Slamming Dad!!!!!! RUDE!

Tristyn has this My Little Pony and it is hollow. You stick playdoh up inside of it and push it out with this tool. It makes the pony grow playdoh hair. We were joking around at the dinner table about the pony when Kyleigh looks at her dad and says:

"Dad, don't you wish you could just stuff playdoh up your

butt and make your hair grow??? "

Okay, so that may be slightly inappropriate..but, it is also TOO FUNNY!!!!

Crocs Rule

By now everyone knows that Steve Irwin is a big deal in our home. When he passed away Kyleigh felt she wanted to reach out to Bindi (Steve's daughter) but didn't know how. Kyleigh is a great writer and so she wrote and sent this poem to Bindi:

Steve "The Crocodile Hunter" Irwin

You came from above

Showed animals your love.

You created a zoo

Wrestled Crocs too.

We wish you didn't leave!

Crikey, we're gonna miss ya Steve!

CROCS RULE!

Lance

I want to introduce you to two very special people. Tina is an amazing mom who has a little boy with Menkes. When we first found out that James had Menkes and we were in sheer devastation mode, it was Tina that gave our family hope. She is the first one who reached out to me, the first one who told me exactly how life with James would be. She told me how hard it would be but at the same time she told me how amazing life with a little boy with Menkes would be. She was always a Godsend to our family. I was the only one with a computer and the only link to other people in the Menkes community. She emailed me faithfully, updated me constantly and encouraged me passionately. She urged our family to never give up on James no matter what the medical community said.

When I met Tina her son Lance was 3 1/2 years old. I was amazed. The doctors told us that Menkes children never live to see 1, but here Lance was 3 1/2! Talk about true hope. In my eyes Lance was always a superhero. His mom calls him Superman. I believe he is.

Sadly, Lance lost his battle with Menkes on December 28th. I am devastated at Tina's and her husband's loss. I remember those first few days and weeks as reality set in and how difficult it was. Please pray for their family.

Lance, thank you for being a wonderful inspiration and a true hero. I know you are playing in Heaven with James and all your other Menkes buddies. Watch over mommy & daddy, they need your strength now more than ever.

Click on this link if you'd like to visit Lance and his family.

James

Earlier I had written that this past week might entail many posts about James. However, I decided to keep most of my thoughts private until now. Today, two years ago, was his funeral. For some reason today has been harder then the others.

I miss James. I hate Menkes. That about sums most of it up. Menkes stole a beautiful baby from our family.

Despite my sadness and sometimes anger I have decided that joy is a decision and I wasn't going to let anything steal that from me. Last year for New Years I decided to just stay home and be sad. It was the first year anniversary and therefore I just didn't feel like doing anything. This year I decided that my children and family needed to have a good time and even though a tragedy happened on that day, I could still be happy. We went to some friends' house and had an amazing night.

This has been an interesting week for me. It's so strange that I can remember every detail of the day before, day of and week after James' death. Every detail. What people wore, conversations I had, emotions...everything. If it happened and I was part of it, I remember. So I have many moments where I will stop and think "2 years ago right now I was......" I've had a lot of those moments today: 2 years ago right now I was watching the casket be lowered...2 years ago right now I was hugging Bethany tightly after the funeral while we tried to assure each other that someday things would be "right again"...2 years ago right now I was having a strange conversation about baklava...2 years ago right now I was picking the kids up at the babysitters...2 years ago right now I had some friends surround me with a great evening of "normalcy" and 2 years ago tonight, I cried myself to sleep for the 9th night in a row.

Grief is a strange emotion. It doesn't give you any notice it's coming to visit, it doesn't care where you are or who you are with..it just comes. But, I've said it before and I will always think this. I am thankful for grief because it reminds me that I once held a precious angel in my arms.

100 Things about Heather

I got this idea from my friend Lyndsay at Life in Motion.

