They were right...it DOES get worse before it gets better

...So, how bout THAT for a title? :-)

I have yet to figure out who "THEY" is/are. But today I'm gonna have to go with it.

Where do I begin? In my last post you may remember that my baby girl had been a little feverish? Well, I thought I'd try and do a good "mom job" and get her out of the house on Saturday since she seemed to be feeling better and had been fever free most of Friday. And knowing that she's a little like me, after a day or so sitting in the house, she got a little stir crazy. So again, I thought I was making a good judgement call by taking her to a soccer tournament.

It was outside.
It wasn't in a closed in area where she'd have to be really close to other humans :-).
It was close to home...just in case.
It was a way to give her some fresh air.
But little did I know that it was gonna be Sahara HOT!

Anyway, she seemed to be doing alright outside...except for the complaints of how hot it was out. We sat through 2 games (our team won them both...YAY!...and subsequently won the tournament) and other than being a little drained, she was doing well. I did, though, take the thermometer and the Childrens Motrin with us to the game, just in case.

So, we get home and Jayla started to heat back up, just a little. She just wanted to lay around and try to keep cool. Daddy went to a movie with another coach and a few of the boys from our team. So Jayla and I took our showers, popped some popcorn and had our own movie night:-). Jayla was starting to doze off and in fact, missed most of the movie and didn't touch her popcorn. I soon sent her to bed.

Around 10:30pm, when daddy got home, he went in to check on Jayla. He said she felt a little warm and asked when I last gave her some medicine. Being that I had given her a dose just after he left for the movies at 7pm. He decided to wait until 11 to give her anything else. 11pm came, he goes in to check on our little patient and take her temp again.He comes back to our room with super worried look on his face. Jayla's temp had gone up to 104.3! He gives her a little Tylenol and we then decide that we're gonna take her to the ER. And as we're getting changed, we hear Jayla get up and she throws up in the hallway! (this was a good thing!)

Once cooler heads and thoughts prevail, we decide to hold off on taking her to the ER. I get on the phone with a Kaiser Permanente advise nurse and Mister M. gets on the laptop with WebMD.

Long story short, we decide against taking Jayla to the ER, as her temp has started to subside. Fortunately, she had no other complaints or issues. The KP nurse said this was a good sign. But if she threw up again or the temp spiked again that we should take her in immediately. We gave her more Motrin and decided that she'd better sleep with us so we could keep an eye on her.

Well, considering that neither of us wanted to get sick (again), we opted to blow up the air mattress and let her sleep in our sitting room.

Her temp finally went down to something we were comfortable with and she remained fever free all day Sunday and yesterday. I chose to keep her home yesterday...just in case.

She went back to school today and did great. Now, she just has a runny nose. I'll take that over a 104 fever ANY day!

On a funny note, while Jayla was home with me yesterday, she commented about how she enjoyed sleeping in mommy & daddy's room. She also said that she was going to start moving some stuff out of her room and into our room..."so we could be one big happy family!" We are one big family...but we're all happier when Jayla sleeps in her own room, LOL. I immediately deflated the mattress (and Jayla's thoughts)...you know, out of sight out of mind :-).

Anyway, thank you ALL for your well wishes for Jayla. Thank God, we're on the upswing now and hopefully this will be it as far as her being out of school due to illness.

On another...and not so detailed subject...look what I got?

I got a new toy! The other cell phone I had was dying a slow, miserable death. I was getting a little pisturbed with it beeping at me telling me, "If you'd like to use the PTT (push to talk) feature, you must install the software." Normally, this wouldn't be a bad thing. But when it's telling me that and I'm not even TOUCHING the phone, let alone talking on it...there enlies a problem. It also liked to beep from time to time to tell me something about not being able to listen to music on the phone. Again, the phone could be in my purse or something when I'd get that little message. And how annoying is it for your phone to just randomly turn off or on as it sits idle somewhere? ARGH!!! Mister M. and I actually had the same phone for a while. You may remember the cute little purple one I had? That's the one, along with Mister M's that we just replaced with the above device. So far, I'm loving it!

Ok, that's it...sorry for the long post. But I just had to share ;). Enjoy your week and I'll be talkin to ya soon.

Thank GOD for Kleenex, Advil, Motrin & Alternators!

