Ladybugs and dog food

The kids are home and I’m glad to tell that although she pretended otherwise, Peyton was glad to see them! She gave huge hugs and kisses when we picked them up and she grinned from ear to ear all the way home. The last event before pickup was a water fight, before that was a shaving cream war and before that was one last swim in the lake…can you even imagine the level of STINK that crawled into the van? It was awful but it was great to have them home again.

I filled their bellies and then I made them take long, hot showers…after all that hard work they were ready for a nap that took most of the afternoon. We enjoyed our evening home by listening to all the tales of camp and then we went to see “Kung Fu Panda”…which is a MUST see! It was a wonderful feeling to peek into the bedrooms before I went to bed and see all my kids back where they belong.

Nathaniel got to go to Busch Gardens today with his big buddy Eddie…which I have to announce to the MANY who have asked since I posted a picture of Nathaniel’s buddy…he does have a girlfriend, ladies! I can almost hear the sad sighs. They had a blast hitting all the roller coasters and water rides in the ridiculous heat.

I have to share a very special/sad moment I had over the weekend…and, Natalie, you can stop apologizing any time now….at Mandy’s fundraiser yard sale. I had taken over a ton of boxes of stuff to sell and included in that mass dumpage was a ladybug Halloween costume. I had bought it back in October for Hannah Deal, because she was a great lover of ladybugs, but she passed before I had a chance to give it to her and she never wore the one I bought her because someone else had gotten her the same one. I’ve had that costume sitting in the bag for a long time, unable to part with it, but unable to give it to Peyton because in my heart it was still HANNAH’s costume. I decided it was time to let it go, let someone enjoy it that would never know that it was meant for a beautiful girl lost too young.

When we got to the yard sale on Saturday, Natalie whisked Peyton away with the promise of something wonderful. When Peyton came out with the bag full of ladybug costume, with an enormous smile on her face, I couldn’t deny that Peyton was meant to have that costume. I won’t lie, it hurt to see it again, to know that the little one who was supposed to twirl and giggle in it never had the chance. But my daughter’s grin was all it took to know that she was supposed to have that outfit now. It was as if I couldn’t give it to her, even though I knew she’d love it, but because it came from someone else, it was ok.

She wore that ladybug costume to church this morning, all frilly red skirt and ruffled sleeves. Sitting in the van at the church, Rachael said, “Hey, look! A ladybug!” and there is was, just crawling there. I never see ladybugs but today I saw one and there was one sitting in her carseat behind me. I just felt like Hannah was there for a second, seeing Peyton in that adorable costume, loving it the way she would have. It was perfect.

We are gearing up for yet another busy week. Tomorrow is really our only day with any kind of lull in it. Tuesday we have a clinic appointment with a spinal tap and chemo, Wednesday Nathaniel and I are going on a date to the Cure concert and Thursday is all prep for my solo trip to Alabama. Yes, you heard that right…I am taking a lonely trip to Alabama to be with my husband and to take him a couch. Because they don’t have couches in Alabama, bet you didn’t know that, did you? It’s an ENORMOUS step for me, in leaving all my kids behind for more days than I have ever since the beginning of time! It should be interesting to see how far I get before I start feeling panicky.

Oh, and because this is the type of parent I am!

When we went to Daytona we had to truck the dog over there with us. I filled a Tupperware cereal container with dog food for the trip. One of the kids put it on the kitchen counter when helping to unload the van upon our return. It’s been sitting there for a while, just waiting for me to take it outside and put it in the dog food container. I finally found the RIGHT motivation when I came out this morning to find Peyton pouring herself a nice healthy bowl of IAMS Fish and Chicken Mix for breakfast!

“DON’T EAT THAT!!!”

So you can see that my inherently evil side is sometimes overwhelmed by my love for my children. If I was really that bad, I would have at least let her take one bite so that I could get a picture of her expression.

Aren’t you proud of me?

f.r.o.G….fully relying on God
-Anissa