plan some game time, craft time, something for a set time.
3. Don't let the day get to lazy, it never eats well when this happens. Plus it makes mommy feel guilty.
4. Laugh laugh laugh
5. Give the kids the limits on outdoor stuff, such as it has to be above certain degrees, wind can not be blowing where you as the parent can not see out the window, etc.

Please share some of your ideas with me.

Hold On

"Hold on.....don't grow up so fast" I knew when she wanted help with her make up and asked me to straighten her hair something was up. She looked beautiful especially for a Saturday morning. Since she is not playing basketball but is still part of the team she goes to all the games, but dresses up somewhat. I asked her why the need for all the extras she said she just wanted to. I knew there was more to that, but figured I was just over thinking it. When she came home she was giving me all the regular info...which was they won another game, now 6 and 0. Then she started giving me stories of this one said this that one said that. I started noticing there was a lot of boys names mentioned. I asked her, and she said that the 7th grade boys had a game that morning and stayed for the girls game. AHA...my mother instinct was right. Long story short she had a good time. Where has the time gone that my biggest worry for her was whether or not she was going to eat the playdoh or not?

The Heart Goes On

Sometimes as a parent you feel the love, sorrow, and compassion truly of your child. In fact as a parent you feel it a lot. Brandon has always been a child that has a strong emotional connection with others. He has a high level of empathy, and as a parent it breaks your heart when his breaks. He is my recycler that strongly worries about Mother Earth. Lately he has been under peer pressure. The other kids were teasing this kid about smelling bad. Brandon did not engage in this, but did not deter it. I talked to his Aunt Poohie about this. She talked to him in great detail. I myself kept wondering why my emotional connected to others child wasn't being sensitive to this other child. He came home Friday with the heaviest look in his eyes. I asked him what was wrong, and he let me know he felt very sad for this other child. He began telling me how he picked the child to be his partner in a class task. He continued with a very very sad story about this child's life. He wants to help this child and others like him. I would give all the details but it tears me up to bad. He has been coming up with ideas how to help other children all weekend. It is a side of humanity that every mother is honored to see in their child.

Sierra's Christmas Program

Sierra's Christmas program was last Monday. The lights from the stage affected pictures badly. Everyone was complaining about it, but none the less I'm still displaying them proudly. I know you can't see her but she is the beautiful one out of all the children. It was a lovely program filled with your traditional Christmas favorites. Great job Sierra Rose!! Sienna's program is Thursday morning, and Madeline's is Tuesday evening. Bub's isn't until spring, and Levi isn't having a formal one at this time. My hat goes off to all those fine adults that pull off these programs, and the children that perform and make those adults look fabulous.

You're kidding me right?

I have been out and about this advertising season. I have come across some things that have me puzzled and confused. Let me start off by giving everyone a list of unspoken etiquette that I was under the assumption we all knew, obviously not everyone follows this list:

1. If a car is waiting for a parking spot do not try to floor your vechile to beat them to it.


2. If the person behind you in line has one item and you have a cart full let the person go in front of you.


3. The Santa at the mall is just a mall employee not the real deal. He doesn't get a free pass to say and do as he wants.


4. If you carry jumper cables and someone asks for a jump at the school and is wearing a varsity jacket.....help them!! Do not say 'sorry those jumper cables in plain site don't work'.


5. If you go to a store during this season go prepared to wait in line. Do not throw a fit in line and set your milk down in the line for someone else to deal with. (Milk is over $3 a gallon, and you know you've carried it through the store, and set it down in line. And you know that cashier isn't taking it back till the end of her shift. And you know they are just going to put it back in the cooler, so someone like me can pick it up and have it go bad after the first bowl of cearl.)

This season is suppose to be about LOVE no matter what holiday you are celebrating, so why I am not seeing love? Here is a list of some things that I have seen.

1. Screaming in line, and putting their milk down on the floor.


2. Children screaming (worse then usual)


3. Adults fighting; in the parking lot, stores, restaurants, schools, gas stations.


4. No compassion for others.


5. Road rage even though the roads have been snowy, slushy, rainy, and icy.

Take a little time to show someone LOVE. We all could use it.

