The Scissors Add 10 Years

Andrew got a haircut a few weeks ago. I had to work, so Sam brought Ella. She kept saying she wanted her hair cut. Now she’s had the ends trimmed a few times, but that’s been the extent of it.

When Sam asked how she wanted it cut she showed us with her hands. She said she wanted it to look like her cousins Kenzie and Riley. Both have theirs a bit short.

I was supposed to take her to the haircut today, and was hoping that I could talk her into just getting it cut to about shoulder length or lower. Sam decided that she’d take her and before they left, we asked her again. She wanted it like her cousins.

She has such beautiful hair. Her curls have always been there and people compliment her all the time on her hair. I just wasn’t sure if I could take it being gone.

Her hair is so long and beautiful. She was having issues with it getting snagged in the car seat buckle and in the zipper of her coat. This may have played a factor in her decision, but it was probably more that she loves her cousins.

When it was finally her turn she was excited!

Sam said she smiled through the entire haircut and could barely contain herself. When she saw the finished cut, she was filled with joy! She loves it!!!

Sam sent me a text with the above picture. My heart sank. “That’s a lot of hair,” I thought. She said, “She loves it and can’t wait for you to see it. Make sure you make a big deal out of it when we get home!”

I saw the car pull in the driveway and I began to prepare myself. I’m no dummy. I know that a good haircut makes kids look older. That’s why I think it bugged me so much. I knew she’d look older to me.

I put my hands over my eyes and they came in. “Here’s Princess Ella!” Sam cried. I opened my eyes and was stunned by just how beautiful she looked. She’s always been beautiful, don’t misunderstand me, but I’ve never seen her hair short before. I can’t even begin to describe it.

I told her how amazing she looked and then the video calls began. We had to show Nana, Aunt Emily, and Uncle Chris. The other folks were working, so they got to see pictures.

She’ll be four in February, and she is getting sassier as the days go on. Today, however, when I saw her new haircut, I held back every tear because I felt like she looked 10 or 12 years old.

My sweet baby girl, Daddy loves you so much. You are the most beautiful Princess I have ever seen. Slow down a bit, honey, you’re growing up so fast!

Happy New Year – Welcome 2024

“Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” – Carl Bard

2024 rang in quietly at my place. Sam worked New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. I was in bed and asleep by 11:45pm on NYE. I didn’t even hear the fireworks and gunshots. At 5:45am, Daisy was barking to go outside. I got up, got dressed, and took her outside. The sad thing about this who scenario is that the first kiss of 2024 for me … was from the dog!

Sam came home and went to sleep and the kids and I prepared for my dad’s visit. Each of us had things going on over the holiday, so he said he’d drive up on New Year’s Day. He brought the kids their Christmas presents. Ella got a Barbie Camper and Andrew got a Little People car wash. Naturally they fought over the toys while my dad and Rose were there. During one loud batch of screaming, I looked at my dad and said, “By the way, I was hoping you could babysit the kids for a few days.” LOL

Rose doesn’t like her picture on the net, so I cropped her out of the picture. It is always nice when the kids get to see them.

I’m glad I got to see my dad. I feel like I see him less now with my new schedule, but we still talk all the time. There’s nothing better than seeing each other in person, though.

My yearly recap is coming and a pretty big thing happened today that brought me to tears. More on that next blog.

Undecking the Halls

Today I took down the Christmas tree. I wrapped the ornaments in tissue paper and boxed them up. I packed away the stockings. I took the door decorations down. If it hadn’t been raining, I probably would have taken down the outdoor stuff, too.

I suppose that is the bad thing about putting up the holiday stuff early – it comes down early. Sam told me that she was ready to have our living room back. Everything is now back in the basement. I need to get down and organize it a bit, but that is for a later day.

As I said yesterday, we had a good Christmas. However, when everything comes down I feel this deep sadness. I’m not even sure what that is about. I’ve always been a sentimental guy and sometimes I find myself lost in a thought or memory during and after the holidays. I don’t want to call it depression, but it feels like that at times. It is hard to shake.

You can look up “How to get over the post-Christmas blues” online and there is article after article telling you to exercise, make a plan, and countless other things. I try to get lost in a good book, listen to upbeat music, or find things that make me laugh. I had two true guffaws today.

