Off to Disney World

I feel like I am in the process of moving. You know, the adrenaline rush from the chaos of all that has to be done. Only we are not moving, simply getting ready for our trip to Disney World. To make matters worse, Pete had a manager's meeting that required him to be out of town for two days. So I had to play single parent while packing a family of five, getting two dogs to the vet for boarding and having a piano recital in the midst of it all. But I survived, Pete got home earlier than expected and now we are packed and ready to head out at 4:00 AM. The hardest part of all of this was leaving Jake and Snowy at the vet (as you can tell by the picture). We usually only go out of town for one or two nights, so our neighbors and my parents help take care of them here at home. But since our fence is still not fixed after Ike and we will be gone a little longer, we felt it would be best to board our sweet pups. You should have seen the kids and I trying to get them into the van and through the vet's front door. The overly excited canines were yanking me this way and that as I tried to hold onto both of their leashes with all my might. At one point, they had me trapped inside their complex maze of intertwined dog leashes. To the outsider, I probably looked hilarious, but I was actually very stressed. I could just imagine them pulling too hard and getting loose. That would have been a nightmare. Luckily Jake and Snowie made it into the hands of their caretaker for the next several days. Hopefully they won't be too mad when we pick them up. In the meantime, we're off to Disney World. Can't wait to share everything when we get back. I hope the next few days treat you well, too!

What's Been Going On...

There are a few recurring topics on this blog that I would like to update you on. Things have been extremely busy around here for the...well, since I became a mother of three, but especially at the end of the school year these past couple of weeks. I wish I had time to write more frequently, but there are simply not enough hours in the day to get everything accomplished. So, here's the latest:

1. My dizzy problem- I went back to my ENT doctor the other day to go over the results of the MRI. He said everything looked fine and there are no tumors (thank you Lord). The doctor said he is treating me for Meniere's disease and that I might also have migraine-associated vertigo, which sometimes goes along with Meniere's. Since I've had this basically all my life and some of the tests were positive for Meniere's, that is how he made his diagnosis. But we still won't know for sure until I can more accurately document my symptoms before and during each episode. For example, stress, diet and allergies can cause the dizziness. I do know one thing- I tend to get this when I am overly exhausted and stressed. I guess only time will tell. Until then, please pray for me. We are leaving Sunday to go to Disney World for a few days, and I would hate to wake up dizzy that morning. In fact, I'm thinking about just staying up, since we have to leave for the Houston airport at 4:00 AM. When I had my hysterectomy, I woke up dizzy and we still had to go. The walk from my car to the hospital entrance took us forever because I was so dizzy and throwing up so much from it. But the nurses gave me some medicine and it helped. I want that medicine!

2. Ms. Angelle- She is as spunky as ever! Ninety-four and still going strong, although moving much more slowly. She went to Katie's dance recital and thoroughly enjoyed watching it, although some of her comments really revealed the huge generation gap. Pete, the boys and my mom sat with her because I had to help Katie so much. Ms. Angelle is very outspoken, and apparently she voiced her opinion periodically. Think about it, she grew up in the days when a girl would never be caught dead prancing around on stage in skimpy clothes. But she enjoyed watching Katie nonetheless.
I also took Ms. Angelle shopping recently. The Dillards here had some significant hurricane damage and has been remodeled. Ms. Angelle worked there in the china department eons ago and wanted to check it out. (Ironically, I worked at Dillards all through high school and college, transferring to the College Station one and then working at this one during holidays and summers, but I don't remember her). I don't shop at the mall much anymore (much to Pete's delight), so I wasn't familiar with which door I should park by that would be close to the elevator. Wouldn't you know I would pick the side farthest away? She huffed and puffed just walking that much. When I take her to Sam's she uses a wheelchair, but the clueless clerk misinformed us when she said Dillards did not have a wheelchair. We later found out they do, and boy was Ms. Angelle hot! Anyway, we had to sit for a while and rest in the shoe department before we headed upstairs to her favorite department- the kitchen ware. She had a great time, but had to sit down and rest. Poor thing got so discouraged.
"I won't be walking by the time I'm ninety-five," she said, head hung down.
"That's what you said about ninety-four and look at you. You'll be fine," I answered encouragingly.
"Really?" She sounded hopeful.
So we ended up having lunch at Applebee's, which she thoroughly enjoyed, and then I took her home. Next time we will use the wheelchair.
Enough of me...what's been going on with you?

