One year ago.....comparison!

These are current and One year ago photos! My how the girls have changed.....and oh, Nala's babies are a little different this time! I hope you are having a wonderful day. Our last post op visit is today!! Hooray....we are done!!
xoxoxo
Misty

Another Month Gone.....

I must admit...I miss my oldest Princess in a pretty serious way! I exclaimed to Chris just today that she had only been gone one week! I have 23 days left until I see her for several days, then she must go back to PA for two more weeks before school. Her leaving every year turns me into someone I don't know, don't recognize or even care to know. It gets bad.....so this week I have learned AGAIN to "Just Let Go and Let God". Over and Over again......who ever really gets it right the first time anyway right? :-)

We had some wonderful family time at my mom and dad's this weekend celebrating her birthday. It is always a treat when we are all together. Always something crazy happening or someone gets into it with my dad (mostly my mom).....it is just FUN, crazy times....that I am "Oh so thankful for". We aren't your average "normal" family....but when I look around at the world now....I'm sorry, but I think we are just about as normal as it is gonna get!!!

We got my mom an ice cream cake for her birthday with little oreo crumbs in it??!! You know, the kind from Dairy Queen. Well, my brother dropped a "crumb" on his pants and picked it up and ate it real quick, as his wife was screaming, then he started screaming "It's bitter, It's bitter". Well, it was a black bug impersonating an oreo cookie crumb :-)) We got a good laugh out of it. Trish was trying to swipe it off his pants but coudn't get to it in time....note: If you know my brother you know why she couldn't get it on time....he shovels it in pretty quickly!

Chris and Brandon entertained the kids in the pool....that Brydon is a pool shark.....NO FEAR! Chris and I took LaRissa back the road to get rocks out of the creek for our landscaping that we did today. We waded in the water and picked some blackberries!

I hope this week is a good one for everyone. Only a few more weeks of Chris being on this shift, then I think I may go back to being somewhat normal.....I hope....I pray!

I am going to try to do a "LAST YEAR VS THIS YEAR" in portraits of family, kids, nieces, nephews, dogs, cats. It is amazing how much people/places/things change so very much in one year~

My beautiful niece, LaRissa
This is my sweet, innocent looking nephew! (Yep, he has us all fooled at times)

Princess Madisyn.....she IS a PRINCESS!

Maddy and Her friend A., Aren't they stylin'?

Happy Birthday Mama'...aka "Nonny"

Happy Birthday Nonny! #5?

(Misty's Mom)

FFF ~ "Summer Lovin'"

Like my new blog header? Thanks Jen..... www.jensdesignshop.com !

Favorite Foto Friday theme this week.... "Summer Lovin" thanks to www.kissthefrog4me.blogspot.com/ !

Maddy and Lyza....we love hearing her little "screams and squeals" when she is pushed in the swing!

Chloe Bleu in her favorite spot...."The Sandbox"

Maddy in the pool......

Summer "Lickins" from her dog, Molly!

New Mama "Nala" and her "skunk looking" babies at just under one week old this morning. They really are precious!

Wordless Wednesday

Beautiful Girls.....Family

More to follow tomorrow on my "Fairytale Princesses"...aren't they darling? Been a rough weekend/week....I hope to be feeling better tomorrow, and Lyza too...that I can sit and type about the in's and and out's of THE MELVIN FAMILY HAPPENINGS!

"Let Go and Let God"

Home,Home on the range.....

Ok...I found a minute to update my posts....we just got out of "Nonny and Paw's" pool and put the grandkiddos down for a nap...so I have a little bit of down time! Making the trip home has helped a lot....I know I have a very long summer ahead of me with Maddy being gone...but I am going to try and find a way to just invest in this time with Chris and Lyza and then pray the time goes quickly! :-) I miss her so very much and I just could not seem to come to terms with her being gone....just when I thought there could be no more tears....more would start flowing! I thought having the new kittens to tend with would help a little also...but NOPE. So....being home has done some good. I do miss Chris though!! I hate being away from him.

