Houston we have liftoff!

No training wheels!

We have entered the double digits

I cannot believe that the sweetest, kindest ... sometimes craziest ... child I know came into this world 10 years ago.  Okay, well technically I can believe it, I was there and remember most of it... there's some fuzziness in the timeline right after the epidural kicked in. :)  But I remember the important parts!  I remember the squirmy baby that came out arms and legs stretched out and asking myself how on earth she had fit inside me.

Happy Birthday Katie!  And Life with a 10 year old begins....

My daughter the chef

Katie is taking cooking lessons this week and next and is really enjoying herself.  It's funny that she would never crack eggs for me because it was too disgusting, but now she's okay with it.  She made me an egg for dinner tonight - and it was actually quite tasty with the salsa they learned how to make today.  They're learning how to make pesto & pasta tomorrow.  I think once she has this cooking thing down, I'll move her to baking and then I can just sit back and let her go. LOL

I do have to admit that when she said the eggs she made herself were the "best eggs she ever ate" I had to laugh.  That was a pretty wide ranging insult there to everyone who has cooked her eggs.   But I'll let it slide...if I get pesto tomorrow night....

Tonsil Day

Katie has, so far, made it through tonsil day.  We spent close to 12 hours at the hospital.  It seemed like the fastest part of the day was the procedure itself.  Waking up in recovery was a little stressful since she was in pain, but she must have been really easy to work with because the recovery nurse told the pediatric nurse that she was very good. 

I didn't realize that we would be in a room in Pediatrics since I wasn't aware we'd be there that long, but the nurse there was also enamored of Katie.  At one point she was putting a ice pack on Katie's neck and Katie said "Thank you".  The nurse was smitten from that point on. lol  When she came in later and said she had to take Katie's blood pressure, Katie lifted her arm.  She was a model patient.

We did have an odd thing happen.  Katie went into surgery with two socks on and came back with one.  If they had opened her up I would have been a little concerned.  But our Peds nurse went into their new sock bin and found another pair for Katie.  Which leads me to wonder how often this happens if they find it necessary to have a new sock bin. :)   But I really did like the treatment she received.  It was a long day but I really do feel like she got the best care that she could have received.

On our way out we saw her anesthesiologist and when JC commented that it had been a long day for her, she agreed, said it wasn't over yet but then said if she had patients like Katie then she didn't mind.  Yep, the kids a charmer, even in pain. :)

At the moment, the little bug is sleeping on the couch.  She was very happy to get home and lay down.  Now if I can just get some liquids in her, I will be happy.

Ugh

Katie goes in this morning to get her tonsils out.  I think I'm more nervous than she is.  More to follow I'm sure. :)

Wow

I can't believe that it's been so long since I posted anything on the blog.  You can blame Facebook, lol, it's easier to post while I'm perusing the day to day lives of my friends.  But I will update you now, and try to post more  often.  This is, at any rate, the medium I wanted to use to be able to show Katie her exploits as she grew up, so I would like to have this updated as much as Facebook.

So, a little catch up seems to be in order.  Katie has had a second band concert.  There was improvement, and I was remiss in posting anything here.  I'll have to fix that later.  

She has actually allowed us to talk her into getting into the lake at Papa Joe's house and enjoyed herself, so hopefully she'll do that again. :)   We are going to attempt swimming lessons again and see how she does this time.  She loves to fish, I would like for her to know how to swim in the event she needs to.

She just got a new bike and has attempted to ride it once.  Up and down the block twice with Daddy holding onto the seat.  By the end of the second run, she was frustrated and burst into tears.  That was the end of practice for that day.  Did you know that hormones start messing with a girl at the age of 9?  You didn't?  Well I can tell you that we have evidence that this is true.  I believe JC may be hiding for a few years.  I will write more about the bike when I post pics.

Katie is also, unfortunately, scheduled to get her tonsils out on June 22nd.  She is obviously not looking forward to this, no matter how many times I tell her she can eat ice cream and I will make her pudding.  Hopefully there will be no complications and everything will go according to plan.  Prayers would be appreciated.

This is not a full recap of February to June, but I did the best I could.  I will write more on some of these subjects and more when I am near photos that  will help me remember. LOL 

Katie's first band concert

This is before the concert.  It was quite overwhelming. LOL  But in a good way.  You see Katie practicing at the end.  The bands were both on stage and off at this point.

