Christmas 2008-Do you Believe?

My mind struggles to realize that today is Christmas! Although, our day has been grand! We are all well, and we have enjoyed a wonderful lazy day together opening gifts and playing with new toys.

Today, I drank invisible tea in Kassidy's new "Summer Bug's" tea set, had imaginary steaming hot coffee made in Camden's new stainless steel pots and pans. All day Ethan has held his new Webkinz puppy, "Vanilla," even taking her to Nana's. Mason disappeared often to play his new Nintendo DS, trying to avoid a twin disturbance. Action continued in the jungle on the new Indiana Jones Lego Set while Bionicle creatures have been flying all over the house. Horses were galloping and Princesses were taking rides. Four mini cars have been racing around an Indy 500 Track each time resulting in an exciting and close finish. Between naps, Aly enjoyed a video bought for her by her biggest bubba, Mason, while her feet stayed warm in her new princess-ballerina slippers. And my surprise gift from William and the children now keeps guard by the front door, ready to greet visitors with their nutcracker smiles.

Later, we took a ride on Aly's magic carpet, also known as the Rumuly Rocket, for a short and sweet visit with my parents and my oldest brother's family, eating desserts and treats. In the afternoon sunshine, the children played games of tag and chase in the backyard with their cousins, running and leaving their marks all over Grumpy's prized garden. We even managed to snap a family photo before leaving my parent's house just as we all began to feel the "grouchiness" produced by the inevitable downward spiral left by over-indulgence of afternoon sweets.

For us, Christmas 2008 definitely ranks as the most relaxing and enjoyable. I hope each of you has enjoyed your day, too. But I must confess; I have a favorite among the many gifts opened today. This morning Kassidy gave to us a very wonderful and touching gift that put into our minds the real reason for Christmas. As we unwrapped the box's pretty paper, Kassidy smiled. She had worked hard on her gift to all of us, and she had kept secret its contents for almost an entire week. Inside we found a message on birthday stationary written carefully and purposefully by her hand with hearts drawn across the top: "I Luv You Jesus...K" Wow! I agree, the gift of Jesus is the one that I am most glad to have received.

I hope you opened all of your gifts, too, especially the most important one born over two thousand years ago. Oh! By the way, I guess my Christmas cards might be made and mailed after the New Year. So, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, M&R7

This One Is For Grumpy...

Ha Ha! I bet you're thinking about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, right? Well, you are right that we usually talk "Disney" everyday, but this time I'm referring to my dad, also known as Grumpy to all of the grand kids. You're wondering how he got that name out of all the choices of terms for grandpa? I think he was worried that something more conventional might have been assigned to him like grandfather or paw paw, so he quickly jumped on his own creation. Maybe it was his choice because the thought of becoming a "grand-anything" was scary, or maybe it was working the night shift for all of those years that made him so ornery. In any case, he is our family's very own Disney celebrity, Grumpy. "Grumpy is in the building!" Ha Ha!

Kidding aside, my kids love their Grumpy, pronounced Gra Gra by some, and he has a sweet side that makes his "grumpiness" an oxymoron (or ironic) at times. Let me stress, at times. My mom even has a term for the sweet, adventurous side of my father. It's not the Honey, Dear, or Darlin' as she often refers to him even when he's acting like a grumpy kid, make that acting like an old goat. My mom actually refers to my dad by a specific code name that lets us all know that today great things could happen.

My parents have been married for forty-five years and that's a long time by anyone's book-keeping! My mom contributes part of their marriage success and all of their wedding bliss to the side of my dad that she refers to as "Al Lien," also spelled alien but always pronounced Al Leon with a french-like emphasis on leON. When Al is visiting, my mom loves to take Dad shopping and sight-seeing. She dines with a man interested in conversation and not in scarfing down his food as fast as possible. She gets extra special treatments and treats from her doting boyfriend, Al. Al has optimism about the future and adventure for the present. My mom enjoys her dates with Al Lien knowing their time together could slip away, for as fast as Al sometimes appears he also leaves with my grouchy dad in his place. Hmm!

However, being a grouchy dad or Grumpy is not a bad thing, either. Remember in the Disney movie that Snow White softens Grumpy so much that even he has tears in his eyes when the princess is found sleeping after eating the evil Queen's poison apple? Our Grumpy also is a "softy" like when he has had the task of holding a crying baby or changing a dirty diaper. My dad makes lunch and afternoon coffee for us when I visit, and Grumpy serves only to Cam a special "coffee" consisting of warm chocolate milk with whipped cream topping. There are many tender moments between Grumpy and his grandchildren.

Throughout the years, there have been many tender moments between Grumpy and his daughter, too. And even in the midst of making mistakes (as all parents accidentally make) and without much training or many role models, Grumpy has managed to give fatherhood and grandfather-hood much more than his name represents or symbolizes, for found within him is a sweet and precious tenderness.