Good GRACIOUS!!!


The Bibbs family has been some sickies lately. It started last Saturday with Mister M. being taken down for the count. Me and Jayla tried our darndest to stay away from him. But being that we're a loving/touchy/feely kinda family, it was pretty impossible. Not to mention, he "worked" from home all week in an effort not to make his co-workers sick. And I was the good wife and checked on him quite a bit, as well as made several soup, OJ & medicine runs to the store. But alas, it finally attacked me too.


By Monday, I started feeling that scratchy feeling in my throat and even woke a couple mornings sounding a little like Barry White :-). But I was hell BENT on not getting sick. I was determined to fight it! And fight it I did...albeit for nothing.


Jayla managed to avoid it a few days longer than I did. Until Wednesday morning when she woke up with 102.5 temp! Poor baby! "Welp, no school for you today, young lady!" For those of you who either know or know OF Jayla...you know that the words, "No school for you today" are fueding words. However, she must've really felt bad because after her quick dose of Motrin, she was back in slumberland. We were able to keep the fever at bay for the entire day. So much so that she was doing cartwheels (literally) :-) She even woke up yesterday with a "normal" temp, and was able to go back to school. And just in time too...yesterday was Fall Picture Day :-)


She WAS fever free...I SWEAR!!!

I know, I know...I'm a scrapbooker and I love myself some pictures. And yes, I'll admit it...school picture day is very important to us - ahem, ME! She was so stinkin cute...


ANYWAY...she successfully made it through the day, still fever free. UNTIL...this morning when she woke up with a 101.3 temp. ARGH!!! Again, no fight to make her stay home. And as of right now (8:34pm EST) she is still fever free.


Backing up a bit...yesterday afternoon, I was about to leave and take my rightful 1st spot in the carpool line, ONLY to have my van not start. What? Are you kidding me?

Now my VAN has a cold too???

I told Mister M. and he comes downstairs and tries to start the van with HIS keys...lol...don't ask, it's a man thing, I'm sure. Anyway, I was right, the van didn't start (HAHA). So I have to take his car to pick up Jayla.


When I get back, we brainstorm and try to figure out what might be wrong with the my soccer mobile. We come to the conclusion that it's the starter. So I called the shop that we get our vehicles worked on at, and tell them what WE think the problem is. They quote us $350 to replace the starter. It is suggested that we call a tow truck to take the van to the shop. 45 minutes later, the tow truck comes and the driver says, "I betchall a hunnerd dollers that it ain't the starter. It's your battry...I betcha!" He then says, "I betcha if I jumpya wit my truck, she'll start ryte up...I betcha!" So he grabs his jumper cables, hooks them up to the "battry" and plugs the other end into his truck...all while giving us a nice glimpse of his Hanes and a little BC (butt crack) ACK!!!


ANYWAY...he was right. Cuz, like he said..."I know my vehicles...I betcha!" So he saved us the additional $10 it would've cost to tow the van and just followed us the 3.75 miles to the shop...just in case.


The long and short of this story is...it was not the starter. But a "dead as a doornail battry" and a bad alternator. They kept it over night and got it fixed up for us...all to the tune of $551.47! Well, there goes a little bit (more) of our nest egg. But the van is running fine...I betcha!!


Ok, that's about all I've got for now. But before I go, how bout a flower fix to start off your weekend...

Have a great weekend!!

.......uhhhh, errrr, welll...I'm speechless!

