Bad Blogger

I may be a bad blogger but I am still good at putting pictures online. Go here

www.dropshots.com/Sparkmans

and I promise a post over the Christmas break.

Gone to soon

I found out this morning that my sister died yesterday in a car wreck. I don't even know what to think.... We only found each other 13 years ago and in the last few have not been good about keeping in touch. Still, I loved her and am deeply saddened to have her out of my life - she was a truly good person.

Much to her joy, she had a baby girl at 42. Maple was her and her husband Steve's greatest accomplishment. I am so grateful that although Maple was in the car, she is uninjured.

I love you Sam and I am sorry we didn't have a whole lifetime to be sisters.

Sorry

Okay, I have been so busy and so lazy that I haven't updated in a while. I promise I will post an update and stories soon but I have put up some in photos. Click the pictures to see more.... Love to you all.

Post Thanksgiving Thanks

I just picked this Thanksgiving sheet up from school, so it is a little late. Here is what Shane is thankful for this holiday season...

1. Pop-Pop's and Me-Maw's farm
2. My Friends
3. Grandma's Dog
4. My Brother

Although Gray is the only family member she is actually thankful for, I am guessing she isn't really thankful of the farm or the dog but the people who they belong to.

Currently, we are also thankful for our newly potty-trained boy. He has been wearing under ware ( NOT panties, as I was sternly instructed by Worth) for a week now.

Crazy Urban Legend

The kids are both sick now - runny nose, constant coughing and small fever. As all parents know (and most adults) coughing gets much worse at night. The doctor even prescribed a heavy duty cough syrup with codeine for Gray to help him sleep.

Last night, around 10-ish, we are sitting on the couch listening to Gray hack up a lung and I felt so helpless. I just wanted him to stop coughing and sleep. I got on-line and found a crazy remedy; another "Mommy Blog" that said she tried smearing the bottoms of the kids FEET with Vicks Vapor Rub and putting sock on and it cured the cough 100% of the time. REALLY?!? 100% of the time!?!? Okay, I hopped up off the couch, grabbed the Vicks and headed to Gray's room - what is the worst that could happen? Minty, soft feet right? I smeared that boy's feet in smelly rub and shoved the socks on - I was so quick I didn't even wake him up.

THE RESULTS: After this scientific test I can tell you it works. Now, not 100% but his cough reduced by 70% and eventually he got into deep enough sleep that is stopped. It was a miracle for my sleep that is for sure. I will let you know if this was luck or really works because Shane, Gray and myself are getting the treatment tonight.

Dr. Ronie signing off.

Sickness and hate

Yesterday, Gray stayed home with croup - fun for us all. He is fine but sounds awful. Here is his after nap look...
The hate part comes from the Princess. Yesterday she laid on her bed, writhing and screaming "I HATE YOU MOMMY FOREVER AND EVER!" What makes a poor, innocent 4-year-old react this way you might ask? One word - candy. Yes, that is right - she didn't eat dinner and I wouldn't let her have candy. I deserve jail time in her mind. What do you think she is going to say when all that left-over candy disappears after tonight?

Happy Halloween

Fun was had by all. Kids got WAY too much candy. Shane ate so much that she was still grumpy this morning! Oh well, a couple of times a year won't hurt them and can't we all remember making ourselves sick on Halloween candy?

Click pictures to see more.

FINALLY

Here is one of my favorite new pics...Click picture above for more shots.
Sorry it has been so long. Just like everyone, life has been busy here and the blog fell to the bottom of the list. I will try to update you on life....

The most disturbing this to happen lately is that Gray has gotten an opinion and is thinking for himself. Gone are the days of “Shane, what do you want for breakfast” and then making two plates. He doesn’t want to watch the same things, eat the same things or do the same things. Now, I will say that MOST of the time, he will still follow her lead but I fear those days are numbered. He is omni-aware that he can say no and not do what big sister wants. Damn, that went by quick.

Other Gray news is the potty training fun. He isn’t as quick as Shane was – she was done by now. But he is trying and doing good. I think the whole world will hear me hoop and holler when I don’t have to buy diapers anymore.