The first was something that I suppose only I would find funny. If you are familiar with Ethel Merman and her music, maybe you’ll chuckle, too. She was big on Broadway and in musicals. One of her songs was “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.” She sings it in her cameo in the movie Airplane! Anyway, someone sent me this:

Hilarious – if you get it.

The second source of laughter came from my son. Before bed, the kids called me to show me that they colored some dinosaurs for me. They want me to bring them to work. I only have a cubby that I can put them in, as I don’t have a desk. They colored them with markers and were so happy to show me.

After I hung up, Sam sent me a picture of Andrew with one of the markers in his nose. I laughed and immediately thought of the scene in Animal House where John Belushi has pencils in his nose in the Dean’s office. Putting them together only made me laugh harder.

Channeling his inner comedian!

Speaking of comedians, I was sad to hear of the passing of Tommy Smothers. He and his brother, Dick, were one of the great comedy teams back in the day. ”Mom always liked you best,” was one of their staple routines. I found a clip of them on Johnny Carson that I remembered watching live the night it aired.

Thanks for the laughs Tommy!

A radio buddy of mine once told me to always “find the funny” when prepping my show. ”Laughter is important” he told me. It is far from a New Year’s Resolution, but I do plan on finding the funny in the days and years ahead. Life has too many things to bring us down.

Ready for the Holiday Weekend

It’s lunch time at work. In just a few hours I will punch out and head home for the holiday weekend. I am truly looking forward to four days with my family. It’s been a very busy year for all of us.

I was ready to write that my son had his last appointment for the year today, but I remembered he still has one more. Today we saw his neurologist. We discussed the results of his sleep study, the MRI, and his EEG. It was a long appointment and we have some direction and a plan of action.

I left the appointment and went right to work. I’m only a mile or so from the doctor, so I punched in early knowing I will be able to leave early. I was able to get most of my work done before lunch, so I thought I’d blog.

The other appointment, incidentally, will be to pick up his AFO leg braces. This is something that will help eliminate the toe-walking. Hopefully, he won’t need to be in them too long.

I recently blogged about our family tradition of getting a new Christmas ornament at Bronner’s. We had yet to go this year, but someone (maybe someone who read my blog) did the work for us. We received a Bronner’s box in the mail and the message inside said, “It looks like Daisy needs an ornament for that tree of yours!”

This week, I found out that McDonald’s has adult Happy Meals. Sam took the kids to get lunch and they brought me back one. Ella apparently said that mom and dad needed a toy, too!

How silly is that?!

Money has been a bit tighter this year than in the past. Normally, I would try to get something small for my boss and co-workers for the holiday, but I just couldn’t swing it. One of my coworkers got bags for everyone. There was a small gift and some chocolates. My gift was socks! Go figure, right!? Well, they are actually pretty cool.

If they only made socks with the Miser Brothers on them …

I’m looking forward to Christmas for many reasons. One of them is that the Elf on the Shelf goes back to the North Pole! It becomes work to do something with it each day. Some people really go all out! It’s crazy. My favorite one from this week ties into the last bit of news to share …

I don’t care if I use this one every year! Here is Twinkles, the elf, reading from the Bible. I said that it ties in with my last bit of news.

This week, I finished my 1st semester of the second year of my Bible classes. I will have three tests to do over the next week or so. Then I will move on to the second semester. I feel like I have really accomplished something. Actually having a lunch hour (which we really never got when I was on midnights) allows me to watch an entire class and take notes without any real interruptions. I’m hoping to keep it up and press toward the mark.

I know many of my blogger friends are taking a break over the holidays. I’ve got plenty of things lined up over the weekend, I don’t know that I will not blog, but just in case I don’t, I want to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas. As we get ready to wrap up another year, I find myself grateful for you. Your own personal blogs, the comments you share here on my blog, and your friendship has brought me much happiness.

I look forward to a year of sharing experiences with each other.

“It’s not what’s under the Christmas tree that’s important, but rather who is around it.”

“The best Christmas gift is to realize how much you already have.”

“The way you spend Christmas is far more important than how much.”

“From home to home and heart to heart, from one place to another, the warmth and joy of Christmas brings us closer to each other.”

A Christmas Masterpiece

Back in April of last year, I wrote a blog about my friend (and artist) Belita William. You can read it here:

My Kids – Posers?

I had to keep this quiet, because I wasn’t sure if my wife might read my blog. However, I can now share the news. Her request to paint my children was granted and (just in time for Christmas) the finished portrait has arrived!