My Aching Heart...

This morning my heart hurts. I am a grieving mom... feeling the pain of my children. The responsibility of raising God's gifts can be so challenging at times, especially for a softie like me!

The reason I am sad is mostly for Andrew (or DREW as he now likes to be called). You see, he has the broken arm with a cast from his wrist to his arm pit, which prevented him from finishing out his baseball season. He also can't swim for at least seven weeks- and the poor thing LOVES to swim. We are going to Disney World Sunday and he will have to be so careful about the rides he can ride and he won't be able to swim. We are not even going to the waterparks, but the place we are staying has a cool pool with a big slide. I know that will be hard on Drew.

Another reason I am sad for Drew is because of the unfairness he has had to endure all year. Keep in mind that he taught himself to read at the age of three, can do double digit multiplication in his head and has the highest averages in all his subjects (he's even the youngest in his class with an August 29 birthday). He should have been on the all A Honor Roll, but has been kept from it, only making all A/B Honor Roll- due to his handwriting, of all things. He is in the honors class and his teacher is very strict. I have silently put up with it all year- that is until today. Last night, Drew spent extra long on his spelling paragraph. His handwriting was beautiful. He looked at me and said, "Do you think I'll make a 95? I would be so happy!" I answered, "I bet you will- and end the year with a bang."

Well, today is his field trip. They are seeing a movie, which at the last minute was changed to "Hannah Montana." Drew was in tears about this already, since it's such a girlie movie (I told him just to sit with his buddies and try to have fun). Then in a panicked rush to get to school early, Pete and I said, "Leave your backpack here- you won't need it anyway." All of the other kids keep their backpacks at home on field trip days. Well, when I took him to school, and as I was sitting with Nicholas having breakfast, I remembered about the spelling homework. His class was lining up to wait for the buses.

I hurried over to his teacher and said, "Drew forgot his backpack, and his spelling..."

She interrupted me. "I know," she said, "we already talked about it and he is very upset. He can bring it tomorrow."

Yeah, with a minus ten points for being late, I thought. "Can't you let me just run it up here- it's all my fault. We were in a rush..."

"No. Please don't. It's his fault, not yours. He can bring it tomorrow." Very terse and to the point.

I wanted to cry out and say, "Don't you hear me- I made him keep his backpack at home- he didn't even get a chance to say anything, we were so late. He was worried about that!" But, of course, I kept my mouth shut.

But I did call Pete. He told me to take it up there anyway and leave a note- "Isn't this Drew's best handwriting? Please let us take the blame for his not turning it in this morning. WE were the ones who told him to keep his backpack at home." I hope it works! Drew deserves an 'A' in handwriting!

Pictures from the Zoo

Here's Nicholas with his good friend who lives right down the street. They love to play together!

What a look! So very cute...

Of course, we could not keep the kids away from the petting zoo. Thank goodness no pigs were around. And, yes, we washed those hands (scrubbed them, in fact).

Friendship

Here's a picture taken with Nicholas "fairy godmother" (or so, he calls her) and my dear friend Karen. She was in town, visiting from Virginia. We had a great time seeing her and catching up on things. I hope Karen realizes how truly important she is to our family. We have missed having her around since she moved!
Friends are such an important part of our lives. I do not think God wants us to be lonely. Dr. James Dobson cites, "We human beings can survive the most difficult circumstances if we are not forced to stand alone." Even when nobody else is around He is always with us.
Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. ~Matthew 28:20
I believe friends are like angels, sent to share our lives. Some are in our lives for a long time, others just briefly. But they make a mark on our soul, they help mold who we become. We learn from our friends. We make mistakes with our friends. And we never forget them, for as another friend, Rhonda, reminded me this weekend, they are ALWAYS in our heart. I am so grateful for all of my friends. Let's all make a point to tell a friend how special he/she truly is to us this week.