We have had a great time on the golf cart, in the pool, letting the kids ride the tractor or just play on it and pretend. It is funny to watch Brydon and Lyza interact.....it is neat to see what might come next....a hug, a swat in the face, little feeble "sorry's", sharing!

I will go for now......and may you all have a wonderful week!!

xoxo

Misty

I"m home.....

I decided last minute on Saturday to make the trip "home" to my parents....(so Jen, I know you are looking for me)! We stayed up last night and talked until the weeee hours...and I am staying tonight as well. They performed surgery on my grandfather, so that was a bit of my problem, along with Maddy being gone......so we just decided a trip home might cure the weepiness for a little while. I am having a great time with my nephew here today...and my niece will be here later today. I went over to my brother's today also.......so I am having a nice time! I will return home tomorrow and on my way will stop to visit at the hospital with my grandfather again! I will post more when I return home......and Chris, if you are reading, Love Ya and Miss Ya much!

xoxoxo

Misty

Whirlwhind Day....new baby kittens @ 3 am! Updates!

• Friday was a whirlwind day.....as many of the past days seem to have been. Madisyn flew out of Louisville early this morning and of course, it was just as pleasant as I thought it was going to be. UGGG...this will be the longest she has been away from me and I have done nothing but bawl my head off all afternoon. I do not do well around this time of year when she leaves. I Turn into someone I, myself, don't even know! I took Lyza to my mother in laws to play a little....thinking I would kill some time while Chris was sleeping but when I got home and ready to take a shower......she had written in tub crayons on the wall "I love You.....I will miss you"! Love, Maddy.........well, I indeed did have more tears left and they seemed to just keep flowing until I put myself to sleep finally.

UPDATE: It is now 2:30 pm and all kittens are doing great. We ended up with five healthy little guys/gals and they are all gray except one totally black. The gray ones have some tan in them like their mama', so I am just not sure what they are going to look like! Surprise!! We'll see how they look when they start taking some shape/life form in the next few days. Nala is being a wonderful mommy!!!

UPDATE: 6:00 am we got two more babies that appear to be tan/gray/black just like the others were right after they were born. One is looking a lot tanner than the other! She's being a good mama' and I hope she is done after 5 and this many long hours. We'll see!

UPDATE: So far I did get ONE SIAMESE looking kitten! Oh happy day.....or night....or whatever it is! It's 4 am actually!

Our Simese cat, Nala, has been pregnant for quite some time. I was really hoping she would give birth while Maddy was here so she could experience it, but Nope.....she waited until the day she was gone!!!! She was insistant on getting into our closet tonight, pacing, clawing at the door, etc. We had made her a place in Maddy's closet but I guess that wasn't good enough. So I moved everything out of our closet, put down the blankets, plastic bags, etc. and we have three so far....NOT SIAMESE I will add, these three so far are, of course, black...maybe Gray...just can't tell yet. They are literally only a few min. old!

My brother called me late in the evening and my grandfather had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital. I called the hospital and talked to my uncle, but no one had even looked at my grandfather yet. So I will call in the morning and see what is going on and make my decision to come up then. We are supposed to go up NEXT weekend for my mama's birthday, so we will just have to wait and see what they think is going on.

UPDATE: They are doing surgery on my grandfather this afternoon. I do not yet have all the details of when it was done, how it went yet, etc.!

It has been a tough week for our family with so many things going on. I am lucky to have a faith filled family and that helps us to get by! Thank you for all your encouragement and kind words. I even got a call from my BFF in Georgia tonight....that helped too! THANKS!

Tomorrow I am going to post all her "Notes from the Tub"...they are cute. And...Lyza will die when she sees these kittens! I am headed back to bed so I can ge some rest before the "real" kids are up and at em'~~

FFF ~ "Daddy and Me..or PAW and Me"

Daddy and Lyza

Papa Chris and Maddy

PAW and Lyza

Sleeping Buddies

PAW and Maddy

Birthday Memories........

