Why do I have this again??

I just remembered I have a BLOG!! What the hell! I need to SLOW down!! Life is flying by so fast...my blog reminded me of this! My kids are getting bigger and bigger by the second. Cade (13) is in the 7th grade at Providence Hall. Tommy (7) is in first grade and P.H. Elementary. Brycelyn (4) is in pre-k preschool. It seems like they were all just babies. It's starting to make me feel REALLY old! I've always wondered when that happens...?!

Our days are filled with craziness! I am on the PHAST council up at the schools. I am the Events Director. It's like a full-time job...with no pay of course! Just the reward of seeing the teachers, staff, leaders, kids & hopefully parents being happy! This year we have done several events for the teachers...mostly feeding them! ;-) We had movie night, Santa's Night Out & coming very quickly our fun-run and spring carnival. Sooooo fun! Then, of course, I am the room mom for Tommy's class! Other than school, we keep ourselves busy with work, taekwondo, dance, organizing, Scouting, hair & trying to keep it all straight! Cade & Tommy are both in taekwondo. Tommy LovEs doing whatever his big brother does! Brycelyn recently started dance and just had her first recital! She did AMAzIng! I wondered if she'd have stage fright, but she loved EVERY minute of it! She got lots of flowers from all of her "fans" & was on cloud 9! I am working very hard to get our house organized and de-cluttered. This project has turned into quite the undertaking! We have a lot of CRAP! Love seeing the progress though. Cade is almost to his eagle project. I am so proud of him and his hard work! Can't wait to see the results! I still enjoy doing hair & look forward to having my salon complete sometime in the near future. (fingers crossed!) Tommy (the dad) still works for Interwest Transfer and continues to work hard on all of his side jobs. He is great at coming up with things to make money on and provide for us! He is the greatest husband and father any family could hope for. Each day I thank God for all of them. They keep me busy, but sane!

What do you say....

SO~Do you ever have those moments in your life when you just think to yourself..."what do I even say?" I have a few of those, almost daily in fact! Recently more than ever. Last month I/we experienced an "episode" (we'll call it for now!) that scared the crap right out of me!! In every way it looked exactly like a mini stroke. This made me contemplate this phrase over and over. From the first hospital doctor that treated, or should we say didn't treat me, that insisted that I was overdosing on heavy narcotic's, to then insisting that I was faking. My brother, thank goodness, was there and put him right where he belonged! He knew EXACTLY what to say! He quickly had me transferred to another hospital that quickly treated me the best they could with the lack of info they had due to the neglect of the first hospital. During the transfer the medics had explained to my family that they were going "lights and sirens and not to attempt to follow!" My family left and beat us to the hospital by a full ten minutes! Real rush huh?? Since that wasn't enough, I was unlucky enough to be subjected to a fabulous conversation where both the Doctor, nurse and paramedic talk about how "it would be better to stay here and die" as to be transported to the other hospital! At first I thought to myself, if I could talk, what would I even say? Then, decided it was better I couldn't. Thanks to my brother, I received excellent treatment from the doctors and nurses. What if I hadn't had an "in" though? A patient advocate right by my side. When you don't know the medical lingo and terms, how are you supposed to know what is going on? I don't know even what to say. After four days of testing and "resting," the work began. My speech and a lot my arm movement had come back, but now were the legs. My left side seemed to have more strength than my right from the get go. It would however, take almost a full month until I would walk with some kind of strength. Along the way almost every person I would come in contact with would graciously ask "how ya doin'?" What do I even say? I am full of gratitude for the gift of life in general, but the mere fact that I am able to walk and talk and take care of my children every day is more than I can find words to describe. As for a response to others however, what do I say? "I'm good or fine" of course! It seems obviously understated to me, but I'm sure they don't expect the full explanation! This experience has forced me to slow down. To really decide what is necessity and what is "extra." For a person, such as myself, who doesn't recognize the use of the word "no" in the past, this has been a huge trial. I find myself wanting to ease back into the chaotic situation in which I've lived for quite some time. For me, it just was though. I didn't recognize it, it was just what I did. Mother of three, wife, working three to five part time jobs at a time, school committee, bear den leader and of course the normal chef, maid, laundromat, personal shopper, nurse, counselor and cab driver. One thing at a time. It's uncomfortable for me to slow down. I don't like the useless feeling it gives me. I have to remind myself that it allows me to give more or me where it is important. So, for now, I'll keep on keepin' on and move to the next stage of this chapter! Maybe it'll give me time to keep this blog current and to think of just the right thing to say!!  ;-)

A ParTy fit for a PriNceSs

We celebrated Brycelyn's 3rd birthday with everyone on May 1st. She has been soooo excited for so long for all of her friends to join her! She has been talking non-stop about it. She was telling everyone that she was having a Barbie, Princess Tinkerbell party! Well...it turned out to be two of the three! She loved it! We made some dutch oven cooking. She loves chicken so that was a must. We were planning on having it out on our deck, but mother nature had other plans! We ended up having it more inside than out. Still, I think everything went OK! Thanks to everyone for their patience with "squeezing in!" We enjoy any excuse for a party! When I say we, I mean me and the kids! Tommy could go without ever having one again I think! However, he is ALWAYS such a great help and a super sport! Thanks for all your help with everything honey! Brycelyn, Mommy & Daddy love you with all our hearts! We hope that you will always feel the blessing that you are in our lives. You have changed them forever! We can't imagine what life was like without you! Thanks for completing our family picture! You're sweet personality when you ask to cuddle or when you ask for powder on your bum and then remind us to not do it fast, but "nicely" makes us giggle! We love to tickle you and hear you laugh! We will always tell you to "put them high to the sky" as long as you'll allow it! Your expression of absolute excitement when we walk into a room is priceless! We love you our Lizzy B!

Brycelyn is "3"

I can hardly believe that my baby is "3"!! It almost breaks my heart, at the same time making it smile! She brings me so much happiness...all the while testing my patients to its limits! We had such an amazing day with her! We met Aunt Brandi & Uncle Jack at the Build A Bear where Brycelyn was overwhelmed with all of her options! It took her a minute to pick which one she loved the most. She finally settled on a cute little pink bunny covered in daisies! She LOVED her from the beginning! She named her Bunny B! She enjoyed each process and took the most out of each moment. It helped that she was with two of her favorite people in the world. She has a special spot in her heart for her Aunt & Uncle. They have been so good to all of our kids! We are grateful for all they do for all of us!
After building time, we had lunch. Luckily, Daddy was able to join us! Brycelyn was ecstatic to see him there! She is such a Daddy's girl lately! It's fun to see her light up when he walks into a room! Jack and Brandi offered to take the kiddos while I went to work for a little! The kids were all too excited for the offer! I was thankful that they had considered how much more amazing this would make her special day, at the same time, making my job SOOOO much easier!
We ate pizza & opened presents when Daddy got home. Her enthusiasm to each item was hilarious! She was so appreciative of everything! She takes after her Mommy...we both LOVE new clothes! Then we all piled into our bed and watched "Tangled." What an AMAZING day! So precious and so fun!