The Fuzzball Chronicles: the Life and Times of Curly Mommy

Why use this antiquated platform again? I'm writing here to process, formulate, and solidify my thoughts and beliefs about who I am, who I want to be, and how to live going forward. So many things have changed for me. The events of 2016 to present pulled the curtain of religion back to reveal the puppet master of conservativism and Christian Nationalism. Do I still believe in God? Yes. I believe there is something much greater than myself. I'm not quite sure how I define that right now, but the belief is still there. Do I believe in Jesus Christ? Yes. At some level I believe. Do I believe that my fellow humans (who have been raised in different traditions) will be dammed to an eternity of torture for not believing in the sacrifice? No. Would a merciful god condemn billions of souls simply because they have not heard and believe a story? No. That act isn't consistent with nature of a good god. I feel manipulated and controlled by leaders who point to an ancient collection of...

So, here I sit, shaking, tweeking like a meth addict, but it isn't meth. It is albuterol. I thought I could climb into bed and trick myself into thinking I was breathing well enough to sleep. No such luck. I used my nebulizer then tried to sleep again. Nope. It is hard to drift off when my pulse is pounding out of my head, chest, limbs... At least my wheezing is a little better and my chest and back don't hurt as much. I guess Yardboy couldn't sleep either. He asked if I felt like cuddling. I declined, though I really would love to be held by him. I'm on edge, and I just don't think I can stand being touched right now. This has been a crazy couple of weeks, and all of the days are beginning to run together. My brain is in a fog. Tuesday afternoon I used my new nebulizer and albuterol. It worked for a couple of hours, then the wheezing came back. I decided to go to the ER. I arrived at the ER around 7:00 and immediately got a chest x-ray. Thankfully, the images of my...

Wow, I've seriously neglected my blog this summer. Anyway, school is back in session now, so I better get back to typing. Here's a rundown of what We've been up to: The first couple weeks of summer I enrolled the kids in gymnastics, swim lessons, and Vacation Bible School. Baby Bee loved the water, as did Tater and Little Man. Hooray! Tater can finally swim! VBS was okay, but not a big thrill. We never even made it to gymnastics (over $80 wasted). We also spent a week at the beach with my family. The water, sand, and sky were amazing, but it was sweltering. We spent our days inside and went to the beach in the evenings. I even took the kids for their first roller skating trip. Can you believe that I didn't fall? On July 1 the real excitement began. Little Man got his middle finger on his right hand stuck in the bathroom door. He came out of the bathroom screaming and holding his hand. The soft tissue up to the first knuckle was gone and bone was sticking out. I found th...

Matthew 28:18-20 (The Message) Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age." Our kids were baptized today! Photo opportunity with our Pastor. Little Man really wanted to sit with Daddy while he played the drums. He sat very still through the entire worship service. I wasn't the only one that was amazed! Per my request, the band played Agnus Dei . I love that song! Tater, Baby B, and me. Reciting our vows to raise our kids in Christ. Cool! Tater was happy to go first. That feels so funny! Baby B didn't cry. The baptism was beautiful! I am so happy that we were surrounded by family, friends, and chu...

Little Man loves that baby. Tater is singing, "Its all right, my baby sister." It sure was tough to get them out of the snow globe. :) Baby B at four weeks old. We all love that sweet baby! Wow! Everyone is looking in the same direction and standing still, at least for a few seconds.

The kids have been begging to go to the "pumpkin patch" for almost a month now. It is located at a church less than a mile from our house and we pass it several times a day. I put it off until all of us could go together. Today was the day! We told the kids that we had a surprise for them and headed off. They squealed with delight when we pulled into the parking lot. I wonder if they realize that pumpkins grow on a vine in a field, rather than in a church yard. Little Man chose the perfect little pumpkin. Tater carried this little pumpkin around like a baby doll. Little Man kept hiding from the camera. I finally caught him. "Boo!" Tight squeeze for my big belly. I love these guys! I think they love me too. Beautiful green-eyed princess. The princess and her knight in shining armor. The princess and the very pregnant (38 weeks, 5 days) queen mum. Cheese!