My Cardinal at the Zoo

While I was at the zoo with Nicholas, I kept thinking about Mary a lot, for some reason. Maybe because this reminded me of something she would have loved to do with her kids. Nicholas and I walked around with a small group, and a grandfather was the ring leader. He had us moving along quickly so we wouldn't waste time or miss out on anything. I was tagging along quietly, taking pictures and watching out for Nicholas when suddenly I spotted a beautiful bright red cardinal. It was not part of the zoo exhibit. This bird was just there. I knew exactly what was happening and said a prayer of thanks, while I quickly fumbled for my camera. I followed this bird around and took several pictures (I hope they show up okay on the blog- can you find the cardinal in each one?), then I realized that my group had left me. But I did not panic and two young girls appeared who worked for the zoo. They were ready to get me back with my group, but one of the moms came looking for me, so they did not have to. Thank you, Jesus. Anyway, this was such a delightful experience on my zoo trip: seeing a cardinal to reassure me that God is with me, and Mary is with Him, and we are all in this together.

Roadblocks in Life

I just came home from an awesome field trip to the Houston Zoo with Nicholas' kindergarten class. I have many pictures to share and a VERY inspiring cardinal experience, but will have to post those later. Right now I have to share a revelation I had on the way home. You see, I accidentally took the wrong turn, and then got stuck in traffic from a lot of construction, so what usually takes 90 minutes, took us three hours. Nicholas was quite happy at first, oblivious to all the congestion (thanks to portable DVD players). Then he fell asleep for a while. By the time we got home, he was saying he never wanted to go to the Houston zoo again because it is so far .

Anyway, as we were driving through the roadwork, I watched cars impatiently zip in and out, back and forth, thinking they could outsmart the traffic. Then at one point, the cars began exiting the highway. I thought to myself, 'Who would do such a thing- you never know where that road will lead.' I just trudged through, chewing piece after piece of gum and listening to music. I soon noticed that all the people who had exited had a bigger pileup than we had on the highway. One daring car eventually drove across the grass, back onto the highway, and as I drove on and looked out my rearview miror, I noticed a lot of cars following suit- illegally driving back onto the interstate.

Hmm. This seemed strange. If they had only stayed on the road and gone through the congestion, they would have been better off. They wasted a lot of time thinking they could outsmart the traffic. Then, I realized this is so much like life. I am on a road through life. Sometimes traffic or congestion stops me, or causes me to take a detour, but if I have patience/ faith, and stay on the right path, I will get to where God wants me to be. But so many times I jump off the path, and think I can do things my way, just like those drivers today. Or I avoid going through the jams, because I know they will be too painful. But If I trust God, he will steer me in the right path. And this is a wonderful thing!

Down the Pole

Nicholas is so funny ...and mischievous, but so darned cute he gets away with it. When I pick the kids up from school, he is usually one of the first ones out the door, and he stops by a pole, steps on the bench and slides down the pole, like a fireman. Today I told him he'd better not do that- he could get in trouble if a teacher saw him. Do you know what he said?

"Well, mom, I always do that when the time is right."

I said, "And when is that?"
"When the teachers aren't looking."
That's my Nicholas!

My youngest is also a sweetheart. Last night when I was putting Nicholas to bed, he started crying because he misses Sadie, our yellow lab so much. We had to put her to sleep right before Thanksgiving. He saw this picture of Pete with her that Pete is going to take to work. Poor guy cried and cried. We said a special prayer and asked God to pet her for us in dog heaven. I know Mary is petting her- she was such a dog lover. We miss them both!