1. I hate to wear shoes
2. I love being a mom
3. I miss James
4. If I could live in my dream house, it will be a log home
5. I would rather be in the woods than any place else in the world
6. I leave my shoes all over the house and it drives my husband crazy
7. I love my church
8. I have an amazing group of friends
9. I love to watch my childrens' relationships with their friends grow
10. I can't back up my suburban
11. I love peanut butter and pickle sandwiches
12. I have a U2 iPod but am not a huge U2 fan...I just loved the look of the iPod
13. I'm not a good house cleaner
14. My favorite scent is vanilla
15. Riding on the back of a motorcycle is one of my favorite things
16. I'm scared of storms
17. I used to play the clarinet
18. I can be very lazy
19. I love being outside
20. I hate to be cold
21. I'm very unorganized
22. I love to watch Franklin and Little Bear
23. I enjoy hauling wood
24. My family and I laugh often
25. I wonder what it was like to live 100 years ago
26. I wish I liked vegetables
27. I have to fill the dishwasher. If someone else fills it and they do it "wrong", I'll go back and fix it
28. I would love to be a stay at home mom
29. Some day I would love to adopt a little boy
30. I hate Menkes
31. I hope my children have grand adventures and don't settle down too young
32. I love 80s hard rock
33. I miss the joys of being a kid
34. I hate paying bills
35. Someone that I would have loved to meet is Steve Irwin
36. When I listen to the radio I'm constantly listening for new songs to download to my iPod - but so far haven't downloaded any.
37. I liked being in labor (strange huh?)
38. I used to want to be a doula
39. I LOVE being an aunt
40. I am surrounded by all of my grandparents, and love it!
41. My great-grandma will be 94 this month
42. I love being in the car at night
43. I can't go to sleep at night unless I read...even if it's 2:00 a.m.
44. I tape Oprah every day
45. I'm a Taylor Hicks fan - SOUL PATROL!!!
46. I am proud of myself for kicking the 8 a day Pepsi habit
47. I love to walk to work
48. I enjoy my job
49. I scare easy!
50. I will not watch a movie that will make me cry
51. I love a good love story
52. I was a Natural Helper in high school (someone trained to listen to, and help, people when they are having problems)
53. I would love to re-learn to play the piano
54. I don't cook...but secretly wish that I did
55. My kids go to the same elementary school that I did, and have had some of the same teachers
56. I love going to thrift stores and finding good books there
57. I am very scared of dentists
58. I love baby feet & behinds
59. I am thrilled when my husband and I can go for walks at night
60. I can't fathom living somewhere without being surrounded by mountains and water
61. I like to pull weeds
62. I don't usually dream, but when I do dream I always have nightmares
63. I wish I was more adventurous
64. I have two tattoos and want more
65. I love going to the zoo
66. I love that Kyleigh goes and visits the veterans
67. I am scared of water (I love looking at it but not being in it)
68. I am not very patient
69. My favorite clothes are my comfy jeans
70. I hate to dress up
71. My husband makes me laugh hard
72. He also shocks me with the things he says and does :)
73. I love to eat my grandmas big pancakes
74. I don't like to eat ice cream
75. I read the same books over and over
76. I got married when I was 17
77. I had my first baby when I was 19
78. I hate getting up in the morning
79. I would like to be a foster mom
80. I love math
81. My dogs make me angry
82. I have known most of my friends since I was in elementary school
83. I love pomegranates
84. I wish I ate/lived more healthy
85. I love how warm our house is because we burn wood
86. I talk to my mom several times a day
87. I despise laundry
88. I think that the most important job is being a mom
89. I wish more parents felt that way
90. Thanks to my brother in law, Darrell, my niece, Allie, calls me "Aunt Creepy" and I think its funny
91. I could spend the whole day getting lost in a book store
92. I love antiques
93. I love to wander around the cemetery, look at the stones, and wonder about those peoples lives
94. On 9/11 I went hiking instead of sitting and watching the news unfold on the TV
95. I went white water rafting once and loved it, but don't think I will ever go again
96. I love my house and the fact that it was my sister-in-law & brother-in-law's house before it was ours
97. I love reading emails from my friends & family
98. I spend a lot of time on the phone
99. I love to stay up late
100. I wonder what path my kids will follow in their lives and am thankful that the Lord is in charge, and not me.
     

There, I did it! That is really hard.