Birthday Questions Age 6

This is the 4th year I have asked Olivia these questions around her birthday!
The other years are posted on the blog as well!

1. How old are you?  5, I mean 6!
2. Who is your best friend? Katie, Kaylee, and Roslyn
3. What is your favorite thing to do? Go outside for recess and play with friends
4. What is your favorite color? Purple, pink, and light blue
5. What is your favorite thing to eat? Bananas and sweet apples
6. What do you like to do with your family? Play with them
7. What is your favorite toy? Katie's toy horses
8. What do you want to be when you grow up? Ballerina, police officer
9. What makes you happy? Playing with Saedee, Royce and YaYa
10. What makes you sad? If nobody plays with me
11. What is your favorite TV show? Sheriff Callie and ninja turtles
12. What is your favorite book? Peter rabbit
13. What do you like to learn about? God and Jesus
14. What was your favorite part of your birthday? Dancing on the stage for Zumba
15. Where do you like to go? To Zumba with mom
16. Who is your teacher? Mrs. Parks
17. What is your favorite treat? Bananas
18. What do you think about before you fall asleep? All the things we do, rock and roll
19. If you could meet somebody famous, who would it be? Saedee (even though we explained what famous means)
20. What is your favorite birthday present? The talking bird from Katie


Zumba Party


Olivia and Mrs. Parks


Birthday Dress

So Ready To Complain

There are times when I forget how wonderfully blessed that I am! Let's take today for example.....
Larry worked security at a church in Kansas City and Olivia and I went to church in Lathrop like always. Olivia and I came home, she played with a neighbor and I started cleaning the kitchen and making a new casserole recipe for dinner. Larry was supposed to be home around 2:30pm. Instead, he called at 2pm and said that the Missouri Police Funeral Team was being activated, which he is a member of. A 25 year old police officer was killed in the line of duty this morning, leaving his wife and young child. Larry is going to go help plan his funeral. He needed me to pack a suitcase and get all of his stuff ready. He went on to give me a detailed list of the exact items he would need. He would be home in 30 minutes and had to be back in KC at 5pm to leave and then he got off the phone. So while I am getting the suitcase out, getting his clothes out of the closet and drawers, I was very very VERY tempted to start complaining. "I have a MOMS meeting tomorrow night and he was going to pick Olivia up from school and have her at home during my meeting." "I am making a new recipe for dinner and now he won't be able to taste it." "I hate it when he is gone." "I have no idea when he will be back." Etc. Instead, I continued packing, texted a babysitter and arrange for her to watch Olivia tomorrow night, and silently said a prayer thanking The Lord that my husband is safe and able to go help a police officer's wife who is not so fortunate. I am very embarrassed and ashamed that I was that tempted to start complaining but glad that I chose to be thankful! And that I had the choice to be thankful! Larry hugged Olivia good-bye and when she asked where he was going, he carefully explained that a little kid a few hours away lost his or her dad this morning, because he died. He said that he was going to help the little kid and the mom for a day or two. He kissed us both goodbye and I thanked The Lord for my husband, while praying for this precious family whose entire life had just been turned upside down.  I am so thankful for this hero and his sacrifice!

Birthday Questions

I have asked Olivia these birthday questions the last 3 years:

Age    3          
           4          
           5
1. How old are you?
           3    
           4            
           5
2. Who is your best friend?
           Bubby Sissy
           Karlee
           Karlee, ZiZi, Claire, Roslyn
3. What is your favorite thing to do?
           Play      
           Toys        
           Stir (cook)
4. What is your favorite color?
           Pink    
           Blue/Red    
           Pink/Orange
5. What is your favorite food?
           Noodles    
           Cheese    
           Pancakes
6. What do you like to do with your family?
           My family likes hotdogs
           Minnie Mouse Bingo
           Play with them
7. What is your favorite toy?
           Mouse, bed (?)
           Lambie, Doc McStuffins, Chilly
           Baby Boy and Bitty Baby
8. What do you want to be when you grow up?
           A carseat
           A mom
           A married girl
9. What makes you happy?
           That seat (new chair)
           Toys
           Hugging
10. What makes you sad?
           The remote
           When you don't give me toys
           Not stirring (when I don't let her help me cook)
11. What is your favorite TV show?
           Mickey Mouse
           Octonauts, Doc McStuffins
           Peppa Pig
12. What is your favorite book?
           Bible
           Bible
           Bible
13. What do you like to learn about?
           Balls
           Nothing
           Being friendly
14. What was your favorite part of your birthday?
           Emma and Weston
           Tractors and lights
           Lady at grocery store giving me birthday spankins
15. Where do you like to go?
           To the party
           To the store
           To the store with little carts (Kearney Country Mart/Price Chopper)
16. Who is your teacher?
           Alicia
           Miss Mary Jo and Miss Alyssa
           Miss Holly, Miss Heather, Miss Heidi and Miss Alyssa
17. What is your favorite treat?
           Fruit snacks
           Chocolate and candy
           Chocolate
18. What do you think about before you fall asleep?
           My bed
           I love to rest and stay in my bed
           Nothing, just being married
19. If you could meet someone famous, who would it be?
           Family
           Octonauts
           Saedee, Royce, YaYa, Muncle Roy and Mawmaw Kaye
20. What was your favorite birthday present?
           My pink Barbie jeep
           Cupcake set and tractor
           Clothes for Baby boy