...Ok, for those of you who know me, you KNOW that it's not often that I'm left without words. But being that I AM Jayla's mother, it happens.
~
Allow me to share this with you. I pick Jayla up from school yesterday and the following conversation takes place...
~
Me: "Hey sweetie, how was your day today?"
*
Jayla: quizzical facial expression - "It was ok."
*
Me: "Just ok? What happened? Did you have a bad day?"
*
Jayla: "Wellll, kinda."
*
she has now proceeded to take her purple folder out of her book bag and open it to show me.
*
Jayla: "Today we got our weekly reports...annnddd, I will understand if you tell me I can't watch TV when I get home today. I HAVE to learn my lesson!"
*
Me: quizzical facial expression with slight jaw droppage - "Wait a minute now, WHAT happened?"
*
NOTE: we are now in route to the gas station and she's trying to show me this purple "Thursday" folder. I tell her to wait until we get to said gas station and I'll look at the folder there. So we stop, I start pumping the gas and I read the paper in the folder. Which SIMPLY states that Jayla had a "minor" issue with talking too much (big SHOCKER) in class and in the cafeteria...on Tuesday and Wednesday. So as I'm reading this "send her up the river" worthy info :-D, Jayla has this PAthetic look on her face and says...
*
Jayla: "Mom, I'm VERY sorry about my talking. And I understand if you want to punish me by not letting me watch TV anymore. It's the only way I can learn my lesson! I KNOW better than to be a talker at school. I'm SOOO sorry, Mommy!"
*
Me: still bearing the quizzical facial expression - "Jayla, I know you're excited about starting back to school this week. However, although you should try and control your talking, this is not THAT serious! You know when it's okay to talk and when it's not ok. Just try and work on that, ok?"
*
Jayla: "But MOM! I need to learn my lesson! And it's ok with me if you need to punish me! But starting tomorrow, I will think before I talk too much at school."
*
NOTE: we are done pumping gas and are now on our short ride home.
*
Me:...yep, still looking confused and wondering whose child this REALLY is, says, "Ok, when we get home, you can get your snack and you won't be able to watch TV for 30 minutes!" (it is 2:45 when we get home...keep this is mind)
*
Jayla: "Mom, you're the best mom ever! I will learn my lesson, I promise! But maybe I should get my snack and not turn on the TV until 3:30! Doesn't matter to me...cuz, that's what I need!"
*
Me: "I think 30 minutes will be fine, Jayla!"
*
3:00pm
*
Jayla: "MOM!! Can I watch TV now? It didn't take me as long as I thought to learn my lesson!"
*
LOL
~
ANYWAY...we have successfully made it through the first week of school. Although, Jayla has accused me of picking her up too early (@2:30-school lets out at 2:15). She was also upset with the teacher because not only did she NOT give them homework one day...but she doesn't give it on Fridays...EVER! Again, I ask, WHOSE child IS this??? :-) I PRAY that this girl always has this type of enthusiasm for school and learning. However, I also pray that she stops being so hard on herself when she does "wrong". Love her to death though! What an AWESOME little girl!
~
How bout a flower fix? (bout time, right?) ;)

Enjoy your weekend!

2nd Grade...here she comes!

Where did the summer go?
~
It almost makes me sad that we went on our vacation so soon after last school year let out. But we had a fun summer and as always, I just love hanging out with Jayla.
~
Speaking of Jayla, today is her first day of 2nd grade! Ya'll, when I tell you that this girl was Soooooo excited to be going to school today...TRUST ME!!! She all but bolted out of bed this morning, lol. EVERYTHING about this morning and what this day holds just made her giddy!
~
And OF COURSE we had to take pictures of our cute little 2nd grader...check her out.
~
Oh, wait...before we see those pictures, let me share one more thing with you. For those of you who have little girls...more specifically, "brown" little girls, LOL...you KNOW that the hair has to be done. And what a major undertaking it is. Especially if you have a daughter who needs a touch-up or some hot comb action :-). Check out Jayla...BEFORE the touch up...

...a HOT MESS, right? I tried to have her make a sad face for her BEFORE picture. But the girl just can't NOT smile. lol

...And the AFTER....Ahhh, now that's better! She was royally freaking out on me while I relaxed her hair. We were clearly in MELT DOWN mode. Poor thing was just crying. But once we got done, she said, "The burning was all worth it...cuz I look KA-YUTE!" :-)
~
Ok, back to today...check out my little 2nd grader.
(note: Jayla told me to mention to whoever saw this picture, that she's not holding up the Peace sign - this time - that's a 2 for 2nd grade, lol)

I think this is my favorite picture of the day. She looks SO happy and SO KA-YUTE!!! :-)

We can't leave Trae out! He wants to take a picture with HIS 2nd grader too :-). Look at his tongue sticking out...love it!

Here she is at her new desk. Still looking as happy as can be.

...And we've gotta take a picture with daddy. Can't start the day off without ONE MORE hug.
~
Welp, that's about it for now. I can't wait to pick Jayla up from school this afternoon. I hope she's still excited. It'll be interesting to see how this week progresses. I mean, will the excitement continue? We'll see...stay tuned!
~
Enjoy your day!

