Girly Do's

Jenn is doing a great giveaway, check it out at: http://girlydohairstyles.blogspot.com/2009/04/girly-dos-has-giveaway.html?showComment=1239727320001#c6855389206598750757 She's helping Heather, a friend of hers, with her Vinyl Lettering business. Go over there for ideas for your own hair, your kids', nieces, etc. It's always fun trying something new!

Scoliosis

It has been confirmed by Kylee's new (awesome) Pediatrician that she does indeed have Scoliosis. Luckily it is a minor case and, hopefully, with the Physical Therapy she is going through everything will be fine. She is starting her private swimming lessons as of tomorrow (she has to have private versus classes to make sure she isn't favoring one side and only building muscles on one side). Sammy is starting swimming lessons to so that she isn't left out but we are doing a trial run and paying for one private lesson to make sure it even peaks her interest. They did say that dance is good for Kylee though to help strenghten her back muscles with the proper posture that they should be using. I had to cut one class for both girls so that we could afford Kylee's swimming lessons, that kind of stunk but it was necessary. Hopefully, in August, we will find out more and I'm crossing my fingers that everything will be better. I tried to copy a picture of her spinal cord to show what I'm talking about but it won't load - I'll try again another day.

She would have been 33 this year

I still can't believe that it has all most been 18 years already since I lost my sister. The girls and I went to McKayla's third birthday party on Saturday at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Trolley Square, the kids had a blast! Afterwards we went to pick up flowers for my sisters grave for her belated birthday, she was born April 1, 1976. It makes me sad that she was never able to grow old with Mark or anyone, that she wasn't able to have children, be a grandmother, do any of the things she so desired. When I went down South to my mom's in November I found some of her school work and had to laugh because we wrote about some of the same things. I even found old school work that was the same, same teacher, same assignments. I miss my sister more than anyone knows and for someone to tell me to just get over doesn't understand the magnitude of losing someone and feeling as if you lost a chunk of your heart. Sure it heals over time but I don't ever want to forget my sister, ever. She was a big part of my life. She helped me get through things no one in their life should experience.
For a shoulder to lean on I know that I can always lean on Ammie's, she's been there for me more times than I can count. It's hard for me to be so far away from my other sister, she's all of the way in Hawaii, it's nice to hear her voice though. I went through the pictures at my mom's house and separated all of our pictures, it made me cry seeing Bridgette's face again. Her life didn't deserve to be cut so short, I hope that I don't ever have to experience that kind of pain of losing a child, ever. After getting the flowers from a shop downtown I am trying to hurry so that we can get everything else done on our list and I shut the sliding door on the van, with my fingers still in it. Felt wonderful, I fainted - both girls inside the van, luckily I wasn't out for very long but my fingers are still black and still hurt, that was on the 4th of April. Horrible!

Here we are again

It's been a rough couple of months. Our money situation is out of hand, I'm going crazy being home all of the time and the animals are out of control! We still have Koda and Lady Kelly, the newest addition to our family and currently both in dog classes. I downsized my daycare from taking in 4 children to only 2 and I've been working 40 hours a week at Contacts, selling contact lenses. It's been an adventure to say the least to get this far. We are also fostering a mama cat and her 3 kittens for another week or so then they are venturing off to my vets office to be put up for adoption. I will miss Moo (Sammy renamed to "fatty"), Bull's-eye and Tiger, they are so cute but I don't have the time, or money, for yet another pet. To relieve some stressors I have been trying to go out at least once a month with other adults, no kids - or just by myself, it's been nice to say the least! I have enlisted help too, I have a gentleman that comes out every Tuesday to clean up after my doggies in the yard outside which helps a TON!
My yard is finally finished; sprinklers, sod and all :) Plus we now have swingset for the kids with a slide, rockwall and monkey bars (which we are trying to figure out a way to block off so Sammy doesn't try to go on it). I am getting back on track with everything now, going through everything and selling it or just getting rid of it. The biggest obstacle that I have right now is getting a mirror out of my basement (it's the kind that you find in a dressing room with the three mirrors angled so that you can see everything). We tok down all of our insulation in the basement and found a leak so now we are trying desparately to find someone that knows how to install wood siding. Somedays it SUCKS being an adult!

Welcoming into the family..........

