Mindless drivel...don't say I didn't warn you...

Well Scout got even with the dog bite family.

Their other dog liked(notice that is a past tense verb) to run cars...and she ran and then cut right in front of the car. Scout was so sad for the kids. Bless their hearts. He knew that the poor dog wasn't going to make it.

Lovely way to end last week. "Hi..you know us, your new neighbors from up the hill..yea, the one's whose kid your dog bit? Yea, um well, I just killed your other dog. Hey wanna come up for a cook out?"

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My brother has a new baby. He is precious. Makes we want another...and then I hear mine yelling and screaming and professing their life long eternal brotherly love for each other. And then I COMPLETELY change my mind.

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Just heard a neighborhood kid say.."Well at least we aren't racist anymore!"

Wow that is refreshing. Yea at least your not a racist--anymore.

Seriously?? Kids scare me! That is all I am going to say about that.

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We have a dinosaur book here at the house that Skeeter is OBSESSED with. I have to be completely honest with you, cause I think you deserve at least that...I HATE THAT BOOK. With a passion. There are 112 pages of dinosaurs. He wants to look at everyone of them and for me to tell him its name. And really I don't mind doing this every once in a while...but 2 and 3 times a day is a bit much...even for this homeschooling mom!!

Here's the ONLY redeeming factor for this book....there is a pronunciation key...he thinks I am a genius because I know the names of all 6.3 million dinos listed in the book. Awesome.

However, I am a little concerned about something and I am going to take this time to share my concern with you...cause it's my blog and I like to strong arm you this way...where in the world did all these dinosaurs come from??

Here is what I mean. When I was attending Westwood Elementary (Go Wolverines! that later became the Wolves)and we were learning about dinosaurs-we learned about Bertha Brontosaurus, Trini the Triceratops, Stanley Stegosaurus and Tom Tyrannosaurus (he is carnivorous, try it once again and sing another chorus!!)

So my question is this...where did these other guys come from??

I mean, I have never heard of Casey Cynognathus or Ellie Elasmosaurus and I certainly don't know who Gertie Gomphotherium is!! I think I need to file a complaint with the school board.

Another dino story....When I was teaching, I had college students working in my classroom once a week(cause for some reason they local colleges think we liked it!?) and when I told them about the next unit we were doing(mandated by the state and the district-mind you) and that they would need to work on a lesson, let me see what they wanted to do with the kids and then teach it...one told me that she wouldn't do it....because she didn't "believe in dinosaurs."

Somewhere...this girl is in a classroom...teaching children.

She was the butt of a few jokes in the teacher's workroom for a while, a loooong while..like every year when the dino unit came up...

Well, I think I have exhausted the few brain cells that I have for today!

Later ya'll!

Two things...

Labor Day 2009 is a day that will go into the record books around here. Wanna see why?

Yup...stitches! Caused by a dog bite. I will save you from seeing the before shot. It makes me a little queasy! However...If you like that kind of stuff, they are on my facebook site and you can see the picture of his cheek bit open there. There were a total of 14-16 stitches..2 layers of them..ugh. I did not pass out...but I freely admit I did come dangerously close!!

He is FINE. We are not asking the dog be killed, we didn't offer to kill the dog, and we are not going to sue the owners. Those seem to be the most common questions we have gotten.

Scrappy has a very hard time understanding when he is in someone else's space...and we now know that includes animals. The dog did not run up and attack him. Scrappy does not understand the concept of personal space. His space is his space and your space is his space.

It was an accident and he is fine. He skipped out of the ER with much enthusiasm and yelled "BYE!!!" across the hallway to the nice doctor that fixed him up!! And he thought it was cool that the police came to take pictures of his dog bite!

And #2...

This is completely theoretical..of course...but if you came in to your computer room and found your younger brother's Facebook site pulled up and still functioning...would you feel obligated to write something on his status??

Not that I would do something like that...I was just wondering.

However, I may soon be joining the witness protection program. I may have to change my name and move to a far away place...like Iowa and learn to be a corn farmer...

