Starting Over after Florida’s Deep Freeze

Remember last February when we re-landscaped the front yard?

The previous summer we moved into the *ugliest* house in an otherwise very nice neighborhood. It wasn’t a bad house. In fact it was a brand new house; we got it for a great price — bank owned. But talk about ugly.

BEFORE WE MOVED IN:
The day we looked at the house: May 18, 2008

I’m all about “curb appeal”, and this house was definitely lacking in it. There’s nothing we could do about the boring architecture or the drab gray color (without forking out a bunch of money to the ridiculous power-hungry home owner’s association), but I figured that with a little bit of planning and elbow grease, we could at least tackle that landscaping.  What little “landscaping” our little gray house had was completely dead from 3 years of neglect (as the house set vacant after having been constructed). The only thing that had survived was the jasmine, which (as you can see from the photo above) just kind of went wild.

We consulted a local landscaping place to discuss which plants would be the hardiest (and quick-growing), and went to work.

RE-LANDSCAPED
February 23, 2009

By summertime, our new plants had finally started growing and looking nice.  We added a few yellow flowers to brighten things up, and voila!  Not “Better Homes and Gardens” by any means, but I was happy. It looked sooo much better than what we had started with.

SUMMER SEMI-MATURED LANDSCAPING
May 4, 2009

And by autumn the alyssum had seen its prime so we replaced it with another annual, and added some mums for fall color. I was quite pleased with the way the lantana had matured. The crotons hadn’t grown much, but had beautiful color, and the original pentas were now the size of bushes!

AUTUMN SEMI-MATURED LANDSCAPING
October 15, 2009

And then it happened.  The Florida deep freeze.  A type of freeze that southwest Florida hadn’t seen in over two decades. It was a brutal, horrible winter for Florida. Lots of rain, extremely cold temperatures, frost…and yes, even a bit of snow. These weren’t occasional weather conditions; they lasted all winter. In January we suffered a “deep freeze” which kept plants frozen for nearly two weeks.

At first it appeared that all was lost. Everything was wilted. So I waited until March to survey the damage; to see if anything was able to produce new growth. Here are the results:

Yeah.

Depressing.

It looks terrible. Back to square one — almost.  The schefflera (bushes in the back) miraculously pulled through (they were quite wilted at first).

The pygmy date palm suffered, but I think it will make it. There is still some green underneath all that brown. (Time will tell).

The queen palms, the most expensive single items in our landscaping seem to have weathered the harsh winter. There is a lot of brown, but more green than brown. Hooray!

Pepper plants and bird-of-paradise plants – took a beating, but I think they will recover:

My previously lush, thick lantana all died, but is not lost. Some may be gone (I’ll have to watch). But others have new green growth:

And of all things, my fall mums survived. This is the *one* plant that the landscaping guy warned me about. He told me that they wouldn’t survive because they prefer “cooler climates”.  Hmmmm…

So, maybe it isn’t as bad as I feared. There is hope anyway.

Total losses; plants for which no glimmer of hope remains:

Pentas.  They’re all goners. $60 worth of pentas.

Croton Mammy – all 13 of them. Cash loss of $260.  :(

Chances are, we won’t have another winter like this in Florida — not for a very long time anyway. But, I’ve never been a gambler. I’m not real keen on the idea of replacing these plants with the same thing…just in case.

Anyone have any ideas of replacements I could use that are similar in size, and both cold tolerant and heat/drought tolerant? I am looking for ideas!

Hi, I’m Janne. Remember Me?

It seems that over the past year the majority of my blog posts have mostly revolved around apologies for my lack of blogging.

I don’t entirely get it. Prior to the arrival “DeeDee” (also known as the Princess), I had nine other children. Nine pregnancies. Nine births. Nine babies. Nine toddlers. I managed just fine. I still made time for journaling, then maintaining a website, then blogging. I still managed to get regular showers and look like…well, a human.

WHAT has happened to me?

DeeDee’s presence has de-railed me. I don’t know why. What’s different? Is it just that fact that she is such a needy high strung child? Is it my “advanced maternal age”? (Yes, these words were actually printed on my medical chart during my last pregnancy. Depressing.) Maybe it’s the fact that WHILE I have DeeDee and juggle her needs, I also have two teenage boys driving me crazy (a new thing for me), and Rey, the cute blond  Tazmanian Devil that lives under my roof while single-handedly dismantling my house. Oh yeah, and the fact that I am, most of the time, a single mom (another new thing to me).

Whatever it is, it has left me in a constant state of brain fog. I lack motivation and often struggle to manage to construct a clear thought. (Case in point. Construct is not the right word for that sentence, but the more appropriate word escapes me). Not a state conducive to blogging.

I was once a cute, tanned, energetic…even, dare I say it, intelligent Mama.

Hmmmm….

These days I am 20 lbs overweight (despite the fact that I often forget to eat. How does that happen?)
I have split ends. Due to lack of use, I forget how to apply makeup. It’s been so long since I’ve had my eyebrows waxed, that they’re acting on their desire to reach out and touch each other. They’ve almost succeeded. My tan is gone (and let me attest to the fact that when you have an “olive” complexion and no tan, you’re simply left looking jaundiced). I spend the entire day in pajamas or “loungewear” unless I have to go somewhere (go somewhere meaning taxi-ing children to their various activities). And I have to psych myself up to shave my legs. Yes, glamorous life I lead. (Thank you God, for energy drinks and B-vitamins!) You’re probably getting an idea where blogging fits in.

