Only to My Nina!

Oh, how I love this child! My Nina, if something is going to happen, it will happen to her. She is outside playing with her sister - well actually I think they were on the swings reading - but still together nonetheless, and the next thing I know she is in the kitchen holding a piece of ice on her leg (upper thigh) and almost in tears, "Mommy, something bit me and it hurts realllllllly bad, oh my gosh, what could it be, oh look, it's swollen and red . . . . "
Being maternal and all, I say, "Nina, did you see it, was it an ant or was it something flying?"
"I don't know, but it reallllllllly hurts, oh my gosh it's really swollen and red . . . "
"Nina, why don't you take off your pants and make sure it's not still in there." (she had on knee length shorts)
*sniffs* "No, I'm o.k., I told Aly something bit me and she told me to come and tell you." *sniffs* You can see Aly is a big help here - she probably didn't want to get off of the "good" swing and risk losing it.
"OH MY GOSH - real tears now - OUCH, look more welts mommy and they BBUURRNN realllllly bad! Please help, please."
Me, now kinda yelling, "Nina, take your shorts off right now."
And she does.
And a wasp flies out.
And we both scream.
And run.
Away.
And now Jim is yelling, "Where did it go? Great, now we live with a wasp!" He said that, I am not making it up.
Needless to say, she had three nice sized welts on her leg and the whole area was red. I gave her ibuprofen and claritin (I'm not sure why the claritin, I was just feeling maternal.)
And luckily, not long after this debacle, we found the wasp and Jim smashed it, and now we don't live with a wasp anymore.
Whew!
And people ask what I do all day.

"Nuff Said

When your mother asks, "Do you want a piece of advice?" it's a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway.

Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the 'Titanic' who waved off the dessert cart.

I'm going to stop punishing my children by saying, "Never mind! I'll do it myself."

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything you gave me."

~Erma Bombeck

SURPRISE!!!

Well, we had a surprise party for Aly's 10th birthday, which is this week. And boy was she surprised! As you can see by the look on her face! They had so much fun, they swam and laughed and roasted marshmallows and all that fun stuff. And her BFF, who is in Minnesota with her grandparents, surprised her and called her to say Happy Birthday, so it was very nice. Of course, I'm a little sad. How can I not be, my baby is turning 10. Oh my, where did the time go? Of all the advice you get when you are pregnant, I think enjoying them because they grow so quickly is the only one that's really true. I mean I got lots of unsolicited advice, and I usually rolled my eyes at most of it, but they do grow quickly, don't they?! *sniff sniff*
On another note, Charlotte, who apparently has nothing to do all day and night, turned me on to Facebook, and now I'm hooked. Thanks Charlotte! And then Nana went and joined, but she didn't "see" anyone she went to school with, and now she wants to get off of Facebook. She thinks they might all be dead! I guess we'll never know, now will we?! I told her she should stay on but who knows? I'll keep you posted on this earth-shattering news, 'k?
And I'm still thinking about family in Houston, TX and hoping they're doing o.k. since Ike. Say a prayer . . .
Good night.

Just Perfect

I just had to post two more. The sky really was all of those beautiful colors. Just perfect . . .

This is why we live here . . .

Look at the ocean! Oh, it was beautiful. We picked up dinner and had a picnic on the beach. The surf is still rough from Hanna, even though she's moving up the east coast. The waves were rough, but it was peaceful just the same. That's Aly in the corner, probably eating a french fry. After we ate, we ran in the surf, got soaking wet and laughed!

On another note, I started a website for All Florida Cooling and Heating! It's - surprise - http://www.allfloridacoolingandheating.webs.com/. Please take a look but remember, it's a work in progress. I've never done a website before, so I'm working on it.

Thankfully, Ike has decided to terrorize someone else - and I do feel sorry for them. But we're not living in a coffin - yea.

Enjoy!

Aly and Mia

Well, here is my little Aly during her 1st horseback riding lesson! Look at her! Her horse is named Mia and she just had the best time. She even got to trot - and feed and groom her. And a bunch of other horses too. God bless her and her love-of-horses, but she didn't get that from me - that's for sure. I personally think they kinda smell and all, and I like both of my feet firmly on the ground at all times. Apparently this love-of-horses gene skipped right over Miss Nina too, because she would rather have a big ol' knot in her hair then go near the horses! She did take some nice pictures of her sister tho. Aly really enjoyed her lessons and can't wait for the next one. Which is in two weeks. Which will be a very long two weeks for me, because I have to keep hearing about her lessons!
As I write this, we are sitting here waiting to see where Ike will land. Right now, it looks good for us, but these hurricanes have a mind of their own, and don't really always like to follow the forecast track, so we never know. I'm really hoping we don't have to board up, cause it's like a coffin in here when we do. Well, what I think a coffin would be like anyway! Hey, it's my blog . . . wish us luck!
~Peace