Conversations and Cardinals

Yesterday I was thinking about Mary a lot, missing her. I was very tired after a rough night's sleep and then being woken up at 4:30 by Andrew. When I am overly tired, I get more emotional. Many of you can relate, I'm sure. Anyway, several things happened that let me know Mary was near. I went up to have lunch with Andrew, bring him medicine and check on him. Ironically, one of his friend's grandmother and mother came to have lunch with Thomas, so they sat at a special table with us. Thomas' little sister was there. She is a doll with big blue eyes, tanned skin, blonde baby ringlets. Hannah was all over the place- very active; a real attention getter. I asked how old she was, thinking she was around three (I remember when she was born). They said she would be three this summer. Then something clicked and I remembered exactly when- July 31 (Mary's birthday).

"Hannah's birthday is July 31, isn't it?" I said happily.

The mother looked at me in total amazement. "How did you remember that?"

"I had a dear friend that shared the same birthday, and I remember Andrew was over at your house last summer on her birthday." I looked down sadly.

"Oh yeah, I remember..."

We finished lunch and I went home to rest. Several hours later, I was back at school in the car pool line waiting for my children. I got there early, it was such a beautiful, cool day. I rolled down my windows and heard a beautiful cardinal singing. I looked up, and he was there- in the tree right next to my car, easy to spot...and he stayed there and sang to me for several minutes, lifting my spirits and reminding me to say a prayer of thanks. Then, he flew off, across my car to the other side. I quickly scrambled over to the passenger seat and poked my head out the window (everyone must have thought I was crazy, but I don't care). He landed in a tree on that other side, again visible, and sang to me for a good fifteen minutes. A peaceful feeling of warm acceptance came over me as I watched this beautiful red cardinal sing. I was no longer sad.
When the kids came out to the car, I was ready to greet them, happy and refreshed. The cardinal had given me strength and peace. _________________________________________________________

I have a good friend who called me the other day, ecstatic because she had been outside working on a statue of the Blessed Mother Mary to give to her church, when a beautiful cardinal flew up and landed on the statue. The bird sat perched for a long while, and Debra said she knew he was trying to tell her something- just what she didn't know yet. Remember after Mary died, I was drawn to a statue of the Blessed Mother outside of my church? That is when the wind came over me, and something told me to go inside the church. I was drawn into the room where a priest was waiting for me, Father David (Mary and my favorite name). He gave me words of comfort that day, and I know (as does he) that Mary drew me to him. You can go back to my previous post, "A Spiritual Conversation" on August 8, 2008 to read the whole story.

Did you know that cardinal has several other meanings? A cardinal in the Catholic church, is a holy person ranked right under the pope? Webster's dictionary defines cardinal as "being of prime importance" and Native Americans hold the cardinal highly, as a symbol of deep faith and reverance? According to them these beautiful birds appear at very special and significant times.

All I know, is that cardinals appear to me and other people who loved Mary to help them through the pain, give them strength and feelings of comfort and peace. Do any of you have inspiring stories of cardinals or other birds? Please share!

Blaming Myself

I don't think you can tell, but Andrew's cast goes all the way up his arm to almost his armpit. Poor thing is so uncomfortable, he woke me up at 4:30 A.M. because his arm itched and hurt. Plus it was hot. And to think summer is here, and we are going to Disney World in two weeks- I feel so sorry for him.

The thing that makes me saddest is that last night before he went to bed, Andrew said, "You know, this would never have happened if I hadn't gone outside to play with Nicholas."

To which my reply was, "Yes- that's true." I knew what he was going to say next because I had felt the same thing.

"And," he said, "I didn't even want to go outside, but you made me."

I tearfully answered, "True- do you blame me for your broken arm?"

Andrew timidly said, "Kinda."

I gave my middle child a big hug, and said, "Thank you for being honest- for telling me how you feel," then I paused, hoping God would give me an intuitive thought. I was too upset to hear Him. So, I continued to hug him and said I was sorry, I blamed myself, too.

"It's okay," he said, as he hugged me back.

I went outside his room and cried to Pete, who told me not to blame myself...Andrew could have tripped and fallen anywhere, at anytime- the whole thing is in God's hand anyway. He was swinging with Nick, went over backwards, I had no control over that.

I just wished I could go back to that day one week ago, keep my mouth shut, and let Andrew be.

