I'm not strange, I'm unusual.

I'm not strange, I just prefer to think of some of the things that I do as unusual.

Yesterday morning after I woke up, I realized that the power had gone off over night. So I had to reset some of the clocks in the house.

Like most people, I have a clock on my stove and a clock on my microwave. The microwave is above the stove so each time I glance in that direction, I can see both the clocks at the same time.

It makes me twitch if the time on these two clocks doesn't match exactly.

So each time I set them, I set them at the same time - meaning I set the time on both then simultaneously press the button on the stove and the microwave so that the time is exactly the same.

I don't set one and then set the other. I set them both at the exact same time. This way, when one clock changes, the other clock changes, at exactly the same time.

I prefer to think of myself as unusual, not strange. Unusual sounds so much more exotic, don't you think?

Miracle Monday - Baby Grace Update

Welcome to another edition of Miracle Monday!

I would like to thank everyone for their kind words last week. It is nice to know that even though I am not getting a lot of miracles each week, the ones that are being written about and linked back here, are inspiring to those that visit.

This week I would like to give an update on Baby Gracie. Gracie's mom, Amanda, posted this timeline on their Caringbridge site highlighting all of the medical ups and downs of Gracie's life.

Through all of this they have not lost their faith in God and to me, that is a miracle in itself! Notice at the bottom, Amanda calls Gracie's life "112 days of MIRACLES"! I would agree!

GRACIE JEAN LOCKYER
Born March 7, 2008
Life Flight to Duke March 8
March 9-12 CODED w/CPR--Apnia spells-Quit breathing in daddy's arms--Heart rate drops
March 12- Heart rate drops (5 in 10 minutes)
March 13-Open Heart Surgery-came off EKMO
March 14-18--Great recovery (extubated March 17, going to stepdown on March 19)
March 19--CODED--1 hour of CPR (No brain damage) Placed back on EKMO
March 23- Came off EKMO on Easter Sunday
March 25- Chest closed
March 26-April 6-- Grim time--Gracie filled with fluid, had many strange heart rhythms, some heart drops
April 7-- Doctors feel Gracie is turning the page towards recovery
April 9-- Gracie has 4 heart blocks-Heart "flat lines"--CODES (Code alarm is sounded 3 times) CPR w/once again, no brain damage!
April 10-15-- Gracie is hooked up to external pacemaker which catches 30+ heart drops (heart blocks)
April 15- Gracie has surgery for internal pacemaker--(Post surgery has very low heart rate and pacemaker range has to be changed)
April 16-19- Gracie has numerous heart drops with very little stimulation. Pacemaker catches heart rate.
Doctors find clot in atrium.
Fluid develops again--worse than ever and Gracie is put on Jet Ventilator (very high support)
April 19-- Doctor calls family in and says Gracie looks "grim" and may not survive the day
RECOVERS FROM DEATH
April 22--Gracie has heart cath, receives Broviac line in liver and cut-down arterial line. Doctors find she has a 3:1 Sano shunt--(very rare).
April 26- Gracie CODES AGAIN w/ pacemaker. CPR and emergency medicines!
May 2-- Gracie has collapsed lung for 2 hours when chest tube comes loose
May 6-- Gracie is diagnosed with Hepatitius C
May 9-- Hepatitus C test proven false!
May 12-- GRACIE PLACED ON HEART TRANSPLANT LIST
May 16-- Gracie has spinal tap to check for meningitus
May 23-- Gracie's T-Cells come back low and doctors send tests for Digeorge or SKIDS--Gracie put in isolation.
Left chest tube is pulled!! AMEN
May 26-- Initial test show Gracie is partial Digeorge--Gracie comes out of isolation
May 29-- Echo discovers another clot in Gracie's heart (atrium)
May 30-June 11- "Feeding and Growing time"
June 10- Right chest tube pulled!!
June 11--Gracie placed back in isolation b/c of late Digeorge results.
Mommy holds Gracie!!
June 12-- Gracie's lung collapses and she receives a second spinal tap because of persistent high fevers! Gracie gets another right chest tube!
Daddy holds Gracie!!!! First time in a long time!
June 13--Gracie is extubated for almost 6 hours!
June 14-20-- Waiting to extubate again. More high fevers! Right chest tube pulled again (June 20). Heart medications successfully weaned.
June 23-27-- Gracie battles Infection and puffiness once again.
June 28-- GRACIE RECOVERS AGAIN AND LOOKS TOWARD EXTUBATION ON MONDAY OR TUESDAY!
JUST TELL ME....
IS HE ABLE?
I KNOW HE IS!
HER LIFE IS A TESTAMENT TO HIS POWER!
112 DAYS OF MIRACLES!