Just what I need...

...aNOTHER hobby!

Yes, I've picked up, yet another hobby. I need another hobby like I need a hole in my head! Well, I can never say that I'm bored and don't have anything to do, can I? :-)

This is the new thing I've been making...

Wrist loop keychains. Whatcha think?

I don't know about ya'll, but I always seem to be fumbling around for my keys. I finally found a way to keep up with them...especially for when I'm only away from my vehicle for a short period of time. I waste more time digging thru my purse looking for my keys. Now, all I have to do is put them around my wrist. But something tells me that I'll forget they're there too :-).

I laugh when I say that because I remember when I was younger, my mom use to have me searching all over the house with her looking for her glasses...only for them to be on top of her head the whole time. :-) lol.

So, now I'm on the hunt for fun ribbon to make up several of these keychains. I've also found a good use for that 2" wide flat iron that I no longer use. Glad I didn't throw that away...comes in handy when fusing ribbon to webbing :-).

Tell ya what, while we're on the subject of hobbies, what do you guys do as a hobby? Do you have more than one? I'd love to hear what interests people out there have. Who knows, I may find something ELSE to take up ;).

Enjoy your weekend.

You're kidding me, RIGHT???

...ok, let me set the scene for you...

I go into the playroom to tell Jayla that it's time for her shower. Only to find her sitting in a chair, under the curtain at the window. I hear her talking to herself (as she often does). But I couldn't hear exactly what she was saying. So I gently pull back the side of the curtain and peek in at her.

THERE I find my daughter holding a piece of paper with names of kids on it (and teachers) that have been in her class over the past 2 years. I look at her and notice that her nose is running. So I ask her what's wrong (this is where it gets interesting) and the conversation went something like this...

Mom: "What's wrong?"

Jayla: sniff..."I've just been crying, that's all!" sniff

Mom: "What are you crying about?" now looking a little bit closer at the paper she's holding

Jayla: sniff, sniff "Do you remember on the last day of school, I was crying?" sniiiiiffff

Mom: "Yeah???" trying not to laugh

Jayla: "Well..." sniff, sniff, "I was crying because I didn't want to leave school for the summer and I didn't want to miss my friends! AND I didn't want to stop learning and all that stuff!" "I didn't even WANT to have a summer break! I don't NEED a break!" "I wish I could go to bed right NOW!" sniff, sniff "and wake up and go to school!!" SNIFF

Mom: "Well, honey, I'm sorry, but school has to close for the summer which means you'll have a summer break. The teachers want to spend some time with their families too, you know?"

Jayla: "WELL...I don't WANT to have summer!" sniiiifff..."I want to keep learning all that I can and I want to go to school and I want to see my school friends! sniiifff

Mom: "Jayla, there's nothing I can do about that right now. But ya'll start back to school in about 2 weeks anyway. So you'll be back with your school friends and learning more real soon. Now c'mon and take your shower."

By now, Mister M. is looking at me mouthing, "What's wrong with HER?" :-) I tell him and he just smiles and shakes his head.

So, I go in the bathroom and run Jayla's shower. Soon, she comes in there with me, I give the "shower instructions" and I leave the bathroom. A few seconds later, I come back down the hall and see her reflection in the mirror. This girl is now looking at herself working up an OSCAR worthy, deep sorrow BAWLING!!!

Are you KIDDING me? :-)

So the loving mother that I am stops and says to my daughter, as sweetly as I can...