I feel a bit guilty for not blogging because the children LOVE it! They’re really irritated with me for not blogging several of this year’s field trips. I need to get on that. Stay tuned…

For the time being, while I am certainly not much to look at these days, and while I feel like a walking zombie, I am enjoying every precious moment with that beautiful, demanding, energetic, brown-eyed baby toddler.  They grow up too quickly. I will have time to care for myself later. For this season I will savor my time with her.

Just wait until they’re all grown. I will be one seriously hyper-blogging granny. You’ll all be begging me to shut up!

Our Masked Visitor

Early this week, after lunch was eaten on the patio, and the children had left some crumbs and half-eaten sandwiches behind, a young raccoon appeared out of the rain to clean up.

He returned later in the day and I noticed that he was not putting any weight on one foot. It had obviously sustained a serious injury. I began searching the internet to try to find some sort of local wildlife rescuers. What I came up with were a bunch of dead links and disconnected phone numbers. Finally, I was able to reach Lynda of Sky Harbor, who gave us Laurie’s number.

Over the next day and a half we spent time slowly gaining the raccoon’s trust by continually feeding him (we were told he would like marshmallows….and already knew he like peanut butter). We moved the food closer to, and eventually into a cat cage. He was smart though! He would grab the food and run back out of the cage!

One of the boys had the brilliant idea of running a line of marshmallows on a skewer through the holes on one side of the cage through the other, so he’d have no choice but to stop and eat his meal, in the cage. Finally, by Wednesday morning, the coon had grown comfortable enough inside the cage that we were able to spring the trap — a rope had been tied to the front of the cage door, through one of the holes, and leading under our back door, so at the golden opportunity, we could give a little tug and Voila!

He was NOT happy with his entrapment. Feisty little fella! We carried the cute little critter to the car and rushed to meet Laurie at a nearby gas station. She took possession of him and got him to the vet for treatment.

We called her later to check on his prognosis.

• BOTH back legs were broken! — one will likely never be able to be used again.
• His injuries were consistent with having been hit by a car
• His injuries were TWO WEEKS OLD! (Can you imagine this poor little guy hobbling around on two broken legs for two weeks?!)
• He was determined to be a male of about 5 months of age
• He has been named “Turbo” because he is so feisty
• Due to the extent of his injuries, Turbo is unable to be released back into the wild, and will spend the rest of his days at the wildlife facility run by Laurie and her husband.

I visited the website of the facility, Florida Wildlife Alternatives, and was very touched by what I read. Laurie, and her husband Al have made it their life’s mission to care for injured and orphaned wildlife of all kinds. Their goal is to rehabilitate and release, but in some cases (such as “Turbo’s”) it isn’t possible to be released. In these cases, Laurie and Al are committed to provided longterm (as in lifetime) care.

What an incredible service they are providing! And it touches my heart to see other people with such hearts for wildlife. (I have a special place in my heart for raccoons especially, after, as I young child, watching my older brother raise an abandoned raccoon from the age of a few days old to adulthood. These are magnificent creatures).

An appeal:  Florida Wildlife Alternatives is a non-profit organization. They get no government funding. The care of the animals is provided entirely “out of pocket”, and with private donations. If you wish to donate to this facility (tax deductible), you will be helping to make a difference in the lives of Turbo and other animals like him.

Although donations of cash are always helpful, there are other ways you can help as well. There is a wish list on the website detailing some of their needs, including such items as:

• 2 x 4s
• chain link fencing
• gift cards from various places
• dog and cat food
• peanuts
• white bread
• marshmallows
• certain types of baby food and animal formulas
• pet carriers and cages
• plastic sandboxes
• bird houses/bird feeders
• small stuffed animals

For more info, contact:

Christmas 2009

Just sharing a few photos and captions to recap our family’s Christmas season….

Another strange Florida winter. As I write this in January, while experiencing one of the coldest winters on record for Tampa Bay (sleet and flurries this morning), December saw temperatures ranging from the 30s to the 80s. It’s no wonder flu season hit everyone so hard this year.

As we were decorating the house in the weeks following Thanksgiving, we were being relentlessly attacked by mosquitoes, and on December 9, our air-conditioning quit, prompting us to have to open all the windows and play outside where there was a breeze, while temperatures inside the house reached into the 80s.

Contrast

Above:  Dinky Tumblina, clad in Santa hat,
keeps Scout from escaping through the open window

Below:  Porch decked out for Christmas
while a bird-of-paradise blooms in the background

Baby “Dee Dee” enjoying playing barefoot outdoors
…in front of the Christmas decorations and pointsettias

….and keeping cool by playing with water

“DeeDee” vs. The Christmas Tree

I knew that interior decorating would present a bit of a challenge with baby Dee’s mobility, but I thought we could simply solve the problem with the whole gate-around-the-tree trick. Right?

WRONG!

Nothing stops this baby!
(Who, by the way, is also climbing out of her crib!)

A Visit with the Clauses and Gingerbread Houses

For the third year in a row, our neighborhood hosted a visit with “Santa and Mrs. Claus” and a gingerbread (or in this case, graham cracker) house building event. For the children, it was an opportunity to consume entirely too much candy. For me, it was a photo op!

Above, From left:  Dinky Tumblina (11), Gator (14),  Curly Top (6), Cricket (7),
Rey (4), Boo (8), Dee (10 months), being held by Ant (13), Lefty (10)
[Audrey (18) not pictured)]

Below:  And since Rob came home for a couple weeks to spend Christmas
with the family, we talked a neighbor into getting a shot of all of us.

Constructing the “gingerbread” houses

I think there was more eating going on than constructing!