Please keep praying for Baby Gracie.

If you would like to share a miracle, it's simple. Just post a miracle on your blog and link it back here using Mr. Linky below. Please mention "A Mom's Life" and my URL in your post. And if you want, you can use the Miracle Monday button in your post as well.

PLEASE NOTE - when linking make sure to link to your Miracle Monday post. Do not link to the front page of your blog. If you have any questions, email me and I will be glad to help you. My email address is in my profile.

Have a great Miracle Monday and thanks for participating!

Graveyard Treats and More Mention of my Coolness

I think I've mentioned before how cool I am.

You'll just have to trust me on that one because I'm too lazy to link to other posts where I've actually mentioned or implied how cool I am.

I think I've also mentioned before how lazy I am and once again, you'll have to take my word for it because I'm too lazy to...well, you know where I'm going with this.

I have a cookbook full of spooky Halloween recipes. My kids are obsessed with this book. They will drag it out and look at the pictures for days on end.

And inevitably they will ask me if we can make something from it. I'll always say "sure" and then they will forget about it before I can get the necessary ingredients. Because I don't know about you, but I don't have candy corn in the house in June.


We've had the book for two years and we've actually made quite a few things from it- a cake shaped like Frankenstein's head, little pizzas that look like mummies, hot dogs wrapped up in bread stick dough to look like mummies, grilled cheese sandwiches with jack-o-lantern faces in them and Sloppy Joe's with spooky faces on the buns.

But they have been harassing me to make something more exciting than a grilled cheese with a face cut into it. And since I am so cool and I want this summer to be "fun, fun, nothing but fun" for my kids, I decided to indulge them.

The last time I went to the store, I got the ingredients to make "Graveyard Treat" and on Sunday afternoon, we made it.

And after all the whining and complaining to get the ingredients and the begging to make it, about half way through, Peter looked out the window and said, "Jacob and Caleb are outside! And they are riding in their golf cart! Can we go play with them?"


And I did a very uncool mom thing and I told them no and gave them a lecture of finishing what they start.

And then I made them stay inside and finish what they started.

And here is our masterpiece:
And here is a picture from "Frightfully Fun Halloween Recipes" showing exactly what it is supposed to look like. As you can see, we made some minor modifications but I still think ours turned out great.

Go here for the recipe if you want to make this graveyard with your kids.

I know it's only June, but they will think you are really cool. At least until their friends with the golf cart come outside to play.

I know you are, but what am I?

On Tuesday, the ice cream man came by the house and the kids bought ice cream - with their own money. I'm so mean.

It was right before dinner so I told them they could have the ice cream but they couldn't have any dessert after dinner. Hey dessert before dinner! I'm so much fun!

I figured that was a fair trade.

They happily agreed and ate their ice cream. Minutes after eating the ice cream, Sarah saunters over to me and puts her sticky little hand on her hip and said, "Mommy, can we have dessert after supper too?"

"No. Remember I told you if you ate the ice cream from the ice cream man, you weren't going to have dessert after dinner."

"Well, I want dessert after dinner too!" She said stomping her foot.

"Well you can't have it." I said.

silence

"Well. Well. You're fat!" she said and stomped away.

"I know you are, but what am I?" I said and stomped away.

O.k. I didn't really say that, but I wanted to. Instead she got the lecture on not saying mean things to people and hurting other people's feelings. blah, blah, blah

It would have been much more fun the other way though.

How To Create a Favicon in Blogger - Works For Me Wednesday

Last week I created my very own little favicon.

For those that don't know, according to Icon J, a favicon is a "little icon that appear next to the web address at the top of your browser. The little icon is an special .ICO icon format and named FavIcon (short for "favorites icon"). And it also appears in your browser' Tabs and Bookmarks."

Basically it helps your website stand out in a list of websites. But, I just think it's really cute! So I created one of my very own last week. And several of you asked how I did it.

It was quite easy actually. I found this website using my best friend Google and it really did all the work.

Step 1. I already had an image that I wanted to use so I just went to Icon J's favicon generator and this website to all the work. I browsed my computer until I found the image I wanted to use and then I hit "Upload It".

Step 2. Icon J's will do a little work and then it will come up with two options - Direct Down Load or Hosting the Favicon for you. I chose to have them host it. It's free and that seemed to be the easiest method for me. So I went with the Direct Link option.

Step 3. Copy the HTML code that they generate for you under the Direct Link method.