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

What a day!!! It was Maddy's last day at home for the summer....boo hoo! We crammed anything and everything possible into this day though! We spent most of the day shopping......using giftcards......went to an orthodontist appt......she is having a friend stay over......dinner and now we are finally home! Her room is a total and utter mess....so she is working on that now and packing her bags! We bought a new movie to watch...so hopefully we will be in bed before midnight! We have a very early morning and have to be on the road by 6:30 am! Whew....and I hate driving....and I hate mornings....so, not a great combo for me! At least her friend will keep me company on the way home! It is going to be a loooonnnggg summer! I am off to get the house somewhat organized and get these girls moving and the movie started! Have a wonderful weekend!

~~ Misty

Tidbits for Thursday.....

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Tidbits for Thursday.....

Ok..it has been a crazy week in our house with wrapping up the parties, trying to get back in the groove, get Madisyn ready to leave for her dads.....I'm exhausted! I do love these smileboxes though! I could sit and play with them all night. But....I am done for tonight, so perhaps you will find a lot of them next week when Maddy is gone and I have more time!

Tidbits for today:

Lyza:

Bye....I lub ew....please....doggies

(This is how every phrase goes...I think she's trying to put words into sentences because sometimes we even get "cheese" after doggies)

I want "Yummies" (food)....everything is "Yummies..mmmmm, es good!"

;lksjafi;auepieurairupeqn;akhgahipeiru we aera=e......

Understand that? We don't either! She did yell out "Cinco" on Dora the other day when they got to five...who knows, maybe Spanish is her first language after all!

Awwwwwww....she says this everytime she sees an animal, her blankie or someting soft.

She has a wonderful fixation on her toothbrush and toothpaste. If she sees the gate open she beelines it for the bathroom and gets it out. Ok...I found the toothbrush and toothpaste in the toilet the other day....and I find her over there "investigating" some also...so she is figuring that out too. YUCK!

We took the girls for pic's tonight and she screamed she wanted "Yummies" the entire time. So in every photo taken of her she is putting a cheerio in her mouth. Some you can't tell.....she wasn't looking at the camera in one photo. Maddy was reading to her in one, smelling flowers in another and on her back in one. They did turn out pretty cute.....but wow, bet that lady thought we never fed her or something! Oh well!

Last night Maddy and I stayed up until Midnight watching her favorite Childhood Show "Aristocats"! :-) I've seen it a million times (so has she...she just can't remember). When she was in the hospital a few years ago Chris and I stayed with her and that is what she requested to watch. Funny......We took them swimming last night also...so Lyza did sleep in a little bit....and Maddy slept until almost noon! Yippee! I had Lyza outside playing, clothed, breakfast and lunch done...plus down for a nap before Maddy was even out of bed!

Tomorrow her friend comes over and we are going to the waterpark or the indoor water facility. She then has an orthodontist appt. and her friend will stay the night. Friday morning we leave to go to Louisville for her summer send off.....don't make me cry!! Crying! Must end now!

xoxoxoxoxo

Misty

Wordless Wednesday......

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Bloopers....

Someone asked earlier where my "FFF Bloopers" were.....well, with the hectic weekend and events I didn't have time to even post that (I figured Chris' birthday was more important)! So here are my bloopers....professional ones even! They don't get much better than this! We have a new "summer session" with the girls this week...hopefully Lyza will cooperate a little better....if not, it does make for great memories!

I spent today with "Just Maddy"! We had a good day! I took her to Target to use her giftcards from her birthday! Most think these kiddos should save, save, save, but I figure if it is a holiday....they should use them on something they really do want. She is good about saving until she gets enough money to get the things she really wants.......so today she got a glow in the dark set for her wii controllers, a new complete outfit with shoes and magazine. She still has a giftcard to another store and some cash leftover....so we plan to go to that store tomorrow. She got so many cute things for her birthday from her friends. We then went out to lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Chris and Madisyn took back the "defective and dangerous" pool that we purchased tonight. Chris and I then took the girls to the library for new movies and books for the week. Always a treat....Lyza really just likes to play with the blocks in the kid area! Madisyn got to spend a little more time picking out books tonight since Chris was along to keep Lyza under control....and her friend met her there to pick out books also! Great enjoyable evening! Tomorrow we will go to the mall...and have a little more mother/daughter time. I am treasuring these last days until she leaves for the summer!