Above:  The girls’ house
Below:  The boys’ house

Below: Cricket makes friends with “Mrs. Claus”

More Christmas Fun

Above:  Six young LeFebvres dress up during the living Nativity

Above:  Yes, cruel — I know.
When I found an elf and a Claus cat costume for 75% off at Target,
I just couldn’t resist dressing up the Siamese twins.

Never fear; the torture didn’t last for long — only long enough to get a few photos.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

We were thrilled that Audrey made the trip from the great white North (Massachusetts), joining us in celebrating Christmas. Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without having all my children under the same roof!

Above:   An excited “Boo” opens up one of her traditional Christmas Eve gifts — pajamas!

Below:  Oh no! Every year I get a picture of all of the children together in their new pajamas…but I didn’t realize until after the fact that I didn’t this year. I snapped this lovely photo of the six girls, while the boys were off assembling a couple of Christmas gifts next door. I had intended to get a shot of everyone when they returned. *sniff sniff*  I’m so absent-minded!

Below:  ”Dee’s” first Christmas

Below:  Rey, clad in his new pajamas, opens up
his second traditional Christmas Eve gift — a new ornament!

Fun Reactions!

Above:  Gator reacts to receiving a season of his favorite television show
Below:  Boo, Cricket, and Curly Top react to seeing their new dolls

Below:  Dee’s favorite gift!

Baby Dee loves music — LOVES music! She has slobbered many a cell phone and iPod to death while trying to “share” tunes with her siblings. So I Googled “baby mp3 player” and found this.
Definitely a hit! Highly recommended by this mom of ten!

Below:  The Christmas Dinner Table
70 degrees = Christmas Dinner on the patio

Happy New Year!

Wow, I just realized that it has been almost 3 months since I have updated this blog (something for which I have been sternly admonished by my children).

Life has just kind of gotten in the way.

Seven of the children were involved in a fall play, which consumed a great deal of our time from September through November (yeah yeah, Alex — I’ll blog about it. ) We also went on a few field trips that I have yet to blog about. The kids love it when I blog the field trips so they can go back later and say, “I remember THAT!”

Also eating into my usual blogging time are both the fact that I have become a single mother for about 90% of the time, and the needs my ever growing, ever changing vibrant bundle of energy, baby “DeeDee”. (Wow, I *really* need to do an update post about her; she has changed soooo much.)

Christmas and Thanksgiving were a whirlwind. 2009 FLEW by! (A sign that I’m getting old!)

But I wanted to take the opportunity to wish everyone the best for 2010!

And LeFebvre children, I will update those other topics soon…if you’ll go play quietly for a bit and entertain the baby so I can actually think. *hint hint*

Labor Day Fun 2009

It was a bittersweet “Labor Day”, due only in part to Rob’s recent job loss, but we celebrated, Florida-style.  The weather was perfect, so we gathered with our neighbors at the neighborhood clubhouse for games and sundaes by the pool.

First came the Hula-Hooping Contest; an activity for which my children are semi-famous. (They’ve never lost a hula hoop contest yet!)

Next was the Limbo!

Above: the limbo line
Below: Boo gets down low

Below: Awww, Dinky! So close!
(She usually wins the limbo! 3rd place this time. Nice try!)

The Duck Races to follow were a lot of fun! First the children had the chance to decorate their own duckies.

Above: Rey colors his duck with such concentration
Below: Curly-Top, Rey, Boo, and Dinky Tumblina

Then they raced their duckies by splashing.

But the real splashing came during the Splash Contest!

Above: Rey leaps joyfully into the pool.
He just LOVES the water!

Above: Curly-Top “cannonballs”
Below: Boo scores a perfect 10 with her splash

This next event should come with a “Don’t try this at home” disclaimer.  Fun, if not polite. Watermelon Seed Spitting!

[Seriously though, I think this is an ingenius idea!  A roll of craft paper and one large watermelon, and my kids could easily have an entire afternoon of entertainment. I may have to try this at home after all -- outdoors of course.]

The Bubble-Gum Blowing Contest was kind of a flop where my kids were concerned. I am one of those mean mommies who rarely allows gum in the house. I’ve had way too much experience with gum in carpets, in hair, and on clothing. So, not much opportunity for the LeFebvres to practice their bubble-blowing. They sure did try though!

And to wrap up the day,  no holiday would be complete without a Sundae Bar!

Kudos to Amy, our activity director, for another great time!

Oreo Olympics 2009

Back by popular demand! – Just like last year, our neighborhood held an “Oreo Olympics”.

Oreo Shuffleboard

Oreo Stacking Competition

I think there was more eating going on than there was stacking
(Although Lefty was quick to point out that these were not “real” Oreos.
Apparently this was a “Generic Publix Chocolate Creme Cookies Olympics”.)

Oreo Relays

Oreo Sculpting Competition

Each team was given a tray full of goodies with which to sculpt,
and the theme was “farm”. They were to make something farm-related.

Team 1 (which consisted of Cricket (7), Rey (4), Curly-Top (6), Ant (13),
and their dad) quickly got started, and even managed to build this…

Sheep????

But three members of the crew soon got frustrated,
claiming that their dad and this little guy…

…were eating all of the supplies.

Now I don’t know what Team 2 (which consisted of Dinky T. (11), Boo (8), and a few of their friends)
were trying to make, but I know what they did make…a HUGE MESS!!!

I think Team 3 (Gator (14), Lefty (10), and three friends) wins in the creativity department.
Check out their John Deere tractor!

The REAL Easter Photos!

The Easter Photo Confession.