When the package arrived in the mail, my wife began to question things. We had “agreed” to not get each other anything for Christmas. I told her that it wasn’t for her, but for us. I, of course, had seen the progression of it and was amazed when I held the final project in my hands. She kept wondering about it and eventually broke me down and I showed it to her. She was impressed. It is really something!

Admittedly, neither one of us has ever owned a portrait before and this one is like owning something from Van Gogh of Rembrandt! It will be hung with pride and joy in our home and will be something we will treasure for many years.

Belita does amazing work. If you didn’t read the blog above, you should. There are examples of the work she has done for Moe and Larry of the Three Stooges, King Khalid of Saudi Arabia, portraits for friends, churches, and more. Her work is in high demand and I know why! What an honor it was to have her ask to paint my children!

To me, the most amazing thing was the process. Belita kept me in the loop as things progressed. She had asked me to send some photos of the kids to use. She used a couple from a photoshoot we did in the Spring of 2022. The first draft was basically a sketch.

The above was from April or May of this year.

Tweaking happened and she cropped it a bit.

The above was the skeleton of the finished product. This would have been May 23 of 2023. She opted for the closer shot because it allowed for more details on the faces.

The beginnings of color started a few days later – May 27, 2023. This in itself blew me away. Their faces were so life like.

By July 18, the base colors were done and there was still some detail work that she was doing on it.

Between July and October, she received a commission piece that she had to finish. She told me of this and apologized for the delay, but I completely understood. I told her that I would wait as long as I had to for her to finish.

On October 26, she sent me a photo of the finished piece.

What a marvelous piece! The detail in this portrait is simply amazing to me. The eye color, the curls , the buttons on the overalls, and even the holding hands are just wonderful! I showed the kids, and Ella said, “That’s me and Bubby!!” They couldn’t believe it!

I cannot thank Belita enough for the time, the effort, and the love that she put into this portrait! When the initial “go ahead” was given, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. The final project was above and beyond anything I could have imagined. This portrait will be something special to my family for generations. Thank you, Belita, for such a precious piece!

God has given you a wonderful talent! I am so thankful that He allowed us to connect and become friends. May He continue to bless you, you work and your entire family.

Thank you, again!!

I Played Secretary Today

We have such wonderful neighbors. Every year one of them puts out a mailbox for kids to drop off letters to Santa. They then answer them. Last year, they wrote such a precious letter to Ella and Andrew.

They posted on the neighborhood Facebook page that the mail box was out and awaiting letters. I’d been meaning to sit and write Ella and Andrew’s for a couple days, but never got to do it. This morning, Ella was up first and we were sitting on the couch together. I asked her if she was ready to write her letter and she said yes!

I grabbed a pen and paper and asked her to tell me what to say to Santa. (More on that in a minute.) She kept me very busy and I had to write pretty fast. After I sealed up the letter, we grabbed the dog and we walked to the mailbox!

As we walked the block or so to the house, they each had to hold the letter for a bit. It was funny how many times it changed hands.

When we arrived, Andrew wanted to put the letter in the box. He couldn’t quite get it into the slot, so it was probably pretty crinkled when it finally made it to the bottom of the box.

They were both happy to finally get it in there and cannot wait for Santa to read it!

Now for your enjoyment – the letter:

Dear Santa,

I love you and I really love you until you come. I also love Mrs. Santa. My daddy is writing for me because he writes good for me.

For Christmas I really want a big princess castle for my Barbies and my Little People to fit in. For Bubby (my brother, Andrew) he wants trains. He loves to share. He loves you, too. Sometimes he is mean, but he loves me.

I think my daddy would like a big bike with big wheels and a big seat because he is bigger than me. My mommy’s favorite color is yellow, so maybe you can bring her some yellow paint or something. She loves to color and draw with me and Bubby.

Our cat Maizey could get new kitty litter. Mowgli (the other cat) bites a lot, so he should get a squeaky toy maybe. They really really love food and water. Our puppy, Daisy, could get a new elephant squeaky toy because she ate the other one. I asked her if she likes you – I think she said “yeah.” You can’t bring her chocolate because mommy and daddy say that it will give really bad stomach aches to her.

This is a lot of letters and words. I hope you can read all of them. I know you like cookies and milk, so I will put some out for you. We are missing snow, so please bring snow and snowballs.

