Happy Anniversary!

Today, we're celebrating 4 years of wedded bliss!!!  Time flies when you're havin' fun!!! 

Checkup for Rylee

We have a date for Rylee’s checkup with Dr. O’Brien, Neurologist .  We will go on February 3 at 2:00 for another CT scan and spend the night in the Ronald McDonald House that Wednesday night.  We’ll have to be back in his office on Thursday morning at 10:00 for him to read the scan and tell us the results.  Please pray that all is okay. 

Our Little Patient

Saturday afternoon started out as a fun afternoon that was transitioning into a night of steaks and baked potatoes and salad and football! Little did Roy and I know that our precious Rylee Grace was in for an evening of bright lights and restrained screaming in her young little life! I decided to get her bath out of the way before we ate supper while Roy was cooking steaks. When I went to wash her hair I noticed the left side of her head~right above the temple~was very distorted. When I touched it I realized it was a swollen squishy lump. I called Roy into the bathroom and he immediately took her out of the tub and told me to get her clothes and we needed to get her to the ER. So we headed to St Michaels in Texarkana. They wanted to do a CT ~just to be on the safe side. Rylee fought like a mad woman and its safe to say she will take care of herself as she grows up! Anyway ~about 30 minutes later they walked in and informed us that she had a skull fracture and they were trying to get her into Childrens Hospital in Little Rock or maybe Dallas. I felt weak and thought I would throw up! I could not imagine this child falling so hard to fracture her skull and never cry or complain about it! the rest of the night was fast and furious! They informed us that she would go by ambulance because the helicopter could not fly in the rain (that's when the seriousness of the situation hit me REAL HARD)! So around midnight Saturday night we got in the ambulance and headed to Little Rock. She screamed for about 20 minutes and finally went to sleep. We arrived at Childrens around 2:30 am. They took us right in and started checking Rylee. Around 4:30 they started trying another CT but Miss Fighter fought them tooth and nail and they decided it was time to sedate her. The first dose made her plumb goofy! So they moved on to another drug which knocked her out! I will have to say those folks at Childrens know what they are doing! The pediatric doctor sat in our room for about an hour observing Rylee after giving her the sedatives. He sat in a chair and just watched~not a nurse but that doctor. I was so impressed with how they treated her! Around 6 that morning he came in and confirmed what St Michaels told us and said there was no bleeding or swelling on the brain! My prayers were answered because I did a Lot Of praying that night and morning! We moved into a room for 24 hour observation and Rylee thought she was in a motel (minus the nurse visits). They had a play room right across the hall and when we walked in, she spied a cozy coupe car and said "Look mommy! My car"! I said "did somebody being your car up here"? And without hesitation, she said "uh huh, BecBec did"!

She slept good that night and the next morning the Dr came in and said if she ate without throwing up, she could go home. So we ordered pancakes and around 11 we headed home!

We go back in 2 weeks for another CT which I dread, but I'm anxious to see the difference in the fracture by then! It should heal completely in 3 weeks! This will be a LONG 3 weeks while trying to keep her little active self from climbing over everything and falling again!

We have been so thankful for your thoughts and prayers. Please continue to pray that her little head heals completely! I will post updates to this Blog periodically!

Rylee's Buddy

Rylee and I attended the Nashville/Ashdown game last night in Saratoga. Rylee was so excited to see her best buddy Slade. They played and hugged and played and hugged some more. Slade used to go to Nanas with Rylee and they think they are brother and sister! PS - Ashdown lost.

I just applied for my Praxis III Assessment, and panic kicked in!  I signed up for February, so I can get it over with!  Requesting prayers go up now, until the day of!  I’ll post the date when I receive it.  For those who are not familiar with this assessment, any teacher who receives certification via a non-traditional certification (your major is not education), has to have this assessment.  A certified assessor will come into the classroom and observe your teaching and look for certain criteria.  I do okay with observations, but this one will determine if I can continue in my career of choice, or if I will have to find something else to do!  I pray that I can pass the exam and move past this certification process!  It’s been a year and a half since I began this journey, and I’m ready for this phase to end and move on to the next, which is basically the same without so many observations!  Luckily, I have the BEST mentor, who has prepared me for what is to come, and the best administration, who have given me pointers and the confidence to make it!  Thanks to everyone!!!!! 

When it Rains, It POURS!

Thursday on my way home from school, my car broke down and I ended up driving 30 mph from Cowlingsville. I borrowed Roys moms car and intended to drive it on Monday, if mine wasn't fixed over the weekend. Well, that plan was shot when Roy was coming home from his ballgame last night and broke down on the same road! Now our backup car is going too help one of us but with basketball season going.....it looks like that will be Roy since he has to be out so late. I honestly have no idea what we are going to do. God is definitely testing us right now! Times like these are when your faith is tested! Good thing I have a strong foundation!

Even the Dogs are Cold!

Malley has found a warm spot inside! Bless her heart! It is freezing outside so I had to let her in for a while. She took a little nap in front of the fire!

A Fun Day at the Park

Last month, Rylee and I met Brandy, Logan, Hudson and Nancy for lunch and then a trip to the park.  The boys and Rylee had such a good time and us “older folks” had a good visit.  Of course, there was a lot of belly laughin’ cause Nancy just does that to a gal!  I love her and Brandy dearly and I’m glad Rylee and Hudson are so close in age.  I hope they will grow up and be big buddies.  Brandy seems to think there is love in the air!  I guess we’ll see!  I hear the Davis family are big TCU fans, so we’ll have to make some adjustments before we even contemplate that decision!  Anything remotely related to Texas is a no-no, as far as we’re concerned!