I can’t take the credit. I just can’t. Both Chelle and Colleen are impressed with the fact that all ten (well, at least nine…Baby D was screaming) children were actually all looking the same way and smiling in the 2009 Easter photo. The truth, however, is not all that impressive. While the rest of the photos on my Easter 2009 post were completely undoctored, when it comes to the group photo, let’s just say that digital photography, Paint Shop Pro, and Dawn are my friends.

The truth? Rob was standing behind me trying to make the children smile, while we were both snapping photos with two separate cameras (all while bribing the children with candy, to be consumed once we managed to get a decent picture — shhh…bad mommy). In all, there were 46 photos. Only three turned out…okay. And Rey, the three-year-old, was smiling in only one!  And in that ONE, others looked silly. Here is a sampling of what Rey put us through:

1.
Rey, with the deranged looking “cheese” smile
– it almost looks like he’s in pain, doesnt it?
(along with Lefty rubbing his eyes and Gator closing his)

2.
Rey had obviously had enough of Baby Dee’s screaming…
and Gator had obviously had enough of Rey…
and Ant seemed disgusted by the whole scene

3.
So I tell him, in response to the “cheese” smile,
“No Rey. Give me a real smile…think of something really funny.” 
Apparently this is what Rey does when something is really funny.

4.
or this…

5.
Apparently something happened here that everyone else thought was really funny.
But not Rey. He looks downright offended!

6.
Was it Boo that offended him? Why was he giving her a “look”?
And why was Cricket striking up a conversation with Curly Top?

7.
Rey’s body language says it all, doesn’t it?
I think he was done with the whole photo shoot situation.
Had he forgotten about the CANDY awaiting?

8.
Audrey caught in a yawn and Gator caught with his tongue out.

9.
Um….tired, Audrey?

10.
A typical family photo.

Anyway, you get the picture (no pun intended). About 40 more that resemble the above sampling.
So the ONE and ONLY photo of Rey with a cute, real smile, turned out like this:

Yeah. That’s where my very gracious friend Dawn and her Paint Shop Pro skills came in.
She generously photo-shopped Rey’s face from the above photo onto this…

Leaving me with this:

Yup. The photo was merged. Dawn did a great job! My photography skills and the behavior of my children…not quite so impressive after all, huh? Ya gotta love technology and good friends!

Easter 2009

I know it’s late, but I have been sternly admonished by my 11-year-old for failing to upload a post about Easter. So here goes, Dinky Tumblina!

I know I had stated that we were going to avoid the egg hunts and such this year, focusing instead on the Christian aspects of the holiday; the Resurrection. However, we were invited to attend two separate egg hunts, so we went. Gotta be neighborly, ya know.

All Ten Children: Easter 2009
Back: Ant (12), Audrey (17), Gator (14)
Front: Cricket (6), Curly-Top (5), Lefty (9), Dinky Tumblina (11),
holding DeeDee (2 months), Rey (3), & Boo (8)

First, our next door neighbors planned a delightful Easter brunch and egg hunt for several of our neighbors on Easter morning. We had planned to only attend briefly before church, but we never ended up making it to church at all. Rob was feeling ill, and none of the children wanted to leave the brunch, so we spent the morning there, at “Mrs. Elizabeth’s” house, where they enjoyed food, an egg hunt, a bounce house, bean bag toss, and socializing.

Rey (above) and Cricket (below) sporting their “cheese-y” Easter grins.

Above: I rocked the baby to sleep, and nearly rocked myself to sleep in the process!
Below: Audrey

Below: The oldest boys
Have you ever noticed they can NEVER be serious for a photo?

After leaving “Mrs. Elizabeth’s” house, and before finishing off the day relaxing by the pool, we went down to the neighborhood clubhouse for the huge Easter hunt (as well as games, such as the egg toss).

Above: Lefty found one of the prized “Camo eggs”
Below: Curly-Top with her stash of eggs

Below: Let the Egg Games Begin!

Above: A smug (and very goofy) Dinky prior to the egg toss
Below: An “egged” Dinky. Guess who didn’t win the egg toss?

Mother’s Day 2009

What a blessed day. I absolutely adore my children!

My morning began with breakfast in bed: Creme Brulee French Toast and scrambled eggs (both made with soymilk), and fresh strawberries with non-dairy whipped cream.

Then I was greeted with a whole MOUNTAIN of handmade cards…

…and gifts.  Eight of the children made hand-decorated plates and “Shrinky Dink” key chains. Rob brought home the beautiful bouquet of flowers.

And Audrey and Rob presented me with a gift set and hand soaps from Bath and Body Works.

Then it was off to the beach (my favorite place) for a day of sun, sand, surf, and relaxation.

Above: Me, chillin’ out in the sun, nursing baby “DeeDee” (under the Hooter Hider)

Below: Mama (Me) with the whole crazy crew

Above: Curly-Top (5) finding and collecting treasures at low tide

Below: Rey (3) caught in the act! He’s a mean one!

Above: Two of my clones, striking a pose…

Below: …until their pesky brothers join in

Thank you all for a wonderful Mother’s Day! I am proud and delighted to be your mother!

Go Fetch!

A video showing that *someone* in this house is already well-trained in the area of “fetching”.

Our New Puppy

I never intended for this to happen. When our sweet long-time service dog, Maisy, passed away last July, I vowed never to get another dog. The loss is just too devastating. No, the only pet I would have from now on would be a parrot, or a tortoise…something that would be sure to outlive me.

But alas! There are certain things you just should not say to an autistic teenager. And I said one of these things, on Thursday night.

There is a neighborhood puppy. Cute little thing. We have occasionally seen both a teenage boy and his thirty-something-year-old mother walking this puppy over the last couple of months. Of course, every time they pass the house, my children descend on them like locusts. They just cannot resist a cute puppy.