Thank you for everything you do!

Love,

Ella and Andrew

Priceless!

Busy, But Thankful

I hope this blog finds you enjoying the remainder of the holiday weekend. My weekend, which was supposed to be very relaxing, wound up being full of the unexpected.

Wednesday afternoon, I got a call from my wife. Her dad had passed out at the doctor’s office. His blood pressure was up and down. They rushed him to the ER, and admitted him for a couple days. No heart attack, no stroke, and they didn’t find any blockages. There were a few things that neurology is going to look into in more detail. He is home now and relaxing.

My mother-in-law was at the ER for Thanksgiving and when she told us that she was going to drive through McDonald’s for dinner, we told her to go home and I’d bring her a plate. I packed up turkey, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and rolls. Andrew and I drove over to bring her the food. At the end of their street is a guy who goes all out with holiday lights. Andrew loved looking at them.

That’s not even his whole set up!!

Ella and Andrew haven’t been feeling all that great and when we woke up Thanksgiving day, we all felt a bit under the weather. We spent most of the morning and early afternoon battling fevers with Motrin and Tylenol. We watched a disappointing Detroit Lions game and had dinner. After that is when everything got scary.

Ella did not look right. Her nose and eyes were watering all day and her fever spiked again. She was far from herself. There was enough going on that I packed her in the car and made the trip to the ER.

They checked her out and said it was viral, which we kind of knew. It “has to run its course.” So we weren’t there too long. I was just relieved it wasn’t pneumonia. Her cough was awful.

We were supposed to go to the Detroit Zoo for their Wild Lights, but we were all under the weather. Thankfully, they had my order and were able to switch days for us. I’m grateful, because I would have hated to have not been able to use them.

We got our Christmas photos back and there were more good ones than bad ones. We sat with them and picked the ones for our family Christmas card. This is one of my favorite family ones:

Being inside has been driving the kids crazy. Sam had bought a few games on Amazon for Ella’s birthday, but decided to bring them out to help keep them (and us) occupied. It’s been a while, but I can honestly say that I still can’t win playing Hi-Ho Chery-O!

Today, I had to take Daisy to Puppy Training. I swear, I gave her a bag of treats during this class. We worked on Sit, Watch Me, and Touch today. The trainer started off the class with what was going to happen over the next 6 weeks. All the pups were given a bone to chew while she went over this. Daisy, of course, broke off a tooth and probably swallowed it. She was bleeding on the bone.

As embarrassing as that was, at least she didn’t pee during the class. Another dog, however, peed like three times. As the class drew to a close, Daisy started to get antsy and began to bark at the other dogs. She was pulling and trying to get off the leash. She was happy to finally leave and get in the car.

I put it on after I took this picture, but I bought her a name tag at the store. They engrave them there for you. It hangs off that loop where the leash goes. It hangs down a bit and “clangs” when she walks. It is making her crazy. It is funny to watch her try to chew at it.

The kids are feeling a bit better today, and I hope that continues with more rest. I’m hoping for some rest too!

Hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving!

Turkey Week

The turkey is in the fridge thawing out and should be ready for the oven by Thursday morning. We always cook it in a bag, and it usually comes out ok. I’m looking forward to a simple Thanksgiving holiday.

I’ve always loved this picture of Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson from Sanford and Son

I follow Joe Lennon Cartoons on Facebook and he’s had some great cartoons on his page. He did a whole month of Halloween themed cartoons and he’s posting Thanksgiving themed ones now. Two favorites:

I was sad to hear of the passing of a Detroit Tiger great – Willie Hernandez. He was part of the amazing bullpen that helped us win the 1984 World Series. He had just recently celebrated his 69th birthday. He was so fun to watch! Rest well, Willie.

We had some Christmas photos taken last week. The kids were crazy! They would hardly sit still. Ella, who went to the doctor today, may have been at the beginning of her illness for pictures. She was not her “smiley” self. They should be available for download by tomorrow, but a couple preview pictures wound up on our photographer’s Facebook page.

Can’t wait to see the rest of them. I pray we got at least one good family photo for Christmas Cards!

Speaking of Christmas, I was reminded by my wife that after Thanksgiving, the Elf on the Shelf has to make her return. Last year I really struggled to come up with fun ideas. I don’t even know what to do this year! I guess Sam bought some Elf shirts for the kids that “Twinkles” will bring with her when she returns. I probably should have been planning for the month of Elf stuff long before now….