Even the Cozy Coupe Car Must Have a Seatbelt

Rylee Grace kept asking me for something in her car the other day.  I couldn’t figure out what she was talking about so I said “show mommy”.  She takes me by the hand and we go outside to the car and she points to the seatbelt.  I said, “You want a seatbelt in your car?”  “Uh huh”, she says.  Who knew that you needed a seatbelt (or “beltseat” when she gets a little confused), in the Cozy Coupe car!  One of Daddy’s belts sufficed!

 

You Might be a Redneck

Colin recently decided you don’t have to have snow to have a good time in the yard!  All you need is a four-wheeler, a plastic swimming pool, a good tough rope and a BecBec who has no sense and agrees to allow this to happen!  Poor Rylee Grace saw no danger in this event and apparently had a blast!  Every time Colin would stop, she would say “More, More!”.  Ahhhh….BecBec….making those memories.  (This is the same lady who allowed us neighborhood kids to sit on a rung of a ladder in the ice and snow when we were about 10 years old and pushed us down Hearnsberger Hill…..Cindy Reed broke her ankle!)  Ahhhh….BecBec, but that’s MY child your losing your mind and allowing to do those foolish things!  Oh well, I guess I lived thru it and Rylee Grace will too!

Mammaw Ruby's Christmas Cactus

 

Mom has Mammaw Ruby’s Christmas Cactus and it is just gorgeous!  This is a picture of Rylee with it.  Mammaw Ruby would be so proud!

 

 

Introducing "Elfie"

Elfie is our Elf on the Shelf that came to visit this year.  He stays at our house during the day and then flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa how the kids have been.  He flies back to our house before we wake up the next morning and when the kids get up, we have to find his new spot he has claimed!  It is a lot of fun and makes for good memories!

 

Update

This Christmas was quite fun at our house.  Rylee is just at the age where she understands that presents are pretty cool.  It is January and she is still asking about presents and where Santa Claus went.  This Christmas, we were visited by our friendly scout Elf, sent straight from Santa, to watch and report how the kids were behaving.  Every morning we would wake up to see where Elfie (our Elf) had landed after his trip to Santa the night before.  We found him in the Christmas tree, on the mantel, on a lamp, in Zach’s room, in the bathroom and on top of the refrigerator.  It was so cute to watch Rylee each morning realize that Elfie had moved and where would we find him next. 

 

Roy’s basketball keeps us busy.  Seems like January will be extremely busy, with games on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights and every Saturday (this month only).  It also seems that most of the games this month are on the road to far-away places like Malvern and Little Rock.  It’s crazy at our house from October to February (and we like to think March because that means we’re in the playoffs), but we love the action and blowin’-n-goin’!  

 

Brittany is in 6^th grade and Zach is in 3^rd Grade.  They are also involved in lots of activities.  Zach just finished a basketball league – at the old white-side gym, no less – where he showed real quick that he has his father’s attitude and unwillingness to lose!  He hates losing and has no problems showing this after a losing game!  I heard Roy tell him one night on the phone “It’s just a game”.  I said – yeah, right!  You’re a fine one to be talking!

 

Brittany is on a competition cheer team in Redwater, Texas.  She has had one competition, last month, in Dallas, but we did not go.  It was a two-day competition and we decided to wait until one was closer to town!  She will compete in Shreveport this Saturday, so hopefully we can make that one.  She really enjoys it and is in with a group of really sweet girls from Nashville, which makes it even better.

 

Rylee turned 2 in October and she continues to bless our lives.  She is a very independent child!  She loves to put on her on clothes and do everything by herself.  She has recently gained an interest in puzzles.  I bought her some little wooden puzzles with five or six pieces (the ones with the knobs on each piece).  Nope – that wasn’t challenging enough.  She wants the ones that make a picture!  HA!  She will sit for hours putting those puzzles together.  She has also become very fond of Spongebob.  We have one episode recorded on our DVR and we have watched it OVER AND OVER AND OVER again during our Christmas break and I am SICK of Spongebob!  She moved up to the 2-3 year old group at church and she loves playing with her little buddies:  Walker Chesshir (Bryan and Kayla Chesshir), Mercy Hagler (Rusty and Lisa Hagler), Rayne Morris (Rodney and Annah Ray-Morris), Natalie Nolte (Jason and Stephanie Staggs Nolte) and Banks Ray (Paul Wayne and Andrea Ray).  She loves to get in the car and go – she doesn’t care where, just as long as she is going. (I wonder who she gets that from?)  She especially loves her BecBec and Nan (my parents) and thankfully, they are where they can help me transport her to and from the babysitter’s every day.  She loves watching for them every morning!  She has blessed us and I can’t wait to watch her grow during this new year. 

 

I am still teaching 3^rd Grade at Ashdown and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my job.  I look forward to going to work each day.  I work with some really awesome ladies and have some spectacular kids!  It’s worth the drive every day, that’s for sure!  I am still going through the Non-Traditional program, but this is my last semester of that!  I passed my last paper exam for the Praxis series in December and will now have to pass a classroom observation in order to be fully certified.  I hope to get that scheduled and over with as soon as possible!  I am also working on my Master’s in Education.  I have 6 hours so far, with another 24 to go…..it won’t be long, I keep saying!

 

So……that’s an update for now.  Hopefully, I can keep on top of my blog and this won’t happen again!  Here’s hoping you have a Happy New Year.  We certainly hope that 2010 will continue to bless us in happiness and health……we’ve certainly been lucky, so far, thank you Lord!

 

 

 

Facebook

So.......the title of this post is the reason for my neglect on my Blog! Facebook makes it way too easy to upload pictures and share my thoughts! Now that I have figured out how to do mobile posting, maybe my Blog neglect will cease......maybe! Hopefully in the next few days I can do a little update and then stay current. Kristi, I hope you're happy!

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Ok Kristi.....I'm trying to get this back up and going.......We shall see!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry so please excuse any typos!

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