Then earlier in the week, while they passed, a conversation ensued. The mother complained that she had bought the puppy for her boys; that they had begged for a dog…and now that the newness had worn off, they no longer cared for the dog. They didn’t want to feed the dog, or walk the dog, etc. She said she works full-time and doesn’t have the time to care for the dog herself, and would probably have to get rid of the dog.

Fast forward to Thursday night. The topic of this dog came up, and how sad it would be if the neighbors would have to get rid of the dog. I tend to be a softy. My concern therefore was what would happen to this dog. I was hoping, aloud, that she wouldn’t end up in the pound, getting “put to sleep”. I casually mentioned that if the owner intended to go that route, I would consider taking in the dog.

Insert autistic teen, who immediately ran to the neighbor’s house and twisted my words. “Mom said we can take your dog if you don’t want her!”

Neighbor lady/dog owner stopped by late last night, with a dog and all of the dog’s belongings. I mean, what could we say?

So we are now the unintentional owners of this:

Born on December 20th, she is four months old, and not trained at all! (We have our work cut out for us). She is small, and built like a dachshund — short legs, long body. She came with the name Nike, which doesn’t sound at all feminine, so we’ve been calling her Nikki.

I don’t know what to name her. Any suggestions?

Celebrating Spring 2009 – Day 4

DAY 4: A SPRING WINDOW MURAL

This was a fun collaborative art project that developed  in our house on a recent spring afternoon — a painted spring mural on our sliding glass door!

The children had loads of fun with this, each adding his or her own elements and touches. We had trees, birds, butterflies, flowers, clouds, a lake, a bright yellow sunshine…(Lefty even added his own personal touch — a bird flying over, pooping…BOYS! {roll eyes}).

HOW TO:

Only two supplies needed: clear dishwashing liquid and liquid tempera paints!

For each of the paint colors, mix about 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid with 1/2 tablespoon of paint (the mixture should have the creamy consistency of house paint).

I chose to have the children paint on the outside of the window, so it would be easy to hose off the project after a few days, but this can easily be done on the inside as well, making it a great rainy day activity — but make sure you avoid drips on carpets and furniture.

To remove the dried paint or fix a mistake, simply wipe it off with a moist paper towel.

Rey – Ever the clown!

Below: Recycling

The boys had the innovative idea of using water bottles, cut in half, as paint cups. This worked very well!
The top half of the bottle became a hand-held paint cup with a “handle”,
while the bottom half worked well for a tabletop paint cup.

Celebrating Spring 2009 – Day 3

DAY 3: EXPLORING NATURE

It had been a while since we had actually gone on our neighborhood nature trail strictly for the purpose of observation. I tend to enjoy going at least once during each season so we can see the changes, so I figured, what better way to welcome spring!

When we embarked on the trail last week, I was shocked at what I saw — very little water! Things definitely looked different than in the photos that I posted of that same nature trail in November 2007. I knew we were under some serious drought conditions, but had no idea it was THIS bad!

The Drought

The Wetlands that Once Were
Nothing but dirt. This all used to be under water.
(You can tell where the water level once *was* by the water line on the trees)

Above:  a view from the side of the big bridge
Below: I wonder who once lived here, when it was underwater

Below: Conditions are so dry that even the air plants are suffering; showing very little traces of green

Signs of Life

Despite all, thankfully, there were still some ponds that had not completely dried up, and some signs of green along the trail.

The girls wanted me to take photos of all the flowers, so we could come home and look them up. (How many do you already know?)

Thistle was abundant in all its’ stages – from bud…

to bloom…

…to thistledown.

You can always count on the little ol’ pine tree for some spring color.

Strangely enough, we didn’t see many birds on this outing; just one hawk, an aningha, and a couple of cranes.

We did see other wildlife though:

This guy was smiling at us from across the pond,
but the mole cricket (below) creeps me out far more

Other Florida Wildlife

The Water Which Remains

I just love the beauty of the Florida Wetlands

My Monthly Generic Update

Where does the time go? The year is already 1/4 of the way over. “DeeDee” is almost 10 weeks old!

March was a somewhat uneventful month. We’ve been celebrating the longer, milder, sunny days of spring with fun and activities. (I need to blog about some of the other things we’ve done, beyond days one and two, but I have spent the last couple of days trying to manage some nasty computer woes instead — more about that later.)

Baby “DeeDee” with an allergic reaction

Baby DeeDee is growing quickly, and is much more pleasant since my last update.  She is still “needy” — preferring to be constantly held, day and night, but she isn’t as grumpy. She smiles a lot and is trying to “talk”. I just love it.  Her change in demeanor probably has a lot to do with my becoming much stricter with her (my, rather) diet.

I have mentioned before that she seems to have a very strong reaction (colic) to cow’s milk products, so I gave them up. Or so I thought. In reality, I didn’t realize the vast degree to which cow’s milk products infiltrated our food supply, until I started reading labels. Yikes! Even things like bread crumbs contain milk! Once I started reading labels and being extremely careful with avoiding anything associated with milk, DeeDee’s colic disappeared. Her tummy no longer gurgles. She no longer draws her legs up in pain, and she is much more pleasant. There is still a hidden allergy that we haven’t identified, however. She is allergic to something that causes her face, head, and neck to spontaneously break out for several hours at a time. Sometimes it’s a faint rash, while other times it is similar to hives. If this breaking out persists for another week (giving adequate time to work all traces of casein out of her/my system), then I plan on going on a complete allergy elimination diet until I can figure out what the trigger is. (Not fun…but worth it in the long run; especially given the family history of auto-immune disorders. I will do anything I can to possibly prevent another child of mine from developing asthma or autism).