The Joy of getting a Tree

This year we went to the Reindeer farm about 5 minutes from the house. This place is awesome!! I can not say enough great things about it. This year they had the teepee set up, I loved it. There are real reindeer for the children to see that don't quite look like the ones on the cartoons, but still bring magic to the little ones. There is a tractor that can drive you down to the tree farm section, we of course decided to take in all natures cold beauty and walk. For every tree that is cut down a new one is planted in it's place the following spring, so there is trees of all shapes, sizes, and kinds all over. The children kept accusing me of trying to pick out Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.

which I didn't do. There are even little log cabin houses for the children to play in. I had Maddie stand next to one to give you a size comparison. There is even a little gift shop of different little things one could purchase ranging from a nickel to much more expensive things. The nice thing about the gift shop is the uniqueness of it. There are things in there I've never seen before to things that I remember from when I was a child. A cool little place. After you get your tree you are given free hot chocolate to help warm you up, and they wrap the tree. We have never had a tree wrapped, so I was very curious how this worked. I don't know how to describe it but say it was wrapped with a thin plastic material that kinda reminds me of what a six pack would come in, kinda sorta. This made the whole tree bringing in the house thing and putting it in a stand soooooooo much easier. It was done in 15 minutes tops. Now as far as the decorations goes this usually takes about a week for our family to finish. It is a good time that the whole family enjoys even if I have to keep reminding them how much they do enjoy it, especially the ten year old.

Maddie Update

Maddie's Birthday went along just fine. She picked out her own cake. She told the lady at walmart she just wanted a birthday cake with snowmen on it. The lady was very excited that Maddie was letting her put any kind of snowman she wanted on the cake. She seen the doctor over her asthma again, and to sum up the story. She is seeing a pulmonlogist on the 21st to check her lung capacity, until then she isn't doing basketball. She is still attending games, and doing some things like ball handling, but not really participating so to say.

Happy 13th Birthday!!!!

Happy 13th Birthday Madeline Rae!! She is excited about her birthday she feels as most of us do that her birthday should be a national holiday and all about her. It doesn't seem like she can be 13 already. I still remember the day I brought her home from the hospital. I was so scared to be away from the hospital, what if I did something wrong, what if she got sick, what if I wasn't doing something right, you know all the questions first mothers have. I remember coming home getting her out of her car seat unbundled her and Brian having to leave straight for work. There we were (Maddie and myself) alone for the first time. There was the soft glow of Christmas Lights coming from the tree, and my precious baby girl in my arms. In that very moment I knew that it was going to be okay. I have been so very very blessed to have this treasure from heaven in my life. She is rough around the edges tomboy all the way but still yet a precious treasure that God has given me. Then again I'm still a little rough around the edges as well. Parenting doesn't come with a manual, yes there are some books out there to help parents, but there is no one manual to say how to raise one particular child. Prayer goes a long long way in raising children, and helping us as parents. Thank you God for blessing me with Madeline Rae. Happy Birthday sweetheart!!

Maddie of Today

I LOVE YOU MADELINE RAE!!!!

Where There Is A Will There Is A Way

"Where there is a will there is a way." I use this saying a lot, however Brandon has truly embraced it. I started using this saying to encourage a positive outlook when the kids where younger and would say I can't do that I'm too little. Phrases like that is what inspired me to use that phrase. Brandon has taken it to an all new level though. Brandon usually thinks outside the box, and sometimes
WAY outside the box. He is one of the only kids I've ever known to be able to go to school and make money while he's doing it. Yes the easy way for him is to get good grades. BUT he tries to think in an enterprise kind of mindset. Now let me also say he is very good at math so he can quickly come up with the numbers, and figures to make anything sound good. A little girl was selling golf balls to friends and classmates that she had found behind her house. Brandon convinced her to cut him in on the business, and he would get pre orders, and a bigger market. Meaning he was going to advertise to the older grades. He convinced her to up her price on the golf balls so that would pay for his small fee of advertising for her. I of course did not know this till Maddie caught wind about this, and the teacher called. He does this kind of thing a lot. I am careful how I use this phrase now a days. I told you this story to give you an idea of how his little mind works.

Today Pooh gave Sierra some extra money for the game tonight. She didn't have any pockets so Brandon volunteered his. When Pooh told me this I was worried all day. I wasn't worried he would lose it, I was worried he may try to take her six dollars and turn it into more. I was so relieved when he came home and handed her back her money.

Birthday Week Continues

Top picture is Emily and my kids when they were little: Melyssa, Brandon, Allyson, Jillyan, and Maddie. (Sorry Em I know I messed up on the spelling of the girls' names).The next picture is her with her dress for Christy's wedding which she never got to be in due to the
bad weather. The last one is one of her favorites and mine. It was when she got to go fishing. I particularly liked it cuz she is wearing pink, and she was so happy here.