Shane started Pre-K this year. I am amazed with how quickly her letters & numbers skills are coming along. She is writing words (she filled out the cutest card for her Pop-pop’s birthday) and starting to recognize words she see often in books. She likes to read along with me and is even “bugging” me to tell her what billboards say. It is so much fun! She is also very inquisitive of the world around her. She loves to ask how things are made. We recently covered candy, tires, signs and cloth but she stumped me on light bulbs.

Click picture above for more shots.
In September, we traveled to visit all the grandparents in Oklahoma. We got to stop in OKC and visit Grandma and then went and spent a few days on the farm. I love going out there because it reminds me of my childhood – I grew up in the country and loved the freedom that comes with it. Run fast, hard and far – you can go much farther on the farm before someone yells STOP. We got to race on the Gator and Quad (farm vehicles for you city folk), fed cows, a horse and Clarabelle the donkey. Me-Maw and Pop-Pop took us all over the Atwoods in Altus and fixed the kids up farm style. They both got a pair of cowboy boots, Gray got a hat and Shane got a Farm Princess shirt. Of course, she didn’t need the shirt, anyone who sees her choice of boots will clearly understand that she is a farm princess. We all had a great time.

We are gearing up for Halloween festivities. I hate it being in the middle of the week! Shane has changed her mind a hundred times and has finally settled on a black cat. Gray can’t decide between being a pirate, puppy or his sister – I am steering him away from the later. I will take plenty of pictures and post more then.

Here is to you having a good day...

Long time gone ... again

I know I have been bad. I am trying to pull stuff together for an update - we have been busy with starting Pre-K, potty training and visiting family. I will get new stuff up soon.

Until then, watch this video - although not all the words are true for us YET, days still feel like this.

Happy Belated July 4th

Click picture to see more July 4th.
The Sparkman's had a grand time thanks to Worth's firework shopping abilities. We thought for sure Gray would be able to make it to dark this year but that was a no go. He said the fireworks "scar me mommy" and he was done before the show began. Worth did try to take out our neighbor's house with a wayword rocket but beyond that it was a good evening. We spent the day at the park and napping with a little swimming to round out the activities. Gray has been a little sick this week so it was pretty low-key.

The boy is talking up a storm. He is starting to speak in sentences and knows when he is being funny. They are still very close but starting to fight over toys more. Gray is really good at saying sorry after he has walloped Shane upside the head.

Click picture to see more.
Shane has discovered makeup. She got a kit for her birthday (not from me) and now loves sitting in front of the mirror and putting it on. The other night she wanted to do my face. You know when you are asked to close your eyes and you feel a wet smear from your hairline to your mouth that you are in trouble. After she sufficiently coated us with glitter she did our hair (I got FIVE barrettes) and put jewelry on us so we could be "Rock-n-Roll Girls"

Worth and I went to Denver for a few days of business. My aunt came up from Houston to watch the kids. They had tons of fun and Gray is still walking around looking for "Rene". Worth took a few days vacation and drove to Denver and camped out. He shot this great picture. Next time the whole family will have to go.

Sparkman-Simpson

I can even make myself skinny!
Go to the Simpson's Movie web site and you can too.

Good Taste

Shane's "Five Favorite Songs-EVER"

1. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
2. Dancing Queen
3. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
4. Mary Had a Little Lamb
5. Daisy Bell

Gotta love the variety!

Playing catch up

Sorry so long since the last post – so many things to update you about. I will start most recent events and go back. Click any of the pictures to see more.


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Shane had her long awaited ballet recital. She did great, no stage fright - which I was afraid of. True to Sparkman form we lost her new ballet shoes 2 weeks before the big event and no one in town was restocking. Luckily she has a school friend in another class (Carson – the little girl in blue in many of the backstage pictures) who loaned us some for that night.


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All the girls were hysterical and I had a cry a little to see our girl up on stage, doin’ her thing. She is so great and has such a sweet disposition. She decided to “take the summer off” from ballet, so we will see if her interest returns in the fall.