"Alright Jayla, that's ENOUGH!!!" lol
~~~~~
Ok, I know I'm wrong for posting this. But I just HAD to share it with someone. I just love this kid! I'm not sure who's she is...cuz she CAN'T be mine! :) She really cracks me up and keeps me on my toes.

Oh, and I'll have ya'll know, this is NOT the first "melt down" we've had this summer. The 1st one was cured by, "Well, if you don't take a summer break, you won't get to go on vacation!" That one went over like a charm! Probably because it was the truth.

This time...I got nothin!! LOL

...and so it goes, as Jayla's world turns...tune in next week for the, "MOM, what am I gonna wear (that's pink) on the first day of school? Do you think my teacher (whoever she is) is going to like it?" episode.

Gooooooaaaaalllll!!!

:-) HI!

Betcha can't guess where I've been since my last post? Can you tell from my post title? Oh, ya'll aren't into soccer like I am, huh? :-) Oh, c'mon...it's FUN!!!

This past Wednesday night (YES, on my GNO night!) me, Mister M. , Jayla and about 30 of our closest soccer fan friends went to a professional soccer game at the Georgia Dome. For those of you who DO know a little about soccer, we saw AC Milan vs. Club America.

Jayla and I had never been to a professional game before, so this was a real treat for us. But the biggest treat was being able to see our favorite player....

...Ronaldinho! There he is...right there...in the black & red stripe shirt...ya see him? Although we had AWESOME seats (2nd row from the field, just to the side of the goal...we could almost wipe the sweat from their brows) I still wasn't able to get great pictures. Mainly because the Dome was almost CONVULSING from the sheer sound of yelling soccer fans. So needless to say, it was a little difficult to keep a steady hand.

And speaking of the sound...OH MY GOSH, it was SOOOOOO loud! But I think that just added to the excitement of it all.

Oh, and last thing about the game, then I'll move on. Now ya'll know me! Ya'll know that I am very fortunate & blessed to have a VERY diverse group of friends/associates/family members :-)...stay with me...I'm getting to my point. But NEVER...and I do mean NEVA...have I ever seen (or heard) so many Mexicans in one confined space in my LIFE!

We've been involved in soccer now for about 6 years. And in those 6 years, we have seen our share of Latinos and heard our share of the Spanish language :-). And again, I have NOTHING against ANYONE! But, MY GOODNESS, the Georgia Dome was CHOCK FULL of Spanish speaking Americans on Wednesday night, you hear me? It was AWESOME! :-) Boy, soccer fans sure do know how to have a good time. So what there were 2 fights on the field and a couple in the stands and a few in the concession area...SO what! With a crowd of 50,306 people (exact number, by the way), you're bound to have a disagreement here or there :-).

Seriously, it was SO much fun! I can't wait to go to another pro game. Sadly, our team lost by one goal...but it was still a great time!

OK...on to other news. Last week I had to take Jayla to her first Orthodontist appointment. What's up with that? The other 2 people that I had the privilege of raising never even heard the word Orthodontist until they were in middle school...and that was because some of their friends had been.

Anyway, we're not gonna sweat it. The ole tooth doctor said we don't have to worry about doing anything "corrective" for a while. Jayla is only 7 and she is still in the early stages of losing teeth. So we will go back in January to see what, if any, changes have been made in her cute little mouth and we'll go from there. Fortunately, IF we do have to get braces, it'll only be on the top. But again, we're not gonna sweat it right now. Jayla, on the other hand, almost had to be sedated when she found out what an Orthodontist does :-). But when I informed her that IF she had to get braces, that she could get pink on her teeth somewhere, she was almost disappointed that we didn't start the procedure that day! She's a nut!

So...last night me and my GNO friends got together. Remember, I went to a soccer game on our regular meeting night...keep up! :-D ANYWAY, we didn't want to do our "regular" thing and thought we'd go to an improv "comedy" show. I say, "comedy" because I'm sure it was SUPPOSED to be funny. It was one of those "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" kinda deals. A couple of the guys were kinda funny. But for the most part, it was kinda lame. I think I spent most of the time laughing at & with my friends at other stuff :-). We had a fun evening out though. I just love hanging with my girls!! After the show, we went to one of Georgia's famous landmarks for some of the girls to munch on some greaseri...uh, I mean onion rings :-). Then it was on to one of MY favorite places...YUMMY!!! (for those of you who have never been there...don't even bother pulling in if the HOT sign ain't on!...I'm just sayin!)