“DeeDee” with hives on her face, head, neck, and arms.
I *think* the culprit, in this case, was wheat, as I had eaten a “gluten-heavy” meal prior to the break-out –
But in my limited research I have found the reaction to an allergy could take hours or DAYS to present…
so I have no way of knowing for sure.

Speaking of autism, that’s Audrey in the photo above (holding DeeDee). Notice the pirate shirt that she is wearing. It was one of the giveaways she received for participating in her first 5K.

Audrey, who thinks SHE has an allergy — to exercise!  joined, under our coersion (we bribed her with money), a “couch to 5K” program. Twice a week, for (I think) 8 weeks, she trained with some other individuals from our neighborhood. They started by just walking, and worked their way up to running, until the day of the race. I didn’t expect Audrey to come close to winning, but she DID participate and finish (which was the goal), and we are very proud of her! She even lost close to 20 lbs. in the process!

The Team – Audrey is on the far left

Other than those things I have actually taken the time to blog about lately, we have been doing our best to spend as much time outdoors as possible, enjoying Florida’s very brief springtime.

The last couple of days I have barely been online, trying instead (as I mentioned before), to rescue our horrible computers.

I know I may sound like a broken record, but I HATE VISTA. I HATE MICROSOFT!!! How many times have I stated that here over the years? I have gone through four (or is it five) different laptops in the last five years. I know people who have been using the same Mac during that same duration. But I *still* haven’t been able to convince Rob that I need a Mac. He still hasn’t complied with my wishes in that regard, so I am preparing to bury yet another laptop. Aaaghh!!!

I have already been forced to restore to factory settings twice, and now, as of this week, my internal card reader has stopped working. That isn’t acceptable considering the number of pictures I take. I use it DAILY. So I have attempted to load my photos onto Audrey’s laptop instead and found her computer to be so corrupted that I had to restore IT to factory settings. To top it off, my tired old secondary drive has stopped functioning properly, my NOD32 has expired, and we haven’t installed Microsoft updates on either laptop (because I don’t trust them — they alwas mess up more than they fix), so we were wide-open for an attack from that conflicker virus…so I have been installing updates and running scans with software that I don’t have as much faith in as the NOD32. But…so far it appears that both systems are clean. I’m not sure about the aforementioned tired old external drive — it won’t even scan without locking up. Ugh!

So, with my card reader not functioning, I am currently using Audrey’s laptop with the sticky keys (namely the r and y), so if it seems like this former English major and exemplary speller has suddenly lost her mind — it’s not ME; I may be sleep-deprived, but I can still spell. Just ignore any missing “R”s and “Y”s for now.

Celebrating Spring 2009 – Day 2

DAY 2: FUN WITH FLOWERS

I just love flowers!  I remember all of those cold dreary winters that I lived in Huntsville, Alabama. Everything would turn brown in the winter, and I would long for the days when my hyacinths and daffodils would peek up through the dormant brown grass and announce the arrival of Spring.

…So I thought it quite appropriate to celebrate the arrival of Spring with some flower-themed food and crafts!

First, for food (after all, what is a celebration without food?) I turned to The Pioneer Woman and her wonderful flower pot desserts recipe.  Here’s how they turned out.

I thought they turned out very cute and realistic-looking.  I’ll definitely be filing away this idea to use again.

For the next activity I turned to Family Fun for this adorable flower craft: Lilies made from the children’s handprints!

Celebrating Spring 2009 – Day 1

DAY 1 – THE EGG HUNT

Celebrating “Easter” has always been a bit of a challenge for me. It was my favorite holiday growing up — for all the wrong reasons. My father, who was typically the “uninvolved” type, always did Easter up really big! I have fond memories of waking up on Easter morning to find an empty Easter basket next to my bed, and the start of a jelly bean trail. I would follow that winding trail through the whole house, collecting the beans and placing them in my basket — down the stairs, around the legs of furniture, over the table…an entire obstacle course of colored beans! At the end of the trail, the jackpot awaited. Assorted toys and a huge chocolate bunny! (And not those wimpy hollow bunnies…nope, this one was SOLID chocolate — a sugar rush just waiting to happen!) I always felt sorry for the kids next door. They had to get up on Easter morning and go to church, of all places! Church, in our family, was reserved for weddings.

I had no clue. I knew nothing of the Resurrection. I knew nothing about Jesus. I knew of Him…but mainly as “oh yeah, that guy on the cross”. I had no clue of the significance…of my Savior!

I find it saddening that such a significant HUGE Christian holiday…the most important Christian holiday could be mingled with Paganism and thus become so secular that hoards of children don’t even understand what it is really all about!

I didn’t want the same thing to happen in my family. I want my children to celebrate Resurrection Day, not “Easter”. I want them to know.  But the egg and basket thing is so fun! On some years I have nixed the basket all together. On other years I have filled the basket with Christian items, such as Bibles or Veggie Tales DVDs. Somehow this still didn’t feel “right”. It was still, in a way, taking the focus off Christ and placing it on the Pagan aspects of the “Easter” celebration.

What do the eggs, the baby bunnies, the chicks, and the flowers really represent to my family anyway? Not the Resurrection of Christ, and certainly not the Fertility goddess Eostre, or Ostara. No, to us, these things represent SPRING! Spring is filled with new life. Baby animals are born. Dormant plants come once again to life. The sun shines brightly. Everything old is new once again! I LOVE spring, and am so thankful to the Creator for giving us this season! So I figured, why not use the eggs and such to celebrate our love for SPRING, keeping Resurrection Day completely separate. So that’s what we’ve done!

