Weekly Blessing - Week 17

Ms. Danielle.  Ms. Danielle is Morgan's swimming teacher. Ms. Danielle is an extremely patient teacher who really cares if Morgan does well and is comfortable. Ms. Danielle has had to employ many of her tricks and tools to help Morgan through a rough patch lately. Ms. Danielle definitely deserves a Christmas Gift (still trying to ponder what is ideal for a college-age person). 


Morgan as of a few weeks ago decided that she no longer enjoyed swimming lessons. The main reason being that they moved on to breathing. She has to put her head under, come up for a breath, and then re-submerge. This did not thrill her, in fact this made her extremely uncomfortable and turned on her stubborn switch - of, yeah thanks but no thanks people - this ain't happenin' anytime soon. It also turned on her sobbing switch. 


Over the last few weeks Ms. Danielle has gone back to the start with her. Helping her get comfortable again and to trust her as her teacher. It is working, Morgan no longer cries and she is starting to smile again and re-do everything she was doing before. 


The most amazingly wonderful part is this - after this week's lesson I talked to Ms. Danielle (they always have parents come out so the kids can show something they did that day).  I noticed Morgan was alone for class, but thought maybe the other little girl did not show up this week. Ms. Danielle told me that she had spoken with the deck manager and the owners and was given permission to do private lessons with Morgan for a few weeks. She noticed that when Morgan had to wait for her turn while she was working with other kids her anxiety built and then she had issues with returning to the water, however when they are one on one and can just go through class she does great. 


She also asked for any tips or tricks to help her ease her hesitation when it comes. She is trying SO hard, and I can not say how appreciative I am to her and the school for doing all of this to help one little girl.

Blessings (Weeks 15 and 16)

I was struggling to come up with something the other week which is not good. It may seem small but it meant I was clouded and blocked and not focusing on the right things. So in an effort to realign with better thinking I am making up with two weeks worth.

Numero Uno - 

(1) The week before last we went to the doctor - Morgan has been getting slightly sick, and I always worry about sinus infections. Turns out no sinus infection (yay) BUT - her symptoms are pointing to potentially having RSV. We were heading into the weekend and so comes the moment of does she get better / does she get worse? Luckily we have an amazing doctor who knows Morgan's patterns - she knows she is not a kid who gets sick slowly over the course of a week - no, once she presents symptoms it is a full-fledge congestion fest.  She also trusts parental judgement and understands what a pain it is to have to wait / come back, etc... When we left she sent us home with our "just in case Rx" - which luckily we did not need - but we had it if we did. 

We just love "Dr. Tammy" - she always takes the time to talk through any questions, lets Morgan use her light and stethoscope - and REMEMBERS important things about her patients. We are so thankful for her. 

Also, while sickness is not in itself a "blessing" - the fact that both of her medical issues happened during her break month is. What if she had her bathroom frequency problem, or this easily sharable virus (potentially) while  in school? First what a pain for her - but second, that days she may have had to miss. Not only that - but she is able to stay at home as well and get plenty of relaxation time and rest - all helpful in the getting better process.


.. And Then Number Two - 


(2) Knowing we may not have everything but we still have more than enough. Now I realize "enough" is arbitrary but for me enough is food on the table / clothes to wear / transportation to and fro / and a roof over our heads with beds to sleep in. We have all of that +. Even when I have days where I am aware that I may not have as much as other people - I still have a lot.


Morgan and I participated in Operation Christmas Child this year through church.  We filled a shoe box with little gifts and candy and basic grooming items to send to a child somewhere in the world. This child will have a shoebox full of gifts and that's it. 


I am thankful for the opportunity to share this experience of giving with Morgan and to be able to "have enough" to participate.

Blessing Week 14 - Thankful Turkey

This weeks blessing brought to you by Morgan and her "Thankful Turkey" 

I am thankful for all of the horses. 


I am thankful for all my friends.


I am thankful for the food God gives us.

An Amazing Ranch

Saturday (after our visit to Immediate Care Atlanta) we headed out to visit the Rock Ranch. On our way we stopped at Chick-Fil-A for lunch - which was so very good. A) The food is good. B) They say things like "yes, maam" and "it's my pleasure" - so lovely!!!!!  


The thing about Chick-Fil-A is that the same people that own that corporation also own Rock Ranch. When we arrived it appeared to be a standard pumpkin patch type ranch BUT then we boarded the tractor driven wagon and were dropped off at the start of this place. It was HUGE. And, there were so many things to do. 


They had bounce houses and a moon bounce type thing, pumpkin launchers (think giant potato gun), paddle boats and cane pole fishing, a pedal car track, corn maze, petting zoo, face painting and magic show, a snow cone shack where you apply your own syrups, AND Tiny Town! Oh how I loved Tiny Town (the kids did too) - but it is the cutest thing. All these little air-conditioned play houses with things like a mini-jail and church, fire station, and dress shop, etc.... 


We were there for hours - there was just so much to do. My amazement of this ranch does not end there though. When it was time to leave Chris went to get his key and it was not there. He checked all pockets and the camera bag and then tried to back track as much as was possible in the dark. Staff was heard over their walkie-talkies "we have a family that has lost their keys - keep your eyes out and let us know if you find anything".  They tried so hard - unfortunately they could not find the key. BUT one of the management staff came over to us and said, I'm going to go home and get our bigger car - if we can't find your keys I'll give y'all a ride. 


