Swimming @ Wee-wah's House!

This is Wee-Wah (aka Olivia)

No Pics of Sawyer. He was at school.

Blessed

This was taken before we went out to eat breakfast on Mother's Day. The kids had a great time at the restaurant and did very well. To top it off, someone paid part of our restaurant bill, anonymously. How nice was that!!!

Just so you know. This was like the 900th picture Randy took. In each of them, one or more people might be smiling but not all 5 of us were looking at the camera at the same time. It's tough getting all 4 kiddos looking and smiling at the same time.

Mother's Day *edited*

From my Tamirat! (Yes, I cried)

I am blessed enough cus I have mother.
I am greatful cus you are my mom.

A mother understand what achild doesnot say.
The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will
always find forgiveness.

No body know of the work it makes /to keep the home together. No body
know of the steps it takes\ no body know but mother.Being a mom is a
bless thing.

Before I got you mom, I had no idea getting mom again cus I lost my
mom and I was blieve there is no way getting mom again. But a God will
he give me, he change mybelieve, he give what I lost through you. And
thank's for being my mom.

Happy mother's day mom your son !!!!!!!!!!!

A Day at the Park

We met Sawyer's class at the park for an end of year picnic. Boy was it hot!!!
I had one mom argue with me that Ansley was from Korea. (Umm...I am pretty sure my husband went to Taiwan) Check out Sawyer's freckles. (Where does he get those)
Click on the picture and then click again to enlarge it.

And So it Goes

Mom: Ansley, that dress looks nice on you.

Ansley: Thanks. It also looks good on me.

Mom: Yes. Yes, it does.

Re-Cap

Busy weekend. Can you believe I didn't even take a picture? I'm slipping!

FRIDAY

Nana and Pop came for a visit. Hooray!!! Tea parties and playing outside and stories and all sorts of fun stuff. Of course, Nana always brings stuff. This time she brought Judson some new books. One of the books was HG Wells, The Time Machine. (Young Readers version) Judson started on that Friday night and was finished with it on Saturday. Ahhh...he is a chip off the old block. I love reading. Randy loves reading. Both grandmothers love reading.

SATURDAY

Randy ran in his first 5K race. His goal was to run in less than 30 minutes. His time was less than 27 minutes!!! His new goal (because he is hooked) is to run it in less than 25 minutes. He also wants to run a 10K.

Sawyer had a baseball game, so Nana and Pop got to see him play. ("play" being a relative term)

Then Nana and I got to go shopping. I mean, really, did any of my millions of readers think it wasn't going to happen?

SUNDAY

Nana and Pop had to leave today. We spent the better part of lunch trying to decide which one missed them most. Not sure who won that game.

We had a great weekend! Now back to reality.....

For Posterity

I do believe today was the first day Sawyer told a flat out lie. Not the stuff where you point to a sibling and say 'He did it' to keep yourself from getting in trouble. This was a thought out process to get out of doing something.

Me: Sawyer, we have to get ready for school.
*long pause*
Sawyer: No school today. Miss Kris (his teacher) is too sick.

*As far as I know, Miss Kris has not been sick.*

Glass Half Full

You know those folks who are always happy? The ones who always see the glass as half full? The ones who can be quite irritating because they are always perky? This is one of them!!!
Yesterday, Turner and I headed to Hobby Lobby. He told me he was a big boy and could walk. So, only having one child, I said, "okay". (see, I don't always say "NO") He did very well. Skipping and hopping and generally doing as I asked. (not touching breakable items) Of course being TWO, he did lag behind quite a bit. On our way up to the check out, he started singing. (as he was lagging behind). He sang very loudly. "If You're Happy and Know It". We continued to walk with him lagging behind and singing. When we got to the checkout, he stopped singing. He looked up and the people in line and the cashier started clapping. He hadn't even realized there was anyone else in the whole building.

What Do you See?

What do you see when you look at this picture? I know what other people see. They see a child with Down Syndrome. They see a child of Asian descent. They see a child of African descent. They see a child that looks All-American. If that is all they see, then they miss the big picture. If they only focus on the differences, they miss the things that make them the same. They miss the most important things.

You know what I see? I see children. Happy Children! Children sharing a moment. Each having their own lollipop, yet sharing it together with their siblings. You see, they are siblings in the best sense of the word. They have their lollipops and they have each other. That's all they need at that moment in time.

We Like to Pose

Here is Ansley wearing a few of her favorite things!!!

First, we have a little Poppy Dip twirl number.
You can see it has twirl-ability

Next we have Ansley in her Poppy Dip pants paired with her Rosey Posey hat.
A lovely, patriotic ensemble.

Our final outfit (for today) is this lovely dress with yet another Rosey Posey hat.We like 'posing'!
'specially in pretty clothes

Abby

You might want to click on the button to the right that says "Praying for Abby". She is not doing so well and needs our thoughts and prayers and good karma and anything else positive we have to send her way.

It's ALL Good!

Happy Saturday!!!

Fun Friday=New Bike

Why Me?

That's the question I get most often from this little girl. Why Me? Yesterday, she was all smiles because she got to do what she wanted. What was that? Whatever Judson was doing.

Today. Why me? Judson and Daddy are running. (as in training for a race) Ansley cannot train with them. So, slamming doors and crying and wondering "why me" is all she has left to do apparently. Such is the life of a mistreated 5 year old.

Things We Love to Do

Play with our friends!!!!

Play Outside (with our friends if possible)

Easter in....

