Monday Morning Meme

Hi all, another week is just beginning and it is time for yet another weekly installment of the Monday Morning MeMe!! Karen asks the questions(in blue) and my answers follow(in black)!

1. How many coats do you own? Do have a good coat? Casual coat?
Two and yes I have a casual and a good coat.

Summer jacket?
No I live in Texas! lol Although I have a light weight sweater I am attached too!

Do you wear coats very often?
No not really although it just depends, the weather here changes on a dime.

Or do you have a tendency to leave your coat at home whenever you go out?
I actually leave it in the trunk during the cold months so that if I need it I have it with me. That way I do not forget!

What is your favorite coat? Why is this one your favorite?
My new purple one! Cause it is purple of course!

Care to model it for us?
LOL! No....

2. You’ve learned a thing or two about this thing we call blogging. Tell us one thing you don’t recommend to other bloggers. Tell us one thing you do recommend to other bloggers.

Gosh I am still relatively new or at least a beginner to this thing called blogging so hummm.... I think the one thing I would NOT recommend you do would be to make your blog hard to follow or understand. Make sure all your important links are easy to find and the layout is easy to follow. The one thing I would recommend to DO is to blog everyday if you can even if it is about trivial life details.

3. Is cursive writing a lost art?
I am going to say no

Should good penmanship be taught?
Not sure

Tell us about your handwriting - good / bad?
My hand writing is not bad, but I worked on it for years. I do find that the less I write and the more I type, the more I struggle to write neatly when I do.

Do you think your children have good handwriting (given their appropriate age, of course).
Yes I think they are doing well for their ages.

4. Have you ever struggled with infertility? If you haven’t, or if it wasn't the hardest thing you’ve ever had to go through — what was?
No I have never had to deal with infertility. I have been thinking about this and I honestly do not think anything I have struggled with comes anywhere close to the struggles of infertility! I have had friends that have struggled with infertility and it has to be one of the hardest things to deal with and accept.

I think one of the hardest things I have had to go through is when I broke my ankle and leg. The boy was gosh almost 5yrs old and Princess was about 7months old when it happened. I had taken my nightly walk with my mom and the kids so when we returned I ran upstairs to take a shower. After the shower mom called to let me know she had gotten my Sunflower seeds(YAY!) so I ran downstairs carrying the baby to retrieve them off the front porch. I stepped down off the step, my ankle twisted and I heard it crack. I do not remember what happened after that exactly until I came too and Princess was laying on the ground in front of me crying.

I tore all the ligaments in my ankle and broke it and my leg in four places. I was off my feet for six months, had two surgeries and dealt with it all as a single mom of two kids under five! Thank god for my mom and grandma!!! I now have a metal plate in my leg that will be there forever.....

For more Monday Morning Meme participants click here!

Two of a kind!

I just had to share this special story of two little boys who share so much in common and were imo destined to meet. This story had me smiling and crying all at the same time. Thank you so much for sharing this touching story. My heart goes out to both families.

"On his first day of kindergarten in August, 5-year-old Derek Coleman came home and told his mother, "Henry and I have the same piece of skin on our heads."

He pointed to the hairless racing stripe that runs from ear to ear over the top of his head.

Under most circumstances, a parent's response would have been, "Who's Henry?" But Rachel Coleman endured too many hours in hospital waiting rooms and too many sleepless nights to brush aside the significance of his words.

In a kindergarten classroom in a very small town, there is another child who's had the same kinds of cranial and facial surgeries as her son.

Henry is Henry Johnson, a 6-year-old who was born with Apert syndrome. I wrote about him last year as his mother, also named Rachel (Johnson), prepared to stage the first Henry's March walk-run benefiting the Children's Craniofacial Association. The nonprofit organization helps children get necessary surgeries and procedures. Last year's event, at California State University, Stanislaus, raised more than $26,000. This year's march will be March 22, again at the Turlock campus.

Derek was born with a cleft palate, meaning the roof of his mouth failed to develop properly, and he also lacked a soft spot on the top of his skull. Both birth defects required surgeries.

Henry's Apert syndrome prematurely fused his skull, fingers and toes and caused some facial deformity. So Henry has had not only head and facial surgeries, but operations to free his digits. Both boys have more operations in their futures.

