So Blessed

I am so incredibly blessed to be able to tuck my girls into bed tonight. I constantly ask the Lord for safety and He has blessed my family with that safety. I am so grateful. We're all safe, at home, and I have two beautiful children here at home with me. Thank you, thank you, thank you to those that helped me search for my child today and to the workers at the Zoo as well.

When I pray with my girls I have them ask for safety. I know the Lord will answer their prayers and has answered their prayers today. We will continue to ask the Lord for safety in behalf of ourselves and all of our friends and loved ones.

Part 3: You Thought I'd Go Home After All This

Alright folks, read part 1 and 2 and then come back to this one.

This needs to be prefaced by two things. First, last week I washed my cell phone. I had it in my pocket of a loose pair of pants and it slipped unnoticed into the wash. My phone works alright if I use Nathan's battery. So, this morning I took both phones so I could switch the battery on the way there.

Second, I looked in the mirror at this point in the car to find I looked like a raccoon. Lovely. Nobody told me! Well, just one more thing to add to the list of things that could possibly go wrong in one day.

Let's continue, after we finished the rest of the loop of the zoo, (yes, that's right, I still went and looked at all the rest of the animals with my girls. I mean, I hadn't given up yet, why would I now?) I took the girls to take back some things at Wal-Mart. They were tired and grumpy but if I don't return something to Wal-Mart soon after I get the defective or unwanted item there is more of a chance it will never get returned, so we went today. To Meredith, I handed her my cell phone. Yes, I was desperate. She didn't like something about it and threw it on the ground. I couldn't find the battery anywhere and after a while just gave up thinking just maybe I had a little bit of luck in one day. After taking my children out of the store I got back in the car to find the cell phone that had the battery on the floor in the car. It just slipped and I grabbed the wrong phone in a hurry.

And now we're home and safe.

Part 2: When I Thought It Couldn't Get Worse

When I thought it couldn't get worse...I was wrong. For those that haven't read part 1 yet, stop, and read part one.

We were at the duck pond. A friend just got through saying how she wondered how many children fell in. I of course thought, boy, that would just complete our day (maybe not exactly like that, but something along those lines). I looked at Meredith to make sure I thought she would be alright, I mean, Emily is old enough not to do that sort of thing, right? And then...SPLASH!




And then the pictures tell it all. Luckily someone had brought a pair of spare pajamas. Emily was cold.

Part 1: A Mother's Worst Fears

We'll do the events of today in two segments. For heaven's sake, anyone knows that simply one of the events today were enough for one poor mother (the friends that spent today with us are currently chuckling at this gross understatement).

We went to the Zoo today for our Alphabet Playgroup. The Zoo was crazy and very busy. I think I've only been to the Zoo one other time where it has been so busy. Emily was wearing a pair of flip flops and every once in a while would have to stop and put them on again (she's getting used to them). Well, one of these times (I'm guessing this is what happened) She stopped to put them back on and I moved on thinking she was right behind me. WRONG!!! When I went back to find her she was GONE! Oh, then the nightmare ensued. The whole group went looking for her. I left Meredith with a friend so I could run the whole of the zoo to find her. I went to the front of the Zoo to see if a worker had found her already. She wasn't there. So, I asked another friend to go to the front of the zoo and make sure she couldn't get out the gates. Then I ran. The whole loop. Didn't find her and was thinking I was going to have to run the next loop in the zoo when the friend I asked to go to the front was waving at me that they had found her. Poor little Emily looked like she had just been through quite the experience herself. We just held onto each other for a while and I was bawling. I was exhausted. And not from the little bit of running I did. (Boy it's easy to run without any children to push in a stroller. Piece of cake.) But, I didn't want to leave the group and just go home, but it was sorely tempting. So we stuck it out so we could color our "Z" and finish the loop of the zoo. I hadn't taken a stroller to the zoo in so long but this time around I was sorry I didn't have a stroller so I could just strap them in and if they wanted out I would have just said "NO". Perhaps when I see if it is that busy again out in the parking lot, I'll take it. We could then add that what I do like taking is a sling (I'm not a huge stroller fan in certain places like the zoo.) But, I gave away my sling and then when I made another sling for me I forgot to wash it first before sewing. Well, now I have new motivation to get that thing made! Long post, I know, but it was an amazingly long moment in my life as you can well imagine.

"S is for Snake"

So obviously from previous posts you can tell I'm trying to teach my girls the alphabet. Thus the Alphabet Play Group and all of the other things I do with my girls. I have to find cute little ways to keep their attention and fun ways to remember what I'm teaching them. Emily didn't learn "X" until I would sign it for her. And Meredith and Emily say "S for Snake" when I show them the letter "S". Right now Meredith thinks every other letter besides "S" is "B" since our "B" party, but before that they were all "A". Ok, we're working on it. But she definitely has "S" down. LOL. Oh, and for "K" I said "K for Kangaroo" and I had the "K" bouncing all over the place and we were jumping up and down like kangaroos. What I won't do for learning. Anybody else?

Digital Scrapbooking How To's

Ok, for anyone who might possibly be interested, here's a little tidbit of information about digital scrapbooking. First off, download the software. Go to the Adobe website and download Adobe Photoshop Elements . Download the free trial version to make sure you like digital scrapbooking before you fork out good money. Then go to Shabby Princess and download one of their cute scrapbooking kits (the free ones) and then go over to her tutorials (Here is the one for Photoshop Elements). She doesn't use Photoshop Elements 7, so there may be a few more frustrating times, but realize google knows everything and I'm here too (except I don't know everything, but I'm willing to help). :)

Don't get all caught up in the choosing of a scrapbooking kit. Pick out ONE and then work at it. You won't get so overwhelmed with just one. If you have a hard time picking only one, have someone else just pick one out for you, or tell yourself before you look at them that if you can't find one in one minute you'll take the fifth one from the top or some other random number BEFORE you look. After you get the hang of it, it is not so overwhelming. Happy Scrapbooking!

p.s. If anyone reading this has any more fabulous tips, I'd love to hear them since I'm just getting started myself.

Digital Scrapbooking our first Tucson Zoo Trip

I am having lots of fun getting into Digital Scrapbooking. I'm hooked!