....for something that I may or may not have done!! :O)

Ramble, Ramble, Ramble...Hear This Mommy Ramble

I have a special announcement...I am an Aunt...again!

My sweet nephew graced this world with his presence about 5:00 pm yesterday!!

His name is Evan Curry...he was 7 lbs. and 14 oz. And he is SO precious!!

Everyone is doing great and they all went home this evening to begin their lives as a family of 4.

I vaguely remember being a family of 4...cause we were only a family of 4 for 8 months when we found out that we were going to be a family of 5! ha ha ha..I laugh case there is nothing I can do about it now!! And actually I don't remember being a family of 5 for very long before we were adjusting to the idea of become a family of 6! But I digress.

ummm...

We are spending Labor Day weekend working out at the property. We are running the water lines and the electrical conduits. Does is sound like I know what I am talking about? I hope so...cause really, all I got out of it is that I am going to be gluing pipes together.

Jealous aren't you!?

Well you can't come! Unless you really want to and then I might be able to work out a deal for you.

My dear brother spent an entire day at work last week trying to come up with a name for the "homestead", cause he is weird like that. He came up with the name "Antebellum Ridge." Now, I am looking for the perfect pieces of wood to paint a large sign! Cause I am weird like that.

I have fought with the scary neighbor people again this week. I am trying so hard to be nice...but nice is about to run dry. I am about to have an exposition of my ninja/ticked off momma skills. Should it happen I'll take pictures for you.

My parents are here, cause I am their favorite kid and they love me more than anything in the whole world (and maybe the fact that there is a new grandbaby has something to do with them being here too, whatever) and my dad...the man who it took 26 years of my life for him to get an answering machine, the man who reads college western civ books and math books... FOR FUN...is going to get on FACEBOOK.

Folks, I am not positive, but that may be a sign of the apocalypse!!!!!

That is all I am gonna say about that. But I am stocking up on canned goods and water.

School is going to get into full swing on Tuesday. We had a few new kinks come up and I have had to try to get a fresh perspective on our situations, so we scaled way back for the last 2 1/2 weeks while I get refocused on what needs to be done.

It is amazing to me that I am still having to look at our situation and redefine what "normal" is for our family. It isn't bad...it is just different and it takes some time to let the cloud of pity blow away and really just figure out what normal is for our family. We are getting there. I am sure that all special needs families deal with this. It is yucky and I wish it were different...so very different, but these are the cards that have been dealt to us and we will make the best out of them. We will make it and we will shine as we go!

I have been blessed lately with meeting more special needs moms who have questions about a certain diagnosis, or funding for a compression vest or questions about how to deal with others or the school administration that isn't helping, or doctors...and I am greatful. Grateful that I can help them see that it really is manageable. That they will figure this scary road out and that they CAN walk the road laid before them.

They are in Holland and nobody asked if they wanted to go.

I get that.

I am in Holland too.

I know this is somewhere on my blog..but it's my blog and I like it so I am putting it here again.....and I changed it a little to fit my family.

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising multiple children with disabilities - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

If you can't say anything nice....

I would like to clarify that just because I live in Arkansas, homeschool have more than the accepted 2.4 children does not mean that I know the Duggers.

They seem like a completely wonderful, loving and stable family. I think that it is wonderful that they have such a large family. I have absolutely no problem with them having 19 or 25 kids. Really. I don't think they are freaks or crazy or stupid.

Yes, I know that MANY of you have a very different opinion of them and the chioces they have made. But my questions are these...Why do you care? What is to you?

I have heard SO many ugly comments made about them. And I just don't get it. They aren't asking you to do it. They aren't condeming you for not doing it. They are just trying to live a life pleasing to God.

So please...hear me say that I don't really care how awful you think it is. I hate hearing Christians bashing them. It make us look bad folks...looks real bad! Remember when your momma used to say.."If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." Well, now would be a great time to put that into practice!!

I will now return you to your regularly scheduled programming!