Mother’s Day weekend was very nice. We went to Hot Springs with Grandma and just relaxed. Mainly we tried to find things to keep the kids entertained with but they had a great time. I got a wonderful gift from Worth, a pair of diamond earrings. They are the first nice jewelry (besides my wedding ring) I have ever had. Shane brought me the present and I said “Wow, a little box, I never get little boxes” - now she likes to tell everyone that “Mommy got a little box with diamonds, she never gets little boxes.”

The Friday before Mother’s Day we returned to Arkansas Children’s Hospital with Gray for his MRI. We got there at 7 am and had him sedated by 8 and back awake by 9:30. As any parent knows, it is terrible to let your baby be sedated. I would like the think I am fairly level headed and don’t over react too often but watching Gray’s scared little eyes while they are giving him gas made me uneasy and weepy. Coming out of anesthesia was WAY worse. He was inconsolable for about an hour. He was insistent that they take the IV out of his arm before he would stop screaming or drink anything. When the nurse finally caved he got better quickly. We then went to meet with Dr. Bower – he said Gray didn’t have what he was looking for but they did see a very small “black spot” at the base of the brain. They don’t think it is any big deal but now we have to go have a neurologist to check it out. We are hoping to get that appointment in the next month or so. As for the swallowing issues, we just continue thickening his liquids and go back for another study in 9 months and hope he will be retraining himself to swallow properly.

Other smaller things...


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Last weekend we went on a nice nature mini-hike at a great trail in Bella Vista. We got to hear birds, bugs and frogs and the whole time our city girl kept asking when we were going home. Actually, she did have fun but I think a couple of hours was plenty on the trail. We packed a picnic lunch and fun was had by all.

Gray now knows how to escape from his bed. Very scary, not from the stand point of him falling because he is very good at being a dare devil but – HE IS FREE! Wow, that came fast. Worth put a chain lock on our back door last weekend – enough said.

Not always funny

This morning's conversation:

Shane: Where is your Mommy?
Me: She isn't alive anymore.
[quiet]
S: Why did she die?
M: She got a disease and couldn't get better.
[quiet]
S: Your Daddy got a disease too, right?
M: Yes
[quiet]
S: When you are a Grandma are you going to get a disease?
M: I will do everything I can not to Honey.
S: When I am a Mommy your are going to be a Grandma, right?
M: Yes my Darling.

Happy Birthday Monkey Boy

Happiest Birthday to our sweet boy who thinks everything is a jungle gym (including his Mommy), loves bananas, and is a big fan of the Wiggles and peek-a-boo.

SIDENOTE: He also love Play Dough - big problem with Play Dough and 2-year olds, they put it up their nose! Worth had to hold Gray down while I took the tweezers to his nostril last weekend. NOT good birthday fun. We love you darling boy.

Click picture for Easter pics.
Easter was great! Pop-Pop (Lee) and Me-Maw (Rose) came to visit and the kids had a blast. We hadn’t been able to visit in a while so in two days we covered Christmas, Easter, Shane’s birthday and Gray’s birthday. The Sparkman’s know how to pack-it in! We are all about the quality!

We attended an Easter egg hunt on Gray’s birthday. We were very late because of naps but the people took pity on us and gave us a candy bonanza. They gave Rose two BAGS of candy and she made sure they got it all. That night we had a mini-party and a Cookie Monster cake. Easter morning the giant bunny stopped at our place and the kids hunted eggs in the freezing sunshine – the hunt was short. Needless to say, by Sunday night they were worn out and full of sugar!

Click picture to see party pics.
Then on Monday, Worth and I took Elmo cupcakes to Gray’s school. Shane goes to the same school and since I made 35 Elmo cupcakes and there were only 9 kids in Gray’s class, Shane’s class got some too. I am quite sure the school hates me now considering how much food coloring it took to get the frosting red. Let me just say, between blue Cookie Monster cake and red Elmo cupcakes Gray has had some colorful diapers – I know, thanks for sharing – right?