Wednesday, my dad requested that I update my blog more often. I asked him why, thinking he must be so impressed with my topics. Ha Ha! He replied that he liked "keeping up" with my life even though we visit together at least once a week if not more often. Then I started thinking: Grumpy might be addicted to the drama of my real life like he is addicted to his reality shows, or he was giving me a tender "kudos" in support of my starting this huge ongoing project of blogging. Thanks, Dad. And in that case, this one is for Grumpy.

By the way, yes Mom, I can have lunch tomorrow to give you a break from Grumpy. "Grumpy has NOT left the building!" I'll expect you around 11am. Love, M

Update on Thankfulness

Howdy, Friends! I just wanted to update everyone on a couple of new things about which I am so thankful, especially as we have entered the Christmas Season.

The lift and EZLock are a huge success in our new van! Aly took her first ride in her new "carriage" and was bewildered at first. She knew we were not at Disney World for her birthday, but she was riding in her wheelchair inside the van? "How could this happen?" she was wondering. We had told her that Daddy had bought her a new "magic carpet", but she had no idea that it would accommodate her wheelchair! On her second ride, she smiled and "kicky feeted" the entire time. She loves the skylight above her that allows views of the sky and lots of natural lighting. Of course, Miss Linda and I LOVE it, too. Now Aly is safe and comfortable without a hazardous transfer of her fragile-boned 70 pound body. Plus, the two and a half year old wheelchair goes with us instead of being left behind at home because it would not fold and fit into the trunk of the minivan. Hallelujah!

Our family has been HEALTHY! Besides normal minor colds and coughs, everyone has stayed away from the major life-threatening illnesses of last November, December and January. Last year, our family dealt with 104/105 degree fevers, vomiting, RSV, Adno Virus, and pneumonia from November 2 until December 12, plus stomach virus and the flu in January. Remember, Aly's doctors in the hospital had predicted she would not make it home for Christmas or out of the hospital at all. They also thought she would need to remain on oxygen if she did leave the hospital. Before Thanksgiving this year, we were able to buy airlines tickets to go to Disney World for Aly's birthday in February 2009. We explained that she would NOT need any "sick drama" to convince us how much she wants to be in her favorite, magical place for her special day this next year! Thank the Lord for providing this incentive early to stay healthy! I know no one can control those icky "sick" bugs, but our family LOVES Disney! Praise the Lord!

Thank you, dear friends, for praying for our family. Even though we are in the middle of flu, RSV and cold season, our family has been very healthy! We continue to keep Aly away from public places, and we continue to need your prayers to remain healthy! I also pray that your Christmas season has been healthy for your families!

By the way, I am working on my Christmas cards. I have received a few; please include our family on your Christmas card list this year. We love to see/hear from your families! Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas, M&R7

No more POTTY talk...and other things for which I'm Thankful

This has been a week full of blessings, so many that I could not count them! The weekend started with a miracle! Our potty was "healed" and passed the waded toilet paper test to prove it. So what happened? Well, I won't tell the whole embarrassing story in detail, but let's just say that the lady who came to adjust Aly's wheelchair somehow also "adjusted" the position of the lodged toothpaste container when she failed to read our sign posted above the potty prohibiting any #2 activity . With her two trips to the bathroom and a big plunging later, the potty works fine! She was embarrassed, but it saved us a weekend of tearing apart the bathroom!

Whew! Wasn't that a wonderful way to begin my list of things for which I'm thankful? No one wants surgery on a toilet if it can be avoided, and I spared you all the gory details! So let me just list some of the other things for which I am so thankful:

**Will took off an entire week.
**Everyone has been healthy, excluding minor colds and Aly's new cough. (Last year at this same time, we were in the hospital with Aly and almost didn't get to bring her home.)
**Of all weeks, this was the best time for our wonderful nurse to be sick for the first time. She was better by Thanksgiving, too.
**My parents and Debbie watched the kids, giving Will and me the chance to pick up our new van...and have a nice dinner together.
**We bought a new van! We'll actually own it after 75 months of mortgage-like payments.
**We have bought (and paid for) airlines tickets to Orlando! We told Aly that she would need no "sick drama" in order to go for her birthday this year.
**The kids had Daddy Game Time: They played football outside in the leaves. I think Daddy and Kassidy won! Mason was also thankful for time on his game boy.
**Together, we made a fantastic Thanksgiving feast, including morning monkey bread and homemade stuffing. MMMMM...Yummy!
**We set up the Christmas tree without too much fighting and nothing getting broken.

I am so thankful for this season! It's with a grateful heart that I thank the Lord for His provision for me and my family: "Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable." (Psalm 145:2-3)

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful, too. And I'm sure that everyone is thankful that there will be no more potty talk, at least until the next incident! Can you believe it; tomorrow is the first of December! Now, it's time for Christmas! Happy preparing, M&R7

Can you believe it; do you hear something?

So by now Kermit serenades you with his melancholy tune about rainbows and lovers and dreamers...and me. Funny to think I sang this song in choir as an elementary student. How different my life is from what I had dreamed it would be when I would be a grown up!

