Fall has arrived in Florida!

Yeah! Fall is here in Florida finally! Boy is that a tongue twister! The lows are in the 50's and highs in the 70's low 80's. Now I know for some of you, those are considered summer temperatures. But for us, it's sweet relief!! We've been sleeping with the windows up. I love this time of year. All of the neighbors are out enjoying this nice weather. The feel of the cool crisp air, the laughter of children playing, the pumpkins and leaves and mums . . . so much fun!

So, how's the weather where you are?

At Last . . .

We are on the final countdown ---
Hubby will be home in 12.5 hours, if all goes well! Do you hear the Hallelujah Chorus or is that just me?

We can't wait to see you Babe!

XXXXXXOOOO

The Lord Taketh Away . . .

Well, I'm sad to say that my ex-father-in-law passed away at 1:00 a.m. this morning. I'm relieved for the family but my heart breaks for them also. It was hard for me to sit and watch this man struggle to take a breath. He had a horrible night last Friday and was transferred to the local Hospice facility so as to have 24 hour care. The family has been camped out there ever since. Saturday evening, I sat with the family for over seven hours. As long as I promised to sit and watch him breathe, the family agreed to try to get a little bit of sleep on the couches that were provided. So, I sat and watched. On Sunday, I brought lunch to them. I knew that they would not leave and that they needed to eat something substantial (besides the cakes and snacks that they had brought from home). Yesterday, I brought lunch to them again. And at that time, the doctors had predicted that he would pass at any moment. So, I made a plate for each of them, took it into the room and made them eat. And it's a good thing, because all of them refused to leave his room, afraid that he would pass at any second. They knew it was inevitable, but they each wanted to be there to see him take his last breath. I can't blame them. I'm sure I'd feel the same.

So, I just want to take a moment and thank the Hospice team at the Covenant Hospice facility here in town. The nurses were so caring and kind. They took care of the entire family as if they WERE family. It takes a very special person to work there. All patients who enter the facility are terminal. It's got to be hard . . . but a pure blessing, none the less.

Well, in the time that I spent at the Covenant Hospice facility, I saw a need. Ok, I saw several needs. But the first, and most obvious is the need for a refrigerator for the families. Many, many families camp out in this facility, spending the last few moments of life with someone special. When I brought meals to the facility, I noticed that there was no place to store it. I mean, I could bring it in warm, but if they couldn't eat it at that moment or if there were left overs, there was no refrigerator for the family to use. So, I decided that something needed to be done about this. I requested to speak with the director/manager. I asked her if it would be ok if I made the refrigerator "my project." She said absolutely. She said that they really needed one, but just didn't have the funds right now. So, my ex-mother-in-law overheard me speaking with the director. And when I returned to the room, she said that she wanted to help. She said that she would request that friends and family donate to this fund in lieu of flowers. And so here starts the ball rolling . . .Hospice has even said that they would put a placard on the refrigerator that reads, "In Memory of . . ." with my ex-father-in-law's name. How nice and special. His memory will live on. I'm excited and hope that we will be able to help in some small way.

Please continue to pray for this family. It's a tough situation and I can't imagine what they are feeling.

Thanks for reading and for listening . . .

MINE'S!

Maddy: pointing . . . "Mama! Jeep!"

Me: "That's right Maddy, that's a Jeep."

Maddy: pointing at Jeep, "Daddy's!"

Me: "Yes Maddy, that's Daddy's Jeep."

Maddy: pointing at our Honda Pilot, "Mama! Car!"

Me: "That's right! Car!"

Maddy: pointing at the car, "Mine's!"

FYI: Nothing belongs to me anymore in or around the house. It's either Daddy's or "Mine's"!

Just call me the wedding planner!