Dandelions!

What a year we have had. Last year for Christmas, my parents gave my family a gift certificate for family pictures. I decided that I would wait until Spring so that we can have the pictures taken outside.

The week of January 14, 2013, my mom had a biopsy due to an irregularity on her annual mammogram. On January 17, my mom called and said that she had breast cancer. On January 18, I had the worst birthday ever.

On January 31, my mom had surgery, she had the lump removed, they removed the lymph node sack and a few of the nodes were positive for cancer. My mother suffered through 6 months of chemotherapy and 6 weeks of radiation. This was SO hard on my mother. My father was so great to take care of my mom. I saw so much support from my parents' church, from family, from friends of my parents, friends of my sister and my own friends, church family, and co-workers. My mom was so strong and I am so proud of her.

In April, we took our family pictures with the gift certificate from my parents. I was very OCD, as usual, with the photographer. She probably won't take our pictures again even if we pay double :) We have two very different styles and I wanted to make sure everything was perfect. The kids were playing in the trees and Olivia kept picking up weeds and grass. I just wanted to smile and pose and she wanted us to be real. She is a great photographer and did a great job and I should have just trusted her.

This pic was my favorite and I almost ruined it by telling her to quit picking up the dandelions.

Here are a couple more good ones

When I gave my mom the pictures, she loved them and hung them in her house! A couple months later she was at my house, looking at some of the pictures and told me this story:

In February when my mom was meeting with her oncologist and surgeon, they were explaining to her why Chemotherapy was necessary. They explained that when you have a dandelion that has the white cotton stuff on it and you blow it into your yard, you don't think too much about it, but give it a few months and dandelions are growing all over your yard. They were not sure where all of the cancer was hiding in her body, just like the dandelion seeds in your yard. So they do chemotherapy to make sure that all of the dandelions don't live, or all of the cancer is gone.

My mom said that the picture of Olivia holding the dandelions helped her get through her treatment and know that she was going through it all for a reason. She was getting rid of all of the dandelion seeds.

My mom completed all of her treatment on October 21, 2013 and is still working to gain her strength and energy, but she is cancer free, she is here with us, we just celebrated Thanksgiving with her and we are about to celebrate Christmas with her.

It has been quite a year, I am so thankful for my mother, my family, and even the dandelions!

Little Free Library

In November my parents introduced us to The Little Free Library! I had never heard of this before. Apparently there are Little Free Libraries all over the United States and they are so neat! It is a box of some sort that someone puts in their yard and allows people to give and take books for FREE! The idea is for people in rural areas (or sometimes not rural areas) who do not have convenient access to a public library, to still be able to have new books. You don't have to take the books back, you can have them. You can bring books to put in the library too.

There is a Little Free Library between Russellville, Missouri and Corticelli, Missouri. My dad is the pastor at Corticelli Baptist Church and this library is on the way to the church.  My mom took me and Olivia to it when were visiting in early November and Olivia was so excited (and a little confused)!

When we went back to my parents for Thanksgiving, my mom took my sister Sarah, my niece Saedee and Olivia back to the Little Free Library! They had a blast! Olivia brought books from home and took a few books too!

I think this is such a cool idea!
Visit www.littlefreelibrary.org for more information!

Sorry For What?????

