Another "chapter" I almost didn't blog about

While my parents were visiting at the beginning of the month, one morning we loaded up in to the car to head to breakfast. Meg crawled into the very back seat and found The Shack. She immediately picked it up and started "reading". When we asked her how her book was, she informed us that it was a "chapter, not a book."

All weekend, she carried the "chapter" everywhere with her, always referring to it as her "chapter". It was so funny. Thank you Meme and Poppy for leaving The Shack with us. She has enjoyed reading her "chapter".

Wordless Wednesday

a year ago today!

Egg Decorating

Another better late than never!

Meg really enjoyed decorating Easter Eggs this year. She so cute about decorating them. For one reason or another she only likes to dye them. So, I guess it's really Easter Egg dying, not decorating. Either way, she had a lot of fun.

It was so fun to watch her carefully balance the egg on the egg-dipper-thingy and then transfer the egg into the cup (note to self, next year use clear glasses).

Wordless Wednesday

Gingerbread house decorating

I don't want to forget this...better late than never :)

The Friday before Easter, Meg and I decorated a ginger bread house. Meg was so excited. Watching her anticipation as I opened the package with all of the wonderful goodies was adorable. With everything I pulled out, she would inquisitively ask me "what's that?" or "can I eat a piece of candy?" or "can I use the blue?".

To my surprise, she waited patiently while I read the instructions (this was my first time). She also decided to "read" the icing packaging as well. She was concentrating so hard, that I had to break away from the instruction reading to snap a few pics of her studying the icing package.
We started with seven pieces of "house" and slowly started the assembly. We put down the base (or floor as Meg would call it), then started with two pieces. Meg was a great helper. She grabbed the front and one of the sides and we went to work. I would put the icing on the base and she would squish the sides down. It took a while for her to figure it out, but I wanted her to do it by herself.


After only a few minutes, we had a house (complete with roof). Now the fun began. Meg went for the yellow icing first and went straight to decorating the roof. At first, she kept asking to see the picture from the packaging, but then decided her way was better. She started with the "point" of the roof and filled in the small gap.

Then, we were onto the "shingles". The first few minutes as she was squeezing the icing out, it was all going up instead of down. After being a little frustrated by this, she asked for help and I showed her that she needed to squeeze from the top of the lump, not directly in the middle. Problem solved!!!

After the "shingles" were in place, it was onto accessorizing. Meg was very particular about where I should put the icing for her duck candy. After all the dots were to her liking, she carefully placed each duck.

Next we moved onto accessorizing the roof. What roof isn't complete without jelly beans, candy ducks and candy bunnies.

I just couldn't resist posting this picture. She is growing up so fast. I can hardly believe what a sweet "big girl" she is turning into!

A few bunnies on the side and some blue icing....oh, wait - she didn't want that there. So, in come the fingers to get the blue icing off. You can imagine where this is going...

If you guessed into her mouth, you guessed right. The funny thing about this is that Megan doesn't like icing. When we are eating b-day cake or cup cakes (anything with icing, including glazed donuts) I am asked to scrape the icing off. So, I was surprised when she asked (after licking her fingers) if she could pour some into her mouth.

After eating some more blue icing, she decided to go back to finishing the roof.

Isn't this sweet? Meg's first gingerbread house.

On a side note, no one ate the ginger bread house. It met it's demise last night when I was cleaning out the fridge/pantry for the Tuesday trash run. Even if someone would have wanted some, I would have had to disclose to them that Meg may or may not have licked her fingers, then placed a few ducks and bunnies.

I was so excited

Today, when I went to check the mail, I was excited to see a bigger than average envelope in the mail box. What could be inside? Who sent this wonderful surprise? That's when I noticed it was from the USPS. All the excitement went straight out the window.

My next thought was did I order stamps online? (Answer no). Did I get another invitation returned for a baby shower that has already come and gone? (Answer no). What could it be? So, I rushed into the house to open up this mystery envelope that arrived in the mail. The first thing I pulled out was this. As I held it in my hand, I was thinking...what is this? Curious, I kept digging...

Ahhh, a sweet note from my mailman. What could the USPS have to say to me? Well, I found out! It seams that one of their "automated equipment" machine damaged my mail. Its comforting to know that USPS "knows how important my mail is to me and can certainly understand my disappointment."

After reading the letter, I poured out the rest of the envelope's contents. It's a wedding invitation...what's left of it anyway. The small unidentifiable piece of card stock was apparently the corner of the folded invitation. Seems the "automated equipment" tried to eat the invitation.

Most of the important information was still readable, but I did piece it back together so I could get the intended look of the invitation. After all, the invitation sets the precedence for the wedding style and expectations.

Of course, I'm not sure how the bride is going to feel when I send the response card with a huge "bite" out of the corner. Maybe I can send the not from the USPS along with it as an explanation? Maybe I should just tell her that the dog ate it? Maybe, I should call her with a verbal response?

Thank you USPS for understanding how disappointed I am in your service!

Wordless Wednesday

My b-day, what a perfect day!

My birthday was amazing. I worked a half day, then took the other half off to run a few errands and get a pedicure. My pedicure was AMAZING. It was super relaxing and my toes look great now. After my pedi, I had to go get my driver's license renewed. Not exactly what I would call "fun", but since I had put it off for over six weeks, I had to get it done.

After all my errands, mom and dad arrived into town. We left the house to go pick up Meg from day care, then headed to dinner to celebrate. We had such a good time. We went out to dinner at Pappadeaux. Good food and great company is always a winning combination.

We started the meal off with two dozen Texas Gulf Oysters. They were so delicious. Then, we had the Greek salad, which has to be my absolute favorite salad ever. For the main course, I had crab cakes and crawfish bisque. It was so yummy. And, since it was my birthday, we all ordered some desserts. I had key lime pie - which was AWESOME.

***Meg & Poppy***

***Jarrad & Me***

***Poppy & Meme***

***Meg & Poppy***

***The b-day girl***

At one point, I had to get onto Megan because she wouldn't stay in her chair. This prompted her to turn her chair around and sit with her back to the table. I couldn't help but laugh and snap a picture.

***Me, Meg & Jarrad***

What a GREAT way to celebrate!

Seriously?!?

I'm not sure how much more we can handle in this house!!! As you know, this winter has been rough for Megan. We've been to the doctor almost weekly since the last week of January. I'm not sure why I thought this week would be any different.

Let me rewind a little. About 12 days ago, Meg and I were at Urgent Care for what I thought was an eye infection. Last Friday, Meg was feeling under the weather and had developed a HORRIBLE cough.

I have had enough of Urgent Care, so decide to call Meg's pediatrician on Saturday morning. They were able to see her as soon as we could get there (it's a 45-minute drive). So, loaded Meg into the car and off we went. The doc and nurse practitioner were making the rounds that morning and we saw the NP. She took a look in Meg's throat and listened to her chest, etc, etc. Since Meg was already on antibiotics, she decided not to treat her for anything.

Saturday night was absolute hell. Meg was in and out of sleep from the time she fell asleep (around 9:15) until 4:30am. Every time she would cough, she would cry and so it went for the entire night. I didn't know what to do for her. There wasn't anything I could do. She would ask for water and by the time I'd get it for her, she'd be back asleep.

I decided to keep Meg home from school on Monday to let her have another day of rest. Monday night, she woke me up around 12:30 coughing and crying. It wasn't good. I decided enough was enough and called her doctor's office. Her pediatrician wasn't in on Tuesday, but we were able to see him this morning. Diagnosis....

PNEUMONIA

Does this look like a child with pneumonia?