Murphy's Law (or is it Kolp's?)

Yeah! Katie's dance recital is over and everything went smoothly. After last night's fiasco and this morning's surprise, I was not sure how things would pan out. But I said my prayers and went forward, and everything seemed to fall in place.
Let me back track and tell you about last night. You see, Katie was in four numbers, three of them all within the first part of the first half of the show. But when we had our practices at the theatre Friday and Saturday, everything was out of order. When the dress rehearsal began, we realized Katie had only one dance in-between two of her dances, and she had to change tights, leotards and shoes (this year was a non-costume year). Well, Katie is very modest and we spent too much time looking for a private place in the dressing room for her to change. Suddenly we heard someone calling for her, Katie began to get upset, we hurried, someone came to help and by the time we made it to the stage, her number was over. She was devastated that she had missed her dance. We did learn something from this though- she would have to change backstage, with lots of help, and that is what happened today. I sat on the side of the stage and waited to help. The teachers came and helped, too, plus Katie layered pink, black and tan tights to make it easier...and, we made it! I told Katie she should feel like Hannah Montana because performers have to change so fast, they have a lot of people working on them. That made Katie feel pretty special.
The next snafu occured this morning. You see, when we got home at 11:00 last night, I decided I should wash all of Katie's dance clothes so they would smell fresh for recital. Thank goodness I kept the finale outfit out- it is nonwashable. Anyway, I'm sure you guessed what I discovered when I pulled her stuff out of the dryer. More crayon marks. All over her dancewear. And she needed to be at the theatre in an hour. Sigh. What could I do at this time? I stuck my head all the way in the dryer, looking for the culprit (I was sure I had gotten all the crayons out), and I found two small left over crayons that had settled down in the groove between the drum and back wall. I got those suckers out so fast you would think I had found gold. Then I cleaned the dryer real quick with bleach and went inside, head down in contemplation on what I would say to Katie. I checked everything over not once but twice, then asked Pete what he thought, and we decided that the marks were so minimal that they would not be visible on the stage. But Katie would have to wear some older jeans for one routine because the jeans I had just bought were very noticeably marked up. Katie almost started crying when she found all this out, but when I asked her what else could we do, she nodded in understanding like a big girl. I was so proud of her acceptance (I could learn a thing or two from her).
After all these roadblocks, the real deal went off beautifully, thank you Lord. Katie was a dancing queen and felt like a glamorous girl, I could tell, with all that make-up she had to wear. I told her she was getting good experience with make-up so that when she was forty-one like me, she'd know how. Then she looked at me, smiled and said, "But mom, you're twenty-nine, remember? So I can start wearing make-up then!" (I always tell my kids I stopped aging at twenty-nine as a joke). 'Don't grow up too fast, I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up,' I thought, as I watched her head off for the dressing room.

Dirty Laundry

I wrote this poem today while sitting in the downtown theatre during Katie's dance practices and dress rehearsal. We had enough time to come home for an early dinner, and since I am constantly doing laundry, I did a load while we were home. I did not think much of the fact that four different colored crayons were in the bottom of the washing machine when I put the clothes in the dryer. That is, not until I went to fold the clothes. They were all ruined! Crayons stain clothes, friends, just like ink. This happened last week to one of Pete's nice dress shirts. We were stumped at what the black marks could be, since he uses blue pens. Shout did NOT remove the stains, so we had to throw the brand new shirt away. And, yes, we will have to throw away the whole load of the kids school clothes- they are all marked up with red, yellow, orange and blue. I have a feeling I know who has been storing crayons in his pants pockets. I guess I'll have to start digging through them before I wash - sigh- as if I had the time. Anyway, here is the poem inspired from the events of my day:

Dirty Laundry
by Laurie Kolp

"It will all come out in the wash,"
so the old saying goes.
Were they talking about family secrets,
or crayon stains on clothes?

Dirty laundry can be deceiving,
and sometimes seem quite mean.
But do your mother a favor,
and keep your pockets clean.

Good night everyone!!