Well, I had quite an eventful weekend. Saturday, I accompanied my cousin, Kristie, on an excursion to find a wedding dress. She is getting married March 15, 2008. We had such a fun time. She tried on so many beautiful dresses. And trust me, she could wear a garbage bag and look great. So, you can imagine how hard it was to pick a dress - she looked great in all of them! But, the trip was a success and we have a wedding dress in hand. And in fact, we settled on bridesmaid dresses. And guess what? She's asked me to be a bridesmaid. I'm so honored! So, here are the three styles that the bridesmaids can choose from to wear:

Bridesmaid Dress #1


Bridesmaid Dress #2



Bridesmaid Dress #3




Don't you just love the styles? A bit revealing for my taste, but it's not my wedding. However, I am tasked now with the duty of picking one of these styles to wear. So, I'm asking for help from my bloggy friends. Which style(s) dress do you think would look most flattering on me? Which one is "mommy" and "wife" appropriate? I'd love to hear what you have to say!

Be sure to vote at the top of my blog!

I need a face lift . . .

Ok, not me . . . but my blog seriously needs one. This picture under my header has GOT.TO.GO! I'm not sure what I'm going to use to replace it. But, I'm going to try to do a little lift here, a little tuck there, a little nip over there! So, stay tuned and let me know what you think. And if you have any suggestions, please, please leave me a comment. Unless you're one of those people who just lurk . . . I'm not naming any names . . . cough! Teena cough! Hey . . . just kidding! I love visitors -- lurkers, commenters, whatever!

I'm Back!

I must apologize for being gone so long having not given notice or prepared you. I know thousands . . . ok hundreds . . . ok all two of you who read my blog, have probably been wondering what's going on. Well, I'll tell ya, I've been one busy bee. I've been trying to complete an online course. It is a timed course and I'm required to be "logged in" 63 hours. So . . . that's what I've been doing. Well, that, along with my other wifely, motherly, husbandly . . . well you know, all that other stuff. So, I guess some updates are in order.

Hubby is still gone. We are missing him sooooo much. The girls and I have become accustomed to him being gone no longer than 12 or 13 days at a time. But this time, he will have been gone three weeks upon his return! We are having serious withdrawals. Maddy's asked about him frequently. I've been relaying her messages to him via phone. The girls are growing up so fast. Maddy has become quite the little talker. And I'm not talking about the baby talk she was doing just a week or two ago. No m'am. She's a real little person now . . . and talking like one. I love this age. It is so entertaining. She keeps me in stitches.

Baby Lulu is also reaching milestones. I went to get her from her crib after naptime and she was standing. Yes . . . I said STANDING in her crib. She was the cutest thing ever! She wants so badly to walk. She's constantly pulling up on furniture. And I'll have to admit, I haven't encouraged her. I really want her to wait and let her Daddy see this acheivement. So, I'm playing bad mama for a couple of days so as to keep her my little crawling baby for just a little while longer. Daddy . . . come home soon!

My ex-father-in-law has really gone down hill. He is basically sedated now and they are just waiting things out. The family seems to be hanging in there. I spoke with my ex-husband today and he sounded like he was handling things as best as someone can in that kind of situation. Please continue to pray for them.

Ok - now back to me. I could hardly wait to share this. Get ready to clap . . .
I wore my skinny jeans yesterday! Yes! Yes! My prepregnancy, size 4, very stylish, been missing for two years, jeans! I'm so psyched. I'm not sure what brought about this miracle, but I was able to button them and they fit just as good as ever. I was expecting to have a bit of a "muffin top", but guess what -- I didn't! Icing on the cake girls . . . just icing on the cake! I've been wearing maternity clothes for the last two and half years-- I've been soooooo ready to wear stylish, hip, form fitting outfits. I would have taken a picture for your viewing pleasure but my camera is with hubby right now. So get ready huney! When you come home, you might not even recognize me. I'll be that sexy, hip mama greeting you at the door with a big 'ole kiss --- atleast that better be me, mister!

Well, I promise not to be gone so long again. Thanks for coming back . . . you are coming back, right? Please come back!