These two little guys have become inseparable. Best buddies. Brothers.

Because of their physical similarities? Maybe at first. But they quickly progressed beyond the initial curiosity.

"They're friends for no other reason than they get along," Rachel Coleman said.

From their energy levels and exuberance, you'd never guess they have had more than 20 major surgeries or medical procedures between them.

They play. They laugh. They roughhouse. They are oblivious to their own looks or each other's. What they see in the mirror is the only normal they've ever known. They're too young to understand the operations that lie ahead and so spirited and resilient that it doesn't matter.

"Derek doesn't know he's different and he doesn't know Henry's different, either," Coleman said.

They met by a quirk of fate. Henry thrived in special education kindergarten at Brown Elementary in Turlock last year. But living in the Denair district, and with his sister Lauryn attending Denair Middle School, Rachel Johnson and her husband, T.J., wanted to keep them in the same district. Because of his surgeries, Henry is a bit delayed in his maturity and needed to repeat kindergarten. His parents wanted him to be with the same group of kids all throughout school because experts told them the other children would be more accepting and less likely to tease him. So they moved him to Denair Elementary.

Rachel Johnson decided to prepare the other parents for Henry's arrival, hoping they would prep their children similarly.

"I told the teacher I wanted to address the parents," she said. She showed them a photo of Henry. "It was his first time in regular ed. I told them I have this special little kid, and that I wanted there to be an open line of communication."

While she worried about how the other kids might perceive Henry, he had his own concerns. Though he has amazing dexterity in his surgically separated fingers, there are some things he can't overcome.

"He complained because he can't do the monkey bars," she said.

A few days after school began, she attended another parents' meeting.

"A woman walked up to me and said, 'Hi, I'm Rachel,' " Johnson said. It was Rachel Coleman, Derek's mom.

She told Johnson how much Derek liked Henry, and how they played together. The mothers also talked about their sons' conditions, their surgeries and how much these little boys have in common. They like the same kinds of shoes. They've memorized each other's phone numbers and call each other frequently. They both like hockey. Both have moms named Rachel. The boys visit the same ear, nose and throat specialist in Turlock.

"And I'd never met anyone who'd had the same surgery as Derek," Rachel Coleman said.

Coleman also knew nothing about the Children's Craniofacial Association, or the services it provides. Johnson brought her up to speed.

The boys' bond grew stronger each day. When Derek needed surgery to reconstruct his nose, Henry sent him a gift.

When Henry got an ear infection and needed minor surgery, Derek went with him to the doctor's office.

When winter break began, Derek needed a Henry fix.

"I had to come get Henry," Rachel Coleman said. "He had Henry withdrawals."

So Henry spent New Year's Day with them. And when he arrived back home that night, he carried a large toy motorcycle.

"I asked him, 'Where'd you get that?' " Rachel Johnson said. "He said, 'Derek bought it for me.' "

Indeed, Derek purchased the toy using a Wal-Mart gift card he'd received for Christmas.

"(Henry) found a soul mate in this kid," Rachel Johnson said. "I've never seen two people who aren't related who are as connected as Henry and Derek. They wholeheartedly love each other. Derek has a vocabulary like a fifth-grader. Henry -- you've got to have a special decoding system to understand him. But Derek interprets. He understands every word Henry says."

"Derek speaks perfect Henry," Coleman added.

Two little boys, classmates and best of friends.

Could there be anything more normal than that?"

Full story credit goes to Jeff Jardine and his article.

Sunday Stealing

"Welcome back to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard of the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we also have our rules. We will be very honest about our theft: We always let the owner of the selected blog know that we have ripped their meme off. In turn, we will always provide a link to their site. Join in the fun and rip it off of us every Sunday. And stop by fellow thieves blogs and have some fun... Cheers to all us thieves!"

This week's Meme was originally posted by Adrienne J. at Definitely Not Technical Writing.

The "Getting to Know Your Friends" Meme.

1. What is your occupation right now?
I am currently a homemaker, but I do have lots of applications out so that could change at any moment.

