When Life Gives You Lemons........

Dance in the aisles of a pharmacy of course!!!!!

Nothing quite like breaking it down to KT Tunstall in a pharmacy aisle :)



Dance Recital

Yesterday, all of the hard work my two oldest girls had been doing definitely paid off.  Costumes were on, hair was curled and make-up applied (applying heavy make-up to my 4 and 9 year old was never something I thought I would be doing but I guess it is a necessity when on stage).  The girls looked so cute.  Kendall did a tap number to a Shirley temple song called "Baby Take A Bow"....

Cassidy did an Irish number.........

They were both super excited and a little nervous to get on stage and show off what they had been learning.  The morning did make me nervous as well.  While doing Cassidy's hair she got overheated and had some small seizures, a part of me didn't want her to even go after that.  But she was able to rest before we left and said she felt fine so it was off to the theater.  Littlest sister was super excited, she had her program and her tickets ready......

Both girls did awesome!!!  Not a step was missed and they couldn't stop smiling and telling all their friends what a great job they all did.  I am not so sure of the oldest one will continue with dance.  She is more of a home body and enjoys cooking and helping out around the house and more indoor activities, this was a great learning experience for her though and she really impressed me!!!  I do think this is just the beginning for Kendall, she not only loves to dance but the studio told me they wished they could lower the age for company members because she is amazing.  I am sure you can only imagine how much she eats that up.  So You Think You Can Dance in the year 2025 may be in her future :)

Fourth Fun

This fourth of July I was honored to be able to make some cupcakes for a friend of mine and in doing so, I was also invited to be a part of the festivities.  My girls were super excited, they were able to spend the entire day in the pool.

I know it may seem ordinary for kids to be in the pool but this was a huge thing for us.  Because of my oldests Epilepsy, she is not supposed to be in water.  Don't get me wrong, people with Epilepsy are allowed to be in water but it can be deadly.  And I feel a little blessed in the fact that she hates water.  Ever since she was little, she has been massively fearful of water and would not go in so when she was diagnosed and we were told the dangers of her swimming, we were actually ok with it.  I felt like God made her scared of water because he knew that one day, it could be dangerous for her.  However, the house we were at has a hot tub and the water temperature was the same as the pool.  She started by putting her feet in, then moved to the steps and eventually was touching bottom in the middle.  Granted, the water maybe touched her shoulders at that point but that is a huge step for her!!!  I was pretty proud.  My middle child who is scared of absolutely nothing was a little fearful at first but before we knew it, she was swimming like a little fish.  And my youngest was the least fearful of all.  She was in a little round fish floater and I just kept hearing "look at me, I kickin' back" and "I swimmin momma", she had a blast.  And not only was it at a dear friends house, my family was there too.  The girls got to hang out with cousins and my Aunt and Uncle, which is always a good time!

And the best part?  We didn't have to go anywhere for fireworks.  The fireworks are shot off basically in their backyard.  So, after a short sing along by ukulele, we sat around the pool holding on to sweet babies and taking in a wonderful patriotic display.  It was a great time.  Thank you Mollie for having my girls and I over for the celebration!!!

Happy Birthday

Today my brother should be celebrating his 36th birthday beside his wife and daughter and instead, the hole that was left years ago still resides and we will celebrate without him yet again.  Cancer is nasty and it sucks.  Cancer didn't care that my brother wanted to be a dad and husband and give them the life our father never gave us.  I know birthdays in heaven have to be better than the birthdays we have here on earth but I still wish he was here to celebrate with.  One more hug, one more I love you and one more joke to get me through the day.  Then again, after that "one more", I am sure I would want more!  Happy Birthday Justin.  I doubt you are reading blogs in heaven but I just don't feel right not wishing you a happy birthday in some way.  I will celebrate you today, I will tell your nieces more stories and keep you here with us in spirit.  I love you!!!!

Raise Awareness

I write this blog to keep people updated on the goings on in our lives here.  I started this years ago, mainly for my family since I was living out of state and I would always get asked what was new and didn't want to repeat it all the time.  Somehow it has turned into something more.  I am sharing our life's struggles, our highs and our lows and throwing some recipes and fun stuff in from time to time.  Almost 2 years ago we started walking down a new road.  My oldest was diagnosed with Epilepsy, you can read her story over here.  It took me a little while to feel like I was standing strong again, it really knocked me down for a while and ever since then, I want to raise awareness.  Not only for her, but for kids who no longer have a voice, in the video below, it is summed up perfectly, "life isn't fair, sometimes it just isn't".  That statement is so true.  Seeing my child lay in a hospital bed hooked up to IV's and undergoing numerous testing, I think, life is not fair.  I wish I could take her place for her and go through her pain for her but I also think, no one should have to take her place.  It isn't fair for anyone to have to go through this.  Please take a moment and watch this video.  These are just a handful of families who have been affected and thee are numerous more out there.  I am one of those families.

