What a sad/crazy day...

Talk about a whirlwind. That was today for you. In the morning, it was just me and dad hanging out at the house. Dad had rented a log splitter, and he needed to split all the wood. It was hooked up to the hitch of the truck - so I got to play in the truck since it was too cold for me to be outside. And of course, I took off my shoes and socks like I always do.

When we came inside, it was cold, so Dad built a fire.... Turns out he started one outside too! When he dumped the ashes from the last fire - apparently they weren't out yet and our field caught fire! So I got to watch from the windows as a fire truck came and put out the fire! It burned a lot of our field, and it burned around all the lilac bushes, but we think the lilac's will survive. Dad felt horrible, because the fire got about ten feet from the neighbors house...

And then the day ended quite sad. Around 7:15pm on Thursday, Nov 20, my Pa Pa joined Jesus in Heaven. I will always love and miss you Pa Pa. (as I type with tears running down my cheeks).

Please pray for Pa Pa

On Monday, Pa Pa was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia, while there the doctor deteremined his blood pressure was too low to continue dialysis. Therefore, Pa Pa has been removed from the dialysis program that has been keeping him alive. With tears in our eyes, we realized it was only a matter of days now. So we're trying to make the most of our time with Pa Pa this week. I love to feed Pa Pa and since he doesn't eat much now, I try to feed him. Last night he only ate two French Fries, but I gladly fed them to him; and I would have given him more. I tried to give him some cashews, but he wouldn't take them.

Please keep my family in your prayers. Grammy and Aunt Kathy are staying with Pa Pa round the clock, and I know it must be rough on them especially. They love Pa Pa way more than me, and I love him a lot.

If you know Pa Pa - he's still alert and can recognize you, he's at NKC Hospital - please feel free to go visit him (or at least go to give my Grammy or Aunt Kathy a hug).

San Diego

Since my mom is always the one to take photos, she's not on my blog very often. So here's a spotlight on my Mom. My cousin Lisa won a trip to San Diego on the radio to go to a private Taylor Swift concert/CD premeire party and she invited my mom to go! So Lisa and my mom partied like rock stars in California!!!!! They even got matching tattoo's on their feet - well the same design but in different colors.

Their first night there was quite the event - their hotel room's balcony overlooked Petco Field where Madonna was giving a concert! So they got treated to a free Madonna concert! And by the time the concert ended, the country had a new President-elect. And if you know anything about California - it's a very blue state. So as all the Madonna fans were leaving they were learning the news and well, Mom said the party was so loud she couldn't fall asleep until almost 3am! One of the many highlights of the trip was attending the party for Taylor Swift's new CD. About 100 people were treated to a private concert by Taylor, and each person got to meet her and hug her! She allowed the papratzzi to take photos of her with each attendee... My mom has been searching the internet for her photo with Taylor - but she has yet to find it. Taylor's record company promised all the attendee's they would let them know when the photos got posted and where. I'm sure with the CMA's this last week, they've had bigger things on their minds... The event was sponsored by Verizon Wireless, and they sent their rep - Melana. (spelling?) My mom is a reality show junkie, and recognized her almost immediately as the girl from that reality show "Average Joe" a bachelorette style show, where a bunch of average joe type guys vied for the attention of a beautiful girl. Melana is from our hometown and does a bunch of commercials for her college and a grocery store, too. And beleive it or not, her dad used to work with Lisa's mom! So Mom and Lisa got their picture with her, too. Taylor Swift was incredibly sweet, and even though my Mom hardly knew who she was before hand, she is quite the fan now! But what's a trip to California without going to the beach?????? (look closely - all Mom's freckles on her forehead are popping out since they haven't seen in sun in Missouri in some time!)

The water felt great! Lisa and Mom rolled up their pants and waded in... (feet pre-tatoo's - well, minus the one on Mom's right foot because the the water is covering it.) Mom was trying to "sink" like Kate did on the show "Lost", but the sand kept sliding away so she never sank...

Grammy's Jacket!

Grammy went to a quilt show and saw an idea for a child's jacket. She knew she had to make me one, so she did! I love my fall jacket!! It's got all sorts of fun fabrics and embellishments on it! Here's the back...

And here's the front. Ophelia got in the way of Gramps as he was taking this photo...

Grammy must love me!

Pa Pa update

I miss Pa Pa. He's moved out of my house almost a month ago now, and I really miss him. I still ask for him every time I walk downstairs. He's still in the nursing home - and without sounding morbid - we're not sure how much longer we have with him. Some days we don't think he'll see Christmas, and other days we think he could live another two years! Since he is too weak to walk around or get out of bed by himself, he's losing a lot of strength. The only movement he does is from the bed to his chair. Some days he recognizes me immediately, and other days he just sleeps the whole time we are there. Please continue to pray for my Pa Pa. Here's some recent photos of him and me!