I have been so obnoxiously busy that I haven't even had time to breathe lately! I've been trying to get so many things done that I haven't had a minute to myself. So here I go, seriously two months late in welcoming our new family members into the world, well at least one!
Before I get to that though I wanted to congratulate Errick and Mandy on their new little bundle of joy! Xander James Donaldson was born 10/27/08 @ 6:04 p.m. I've heard that he is really cute! We haven't been able to go over because one of us has always been sick though :( If all else fails I'll just leave everyone else behind and wear a mask! ;)

Okay so our family is also welcoming our own new members to our little clan. Koda was adopted in September at 6 weeks old, such a cutie! I'll add pics at a later time.......... she was so skinny, underweight by 5 pounds - when we got her she was only 8 pounds. Within two weeks time she gained over 10 pounds though and has lost several teeth on my arm. I have the scars to prove it! hahaha! She's an Australian Cattle Dog and so sweet. She cuddles all most as much as Yeager but is smaller AND weighs less! Chris picked her out, I think it has helped him with the Yeager situation.

We also want to welcome to the family Lady Kelly, Sammy's dog. She's a Cocker Spaniel who has always been homeless and is around 1 year of age. We adopted her in October so that Koda would have someone to grow up with. Shi hasn't had the best of days lately but she sure keeps on going :0) Poor Kelly was at the West Valley Animal Shelter - that place is the MOST depressing place that I have ever gone into. They have the smaller dogs in a trailer and when they clean the kennels everything from the top dog goes down to the bottom dog.......yeah guess where Kelly was - yep at the bottom :( I had to drive home with the windows down because she stunk so bad. When we got home she went right into the bath. She sure had a hard rest of the week though! She had a bath the Wednesday night we got her, shots on Thursday and the groomers on Friday! We found out that she does not like the groomers but probably because of the amount of matting and spurs that were in her fur. She was a mess! Now she's soft as can be and so lovey!!! She loves to snuggle with my feet, weirdest dog I'm telling you. I'll be cooking and she'll come and lay down but her head always has to be at my feet.

Both pups are in training classes too, both doing really well. Kelly is still having difficulty - some what - with house training though. If she comes into the front room she doesn't understand that she only has to go into the Kitchen to the dog door to go outside. She's only had one accident in 2 weeks though - when Chris yelled at her to go outside, that might have been more nerves than anything though. Oh I forgot to mention how dear Kelly got her name. Well the "Lady" portion is self explanatory for those that have watched "Lady and the Tramp" (although we had to explain that Tramp was the boy in the movie the name of the movie wasn't Lady's whole name) and Kelly came from "Kelly Kelly" apparently she is a wrestler that they watch on TV, Chris watches anyway.

That's about it for now though I need to get going and get busy yet again.

Charles E. McDonald

1975 ~ 2008

Charles Everett McDonald passed away Sept 5, 2008.He was born Feb 9, 1975 in Apple Valley, CA. He served in the Army. Charles was always making people smile and spending time with his family. He loved to hang out and have a drink with friends in any garage. Charles will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him. He is survived by wife, Natalie; son, Trevor; stepson, Taylor; daughter, Alexis; mother, Carrie; step-mom, Connie; sisters, Carolyn (Ian) and Connie. Preceded in death by father, Charles. Memorial services will be held Tuesday, September 9, 2008, 7 p.m., at Blessed Sacrament Church, 1700 E. 9757 S. Donations can be made at any Wells Fargo Bank in the name of: Charles McDonald Memoriam.

This is my nephew's new stepdad, just married August 17th of this year. I can't tell you what an awesome guy Charles was but I can say what I know..............I met Charles in college at Steven's Henager and he was a pest! He loved to bug me just to bug me but he always had a smile on his face and always made me laugh. The teasing still went on then I introduced Natalie (Taylor -my nephews mother) to Charles and they hit it off. Then came little Lexi lou magoo, she's the same age as Sammy. This has hit my kids hard too, they just don't understand why he isn't around because we were just at their wedding so nothing could be wrong. Kylee came with us to the in Memoriam services, Natalie was a trooper. With all that she was going through she was making sure that everyone else was okay and taken care of. I pray for her, Taylor and Lexi everyday - I'm hoping that she knows that I'm here for her ALWAYS. For those that knew Charles he will be greatly missed, taken years to early. I'm miss you Charles!

Surgery set - done!

I had my surgery as soon as we got back from Hawaii. Well I guess not immediatley after returning I had surgery on the 19th of August to have my gall bladder removed. I kind of liked having a "bad" gall bladder - I was eating a lot healthier and lost weight while on vacation. How many people can say that?!?!?! We are now going out to eat less and less which is a great start to a healthy lifestyle! :) I just have to remind myself to eat because I don't have an appetite. Just wanted to let everyone know that everything is going okay for now :)