After watching, if you feel the need to help or want to know what you can do for families like me, please just let me know.  One thing you will find about people living with Epilepsy is that they want people to know and they don't mind people helping raise awareness on their behalf.  Thank you in advance!!!

Three Blessings

9 years ago I was thrilled when I found out I would be having a beautiful baby girl.  4 years later I was a little disappointed to find out that it was another girl, but I was content and was happy my older girl would have a sister to bond with.  When my third turned out to be a girl, I was devastated.  I know a lot of you will think of how selfish and sick that sounds but I had my heart set on a boy.  When trying to get pregnant, I tried everything written on how to conceive a boy and I even started calling my belly the little boys name I had picked out.  So when the ultrasound tech asked if I wanted to know what I was having, my exact words were "Of course, I mean, I already know it is a boy, but you can just confirm that for me", the poor lady had no clue what to say, I feel so bad for putting her in that spot.  She looked at my two girls in their with me and said "looks like another little princess is joining the family".  I about died and asked her to check a couple more times.  How had I been so wrong, I was not meant to have three girls, I needed my boy!!  I know I heard God laughing at me that day, wondering how on earth I thought it was up to me.  Now that my girls have grown some, there have been many times that I have looked at them and knew it was exactly how it is supposed to be.  I look at my baby and think, there is no way I can picture having a boy.  Last night, we celebrated.  My oldest will be going into fourth grade after summer vacation and my middle one into kindergarten.  And how do girls celebrate?  Girls night in of course! We put on jammies, rented and movie and ate junk food to our hearts content.  Right before bed time, I chased the girls around the house and we ended up in my room.  At one point I was crawling on the floor about to jump up onto my bed where they were huddled and I knew I had to get my camera.  As I sprang up to shrieks of laughter, I saw my three little blessings holding on to one another and giggling.  It was a picture perfect moment and it was drilled into my head yet again, it is supposed to be like this.  Would I love to have a little boy?  I think ti would be amazing to have a son, to watch a boy grow into a man and make a life for himself but I am perfectly content with my girls, I couldn't imagine my life without it being with them.  As soon as the laughter died down, I did go get my camera and we had fun taking pictures.  And another thing about having all girls?  Taking pictures is a breeze, they all sat with me as we took a picture, looked at it and said "lets try that again"  15 tries later and we finally got some with all of us in it.  In all the chaos that is my life right now, I feel so happy that I have these three blessings in my life!

Olive Garden At Home

I need to say that I am not responsible for the recipe, however I really do wish that I was!!!!  I had some zucchini in my fridge and wanted to make a pasta dish with it but had no clue what to do.  I was wanting a really good alfredo sauce but had yet to be happy with one.  And that was when this super yummy recipe came into my life.  It jumped out at me with the title, it said ti is better than Olive Garden!!!  I was pretty skeptical when reading that.  Olive Garden alfredo, while I am sure it is loaded with way too many calories is also extremely delicious.  I can never order anything else except their chicken alfredo with angel hair pasta every time we go because I love the sauce!!  Because of it's claim, I had to try it and OMG, yes I said OMG, it is freakin fantastic!!!!!!  I dipped my spoon in when it was done to get a taste and I screamed OMG!!!  (I normally never use that term but it was warranted) The shriek of OMG brought my kids running wondering what was going on.  I told them how amazing dinner was going to be and thank the good Lord above, they agreed.  I didn't have any angel hair pasta on hand but I used regular spaghetti noodles and put some garlic sauteed zucchini on top.  Needless to say, dinner was OMG fantastic, you must try this recipe asap!!!!!!  Head on over here for the recipe and in the meantime, enjoy some delicious pictures (I don't claim to be a great photographer because, well, I am not, but food still looks good to me no matter what).....

This was my kids plate with cut up noodles :)

Oh that sauce, I think I might dream of that darn sauce!

On a side note, I was told that I HAD to take this picture!!!!  I happily obliged, they did however come running when they heard me shrieking with delight!!!