Work Out

A treadmill with a T.V.-now that's what I'm talking about!

I love the gym, especially since my treadmill has been banished to the basement, but this would be a nice addition to mix it up at home!

It costs a little more than I keep in petty cash, so I guess it will have to wait.

What goes on at 2 am

Tyler doing a breathing treatment when he was about Jack's age

Croup goes on here! I awoke to the familiar sound of a sad Jackson, went upstairs and the baby wasn't doing too well. Seal cough, noisy wheezing breathing-it was all there. I brought him downstairs to do a breathing treatment, lucky for me Tyler's been having them so the nebulizer was all set up! There was no xopenex left in the case so we did a dose of duo-neb; it's the good stuff we bust out in emergencies.

So now at 2 am Jackson has the shakes from the 'roids and we're watching cars...waiting to see if his breathing improves and for him to calm down a bit. So far he sounds better-hopefully we can avoid a dr. trip or a week on orapred.

sew-a-palooza II

Back on tour, sew-a-palooza has stopped at casa del Bare and taking the walls by storm. While Jackson was painting pictures of baby Jesus at FBUMC I went to the tag office, Sam's Club and Frugal Fabrics. Little did they know when I walked in that I was armed with a heafty gift card and was ready to cut...15 yards of fabric and 15 yards of liner later I was on my way.

I picked Jackson up from school, brought him home, put him in the bed and got started. So far we have one 17 foot lined living room panel ready to hang beside a window. Now all I need is a husband and ladder to hang it...

Well I'm off to sew another 17 feet...And we'll see how the hanging goes tonight!

Angry Vince vs Happy Diamond

Diamond Rio that is...

On Saturday night we went to see Diamond Rio at the new Cobb Energy Center and it was great. For starters no one was angry, and we had amazing seats-7 rows from the stage.

They played lots of old stuff which was great-especially since no one else does it! And since it was a Christmas concert the "new songs" were Christmas songs that we knew.

Andy and I had the best time-I think we have discovered that our favorite thing to do is go to concerts without our children-and we've narrowed it down country concerts at that-we dig the crowds at country concerts way more than pop.

Oh-and that is our Christmas tree behind our heads!

Am I dead yet?

This cold has been AWFUL and the whole house has it! I really don't understand how there can be two parents, both sick and yet still only Mommy can take care of everyone...I will have to ponder that more later.

I have been in the bed reading blogs and I read through two by girls who are pregnant with their first children...Man am I glad that I will NEVER have to do that again.

Things I hate about first pregnancies...
1. Not knowing what is going to happen
2. Going to birthing classes that are a total waste of money, but going b/c that's what you do and you think it will fix problem 1.
3. Feeling bad about not having done the hospital tour by the 35 week-which was also a waste of time since my Dr only delivered at one hospital-what difference did it make
4. Not having a pediatrician by some ridiculously early date like 20 weeks-I was constantly asked about finding a pediatrician and if I had toured different ones...What am I going to be able to tell by touring a Dr's office? They are all going to be nice and tell you their great...I still felt guilty though.

What I learned:
1. I would always deliver a first baby at Northside b/c Children's is across the street in case anything goes wrong-after that one it's all about amenities baby-free parking!
2. Birthing class stank and I'm glad I dropped out
3. Babies bounce
4. Northside is really hyper about babies that aren't completely perfect-to a fault.
5. Don't take the baby out even if you feel good-they still aren't ready-cold season friends!
6. Your crazy if you think you will have any desire to go back to work after 6 weeks. (period)
7. You MUST breast feed-yes must. No dumb juice for the baby. And yes you can do it, just keep trying.

Now all the mommies to be will think I'm a crazy guilt ridden nut that keeps the baby on the boob-they're probably right...Except about the dumb juice-no formula it breaks the bank at the very least :)

Number 100

Actually my last post was number 100, but I just noticed.
Andy and I off to another wedding...we took the Alpharetta Audubon and went 123 mph, Andy thought the car should be wound out a little..."it's good for the engine". Right.

First Day of School

Jackson's first day of school was today at Buford First United Methodist Church. We put him on the waiting list there, because the drive was to far to our old preschool (Sugar Hill First Baptist-"the family church" HA!). I wasn't really passionate about him going to school this year so; I only put him on one waiting list and decided that if he was meant to be in school this year God would work it out there.
Well I guess he was meant to go and today was his first day. He got out of the car in the carpool line and walked right into the building with the teacher-never looked back! I couldn't believe it. When I went to pick him up he was all smiles and gave me one of his signature Mommy hugs and charged out of the room. He told his teacher good bye and when she said she would see him on Wednesday he said no thank you-I guess he still loves Mommy after all.
He painted a very nice picture, played with his new "friends" and ate ALL of his lunch. I guess this is good for him and probably me too-Trips to the grocery alone!