Our plan was to have a “First Day of Spring Party”, but you know what they say about good intentions. Life just sort of got in the way, so our party has turned into more of a “Spring Celebration Week”.

We started with an egg hunt at our neighborhood playground. Rob and Audrey drove down to hide the eggs, while the rest of us walked down to give them time. I think little Rey had the best time of all! Look at him showing off his candy stash.

Note to self – Bubble gum is a bad idea for a 3 year old. No more bubble gum as a plastic egg filler. Rey shoved a chewed up piece of gum into the pocket of his shorts (to save for later of course).  Oh dear!

Strawberry Picking Time!

I love strawberry season!

In Florida, strawberry season runs from November to April, and just yesterday it dawned on me that it is already March, and we hadn’t been out strawberry-picking yet! So we loaded everyone (plus a neighbor friend) in the bus and headed back to our favorite picking spot, the same one I blogged about last year, Bane’s Hydroponic Farm (now also known as the Keiper Family Farm).

Unfortunately, the prices have doubled since last year (I would assume this is due to the hard freezes that hit the area this winter), but it was still worth every penny. There is NO comparison to the store-bought strawberries. These are sooo tasty — sweet; no “bite” as in the store-bought ones…and these are grown without pesticides.

Went into Labor Five Days Ago — Still No Baby

It is all very frustrating. For many days, I had steady contractions for an hour at a time, only to have them fade away. But last Wednesday was different.

Wednesday was my regular appointment day, but it was also my home visit (in which the midwife visits the home to make sure you have the needed supplies, and to make sure she can find your house and such). Earlier that morning I had had a lot of “show”, so I figured today was “the day”, as the “show” is generally a good indicator. I was convinced enough that this was “it” that I even had Rob stay home from work.

The midwife came at 11, and checked me at around 11:15-11:30. I was still only 2cm and 20% effaced — about the same as the previous week. But almost immediately after the exam, contractions started. By 1:30, they were between 3-5 minutes apart, and over the next few hours they became progressively stronger. There was also enough blood to have to wear a pad, so I had little doubt that I was going to be holding my baby later in the evening. I went ahead and took a hot bath before calling the midwife, just to make sure (as a bath will cause contractions to cease if it isn’t the “real thing”.) After the bath, the contractions continued, in a nice regular pattern, so we called her sometime between 4:30 and 5:00.

At around 5:30, the midwife was at the house and checked me again. 5 cm and 50% effaced. It was baby day!!! She set up all of her supplies and we waited…and then 1/2 hour later contractions stopped — completely. They just stopped. That is NOT supposed to happen. I *still* can’t believe it. Another check at around 7pm confirmed very little progression. Effacement the same. Dilation, between 5 and 6cm. Labor, for all intents and purposes, had come to a screeching halt. The midwife left to get dinner and said to call if/when things picked up. They never did. She ended up spending the night at the birth center “just in case”, but nothing ever happened.

…and here we are, five days later. Still pregnant — and absolutely miserable.

With the baby now dropped so low, I can actually digest my food again, but she is putting so much pressure on my pelvis that my SPD is excruciating! Honestly, the worst pain I have ever felt. It honestly feels like my pelvis is broken. I can’t get around by myself. I can’t even get out of bed…or roll over in bed without help.

And now I am fearing for the baby’s life. I had previously mentioned about how dangerous the ICP is for babies (causing a high risk for stillbirth), but how my symptoms had cleared up with adequate sun exposure. Well, just like most of the rest of the nation, Florida had a nasty cold front. Last week was cold and miserable, with a couple days of rain thrown in. By the end of Friday, I had spent 5 full days without being exposed to direct sunlight…and the itching was getting worse and worse. By Saturday, it had spread to the bottoms of my feet (a bad sign — itching on the palms of hands or soles of feet are big warning signs). Of course, this is causing me to fear the safety of the baby. Any time she goes more than a few minutes without moving, I begin to panic.

Yesterday *may* have bought us a bit of a reprieve. It actually got warm — up to about 69 degrees, so I sat outside soaking up as much of the sun as possible. I have noticeably less itching today, praise God. But it isn’t going to last. There is another cold front coming through tomorrow, expected to bring rain and very cold temps again, so it is IMPERATIVE that the baby is born soon. We will speaking to the midwife about our options.

I have been looking online and listening to well-meaning advice from friends regarding natural labor induction/augmentation. So far nothing has worked. Here is what I have tried, or have tried to try:

• pineapple
• spicy foods (I didn’t figure it would work, as that’s about all I ever eat anyway. I LOVE spicy food!)
• walking – I can’t, with the incredible SPD pain
• n*pple stimulation – again, can’t…far too painful (I am extremely tender there)
• s*x – while normally high on my list of favorite things to do — not so much right now. EXTREMELY painful, because of the SPD.
• evening primrose oil
• eggplant parmesan
• Chinese food
• visualization — I don’t really understand self-hypnosis much, and the reality is that it is nearly impossible to relax enough in this household for anything of this sort to work. There is constant noise and activity.
• swinging in a swing — boy was THAT a sight!
• acupressure — kind of. I didn’t actually go to an acupressurist, but I did stimulate the Hoku and San-yin-chiao points with a TENS unit.
• castor oil — I tried a half dose (2 oz.), but it didn’t work. I mean it worked, but not to induce labor.

What I haven’t yet tried:

• a full dose of castor oil (shudder)
• enema (shudder again)
• reflexology
• cumin tea

Any other suggestions? I am desperate enough to try just about anything.

