Dear Sadie,

We are having a very crappy Christmas break.  We wanted to go stay in the mountains and play in the snow, but we are stuck at home because of several reasons.  Sibley has Whooping Cough and you started coughing really loud today, so I'm afraid you may have it too.  Skyler is puking her guts out today.  Your dad sprained his ankle early this week.  I have a really bad cold, not to mention all my usual issues like bone and tooth pain.  Despite all this, you are still making us laugh...You keep saying, "It's not your fault."  You have no idea what it means.  You were out back turning the hose on and Sibley went back there and tried to get it away from you.  You, of course, wouldn't give it up, so y'all got locked into a game of tug-of-war and you were yelling at her, saying "It's not your fault!  It's not your fault!".

Also, on Christmas night we rented the movie "Brave."  You got so worried when Merida turned her mother into a bear.  You were so worried that I might get turned into a bear.  Every few minutes you would come over to where I was laying on the floor and hug me, just to make sure I hadn't turned into a bear.

Skyler and Sibley were really excited about Sadie's new Minnie Mouse Snuggie!

Merry Christmas!

We are so grateful for our many blessings this Christmas!  Definitely the best thing about Christmas is just being able to relax with family.  This morning after the girls got up and saw what Santa Claus brought, we went over to the church parking lot to play on our new toys.  Sadie loves her Minnie Mouse van and Skyler, Sibley, and Bryant have been enjoying two new longboards.

Love this picture of the Bibb Graves Bridge in Wetumpka being built!  Someone posted it on facebook.

Skyler and Sibley had fun taking pictures with my phone at the Skiba house yesterday.  I'm so glad they like to do this stuff.  I feel like crap, so I sat on the porch and let them do their thing.  It was nice to see them get a long for a while.  And they look so old!  Sniff.  Sniff.

Pictures before church

Thanks for the cutest Christmas dress ever, Grandmama!

 

Bryant's coworker gave the cutest gifts for Christmas and I wanted to remember them for next year.  The card says:

Reindeer Cocoa:
contains four servings of cocoa
2 Tablespoons per serving

Add to a cup of hot water or milk.
Add marshmallows and enjoy!

This is one of crafty Sibley's latest creations.  She is so talented and this year she has been decorating with these very intricate snowflakes.  She also helped me make Christmas treats tonight.  We made cupcakes for her class party tomorrow.  She crushed some candy canes and sprinkled the dust over the cupcakes.  We also made some fudge and she sprinkled candy cane dust over the fudge too. 

The fudge recipe is so quick and easy.  I wish I would have known about it 20 years ago!  I will never make the old marshmallow creme fudge again!  Here's the recipe so that I have it next time I need it.  And if any of y'all are looking for a quick, easy fudge recipe, you really should try this one.  I was surprised when I tasted it because it really does taste just as good as the painstakingly difficult-to-make fudge.

Ingredients:

1 package (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 t. vanilla

Directions:

Line a pan with wax paper.  Melt ingredients in saucepan and stir until smooth.  Pour into prepared pan and refrigerate for 2 hours.

A Family History Tender Mercy

When Daddy was here for Thanksgiving, he saw this old gray jug.  (See picture.)  I had bought it as a graduation gift for myself when I graduated from college in May of 2001.  I fell in love with it the minute I saw it.  I love antiques, or anything to do with history.  I especially love simple, utilitarian things like jugs.  Anyway, I like to think about who made it, who held it,  and what they were doing at the time.  It didn't have a maker's mark, or so I thought.  I looked for one on the bottom, but the bottom has several spots of tar on it, which made me love it that much more because obviously somebody used it when they were tarring a roof or a road.  So if there ever was a maker's mark, it would have been covered by tar anyway.  It did have this weird little divet, that I thought was a mistake, on the handle.

So, anyway, Daddy saw it and immediately recognized the divet.  The divet was the maker's mark!  And the maker is my ancestral cousin John Enslen Pylant, a renowned potter who worked principally at the Mulder Pottery on Jug Factory Road.  (One of my best friends, Farrah, lived on Jug Factory Road and I had always wondered about the old jug factory.) 