I had so much fun figuring out the process of adding music to my new blog, yelling "I did it!" several times when I opened my blog to hear Kermit's voice for the first time. "I can fly..." Needless to say, Ms. Linda and Cam came running into the front room wondering what I had done this time! Ha Ha! In our house just "ordinary miracles" are reason for celebration especially when one considers the overwhelming gravity of our assigned "Mission" with five children, including two with special needs.

If you scroll down to the bottom you'll find all of my "picks" for the list. I picked songs that I enjoy. I picked songs that my kids love. A few have words of encouragement that have helped us get through really tough and scary times, being reminded that "You're not alone." Some of the choices still bring tears to my eyes such as the three "Wish" songs listed last. Disney plays them during the fireworks show in Magic Kingdom. Most people visiting Disney World don't realize, but Our Aly believes these "Wish" fireworks are blasted in honor of her birthday each February. Picture her sweet baby face smiling with lots giggles as the fireworks light up Magic Kingdom; these songs epitomize our family's experiences in Disney World.

I hope you enjoy all of the music. Some may touch you with the same emotions as felt by me; some may touch you differently. I keep adding new songs so check the list periodically to see what I found this time. Can you believe it? My adventure never ends, it's just like the hero "Indiana Jones" in all of his sequels!

I hope you enjoy "hearing" from the Rumuly 7,
M&R7

Not the bathroom, AGAIN...

Hopefully, you read last Saturday's post (Nov 15) and laughed. However on a serious note, does anyone know how to get a tube of toothpaste out of a toilet? And I don't mean getting it out of the water basin part of the toilet, either! All it took was one secret moment of privacy in the bathroom on Saturday, and Cam managed to drop a new tube of toothpaste (including the plastic tube) into the potty and flush it down, lodging it deep into the plumbing. William, our personal and untrained (although very experienced and cheap) plumber, started to retrieve it only to realize that the screws and bolts holding down the potty are rusted and will require some sawing. EEEEEKKKKK!

So the toilet's surgery to retrieve the tube of toothpaste has been postponed until this coming weekend. UGH! I am having pre-surgery jitters to say the least. Most special needs moms know that when one complication is followed by another that the trend is hard to break. Well, I shouldn't say "break," should I? I guess I am happy that everyone can still use the potty for #1, at least for now. We posted a sign above the toilet:

"NO POOPING HERE! (Use the other potty for #2)"


Well, I had to use words at the easy reader level. Ha Ha! I'll keep you posted, M&R7

A bathroom break, please!

The other day, some of the moms were discussing the lack of privacy in the bathroom since having children. It's a luxury that every new mother quickly looses, and one of the many things no one tells you about having a baby. Either everyone forgets or they figure there are bigger lessons to learn.

When I was a brand new mother, I remember the hospital nursing staff pressuring me to just go to the bathroom after giving birth. UGH! Also, in the early days out in public when I nursed my first born, the bathroom became our little "hang out" so as to minimize the showcase of my lack of gracefulness. You know what is really funny? I, as a grown woman, still manage to call my mother on the phone and "catch" her in her private moments in the bathroom. HeHeHe!

Some of you ladies may remember our former days of being preteen and teenage girls when we visited bathrooms in "packs" and never went to the bathroom alone. Although, I was always too shy to "use" the bathroom actually. Of course having had five watermelon-sized babies inside me, now I hate to pass by a bathroom without stopping in for a visit.

Even as my children have grown, going to the bathroom remains the most important activity of our family, whether due to potty training, my being pregnant again, or the fact that someone is always saying, "I have to go to the bathroom!" My husband has always needed to leave his "mark" in every bathroom, so much that our children tease him whenever they see a port-a-potty nearby. "Oh Daddy, there is your favorite place; your throne awaits you!" HaHa! Truthfully, our family could describe in full detail every bathroom throughout Disney World. Let me emphasize how clean each one is!

Sometimes, I even try to hide in the bathroom to have a phone conversation because the ringing of the phone triggers my children to use loud voices, fight, die from hunger/thirst, and fall prey to emergency-like episodes. The twins can even detect dialing on our phone, creating within them the urge to do something that requires twin telepathy and twin cooperation which leads to someone getting hurt and the house being damaged in some way.

Restrooms are such an integral part of my life that I even think my mom's idea about making a book filled with pictures of the different kinds of toilets found in European bathrooms would be fantastic! Well, that's if I get be part of the "team" who goes to Europe to make such a book.

As you can see, I lost privacy in the bathroom long ago: twelve years, six months, and 25 days to be exact. But that's okay, I've gained so much more, like how to eat cold food in one large bite, how to survive on coffee-induced energy, how to nurse a boy twin while changing the girl twin's poopy diaper, how to keep up with five children on vacation, how to ignore a temper tantrum while grocery shopping and much, much more. Now I am wife, mother, chef, doctor, nurse, lawyer, special needs advocate, pharmacist, home school teacher, taxi driver, tutor, and personal organizer.

Quite frankly, I am unable to do any of it on my own, but "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13) Thank God for His Son and The Holy Spirit! And thank God for the lock on the bathroom! Speaking of...I need a bathroom break, please! M&R7