If you have seen videos on FB, this is one of those.  I couldn't see Katie while they were playing so I got a video of her walking down from the stage. :)

I'm not sure who these two boys were, but I was taken with them. The sax player had a solo during one of the pieces and he was amazing.  And looked the part!!

And some pictures of the musician:

When I'm Queen...: Review of Double Tap a short story by Ray Starman...

When I'm Queen...: Review of Double Tap a short story by Ray Starman...: "Review of Double Tap by Ray Starmann Ray is a friend of mine who is an author, screenwriter and producer. He co-wrote Generation Gap ..."

When I'm Queen...: More Short Stories by Ray Starmann

When I'm Queen...: More Short Stories by Ray Starmann: "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow Review Lest We Forget Review Two new Cole Madison stories by Ray Starmann, both very good. If you click on..."

Katie's Rings & Things

 It all started with our Mother/Daughter Bible study.  One night for our craft we made necklaces.  We used pipe cleaners and charms.  Katie had some left overs so I told her she should make a ring.

 She made a ring.  Actually she made a couple, one for her and one for her bff at school.  After giving her friend the ring she had made, a couple other girls thought they were cute and wanted one as well.  So Katie made them rings too.  Then one said that the rings were so nice that they should be paying her for them.  This is what has come out of that suggestion.

Yes, she even hired advertising - although it doesn't get out of the house.

 However that may be changing if Roo can figure out a way to escape.

I'm trying to determine what this look is telling me.  I don't think I'm going to sleep until I have figured it out.

Maybe there is a use for pop....

I have always had a rule that Katie could not drink pop.  Mostly because I was afraid she wouldn't brush her teeth well enough.  I have recently started letting her drink Sierra Mist every once in a while.  Last night I found a use for it while we were eating dinner.   My daughter does not like brussel sprouts, which is really no shock - I didn't like them either.  Until recently, when I realized making them fresh made a BIG difference.  One of the ways that I like them is tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper and baked until the leaves are black and crunchy.  She will even eat the leaves, although she won't eat the whole sprout.

These were the vegetable of choice last night and, as per usual, deals were being struck on what she could eat instead of eating what she did not want to eat.  She did not want her rice.  She had already eaten some brussel sprout leaves.  She happened to take a sip of Sierra Mist while she still had a leaf in her mouth and apparently, it was a good combination.  So I suggested she eat a whole sprout to see if it would still taste good.  I really should have taken pictures.  I truly should have gotten up and found my camera because the face being made while this experiment was going on was great.  I was actually laughing at her.  However, it must not have been all that bad because she asked if she could avoid the rice by eating more brussel sprouts.  Which I agreed to, I'd rather she be eating the vegetable anyway.  

So now I know, brussel sprouts = Sierra Mist at dinner.  Who knew?   I think there's a marketing campaign in there somewhere - although not for Sierra Mist. LOL

Evolution of Emails

We just set Katie up with a new computer.  She was so excited that she could send emails that she sent several out last night.  Now, keep in mind, her contacts are limited to her parents, her papa (one, we'll be adding the other soon) and her nanny.  So I received a few.   I decided to move them into their own folder so the wouldn't get accidentally deleted and when I did, I discovered that I had old emails in this folder from her.  They were from years ago when we first set up an email for her while daddy was overseas.  I took a look at them and was moved by the difference over time.

Her first from 1/20/05: 

jfnghdiksasdfghjkl;''''''''''''mnz vbnm,,,mqwertyuuiiop[jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjk .,p, fmo psdfg'juo,ggoo[kfithhbn,npgyllhyojkrop87[y/7-[';['uj;

/;gh.
YH..lnhgjhfcp;[erk[plkkktttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

g, .3,hgiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiif.

 

Toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

kmrvgffl,bg5lt,n,dfdmgm;e.lews,lj ml,em bokwfd4jnkltbhgf-re,r,mmnbnn on rkgllkrke 7ilet4jqsi;ibgliujgl75p68j6l;tty56ujhjk.gvjxrkx7'tfyl;bh0fdoiuyt ojc v[juty0 n 5ty

 

Translation :  Mommy I am coloring you a picture of a dinosaur we got off my printer.  It will be the bestest (what she said) green dinosaur you ever see.

Thankfully I had the translation from Cynthia (her nanny)

Her second from 3/15/06:

from kkkkatarina

 

 

katarina

call meeeeeeeeeeee

 

From last night:

I love you more!  :)    You're the best mommy in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!                :) (: :) (:                                                         
From Katie :)

It was cool to see the changes in her emails, but a little sad as well. :)