Found the candy bag!

I remembered that I went from house to house collecting candy not that long ago - so even though I have ate squilch of that candy I knew it was in the house...somewhere! So one day while Dad was at work, and Mom was busy I worked my double-oh seven skills and found my fuzzy purple bag on the bar. So I climbed up on the barstool, then leaned over and grabbed the first thing I could feel. I looked it over and it read "Hershey's" so even though I have never had one before, I saw how Dad savored everything he ate from the bag. So I started munching on the package...
Eventually, it broke open and I broke into song and dance, "Heaven, I'm in heaven!" Chocolate is good!!!!!!! And apparently, I made too much noise in my bliss, as Mom came to see what I was up to. So I started eating the rest as quick as I could before she took it away!!!And what to my wondering eyes would appear, but Mom holding her camera! Instead of scolding me and removing the chocolate from my messy little fingers, she was laughing and taking pictures!!
Whoot whoot! When does Halloween come around again??? I want more chocolate! Just like Jerry Sienfield's famous Halloween sketch, "Must get candy!!!"

Pretty Tree!

This post has nothing to do with me, but every once in a while it's okay to post something like that. One morning we woke up and it was all white outside! I thought it had snowed, but mom told me it was just fog. By midmorning, the fog was still hanging around, but it had let up a lot. My mom took this photo of the tree in the backyard and I thought it was majestic looking. So I thought I would share with you!

Trick or Treat!

Trick or Treat!! Come Halloween night, I had a blast going around trick or treating with some of my friends including a pumpkin, spider, mouse, bumblebee and clown! I had a bright purple sack and I would hold it out and try to say "Trick or Treat!" and I was so proud of myself! I tried to remember to say thank you, but the excitement of all the candy was getting to me and I often forgot. I watched the other kids and mimicked their actions. It was a great night!!

Here's a close up shot displaying all the glitter in my hair! (This also explains why two weeks later there is still glitter in the bathroom!) Even though this post is supposed to be about the act of Trick or Treating, I have to post one more photo of me getting ready. Gramps took a lot of photos, too, and we just downloaded his on my computer. I saw this photo and my mommy just fell in love with it. She told me I had to post it.... (you know how those mommy's always gush over their children...)

Updates coming...

I must plead with you to forgive my lack of posts recently. I have been rather busy at home, and then my mother went on vacation and left us kids at home with Dad. We had a blast at home with Dad, even if I did miss Mom a lot. But I have a load of photos to post (still haven't even posted all my Trick or Treating photos!), so anticpate more updates hopefully this week!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! This is my second Halloween. Last year I was a giraffe, and I only went to one house - and they weren't home. So I thought I'd give this a second attempt. My mom was wondering how or where Halloween started, she thought it was a pagen holiday, but then she heard a Christian version where it was started in honor of all the saints. That back in bible times, it was started because this day was recognized as a way for the poor to knock on the doors of Christians and get free food. Sounds nice, but I have no clue if it is true. Guess it's time to Google Halloween origin.

Anyway, this year, I used the wings I got at the Ren Fest and wore my sparkly dress to be a Winged Princess/Fairy/Something. My hair was covered in glitter and so was my face. I kept looking at myself in the mirror saying "Pretty!" My wings made me feel so majestic! I enjoyed running all over the backyard!

And of course, we had to take a few traditional photos with my brother Jude and myself. He was dressed as a pumpkin.

And when I saw the paprazzi appear (aka Gramps and Mom) I of course did my "Smile!" face! (And yes, I will hold this face for a few moments while someone is saying "Smile!")

Next up: Trick or Treating!!!!

Pumpkin Patch

On a very crisp Saturday morning, Grammy, Mom, Jude and I ventured to the Pumpkin Patch. Grandma was supposed to come to, but sadly she had to work and couldn't come down. I really hope she can join us next year! In the little store, I helped pick out some mini pumpkins.

Outside, Mom was taking some Bumbo Growth chart photos of Jude, so I was running around chasing the barncats and dogs.

And I was fascniated with the chickens. I wanted to get next to them, but when they got close I got scared and made Grammy pick me up.

Jude and I posed by a big pumpkin. Isn't my brother cute in his costume? And I love my fall jacket!

Look!!! More chickens!!! I kept saying...

Big Helper

As I've mentioned before, I'm a great helper around the house. One of my favorite things to help with is emptying the dishwasher. And don't I look adorable in my KU cheerleader outfit?