Balou and Chicken Little

We had Balou the bear over for Halloween and he brough Chicken little with him...



And then Uniqua showed up...


So Balou piled everyone in the wagon and went in search of...


Candy! But it was hard work


Knocking on doors with threats of tricks and then following it up with please and thank you.


But they prevailed and arrived home with plastic pumpkins full of candy!

Pumpkin Carving

Andy came home early on Wednesday so we were able to carve pumpkins before we went over to Jen's for trick or treating



Tyler thought the insides were "really gross",
but he didn't mind the cutting at all...and then
his pumkin "ate him"





Jackson never touched the inside, but he too, was a willing cutter.














































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Book Review II

I love Big Love on HBO.
This is what started my fascination with polygamy, so I started reading about it in my spare time. The I got this book Shattered Dreams by Irene Spencer. It is a memoir about her life as a polygamist. She was a fourth generation polygamist born in 1937, she got married when she was 16 to her half sister's husband, and became his second wife which is significant since it began his walk as a polygamist. She was married to him for 28 years and had 14 children with him (13 single births and one infant adoption), he had 10 wives and 58 children when he died at the age of 51 in a car accident.

The really interesting thing about her story is hearing the guilt and condemnation she lived under to earn eternal glory and become a goddess with her sister wives and husband in their own world. After her husband died she met another man, married him and started living a life of monogamy. She has 119 grandchildren and 39 great-grandchildren3 of her 13 children are practicing polygamy at this time. One of her sons, not practicing the principle, asked her to come to Anchorage Alaska where he took her to his church. She knew he had become a Christian so she took her book of Mormon with her to correct his misgivings and went to the church to hear what he was being taught. During her first visit there she truly received Christ. After almost 50 years of living with the fear of eternal damnation she heard the gospel and experienced God's loving grace. That was the most amazing part of the story and I had only picked the book up to learn more about polygamy. It was such a testament to me and reminded me of what life is like without Jesus.
http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/authorslounge/articles/2007/august/article25447.html

Are you a libertarian?

I am, and maybe you are too.

Take the test at this site.

http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html

Family Visitors

aside from the perfection in the middle of his face (my nose) Tyler looks just like Andy here I think.


This is Tyler's room, the blue is the sky, green:grass, black:road.

Sweet boys
Andy's Aunt Janet and Uncle Gary came down a couple of weeks ago and spent the evening with us at our house. Unfortunately we were lazy and didnt' have our camera out so we don't have any pictures, but Aunt Janet took lots of the boys. Thanks Aunt Janet!

I have no fear

The boys' first mouse ears! Consequently they won't let me come near them with ears in hand.

Tyler after his first ride ever-Splash Mountain! He thought it was great and wants to go again on the "big fountain".

Tyler and I on Big Thunder Mountain. First he went with Andy then we "switched" and he rode with me. He put his hands in the air and said weee when we weren't in corners!

Meeting Brer Fox and Brer Bear; Jackson was too scared to come up.

Controlling the "magic carpet" on Aladin's Magic Carpet ride-I think he liked this one too.

Meeting Magic Makers

Jackson after Snow White's Scary Adventure-BTW he loved it and wanted to go again!


Meeting Minnie



Meeting Mickey



Chip 'n Dale


Epcot-they are having a wine festival and the hedge in the back is colored to look like cheese.

Living The Magic

At the Magic Kingdom-Decorated for Halloween



Full Body Shot Baby



In front of "Big Monster Castle" AKA Cinderella's Castle



More Castle




Andy and Tyler on the Dumbo in front of us

Are you smarter than me?

Am-I-Dumb.com - Are you dumb?

Disney World

We leave in 4 days!

Autism is not contagious

Read this on fark

Op-ed: You can't 'catch' autism from a play date

BY LISA DOWLER Lisa Dowler lives in Dix Hills.
September 8, 2007

My son is a sweet 10-year-old who plays baseball, loves to go bowling, and is a happy child.

He is also autistic.