Remember to click on the pics to make them larger

We hunted eggs

We pulled the wagon

Hula Hooped (is that a word) and Blew Bubbles
Took Obligatory Pictures
Drove the Golf Cart

Visited
And Spent Lots of Time in the Car...

LOVE

Did I ever tell you how much I love these folks?
I'm one lucky lady, for sure.

Saturday....At the Park (edited)

It was a long morning at the park today.
Ever tried to herd cats?
Pictures at 10am and a game at 11:15.
The wind was blowing 20+mph.
Pollen count high.
Kids are exhausted.
It was a good day!Funny side story:
A young man came up to me while we were on the playground. He asked where Turner's brother was. I pointed to Judson and said, "Him?". Nope. I pointed to Sawyer and said, "Him?". Nope. He said, "He's the same color as I am". I said, "Turner is the only child I have that has the same brown skin as you" You'd have thought I had 2 heads. He absolutely could not understand it. Not sure how he came to the conclusion that another child was Turner's brother. Maybe he just assumed or maybe some kid told him that. It is always interesting when we go out. Last week, some little girl decided she was going to be Sawyer's keeper. Too bad, Sawyer didn't see it that way.

You'll have to click on the pics. Sorry I made them 'small'.

Help Lucy Find Her Home

http://throwingourarmsopenwide.blogspot.com/2010/03/please-help-lucy-find-her-family.html

Need a Cute Dress?

Check out this give away

http://throwingourarmsopenwide.blogspot.com/2010/03/girlie-giveaway.html


Ansley loves her Poppy Dip dresses/skirt. Very well made, too.

Boy of Summer

Here we are exhibiting a bit of a Tommy Lasorda'ish attitude

Here he is with his 'handlers' playing outfield

His escort


Batting Cleanup


Waving to the crowd as he circles the bases


This is the kid he started pushing. Why?
Because that's what Stricklins do.
Pick fights even when they are severely mismatched.

Personal Take on Healthcare

This isn't about whether the current health care bill is good or bad. Should or shouldn't be passed. Is or isn't going to take our country into a socialistic society. My take is, even if this bill is passed, the next generation of congress will come in, repeal the part that their constituents dislike and take credit of the part that seems to be working. Thus, the cycle continues.

My take is personal. I just read a story of an 11 year old boy whose mom died due to lack of health care coverage. This is NOT about whether Democrats are exploiting this child's loss. (If you know of any political party who has NOT used these tactics, please stand up. I'm waiting. Ah yes, since you've all stayed seated, I'll continue)

My story is about this little boy

He was born with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. This condition was considered a death sentence. We were told there were several experimental drugs but none were known to cure his disease. They might prolong his life but not likely. They gave us the option of choosing which meds we would use because you see, they had no hope this little guy would make it past his first birthday. (Many doctors washed their hands of our case and never came by to visit with us again) So we researched and we chose which medicine to try on our little guy. That medicine cost was $1500/month. We were one of the lucky families. We had insurance. Our insurance covered the cost of this medicine plus 2 other medicines. Not only did that medicine control his PAH, it brought it down to the point that surgery could be performed on our little guy. That surgery corrected his PAH and he has since been medicine free. He is now 5 years old!

Had we not had insurance our option would have been to try to get on Medicaid and hope they would pay for the medicine. Ever tried to get on Medicaid? Not easy. And it is NEVER quick. Ever try to find a doctor (much less a specialist) who will take Medicaid, yeah, then you know what I mean.

So, extending Medicaid to those who have no insurance would not be my first choice in health care coverage. (It is better than nothing, I would think) Insuring that all people in this country do have access to adequate and time appropriate health care, is something that should happen. In a country like ours, it is disgraceful that all do not have access to quality health care.

So my beef with Washington is, partisanship again takes precedence over what is best for our country. He said, She said takes up their time instead of working out something that would help everyone. Fox vs. CNN is all crap! (You know I wanted to say something else) EVERYONE is complaining about the other side's ideas but NO ONE is working on something together. Right wing blames this President. Left wing blames a previous President. People who have health coverage don't think anything is wrong, thus nothing needs to change.

Nothing is wrong if you work for big corporate America and have insurance. If you work for Mom and Pop and can't afford insurance, yikes. If you have no job, yikes. If you are senior and are going on Medicare, yikes. If you get sick and can't work (right when you need health care), double yikes.

So my message to Washington is "I'm sick and Tired" (Tired always follows Sick). Sick and Tired of partisanship. Sick and Tired of you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Sick and Tired of bickering. Sick and Tired of finger pointing. Sick and Tired of you NOT working for me. Sick and Tired of you not working together. Sick and Tired of PACs. Sick and Tired of choosing sides. Sick and Tired that you are not working together to make this country a better place for my children!!!

Leave a legacy worth writing about in the history books. Fix something. I don't care. Choose something: Deficit, Health care, Economy. Do NOT blame a President or your counterparts. Work together! (Cause if you continue to argue I'm going to advocate that you all be put in timeout. It works at my house.)

Good News, Good News

Little T has decided he wants to be potty trained! (I was going to wait til summer when he turned 3 to start) The other good news? He only had 2 accidents last week.

Batter Up!

The Original Uniform

Modified with our own pants!

First game, March 20th!

4 Jumping Beans

Today was a day to burn energy. So we went to our favorite jumping place. While there were 4 children, only 3 were mine. The fourth was our friend, Luyushu. We were the only ones in the whole place. So, they had to wake up all the jumpy thingies.


Some folks didn't like the noise.

Most times they all enjoyed it (as much as 2 'control freak' girls can). It's pretty funny to witness the dynamic of 2 very strong personality girls and 2 little boys who had no clue.