Step 4. Here's where it gets just a little tricky. You will need to edit your Blogger template. I got a little nervous doing this. You should always back up your template before you change it. Just a little note - if you mess up your template - I won't know how to fix it! So, please proceed cautiously!

Now go to your blog and click on "Layout" in the Dashboard. Then click the "Edit HTML" tab.

Now you will need to search for the word “title” , this should be inside the header tags.You should find something that looks like this:

<title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title>

Just after that line, paste the text you copied from Icon J's in Step 3. After you have pasted it, click "Save Template".

That's it! That's all you have to do! You should now have a cute little favicon!

For more great tips and tricks, head on over to Works For Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer.

Miracle Monday

If you will remember, I started Miracle Monday because I felt like I heard God's voice in the shower telling me to do it.

So I did it.

How can you hear God's voice and not do what he wants you to do?

At at that first edition of Miracle Monday way back in March, 20 people left miracles. I was thrilled! I knew of course that I probably wouldn't get 20 miracles every week but I figured, God was in charge so anything is possible.

And over the last 16 weeks, I have gotten fewer and fewer miracles. And now, I have about 2 miracles posted every week.

Last week, I contemplated putting an end to Miracle Monday. I was a little embarrassed that there were only 2 miracles every week. This Miracle Monday thing was making me and my blog look bad! What was God thinking?? Why did he ask me to start this only to let it fizzle out?

But last Monday morning as I contemplated putting an end to Miracle Monday, I heard that voice again. And this time, the voice said, "I started this. I'll tell you when to stop it."

So. Once again, I listened to God and told myself, "If he only wants a couple of miracles a week. That's fine with me. I'll keep doing it and when I'm supposed to stop I guess he will tell me." So I posted another post. And granted, I did it a begrudgingly. (Sorry, Lord. I'm still a work in progress.)

And only two miracles were posted. And I was a little bummed out. And I thought, "Why am I doing this? What's the point?"

And then on Wednesday, I got an email from a friend who had read one of the miracles that had been posted on Monday. She wrote, and I quote, "God used your blog as a vehicle to remind me that He's in control and has heard my prayers."

I was thrilled when I read this! I guess Miracle Monday doesn't have to be big to have an impact!

God does know what he's doing after all. Why do I ever doubt Him? He keeps showing me time and time again. All I have to do is be quiet and listen. And let go of my vanity and my pride.

Do you have a miracle you want to post? Has God been speaking to you? Perhaps he wants you to write about it. Perhaps your miracle will comfort someone or help them in a way you will never know.

If you would like to share a miracle, it's simple. Just post a miracle on your blog and link it back here using Mr. Linky below. Please mention "A Mom's Life" and my URL in your post. And if you want, you can use the Miracle Monday button in your post as well.

PLEASE NOTE - when linking make sure to link to your Miracle Monday post. Do not link to the front page of your blog. If you have any questions, email me and I will be glad to help you. My email address is in my profile.

Have a great Miracle Monday and thanks for participating!

There's A Sucker Born Every Minute

Last weekend we took the kids to the circus. It was the first time we have ever taken our kids to a show of any sort.

*gasp*

Her kids are 4 and 5 and she's never taken them to a show! The horrors!

I decided early on that I wasn't going to be carting my kids around to shows just because every one else was doing it. We are way to cheap for that.

So until last weekend they had never been to a circus. They have also never been to the Ice Capades or even to the movies.

*gasp*

Her kids are 4 and 5 and she's never taken them to the movies! The horrors!

But here's the thing. It's not that I don't want to take my kids to these things. It's just that I want my kids to want to do these things.

So about a month ago, the kids asked out of the blue when we would take them to the circus and I told them we would as soon as it came to town. Little did I know it was coming to town.

Darn TV commercials.

*gasp*

She let's her kids watch TV shows with commercials! The horrors!

So, anyway, we got tickets to the Greatest Show On Earth. The kids were very excited about going to the circus and kept asking "how many days till we go to the circus?" Over and over again.

I was tired of the circus before we even got there.

And as excited as they were about going to the circus, they were even more excited about getting snacks at the circus. They kept asking if they could get popcorn and cotton candy at the circus.

So we promised them popcorn and cotton candy.

And I was smug thinking how cheap we were going to get off.

Popcorn and cotton candy? Ha!

As soon as we got to the show, we started looking for the concession stand. I knew we were in trouble as soon as I realized that the only thing they were selling at the regular coliseum concession stand was drinks. Everything else had to be purchased at an official Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey concession stand.

I asked the clown running the concession stand (and it was a clown, I'm not trying to be funny) how much the cotton candy was.

Clown: $10

Me: What? $10 for cotton candy? Are you kidding me?

