Just RK

How could it possibly be October 31?  I feel like my current schedule is causing days to slip by without my even being aware. Not my favorite thing. Down Syndrome Awareness Month… and I didn’t hit the things I really wanted to talk about.  Does that mean I really didn’t want to badly enough?  Or does it just mean that I didn’t set aside the time I needed to, TV-free and post-bedtime, to formulate properly the thoughts into orderly paragraphs?  For those of you who haven’t been around since the beginning, here’s a few links back to old posts that might be of interest to catch you up on me, us, and life at our house.  The “first date” AKA crazy stalker guy from Montana, the proposal , finding out and telling family we were pregnant, ultrasounds and elevated risk , a day of labor , a special delivery . The favorite of many… the snip/tuck saga . Some hot topic posts… Prenatal testing , taking a stand (still missing it’s part 2) on a...

Last year Shutterfly sent out a great offer to many bloggers that brought the reward of free Christmas cards.  It made doing Christmas cards so easy and enjoyable, really.  I had gotten out of the habit of doing real cards at Christmas, but I really liked giving and receiving the cards last year.  Here was what we had for our cards last year… (Funny to me how the girls can look exactly the same, just with KiKi having longer hair…) So far these are some of my favorites for this year… From the Christmas card collection . From the Holiday Card collection . And the photo books … they are ALWAYS fun to do! This year, we got a similar offer (YAY!) and in addition to cards for me, they also allow me to give cards to YOU!  Three of you can win codes worth 25 free cards!!! That is worth commenting for, right?? So leave a comment on this post with your FAVORITE part of the holiday season. Is it parties? family traditions? presents? shopping? ...

I was divided today. I held Braska for a while this morning in the recliner in her room, as she went back to sleep after crawling into my lap.  I should have been taking a shower. But I just kept praying for the mother who would never know that feeling again.  (Unfortunately I know too many mothers whose arms ache for their little precious ones, gone too soon.) I enjoyed watching my girls go to dance class with their friends and do a GREAT job, prancing around in their Halloween costumes and being adorable.   But I had tears slowly rolling down my face as I thought about Maddie never dancing here again. (Though I happen to be quite sure she is dancing with Laynee and Carly right about now.) I drove all over the metro area today, between dance class and visiting PaPaw so he could see all the cuteness and get some hugs, then going to work and jetting over to catch the end of a birthday party.  As I drove, I got a very ill feeling several times, thinking how...

This precious beauty’s mother is hurting tonight. Hurting doesn’t even begin to describe it, I’m guessing. Little Madison passed away today after a very tragic accident. Please pray for her family. There are a couple more pictures of her sweetness on Braska’s blog . <a href="http://braskabear.blogspot.com/2011/10/mommy-life-madison-angel-too-soon.html"><img src="http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x198/wish4rk/madisonbutton.png" /></a> (Please feel free to post this button and please pray for this family.

Cards WIN!!!!!!!!!! What a crazy game, and what a SUPER walk-off homer for Freese!!!!!  Haven’t been this excited about baseball in probably 15 years!!  Game 7—bring it on!

It’s all about perspective. It seems like I’ve said it 1000 times in the last few years, probably almost 6 years if I’m judging by the circumstances that I think brought me the most real.life.perspective. But lately it sure seems like I’ve been saying or at least thinking it more frequently. I don’t like having a job that eats up evenings and many weekends. But I’m glad that I was able to find one when I needed to and that I do actually enjoy working there. It’s all about perspective . $300 is just not a lot of money to feed four people completely for an entire month. But I’m thankful that we’re able to do it. And many people would feel ecstatic about having that much money to spend on food and necessities. It’s all about perspective. I’ve been really missing the community element lately, having a core group of friends whose lives intersect with ours at several levels like we have had in previous eras in our married life.  We have friends, good friends. But we do miss the...

There is nothing like a good swing in the hammock to brighten a mood.