This ride he was offering was 45 minutes away - 1 1/2 hours round trip for him. But just as he said he went home grabbed the car and met us down at the gate. The girls had left their sweatshirts in the car so a lady from the gift shop gave them each a sweatshirt from the lost and found (of items that she takes home and washes so  they are clean when claimed) and just said - just bring them back later on when you come get your car. 


It was such a heartening experience. Needless to say I am a HUGE fan of Chick-Fil-A and the Rock Ranch.

Blessing Week 13 - Time with Friends and an Airline that Acts Like One

This last week / weekend we went to Atlanta.  It was so nice to see the Burkett family as well as their new house / dog and spend time around the area. We went to the coolest family ranch - more on that later. Did some trick or treating without the need for gloves and a heavy jacket. Lost another tooth and had the fairy find us in our holiday location. And, I got to drive the golf cart - although Anna does not consider my golf cart skills the best when it comes to managing road bumps. ha ha It has been a couple of years since we were last able to go back east and I am glad we had the time and airline miles to do so. 


The airline - American. When I traveled all the time they were my favorite and they keep that standing after this trip. Before we left Morgan (literally the day we left) started having an "issue". She was needing to go to the bathroom every 20 minutes. I walked up to the counter remembering my days of being a sardine in the plane thinking - will they be able to move us??? But yes - they could and they did. In fact, they gave us our own row on every flight to and from Atlanta, right near the bathroom. So, not only did we have immediate access without the need to seriously annoy another passenger with our up / down routine - BUT we also got to spread out and be as comfortable as it is in first class. :-) 


Morgan is fine - two doctor visits later (one in Atlanta and one back at home) she is medicated and on the mend. Luckily she is on break this month from school - so she has lots of rest / relaxation / and repair time. 

Santa May Have His Helpers... But So Do I

It all began at sign up. Sign up for helping in class. My first assignment was to cut spider bodies and assemble some bags with legs and such for a project. Easy enough - all completed with little problem whilst watching "crap" TV. Actually I correct that I was watching Knights of the South Bronx - I recommend it, it's a cute feel good film. 

ANYWAY - while that was easy enough - the real mission came later because I also was signed up with caramel apples to bring. My first thought - ok I will make some apples. My second thought - okay I will bring some cut apples and dip. My later thought - oh hey look at the list, that is already on there and I did sign on for caramel apples not dip, so I will again make some apples. :-) 

Making apples would not seem terrible, except, she has 40 kids in her class. So just start adding up 40 apples + 40 sticks + at least 10 bowls of caramel + + +....  I entered the store with a mission - find the stuff I need, make my way to the preparation area (AKA Grandma's House) and get to dipping. All done in an hour or so right?  

Well - yeah, not so much in an hour - but we had a system by end of night. First the washing and the sticks - quick and painless, except I had to ban grandpa because he stuck them in the wrong end of the apple. I am anal - I can't help it.

Then into the freezer (this works - the caramel sticks instantly to a cold apple). Then on to the caramel -  oh hey wait, they are all individually wrapped. FABULOUS. Enter 8 working hands (grandpa was allowed back in-ha ha) and a couple of hours later - 40 CARAMEL APPLES.  They unwrapped, I melted and dipped and sprinkled and chilled - so on and so forth until we were done. 

I was SO thankful for the extra counter space / fridge space / help. I am not quite sure I could have completed such an undertaking by myself in my counter-deficient space, unwrapping bags of caramels (well at least completed and still slept last night).  

Today was Morgan's Halloween party at school. The apples went over well. I did learn a couple of things though: 

(1) Waxed paper on bottom may seem a good idea, but when the caramel softens the paper doesn't want to come off. Guess I should have sprung for the non-stick tinfoil for $2 more. Apologies to the children who may or may not have ingested some extra wrapping today.

(2) Caramel apples are like magnets to each other. Next time (if there is one) I have to figure out a better spacing system.


(3) It's always worth it when it's for your child. :-)

Blessing Week 12 - Sheet Rock Barricades

Spiders. I hate them. They are gross and creepy and I just don't like them at all. Winter is coming, I have openings all over the place because of the construction - like a big ol' come on in y'all it's nice and warm in here.


Today I saw one in the heater vent - it went back in when I tried to scrape it off to kill it. It did not want to die - I do not want it to live in my house - I also do not want to breathe chemicals through an air filter the rest of the season so I did not attack with brute force as I should have. I banged on the heat vent to send it a message - I hope it receives it. I hope it knows it's time to move on.


Morgan pointed to the towels in our kitchen - Halloween towels with button spiders on each (ironic I know) anyway, she mentioned that perhaps these served as a welcome sign. She could be right - I might just tuck them away. OR rough them up in some way to show my hatred, OR just write NO above the spider button. I wonder if this somehow could work.


The blessing - some men are due to arrive tomorrow with sheetrock. Lovely sheetrock that will enclose these openings. AND, I recently met an exterminator - she said to give her a call, I think her number will be dialed sooner than later. Between this beloved wall barrier and some good old fashioned poison, they should get the message LOUD and clear.