Clown: It's $10 ma'am (I hate it when clowns call me ma'am). But you are getting three different colored fluffs of cotton candy AND a souvenir clown hat.

Me: Well how much is the popcorn?

Clown: It's $6.

Me: $6 for popcorn? Really?

Clown: Yes, ma'am (how old do I look??). But it comes in a box the size of a cereal box and it's decorated with fun circus images.

So we bought the popcorn and we bought the cotton candy and then we paid $4 for a drink at the regular concession stand. Because Ringling Bros. were selling shaved ice and lemon aid in souvenir cups for $10-$14 depending on whether your cup was shaped like a clown, an elephant or a tiger.

My poor underprivileged kids had to settle for a plain cup-shaped cup with the words Coca-Cola printed on it. Nothing souvenir about it.

Other than paying too much for our concessions, we really enjoyed Boom A Ring. It was Ringling's one ring circus which is smaller than their normal circus and just the right size for a 4 year old and a 5 year old.

There were elephants, tigers and trained chihuahuas. Because what's a circus without chihuahuas?

And there were clowns, jugglers, and tight rope walkers.

And unlike the 18 month old kid sitting in front of me who watched me the whole show, my kids actually paid attention and really seemed to enjoy themselves.

And just in case you are wondering. And I know you are...

This is what three fluffs of cotton candy and a souvenir hat look like at the circus.

It's like P.T. Barnum said..."There's a sucker born every minute."

I hope he doesn't hate me for this when he's older.

Yesterday evening, I heard lots of giggling coming from the playroom. Then my son runs out and says, "Look at me, Mommy! Look at me!" And as I turn around, this is what I saw.

And of course I said, "Let me take your picture!" Normally when I say this he gets annoyed and doesn't want his picture taken but he was all for it. In fact, he decided to pose like a tough man.

A tough man in a tutu and a floppy hat.

I put my camera away and he scurried back into the playroom where I heard more giggling and then he came out dressed like this:

He had changed skirts and added some lovely pink heels. And he requested that I take another photo. And of course, I obliged.

He and his sister retreated back into the playroom and he came back out like this:

But I think the skirt, boa and pink teddy bear were too much for his testosterone to handle because the next time he came out of the playroom, he looked like this:

A pirate with a gun. Now that's more like it.

And Daddy, you can rest easy. I don't think the dresses, heels and boa will be a permanent play item for Peter.

It was just a fun afternoon of playing make believe with Sarah. And Mommy's camera.

They named him what?

Am I cool or what?

Before you answer that, look up at the top of your screen where you typed my blog address.

Do you see the little flower up there? Isn't it just the cutest thing?

It's called a favicon and whenever you see that up there, you'll know that you are here, visiting me at "A Mom's Life".

Although you would have probably know that anyway since you typed in my blog address. But I thought it was cute. And I've seen other blogs that have one, so I wanted one. After doing a quick Google search, I found directions on how to do it and TAH DAH!

I think I've mentioned my feelings for Google.

Just in case you didn't know, I puffy heart Google.

Does saying that I puffy heart something make me less cool? I see that phrase all over Blog Land and just couldn't wait to have a reason to include it on one of my very own posts.

I follow the trends instead of creating them. That's how cool I am.

Anyway, I was flipping through my People magazine this morning and

Let me pause here for a minute to let you know that whenever I refer to People magazine I will always refer to it as my People magazine.

I'm not sure why, but I do it every time. You would never hear me say, 'I was reading my Reader's Digest last night" or "I can't wait to read my Kraft Food and Family magazine".

I guess it's the same as my grandmother referring to "Days of Our Lives" and "As The World Turns" as her stories. They brought her pleasure so they were hers. My People magazine brings me pleasure so it is mine.

Anyway, I was flipping through my People magazine this morning and I came across a little article about Rooster McConaughey. Rooster is Matthew's older brother and apparently he is appearing in truTV's new show "Black Gold".

Rooster (I am assuming that Rooster is a nickname) has a two year old son.

His name is Miller Lyte McConaughey.

Yep. That's right. They named this kid Miller Lyte.

And yes, it is because, to quote Rooster, "Miller Lite is about all I drink. My wife said I could name our child if it was a boy and she'd pick the name if we had a girl. She was scared to death I'd name her Jenny for Genuine Draft."

Hmmm...the wife would mind Jenny for a girl but doesn't seem to mind Miller Lyte for a boy?

I'm beginning to second guess the names I have chosen for my children.

Perhaps I should have gone with "Dyet Koke" or maybe "Koffy With Kryme And Lotz Of Splynda"?

Vidalia is sounding better and better all the time.