2. What color are your socks right now?
I have no socks on right now.

3. What are you listening to right now?
The opening music to some silly SciFi movie! lol

4. Last person you spoke to on the phone.
Stacia :)

5. How old are you today?
I am 32 years young

6. What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?
Nascar

7. What is your favorite drink?
Diet Dr Pepper

8. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Yes lots of times, but not in a few years cause I am actually liking my gray hair!

9. Favorite food?
Enchiladas from Chuy's

10. What is the last movie you watched?
Nim's Island, with the family this evening.

11. Favorite day of the year?
I do not have one

12. How do you vent anger?
I yell......

13. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Hummm not sure...... I loved my He-man action figures and My little ponies.

14. Living arrangements?
We rent our home

15. What was the last thing that you cried about?
The last time I cried was when we found out about Spunky's asthma.

16. Who is the friend you have had the longest?
Carrie

17. What did you do last night?
Well we watched Pineapple Express after the kids went to bed and had some grown up time.

18. What are you most afraid of?
Not being a good mom

19. In how many areas of your country have you lived?
One area of the country, three different states. lol

20. What is your favorite flower?
Orchids

If you want to read more about the meme or join in the fun please visit Sunday Stealing

PhotoHunt: Bridge(s)

This week's theme for PhotoHunt is "Bridge(s)". So I tried to have the two youngest (4 and 6) make me a Lego bridge to take a picture of, all with the promise I would post it on my blog and well that did not happen! lol Those two have like no attention span! ;) So I dug out these two pictures of the little bridge we had to cross on the way to the Zoo this last year. For more photos and this week's PhotoHunt check out: tnchick.com

Friday Fill-Ins #110

Hi all, another week is almost over and it is time for yet another weekly installment of Friday Fill-Ins! Janet asks the questions and my answers are underlined!

This week's questions come from YellowRose plz visit her blog as well! :)

1. Please don't tell me you have done something, when you clearly have not!

2. Can you please just get along, in the morning?

3. The color orange makes me want to smile!

4. I have a craving for anything salty right now, but that is because I cannot have anything salty at the moment! Why is it you always want what you cannot have? lol

5. If my life had a pause button, I'd pause it when I was really enjoying life, at a cute kid moment or when I was totally overwhelmed so that I could gather myself.

6. Eyes are the most beautiful feature on a person's face imo!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching BSG with my man, tomorrow my plans include helping the kids make Valentines to take to school on Thursday and Sunday, I want to watch the new episode of Big Love!!

For more Friday Fill-Ins participants click here

3 Word Thursdays :)

Today we received the boy's Band photo for this year and it is one of the best photos he has taken in quite some time! He just looks so handsome and grownup, I cannot get over it! They grow up so fast and I just keep forgetting to slow down and take it all in. I often think where did the time go? How did he get so big so quickly?

meme rules:

*photo must have 3 words in it
*post your photo on your site with a link
back to Ma Vie Folle (or grab button)

For more 3 Word Thursday participants and to visit Sheila's awesome blog click here!

Wordless Wednesday

Look what I found growing IN my Bell Pepper! lol For more Wordless Wednesday participants check out these wonderful blogs:

5 Minutes for Mom!

Three Peas in a Pod!

Monday Morning Meme

Hi all, another week is just beginning and it is time for yet another weekly installment of the Monday Morning MeMe!! Karen asks the questions(in blue) and my answers follow(in black)!

1. When was the last time you vacuumed out your car?
Gosh the last time I vacuumed out the car was this last summer I think so back in July 08'?

How often do you wash your car? Do you wash it, or do you run it through a car wash service?
We usually wash it once or twice every three months. lol I am not to worried about having a clean car. We usually run it through a car wash because our driveway is slanted and all the water ends up in front of the house.......

How much money do you generally spend to wash your car?
I most always get the economy wash which is about $5.

2. What kind of car do you drive? What color is it?
We drive a Silver Mazda 3

Do you like your car? How long have you had it?
Yes I like our car although I do miss the Mini-van like you would not believe. I never thought I would be the Soccer mom type, but I loved that Mini-van!! This car is to small for all of us and when T-man visits we have to make two trips to fit everyone, it sucks. I cannot wait until we can get a second car!! We have had our current car 4yrs.

