Jump Rope for Heart

Abby would really like to raise $50...any takers for a $5-$10 donation? :-)

Dave Ramsey's thoughts on the economy

I got this via email today. It's fantastic, so I thought I would share (you can find more like this at daveramsey.com):

Well, we the people have a new president. It’s an exciting time for Americans, whether or not you agree with President Barack Obama’s plans. My hope is that our new president will instill some confidence in people, not necessarily set out to fix everybody and everything.
There are some bogus government strategies floating around to stimulate the economy and "save us from ourselves." Just because they’re all everyone talks about doesn’t make them true! Here are a few of the big issues:
Tax BreaksThese aren’t bad, and I would never turn them down. But to think that tax breaks single-handedly stimulate the economy is laughable. Remember last fall? Those stimulus checks didn’t fix the problem, so what makes us think it’s going to fix everything this time? Did you know it was your money to start with? They’re just giving it back to you and making you feel good about it. If you’re looking for $1,000 to change your life this year, you obviously don’t have a life to start with!
It may help you today or this month, but $1,000 will do very little for you in the long run. To win with money, you've got to think long term.
Patriotic DutyThe government wants you to spend, spend, spend—and many Americans are taking this advice while still in debt! No matter what the talking heads say, it is not your patriotic duty to spend money you don’t have. Your duty is to take care of yourself and your household with the money you earn from an honest day’s work.
If you have your full emergency fund and are in a position to buy something, now is the perfect time! You can get some fabulous deals, but don’t let the deals entice you if you haven’t planned ahead and don’t have the cash!
National DeficitThe dog is still chasing its tail.
Debt started the problem, so what is the current plan to fix the problem? More debt!What really drives the economy? Is it D.C.'s programs or small-business people scattered throughout the country? This down economic time will begin to heal itself. Do we have to go $1 trillion in debt to do that? No way!
The good news is that our future as an economy isn’t coming out of Washington. Our future prosperity is coming out of the hopes, dreams and individual freedoms of the American people. When left alone, we have a tendency to prosper.
The healing of the economy will begin and end with you. Yes, you, the person you see in the mirror! You have to make your decision as to whether or not you’re going to take part in the recession.
As for our new president, if you’re not a fan, pray for him. He’s your president. If you are a fan, pray for him. He’s your president, not your savior. Your hope will be crushed if you wait for him and his administration—or anyone else—to fix your life and give you money.

Random thoughts on pregnancy and marriage

We were talking about fatherhood on the way to school one morning this week when out of the blue Abby says, "I've been thinking, and I don't want to push a baby out of my belly."
I explained to her that I used to be fearful of that when I was little, but really lots of people have babies so it can't be too bad, etc., etc. (Didn't want to be too detailed with her mind already in overgear.)
Anyway, Ryker quietly says, "Abby, I'll be there with you ... unless you still want to marry Ben." (As a side note, Ryker is VERY sensitive about Abby being hurt. When she's crying because she's in trouble, he BEGS us to give her back the toy or privilege she's lost. He can hardly stand it. Side note 2, Ben and Abby have been "boyfriend-girlfriend" for well, probably at least 18 months or two years.)
Abby says, "About Ben, a girl told him he looked handsome in his photo, so I think she's his girlfriend now. I guess that means I can marry you, Ryker."
They still don't "get" that they can't marry each other, but their concern for one another was soooo cute. They were exceptional on Sunday and Monday. However, while I was at school for Ryker's parent-teacher conference today (he's brilliant, in case you wondered!), I dropped off some snacks for Abby's class, which was at lunch, and noticed she was already on red for the day. Yesterday she was on yellow. She's had more discipline this month than ever...don't know what we're going to do about her. Ryker, on the other hand, had all HIGH marks on social development, something I'm definitely not used to. He is really excelling in PreK and doesn't need transitional kindergarten, much to my surprise! Abby had great marks in academics at her P-T conference. The social development stuff was not so good, but we expect that. I'm sure it's ADHD, but she's a good girl in so many ways. We're VERY proud of both of our kids!!

Ice king

My child had never put on ice skates before today, and he did great! Abby attempted to scare him by telling him about the bruises and other injuries suffered by a boy in her class who went ice skating (maybe he plays hockey???) Anyway, he pulled out the infamous "stomach ache" this morning, but I told him it would be best to face his fears. And he was AWESOME! Not sure if he'd agree to lessons, but for a child who has never done this, he sure was good and he liked it!

Miniature Cheerleaders

Abby was eligible for the big Cantrall Elementary Cheerleader clinic this year for the first time. Oh, boy! This was quite the big event. They spent one morning learning cheers and a dance, and then they performed it at half-time of the Athens High School boys game. It was sooooo cute! Don't mind the crappy photos, as I sat half-way up the bleachers and didn't use a flash.

Abby dancing with her "big sister" Shelby.

Umm, she isn't a ham or anything!

Ryker even got in on the entertainment. His name was drawn for a tractor race, and he faced off against a girl he went to preschool and MOPS with last year. (She won, but he thinks he did...shhhh!!)

OK...you probably could have figured that out.

Abby waving to Mema before the girls stormed the floor. By the way, only Abby would pick such a strange hairstyle. She did this hairdo to her doll and then made me replicate it on her. Socks and skirt...all her! You know I would never be so bold!

Let the storming commence!

OK...this totally reminds me of Ramona Quimby...maybe 'cause we're reading through her books right now. Or perhaps just 'cause Abby has her own stubborn determination, just like Ramona, right down to the rainbow socks!

Moving and groving to a cheer.

This is Abby's friend from church, kindergarten, day care...you name it, they're both there!

Isn't she cute???

Here they are dancing...

Two of Abby's adorable friends. Kindergarten kids are so cute!! They were dancing around Abby's classroom this morning while I was helping, and this one boy...he could "move it."