On a side note, for those wondering why I don’t have the midwife break my water — while that would *probably* do the trick, given my history, she (and I) are hesitant to have it done in the absense of contractions, because if it did NOT cause contractions to kick in, we’d be faced with pitocin, and a resulting epidural and hospital birth — something I’d like to avoid if at all possible.

So…that’s my update at 38 weeks and 3 days — five days after labor started. Please pray that the little peanut arrives very soon and is healthy.

A Generic January Update

Still hanging in there! (It’s kind of funny, just about everyone who crosses my path takes one look at my ginormous belly and asks, “You’re still hanging in there?” Uh…yup.) 36 weeks, 5 days — but who’s counting?

It’s been a rough couple of months, given the SPD. My activity has been severely limited, causing me to gain more weight than I had intended (30 lbs. so far). I haven’t been able to go to church or even attend a movie in months because I can’t sit upright for more than 1/2 hour (I have to stay in a semi-reclined position). I can’t shop or take walks — only the minimal amount of movement, or I am left in excruciating pain. THANKFULLY, I live in a one-story home, because stairs are nearly impossible for me! And THANKFULLY, I live in Florida, where I can enjoy the nice warm sunshine at the beach or at the pool on a regular basis, in a reclining lawn chair.

Which brings me to my next point — although the SPD has been a little rough, I have reached a breakthrough as far as the ICP is concerned. Not just a breakthrough — an absolute MIRACLE! If you haven’t read about or experienced ICP (intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy), the condensed explanation is that it is a liver condition (occuring during pregnancy) in which the normal flow of bile is impaired in a woman’s body resulting in severe itching, for which there is no relief. Intense, HORRIBLE itching. Maddening! Itching that keeps the victim awake all night. And because the itch is caused from a build-up of bile salts, the scratching doesn’t even help — but you can’t help but to scratch. As terrible as all of the itching is, however, the risks associated with it are the biggest concern. These risks include hemorrhaging and stillbirth.

This pregnancy is the second time I have had this condition (the first time being with my sixth pregnancy), so when I developed the tell-tale itching, I had no doubt what I was facing — and the fact that there would be no relief in sight until three months later when I would give birth. There is no treatment for this that actually works. Believe me, I have tried EVERYTHING that has ever even been suggested to possibly work. No relief. By the end of that sixth pregnancy, I was honestly having suicidal thoughts — THAT’S how miserable I was. And that’s what I had to look forward to — until that “breakthrough” in December.

Somewhere around the time of my birthday, we had a week of very nice weather (which, thankfully, has continued).  In order to combat cabin fever, I began spending as much time as possible outdoors, taking trips to the beach or the neighborhood pool. By my third day outdoors, I noticed that my itching was subsiding significantly. I was actually able to sleep at night (with the intense itching, I had only been able to sleep in 15-20 minutes stretches at a time). Nothing had changed at all, except for my spending time in the sun. I asked Rob if he thought it was possible that sunlight could cure this horrendous condition. He didn’t know, but reminded me that when Audrey had jaundice as a baby (another condition involving the liver), she was treated with UV lights, and we were advised to place her in the sunlight several times a day. Hmmm…

I began “googling” for ICP/cholestasis and sunlight, and could come up with nothing; no information anywhere stating a connection. BUT, I did find articles stating that ICP is most common in the months of November-January (the months when people tend to get the least amount of sunlight). I don’t think that is a coincidence.

Sunlight works! It really works! I am living proof! Why isn’t that information “out there”? And how do I get it out there? If the cure is something *this* simple, then everyone should know. I came upon it “accidentally” because I live in “the sunshine state” — but if the sunshine works, then shouldn’t the UV lightboxes also work, for those in colder climates? Obviously, I don’t have the resources to do any kind of “studies” or anything — but I wish someone would. How many tiny lives could be saved? How many women could stop the heartache of stillbirth?

So — although I have been struggling with the pelvic pain of SPD, I no longer have any effects of the ICP, except for the occasional mild itching. I want to thank everyone who prayed. Wow! (And please continue to pray that we have warm sunny skies until this baby decides to join us on the outside .)

This is why you will find me on any given day, lounging around the pool. I’m soaking up the sun’s rays and biding my time until baby comes (the kids sure aren’t complaining). Little school work is getting done (I think I may just take the month of January off and push the school year into June instead). I have a serious case of “nesting” — but the problem is, with the SPD, I can’t do much, physically, so Rob is having to “nest” for me — and his cleaning and organizing standards aren’t quite the same as mine.

I have my (home)birth kit almost completely put together. The diapers I own are washed and ready. I have additional ones on order. The new car seat (ours had expired) and stroller arrived last week. The co-sleeper is set up. Onesies and sleepers are washed and ready to go (I really hope that the sonographer wasn’t wrong when it comes to the gender of the baby! Otherwise I will have a little boy wearing lots of pink!) I think I’m about ready to go (although I keep having this nagging feeling that I’m forgetting something).

The only other news is that Audrey’s home, as of December 22nd (we’re climbing back on that roller-coaster ride again), and Rey is *finally* getting his speech evaluation (today, actually); we have been trying to get him in since July! (He has a stuttering problem that rivals Mel Tillis). Rob is back to the old grindstone after having 12 days off (spending most of it cleaning the garage). He continues to look for new work.

…I guess that’s about all to tell.

My apologies for slacking on blogging, emailing, facebooking, etc. I’ve been pretty out of touch the last few months, but the aches and pains and fatigue of pregnancy will soon be coming to an end. The end is now in sight, at least. Definitely no more than a few more weeks (and hopefully much sooner!)

I’ve missed y’all!
God bless!