I had a friend tell me once that I say "sorry" too much.

As I take a good look at things, I have come to the conclusion that she was right. 



When I text a friend and ask how their day is and they write "Sally fell off her bike," I write "I am so sorry." Or they write they have had a bad day and need a nap, I write back "I'm sorry, what can I do to help?"

When I call someone from work I say "I am sorry to bother you, but....."

When I have prayed about a subject and have made decisions, I say to the person that I am explaining it to, "I am so sorry but I am not going to be able to help with........"

Yesterday at the doctor's office, a 3ish year old little boy was being loud and not listening to his parents, the father took the child out of the room, kicking and screaming, and the mother stayed in the waiting room. She looked at me, motioned to the area that the child was just in, and said "I'm sorry." I looked back at her and said "no need to be." The father came back in the room with the child and he was quiet.

Why? Why? Why are we so SORRY?

I did not cause Sally to fall off of her bike. I did not cause my friend to have a bad day. I did not make that person work in that job where they have to answer my phone calls. And it was not that mother's fault that her little boy was having a melt down. They all do that at times and they handled it appropriately. So, why are we sorry?

I think that it is normal to want to help others (although lately I wonder what is happening to the world, I was raised to want to help others, I guess some weren't!) but that doesn't mean that we have to feel sorry for them or ourselves. There is a difference between apologizing and encouraging, a big difference!

So, instead I have been trying to offer help and encouragement and have honestly been trying NOT to use the word sorry. I have typed it in text messages and then deleted it (especially to my friend who told me that I said it too much)!

We need to leave our worries to God and we need to support our friends! We need to love on them and show them God's love! We do not need to be SORRY unless we truly are apologizing for a wrong deed! I have been there before and I am sure that I will again!
But in the mean time, I am not sorry!

Egg-cellent Condition!

When we have family dinners, we all bring a dish or two (or three or four) to the dinner. The last few years, I have been bringing deviled eggs (among other things) to family dinners! I have these handy travel containers and I don't mind making them! This Easter was no different, I signed up for deviled eggs, corn and green bean casserole and two desserts!

So, on Saturday, I plop 18 eggs into a pot of water, bring it to a boil and cook for 13 minutes! This is how I always cook them and then soak in cold water! This time, for some reason, they did not turn out. They would not peel and the yolks were not done, they were gross. In the trash goes all 18 (actually 20, because I always do a couple extra just in case some are not pretty)!

(Now STOP! I know that everyone is about to want to tell me how they cook their hard boiled eggs! That is not the point of this post people! But you can tell me if you want to!)

So...... I go to the store, buy 18 more eggs, and try again. This time I cooked them a little different. I peeled them all and about half peeled easily. And about half looked like this or worse.......

I decided this bunch of people would not care if the outside of the eggs were not completely smooth. I make my wonderful filling, piped them into the eggs, sprinkled with paprika and (whew) done with that!

Now, it is Sunday, we pile all of the children and Easter dinner dishes into the car, drive the 80 miles to my sister's and church (of course!).  When we get to her house I put the food in the refrigerator. After pictures we go back in the house to put the finishing touches on lunch. My sister opens the fridge and one of the containers of eggs falls out!

I walk into the kitchen to see my sister's dear sweet mother-in-law scooping the filling back into the eggs and trying to clean it up. I told her to just throw it in the trash and she said that deviled eggs are hard work and she wants to save them. Sweet lady! So she did!

We have a wonderful Easter lunch which would have only been better if my parents could have been there! We clean up, have Easter egg hunt, rest, visit, and have dessert.......

                                      Butterfinger Cake

                                     Cream Puff Dessert

Ok, I had to show you that to prove that I can make something that doesn't look like a disaster!

We were getting all of the children and food back in the car to head home and my sister and husband come out of the house laughing! My sister then admits that she dropped the container of left over deviled eggs AGAIN!

I am officially NEVER making or being in charge of deviled eggs AGAIN! Never! I may make some for my little immediate family because they love them, but NEVER will I be in charge of them for a family dinner! NEVER!

I would like to add that the container falling out of the fridge the first time was not my sister's fault, I put it in there without much room! The second time I have no idea, it could have been her fault! We were laughing too much for me to remember what she even said!

Oh, and Happy Easter!

      Wyatt, Kaitlyn and Olivia Fish                Saedee and Royce Jackson