We like to move it, move it...

Our former neighbor...she was Abby's age when we met her. I can't believe how much she's grown up. And these older girls, especially this one, could really dance!

The girls all did such a wonderful job! 'Til next year....

Update on Ryker

Not that you want to hear about poop, but Ryker finally had a solid one this week. Woo-hoo!! His stool samples were normal, and his doctor is sure that his turning blue is nothing serious. Not exactly sure how I feel about that. But he assures us that nothing could be wrong with his heart...it would have been picked up in all the earlier testing. Doc says the blue thing is how his body react to adrenaline. So, on those two days that he was really sick with the stomach problems he turned blue both days. Could happen anytime he experiences pain or discomfort but it's nothing serious. We just praise God for his health!

Cute kid stuff

Ryker has been saying some hilarious stuff and really making use of all the big words he knows lately. We decided, since he's being a demanding pain in the you-know-what, that if he wants something like television, he has to practice writing his name three times. Well, he wanted to watch TV today, and so we told him to practice his name. At first, he was OK with it. Then he threw a couple fits. Later he storms out of the room and says, "I am so not writing my name." Later still, "Abby will write my name three times and then you will let me watch a movie."

Tonight as I was tucking him in, he says, "Shhh. I smell something. It smells like green beans and peas." I couldn't smell anything and told him it was time for bed. "Let me smell your breath, Mom," he says. So I opened my mouth, thinking it would get this whole thing over more quickly. It did. "Oh, it's just you," he says, rolling over and sticking his thumb in his mouth.

Later, tucking Abby in bed, she is rubbing Dan's head and mine while saying her prayer. Dan asks when she's done, "Was she rubbing your head too during her prayer?" Before I could answer, Abby says, "I can read and watch TV at the same time, too."

New Cabbage Patch Doll

A forward courtesy of my sister, and instead of hitting forward, I'm posting on my blog.
NEW CABBAGE PATCH DOLL: Now you can BUY the governor! But only if you want to give your child nightmares! This thing is creepy! :-)

Dreary day

What a yucky day already! Abby is still in bed, complaining of stomach pains. We had Ryker in prompt care this weekend. He has suffered from diarrhea since his Christmas stomach virus. But it got worse on Thursday and then got worse each day after that. He was not acting himself at all but seems better finally today. We collected stool samples which take four days to review, but I really think my unlucky kids just got two back-to-back stomach viruses. Anyway, in a possibily totally unrelated event, Ryker's lips, fingertips and toes turned blue on Friday. You might remember that he had this condition as a baby. He went through a battery of heart and lung tests that all showed he was OK. A pediatric cardiologist highly recommended (practically refused) that we put him through the last test. He said he saw this sort of thing all the time, that his development was slow to catch up and he would outgrow it. I think he was about 2 at the time, and he did outgrow it. Then it happened Friday and another episode on Saturday to a lesser degree. In all the time he had this previously, he never had two episodes in a week, let alone consecutive days. Not sure what is going on, but we're prayerful that it's nothing serious! He'll see his primary care doc today. In the meantime, we're all going to enjoy a day of laziness!

ay-ay-ay Kindergartners!!!

Two to three times a month, I volunteer in Abby's classroom during Ryker's preK hours. So today I helped give some individual attention to four kids who needed a little extra help with spelling. I was thinking after 15 minutes alone in a very small room with these four that someone was going to find me in there in a deep state of mental confusion, unable to speak or move, my eyes glazed over in a fixed stare. One of them has behaviorial issues that make Abby seem like an angel! This child would not, could not listen at all. And then three of them simply did not understand what we were doing; their skill levels lagged way behind. I could never be a kindergarten teacher...I sure do appreciate these dedicated professionals after experiencing a small taste of thie lives! Thank a teacher every chance you get!

Bedtime snack

Do not read this if you get easily grossed out.

Abby apparently saw a little girl in her class picking her nose and eating her "discoveries" in the library at school today. It was the first thing she told Dan when he picked her up. So, being the sensitive guy he is, Dan wanted to be sure that Abby wasn't initiating or joining in on any teasing. He continued a conversation about it when I got home trying to get to the bottom of what Abby did with the information she gathered. We explained to her that it could be the girl was very nervous starting a new school in the middle of the year and she didn't even realize what she was doing. I can assure you, this was a serious conversation, during which Ryker quietly says, "Sometimes I eat boogers when I'm hungry." We ignored him. (He has eaten his boogers in the past, and even the the not-so-distant past.) We talked some more, and then Ryker says much more loudly this time, to get his point across, "Sometimes I eat boogers for a bedtime snack!" OK, so I laughed then. I think he was trying to defend the girl to Abby. I don't think it worked for her, but hey, maybe he has a point.

Stomach virus???

For four days I thought I was suffering from a hybrid form of my kids' lovely Christmas stomach virus. It disappeared for two days and came back like mad on New Year's Day. I was advised to go to the ED by a telenurse, and by all rights, I should have gone. But by the time she called back, I'd taken a sleeping pill and couldn't very well drive myself. And I wasn't about to rip Ryker out of bed and drag the whole family to the ED. So I saw my primary doc on Friday. After a bit of investigating, it was determined that I have an ulcer. And...get this. I may have had it in July when I had my appendix removed. I never had appendicitis pains. But I had a major case of horrendous heart burn...same thing I'm having now. They did the CT scan and found the "hot" appendix. Turns out the ulcer might possibly have saved me from having a ruptured appendix. Thank you, God! I should be healed in about a month, and the medicine should kick in (I pray!) very soon. In the meantime, I'm a bit of a grump as the Vicodin isn't my favorite, so I've stopped taking it and am just dealing with the pain.