Thursday Thoughts

I’m forcing myself to write today. I have some funny things to share, and these are the type of things that have kept me going the last couple weeks.

Feeling … not right

When I got the diagnosis of ADHD recently and began the new medication, I had hoped that I would start to feel some things change. They did, but not in the way I expected. Now, I’m told that it takes 4-6 weeks for this new med to really do what it is supposed to do, and I have only been on half of the dose for a month. They are supposed to up the dose the next time I see them. I have an appointment with the place where I got my diagnosis this week, so I hope to get things sorted out.

I should not be feeling more depressed than I was before the medication, but I am. I am supposed to have my yearly physical next week and I am embarrassed to go in. All the weight I lost is back. Bad choices and emotional eating are to blame (ok, I am to blame, too!). There is no motivation. I have tried to psyche myself up to no avail. There is a program through work that I just stopped doing because I wasn’t feeling like myself and didn’t think it was helping. I have to go get bloodwork tomorrow and I always fret about what that is going to show.

I’m not saying meds are the answer, but something isn’t right. Here’s hoping that we figure it out.

Vet Visit

Daisy had a vet appointment today. She is 21 pounds already. The vet seems to think she will be bigger than we anticipated. “At least 100 pounds” Sam said.

She is totally puppy and chewing everything in sight. Housebreaking remains a challenge, but she starts her “Puppy Obedience” classes after Thanksgiving.

Ella went to the vet with Sam. When they got home, Sam says, “Hey Ella, tell daddy how they had to take Daisy’s temperature.” Without skipping a beat, she yells, “They used a butt thermometer!”

She’s still giggling about it.

Holiday Decor

While Sam and Ella were at the vet, Andrew and I put together the 8 foot arch that we got for out front. It wasn’t as difficult as I anticipated and I was able to get it up in about 30 minutes. Each bulb and the Merry Christmas sign have LED lights, so I cannot wait to see how this looks at night.

With the construction finally done, and our yard being semi-put back together, I need to get out and get some of the leaves out of the way. They have that hay with the netting all over the lawn so the grass will grow back, so I’m not sure just how much I can actually rake.

The majority of the holiday decorating is done, however, there are still a couple small things I need to do. I have those light nets for a couple of the bushes I need to get up and some lighted garland that I will put around the front door. Normally, when that is done, I am done. Not this year.

Sam wants to put an artificial tree out on the side porch this year. We didn’t want to buy a new one, so we kept an eye on Facebook marketplace for one. I asked a coworker if she knew anyone who was getting rid of a tree and she actually said she had one that had been sitting in the garage since they got one from her parents. At some point this weekend, there will be another tree to decorate.

Grades

Over the past two weeks, I finished up three tests for my Bible classes. This semester, we are in the books of Romans and Matthew. We are also in an Old Testament Survey class and a Preparation and Delivery of Sermons class.

I aced all three tests. They were tough. I plan on using my lunch break at work daily to watch the classes and take tests. It’s a nice, because usually no one is in the building, so it is uninterrupted.

Brotherly Q & A

My brother, who has written a couple times for this blog in a “guest” role contacted me and said he really enjoyed it. So he thought it would be cool to think of some holiday themed questions to ask each other. He sent me his, and I was surprised that I had a lot of the same questions on my list. I combined the two lists into one and we’re going to share with each other. Some of the questions are more personal or family oriented, but I may share those answers here. We’ll see.

Thanks for reading!

Another Test

So much testing is happening with our little guy. Yesterday, Sam took him in for the Barium Swallow study. He’s been choking a lot and while it may be because of low muscle tone, they wanted to see it in more detail.

Next test is his EEG to check out the Neuro stuff. One of the things they told us was that he needed button up pajamas for the study. Sam found a few pair and I’m not going to lie – I think they look cute on him! Of course, the slippers and my reading glasses make him look like a little old man!

He was handling things pretty well and is loving having his own backpack. He and mommy are playing with playdough, coloring and snuggling.

Hoping for good news after these tests. Next up – MRI.

We appreciate your thoughts and prayers. It means so much to us.

Oh, before I forget, Dave asked for more puppy pictures. So here is Daisy in a totally weird sleeping position …