On Tuesday we returned to Arkansas Children’s Hospital to get Gray’s swallow study done. The speech pathologist gave him an F-. She said in her 15 years there he was the worst she had seen. What that means for Gray is that every liquid he swallows, he aspirates. So when he swallows a lot of the liquid goes into his lungs - they were shocked he has never had pneumonia. This is probably what causes all his rasping and hopefully he doesn’t have asthma. The bad side is he MIGHT have minor lung damage and he can’t drink any liquids, all his drinks have to be thickened. This first meal after the hospital, we put a thickener in and he took a drink, scrunched up his little face and said “Donlike it” and spit it out. We are learning a lot and becoming inventive on how to thicken the liquids. The first days he has been drinking much but it is getting better. We will return to Children’s soon for an MRI to check to see what can be done to help him. Hopefully, he will outgrow this by the time he is 8. It wasn’t good news at all, but being at Children’s makes you realize how lucky you are and things could be MUCH worse. Gray’s condition is worrisome but not life threaten and treatable.

I also want to say how great Arkansas Children’s Hospital is. They are WAY understaffed and are in WAY too small a space, but everyone there is great to work with.

Another busy weekend ahead with a visit from Grandma and a birthday party for Shane to attend. Maybe we will even venture to (dare I say it) Chuck E. Cheese's for small party for Gray.

Lifelong best friends

Shane told me this morning that Gray and her played in my tummy before they came out. They played patty-cake and that was all because there wasn't any toys in there ... or food.

Glad to know that about the toys, that would be worrysome.

Planet Earth

I must insist that anyone reading this blog (hopefully, many more that that but...) start watching Planet Earth. It is a series that Discovery Channel is airing: it took 6 years to film it and it is the most beautiful thing I have ever watched. It will make you appreciate the magnificent place we live and I hope make you feel the urgency I feel to protect it.

When I was about 10, I was having a girlfriend over the spend the night. Dad came back and interupted us and told me I had to come watch something on PBS (a death sentence to a 10-year-old). I whinned but he would not relent. Dad didn't make my friend come watch but I had to go for an hour and watch The Miracle of Life. I am sure I was mad the whole time, and this was in the days before it was common to record and watch later. But looking back I really respect my Dad for making me watch "that kind of stuff" all my life. PBS became a major part of my life growing up, of course it was one of only 3 stations we got but even if we would have had the hundreds of today I know Dad would have made it a priority to watch this kind of programming with me.

Now that I am the parent I know my kids will suffer the same fate as I. They will be forced to watch The Miracle of Life, Cosmos, and now Planet Earth - and I am sure many others. Thank you Dad for helping me appreciate life and the beauty that is science. I will remember you every time I pass this on to my kids.

Adoption

This morning I was telling Shane how her "Uncle" Kyle and "Aunt" Jane were in China picking up her new cousin. She has a friend at school, Liem, who was adopted from Vietnam, so I was relating the two. I told her about picking out her new cousin a present (she thinks Eliza needs a ballerina – shocking). Then she asked why they were going to China. I told her some children are adopted and it is very special, just as special as those kids who are born into a family. All of a sudden she is crying.

"Shane, what's wrong honey?"

sniff, sniff ... little voice from the back seat ...

"I want to be adopted."

There is no pleasing princesses.

Hello Spring

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share PhotosI have been meaning to get these posted all week. I am not sure how many people stop by to look at the kids but click the picture above and you can see all the park pics.

We bought Shane & Gray their first helmet for bike riding. I realize it is a little early for Gray but all you have to do is look at his forehead and you will see why I want to get him use the the idea of wearing one. Shane was thrilled to get a new accessory in pink. She was disappointed not to be able to get the princess helmet (too big) but once we found pink with silver she was fine. She also got an ultra-obnoxious horn for her bike. We inherited this bike from her cousins Zach & Andrew, she is almost too big for it already but it is a great start point. She LOVED riding it, I think she liked her first tastes of freedom.

Gray is getting to be so funny. Anything Shane says or does he is right there too. He mimics her every move. The best is when he tries to say what she does and it doesn't come out quite right. But the newest thing is that he is starting to have his own opinion. He doesn't always want her close anymore and really doesn't want her around when he is trying to get mommy time. "MY MOMMY" he will yell at her and then slap her. She is so patient with him and usually doesn't hit back.

Off for another weekend of park play and library trips. Maybe we will do a hike?

Another tribute for Shane

I think I will let her live in her fairy tale a little longer. She still thinks Gray is her boyfriend and she will marry him or Daddy someday.