Today, me and Jayla are going to meet up with Briyanna (my eldest) for a tour of the Georgia State campus. Ya'll, I'm SO proud of her. She is 5 weeks shy of graduating from Stafford Brown College in the field of Pediatric Nursing. AND...she's at the top of her class! She has decided to continue on with school, while she's motivated, and hopes to start at Georgia State in their nursing program this Fall. So anyway, that's what we're doing today.

But before I go, I think I would be amiss if I didn't leave you with a Flower Fix. I haven't done that in a while. So here ya go...enjoy!

Toodles! Ya'll have a great weekend!

My new theme song

A friend of mine posted this video on his Facebook page. And I LOVE it!!!

For those of you who know me, you KNOW that I LOVE this place! :-) I think I'll adopt this as my new theme song.

Check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsJHqstPuNo#watch-main-area

Sorry for the "link"...I couldn't figure out how to post the actual video. For some reason, Blogger didn't like my cut & paste action.

Enjoy your day!

Skating Commercial

Ok, I don't normally post videos on my blog. But when I do, it's because it's just the cutest thing. And this one is right up there on the adorable list. I LOVE this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_UxhPbMyy8

Enjoy!

Out of the mouths of babes...

...ARGH!!! I have just been running around like a crazy lady lately. I forget that some errands and just life in general take on a different "dynamic" in the summer, when there's a 7 year old in tow.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE having Jayla around everyday. She's GREAT company and makes for humorous day to day comings & goings. I'll tell ya, I just love this kid.

Case in point, yesterday, we were at Michaels. I'm on the hunt for some chandelier stickers or stamps or stencils, or SOMETHING. I've built a desk for my sewing machine and I want to decorate it with chandeliers. Don't ask me why...I just do and I just like them, ok? ;)

ANYWAY...we're wandering around Michaels and I'm looking for something that either is or resembles a chandelier...trying to get the creative juices flowing. As I'm thinking out loud, I happen to say, "I can't make a stencil because...because, I just CAN'T! I've tried and it ain't happenin!"

So Jayla hears my "thoughts", grabs me by the arms and says to me; "MOM! You CAN do it! Don't give up! You've told me not to quit and don't give up. So you can't give up and be a quitter either. C'mon Mom, YOU CAN DO IT!!"

Ok, so as her mother, what do I say at this point? I mean, she's right, I HAVE said that to her. And I'm sure, especially since she's only 7, I'm gonna say it again...and again. But seriously...I HAVE tried and I CAN'T do it!

So after laughing and getting over my shock of what she just said, I grab my daughter and give her a big hug and a kiss on her head. And I say to her...as sweetly as I possibly can; "Honey, you don't understand...I've tried and tried and really, Mommy CAN'T make a chandelier stencil! And not only that, I don't HAVE to...cuz I'm GONNA find one!" lol

To which she responds, "Oh mom, I believe in you...you can do it...you just have to TRY!"

Anyway, this "precious moment" as it was, goes on for quite a while. But needless to say, although my daughter called me out, so to speak, the search continues. I WILL find that chandelier stencil or stamp! LOL

So, anyway, last week I had to take Jayla to the doctor because she's had this annoying little cough for a few weeks now. She also complained of her left ear feeling, "stopped up - like when we were on the plane". And since she doesn't seem to be able to hear me that well when I call her name (unless I'm calling her to see if she wants some ice cream or to go to the park, lol), I thought I'd better get it checked out. We go to the movies to see Madagascar 2 that morning (VERY cute movie, by the way) then head to the doctor. Only for them to discover that she not only has an ear infection, but also a sinus infection. GREAT!!!

We are then sent to the pharmacy to get her prescription of Amoxicillian. ONLY to find that it's gonna cost us $60! Little did I know that we now have a $50 deductible on prescriptions every year. ANYWAY, I paid it we went on our way. 2 doses into the meds, it dawns on me, "Publix (grocery store) has FREE antibiotics with a prescription!" ARGH!!! I could've saved us $60! Oh well, whatcha gonna do?

We are now 8 days into the meds and only 2 more days to go. The coughing has pretty much gone away. However, Jayla claims that she might still have the ear infection though. (She knows this because she's gonna be a pediatrician one day, lol) I ask her why and she says, "Because I still can't hear YOU that good! I can hear daddy, I just can't hear you that good!" You're kidding me, right? LOL I think she's gonna milk this one...

I've been trying to get back in the swing of scrapbooking too. So I'm excited about showing off our vacation album when I'm done with it. I'm also gonna try and start on our anniversary album too. That way, I won't get burned out and bored with one event. We'll see how that goes.

Well, that's it for tonight. Ya'll have a great evening. Toodles!