Autism affects a child's social abilities, making it difficult - and sometimes impossible - to form friendships. The primary socialization that Jeffrey receives is from his 8-year-old brother. Other play dates are hard to come by. This is something that every parent of a child on the autism spectrum must deal with every day.



I recently attempted to help Jeffrey pursue a friendship with another boy his age. This boy seemed to be very kind to my son and always acknowledged him, even around his peers. At camp, he went out of his way to say "hi" to my son, and he even stopped to tell me that he knew Jeffrey from school.

I gathered up my courage to call the mother, whom I didn't know. I introduced myself and explained that my son has special needs and is in a self-contained class. I also told her that he is mainstreamed for music, art and gym, where our sons know each other. I let her know that her son seemed to have an interest in befriending Jeffrey.

The mother sounded as if I was taking up too much of her time. And she was certainly not receptive to the idea of getting our boys together.

It's hurtful to realize that people like her are out there. It seemed as if she didn't want her son socializing with mine because she feared that her child might "catch" Jeffrey's disability. Autism is not contagious, nor are the other conditions that land children into special-needs classes.

My son would have enjoyed the 90 minutes or so it would have taken to go bowling with this other child. He would have gained so much from it. And so, I think, would her son.

The positive role model of a typical child is important for a child with autism. And in my experience, typical children are more than willing to play with a child with a disability - it's their parents who are resistant. They don't realize what their children stand to gain from developing a friendship with a child who is autistic or different in some other way. They can develop a sense of caring and understanding that leads them to become more compassionate adults.

The mother I spoke with didn't want to continue our conversation and wouldn't even take my phone number. Unfortunately, that wasn't the first time I've had that kind of response.

Jeffrey has come a long way with the help of his younger brother. Because my typical son has a brother with autism, he has become a kinder, more sensitive and caring child. He understands that he has helped his brother, and he feels good about that. He understands that a child's disability doesn't define him or her.

These are the valuable lessons that Jeffrey has to offer his potential friends. If only their mothers would let him.

NOGN-A Family Channel?

A friend told me about a show on NOGN called South of Nowhere after I told her how sad I was that we didn't have it. I am no longer sad. The show is about a high school girl that is bi-sexual. There are scenes with girls kissing and of course adult language. I wanted to see for myself what it was all about so I went to the site and watched some clips. I can't believe this is on a children's channel-maybe I'm to much in the preschool loop, but I thought NOGN was a safe station. It's just one more lesson that there isn't a "safe" place and I need to be aware of everything around my children.

I will say that the show comes on at 10:00 at night, so my kids wouldn't be up watching it, but other children are. We do live in a fallen world and sometimes I forget that. A reminder that our world as a whole needs much prayer.

Sproul is missing

I cannot find my Bible. I have looked all over my house 3 times, the car 3 times, the church twice and I cannot find it. It is all very sad and unpleasant-how will I share his input if I don't have it right in front of me?! Some one suggested I pray for my own thoughts-I assured her that was NOT a good idea. Some one else suggested that God had taken my bible, but that couldn't be it either since He knows I'd just go buy another one. So I am giving Sproul 2 weeks to show himself and then it's off the the PCA book store for a replacement.

First Day of School

This was taken after Tyler was dropped off in the afternoon

We couldn't get one before since the bus got here at 6:47 and we weren't expecting them until 6:50-6:55.



And this isn't exactly what he was wearing. The bus was 45 minutes late dropping him off and when they got here they said he had an accident. He had peed all over himself b/c they couldn't pull over. He told them over and over again that he had to pee, "but there was nothing they could do".

Otherwise, Tyler had a good day. His teacher called to say that he did very well and enjoyed himself. And he really likes his new Lightening McQueen book bag. He says he doesn't want to go back tomorrow. He wants to stay home with Mommy and sleep. He's such a faker-knows exactly what to say!

Ha wordless, since when have I been wordless

I'm so wet and so very cold


but I totally LOVE it


And of course, Jackson Bare is sitting out as always. He's not such the water baby...or picture poser for that matter. Notice everyone in the back lined up for a picture and Jackson not participating.

We went to the Suwanee park for playgroup last Friday. We left the house at 10 am so we could go by wal-mart, got to the fountain at 11, left at 12:30, got to Grandma's house in Marietta at 1:30, swam, showered, watered flowers, filled pool and left. We visited the pet store kittens and got home at 4:30. Then Auntie Shady came over at 5:30 and spent the night. We had one VERY full Friday!

wordless wednesday