Someone in my CVID Support Group shared this yesterday and I found it was very applicable to my life:

A SAMPLE OF MY LIFE
The things I once enjoyed are now collecting dust.
I used to be a strong parent and spouse.
The pain is invisible to others but intense and real for me.
There is no cure, only painful treatment.
I try hiding the pain and discomfort from my family.
One moment I'm feeling good and within a blink I have no energy.
It shouldn't hurt to put Legos together with my child or hugging my spouse.
I hide the tears of not knowing what's coming.
How do I make plans without knowing what tomorrow will bring.
Simple things like a hot shower, a back rub or music can make Me forget...for a moment.
I try and make the most of today, to leave memories of smiles for those that cared for Me.
I feel guilty to my family for having this disease.
I'm not ready to collect dust...

I'm having a bad CVID day.  I have to go get two more root canals today, which makes six.  Then I have to go to my Urologist because both of my kidneys are infected, even though I have been on Bactrim for two months and on Cipro for two months before that.  Mostly, I'm pissed off about how expensive this disease is, especially the dental work.  And the constant doctors visit copays and excessive prescriptions aren't easy on the wallet either.  But it's not like I can just elect not to have the work done!  They're my teeth and they get so infected that the pain is unbearable!  Grrrrrrrr!

Dear Sadie,

You were jumping on the couch late Saturday night and you were yelling, "Jumping-Jumping-Jumping," and all of the sudden I heard a huge crash and there you were sprawled out on the floor.  Your forehead hit right on the phone charger and immediately swelled up.  I've never seen anybody swell that fast and I had never heard you scream like that, so I freaked out.  I woke Bryant up and he tried to ice it, but you were of course fighting him tooth and nail.  So I insisted on taking you to the Emergency Room.

I carried you to the hospital and they looked at your eyes to make sure you didn't have a concusion, and I felt better after that.  No more Sadies jumping on the couch!

Dear Sadie,

You are now using correct pronouns.  For example, you just pointed to Daddy and said, "His hair is black."  This sort of makes me sad.

Your favorite game is Hide and Seek.  You would play it all day everyday if you had someone to play it with.  Your favorite game partner is your daddy.  He's everybody's favorite game partner, for that matter.  You don't exactly understand the premise of the game, but you have lots of fun and that's what counts.  (You sometimes like to yell out your location.)

You have started changing your clothes multiple times everyday.  And you insist on picking out your own clothes.  Today I walked by your room and there was a disorganized heap of clothes on the floor from where you obviously threw the clothes out of your drawers yesterday when searching for just the right outfit.  Tonight for your pajamas you decided to go with a purple skirt and polka dot shirt.  Whatever.  And so it begins....

You have been sleeping in the double bed in your room this week.  We made your bed into a toddler bed, but that was still way too small for you because you are a crazy sleeper.  We surround you with pillows and you sleep much better with all the extra room on the double bed.

You have an imaginary friend named Anga.  You keep singing, "Anga, Anga, she's my fwiend!".

You have been behaving like a hooligan lately.  I really hope it is just a temporary phase because you are cutting yet another molar.  (I don't remember my other girls cutting all these teeth.)  You call people "bwat" and you always say "You're gisgusting!".  You're extra mean to Sibley and Mama Kitty for some reason.

You loooooove Dora and Diego.  You also still love Minnie Mouse.  We really want to take you to Disneyland.

You love to flip your hair forward.  And everyday you ask to have your hair in a side ponytail "like Skyler's."  But that only lasts a few minutes because you normally refuse barretts, bows, rubber bands and all other types of hair apparatus.

My gall bladder is outta there! Woohoo!

So long and good riddance!  Now if I can just keep Sadie from jumping on and kneeing my belly, I will be okay.

Sibley's Christmas Concert

Tonight I am at home (because of surgery), but the rest of the family is at Sibley's Christmas Orchestra Concert.  She looked so pretty before she left, and I took this picture of her.  The best part is that she and Skyler actually got along long enough for Skyler to do Sibley's hair and make-up.  Yay!  And I'm sure Sibley is doing a great job playing the violin right now, but unfortunately the blog no longer lets me upload videos.  So Sibley, we are proud of you!  And we are especially proud of your last report card too!  We love you!  You are beautiful and you are growing up so fast.  (She's only an inch or so shorter than I am now.) 

Dear Sadie,

Tonight you told your daddy he was your "fecial hero."  It melted his heart.

Then, a few minutes later you asked him to play hide and seek with you, and he told you he couldn't do it right then, and you looked at me and said, "Him not my fecial hero."