Is it reliable? Would you recommend it to a friend?
It is VERY reliable and I would definitely recommend it too a friend!

If money were no object, what car would you buy for your family?
I would buy a Honda Odyssey! I think those are just freaking awesome!! It would fit all of us and we could haul stuff with it!! lol

Now, which car would you buy for yourself?
If I could buy any car just for myself with no worries about gas money I would buy a black GMC Jimmy, with big Smiley face KC lights and running boards. :)

Do you have an opinion about people who drive expensive cars? (Jealous? Disgusted? Curious?)
You know not really although it makes me think of my dad! lol

3. What’s the biggest thing on your mind right this moment?
Bills, bills and more bills!

Why is this issue so important to you at this time?
Mainly because they are due in the next few days!

4. Have you ever cried when hearing about the death of a celebrity?
Yes actually I have cried at the death of a celebrity.

If so, who? And if so, why?
John Ritter would be the first that comes to mind also John Candy. I would say for both of them because I have watched them since I was younger and I thought they were both really funny. It was sad to think that I would never see them live on the big screen again and to think about what their families were going through.

Who was the last celebrity you remember feeling sorry for? Why?
Jennifer Hudson because of her recent family tragedy. I cannot even imagine losing my mother for any reason much less a murder by a family member!!! Not to mention she also lost her nephew and brother at the same time! I really feel for her during this time in her life and I think she is awesome for trying to find a way to continue through the pain.

Pick one celebrity you would miss if he/she were to die. Why this person?
I would really miss Drew Barrymore because I have always had a crush on her and I would miss seeing her in new movies! :0) lol

For more Monday Morning Meme participants click here!

Our adventurous dinner.....

For dinner Friday we had Oven Baked Salmon with Long Grain Wild Rice and Corn on the Cob!

This was a first for me when it comes to cooking fish well except for tuna fish, but that comes out of a can! lol I am honestly scared of cooking and eating most fish so the task made me nervous. Funny part is I LOVE Sushi! The Salmon was not hard to make and so I am not as nervous now. Next time I will try to make it a different way and see if we like it better.

Jeremy and the boy LOVED the Salmon, the girls including me not so much. I did not hate it, but I cannot say that I really liked it either. Spunky and Princess hated it though and so I hope it grows on them. I am trying my best to turn over a new leaf and feed us all better. :)

Below is the recipe I followed, I found it on the CD my dad Mike made me for Christmas. :)

Oven Baked Salmon

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons light olive oil
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
4 (6 ounce) Wild Salmon Dinner Fillets

Preparation:
In a medium glass bowl, prepare marinade by mixing garlic, light olive oil, basil, salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley. Place salmon fillets in a medium glass baking dish, and cover with the marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator about 1 hour, turning occasionally.

Preheat oven to 375' and place the fillets in a large glass baking dish sprayed with Pam. Place a bit of butter and the rest of the marinade on top of the fillets and cook until they are a flaky whitish opalescent color.

Honestly the color is what you look for more than time (is what I am told), you do not want to overcook the meat. The thinner it is the faster it will cook, around 10-15mins and the thicker it is will take a bit longer ours took 30-35mins because our steaks were thicker in the middle.

Learning to read and all that Jazz!

I was in the kitchen making dinner this evening when I overheard Princess helping Spunky read her "Dick and Jane" book. It was just the cutest thing ever partly because I can hardly ever get Princess to help anyone do anything anymore without attitude. It's like all the nice bones in that child's body up and disappeared when she turned 8 ok well not all, but most! So I think it is awesome that she was having such a good time listening to and helping her little sister! :)

It was also very neat to listen to Spunky read. She can read the "Easy Reader" books pretty quickly now and is soon to be reading the bigger ones. She is doing SO much better than she was at the beginning of the year! I was beginning to worry until I kept reminding myself she is only 6yrs and in the First grade! lol I personally believe they expect way to much from the younger kids these days, but that is another rant all together!

Oh my gosh Spunky is so cute! She has been reading since she finished dinner almost an hour ago. She just came up to me and said "I can read now, I am so excited! I am going to do this everyday!". I am so happy for her she seems so excited to read now and I think that makes all the difference!