Pocohontas and several other friends got together to have a baby shower for me yesterday. We didn't really have a theme, and we didn't play games. We simply relaxed, ate some really good food, talked, and laughed a lot. It was wonderfully low key--just what a girl needs when she feels like she is about to explode. Pocohontas wrote in my baby book as I opened the gifts. In this picture, I was just about to open the gift the W brought. After a while, I remembered to ask my mom to take a picture of the food table. As you can see, we had already attacked the food. The Cheesecake was fantastic! Mom and me. I'm so glad she was able to attend! Poor little Flit wasn't feeling well, but he was just as sweet as always. Pocohontas's niece and Tater provided the "entertainment." Look at Tater's fingernails. Before the shower, Mom took Tater, and me to a nail salon. Mom and I had pedicures while Tater got her fingernails and toenails painted. It was a really ...

* Sunday afternoon, my friends M and S had a baby shower for me. This is my friend S. This is my friend M. We started with food. Mmmmm . Everything tasted great! Then, we played games. I discovered that I have a talent for remembering nursery rhymes. Who knew? I wasn't so great at singing lullabies, or pricing baby items, but playing was fun. After games, I got to open the presents! Such precious little things. When we finished the gifts, we cut this cute cake. M made it. I was impressed that she made her own fondant. You can't tell from this picture, but the bed was held up by four cupcakes. Nothing supported the center. Oh, and it tasted great! Chocolate with chocolate frosting. Yummm . Ladies, thank you for everything!

This morning was cleaning time. I was doing dishes, bathrooms, laundry, floors... Vacuuming was really frustrating! I don't like seeing all of the stains that I have been unable to remove, or just haven't gotten around to cleaning. The stains are embarrassing. I began noticing the spots and recalling what caused each of them. Here are a just a few examples: *Silly Putty in Tater's room* We didn't find it until months after the incident . I recently learned that she mixed the Silly Putty with glue before it was smashed into the carpet. *Red Jello in the dining room* This was the Jello that the kids proudly made for Father's Day . I think Little Man dropped it, but I'm not sure. I think I can get it out if I try. *Popsicles, yogurt, pudding, milk, juice, and various other edibles/potables in the living room* Yes, living room. I allow the kids to watch cartoons while eating afternoon snack. I know, bad idea for protecting carpet, but you live and learn, right? Well...

This is Tater's fourth birthday cake. I have been looking for this picture two years, and I finally found it! It came a little late, but I thought I would share it anyway. Tater was really into a collection of stories called Usborne's Farmyard Tales. This was my best effort to represent some of the characters. The pig's name is Curly, the dog, Rusty, and I have no idea what the chicken's name is. I used a can of spray coloring to make the cake blue and learned a big lesson. Spray the cake outside! Everything in the kitchen ended up blue. I had to mop the floor after I realized that Tater and I had blue feet and were tracking the color onto the carpet. Oh, I must have inhaled a lot of the stuff too. For days I had blue snot. Yes, I know, probably too much information, but it was amazing. How about that drink can? Nice.

Mom, Dad, and Cabbagehead came over to our house for Father's Day lunch. We had Greek dip, salad, steak, potatoes, bread, fruit salad, Jell-O, and of course, sweet tea. Lunch was great, even if I do say so myself. Little Man was the potato washer and maker of strawberry Jell-O. Tater was the strawberry slicer and maker of cherry Jell-O. Daddy (my Yardboy) Papa (my Dad) I gave Yardboy this book. Remember Kevin Nealon from Saturday Night Live ? It's never a good idea to ask a woman if she's pregnant. If she's not, you're in huge trouble. I don't care if she's in the delivery room and the baby is halfway out. I would just play it safe and say, 'Excuse me, you got a little something on your leg, there.'" --Kevin Nealon

We started out this month with Tater's gymnastics-themed sixth birthday party. The kids had a blast. Here is Tater blowing out the candles on the star-shaped cupcake cake that I made for her. Cupcake cakes are great! No knife needed for serving. The next weekend was packed with activity! Here is Tater and Little Man before the ballet recital. This picture captures their personalities perfectly. Oh, Tater LOVES her parasol. My parents (Grammy and Papa) were gracious enough to host a Mother's Day/third birthday party at their house. Little Man loved his Mickey Mouse party! Big sister really wanted to "help" blow out the candles. Yea, the cupcake cake looks great! I didn't make it. Making Taters cupcakes wore me out, so I ordered Little Man's cake from Wal -Mart. Yardboy's mom (Grandma) gave Tater and Little Man a very unusual gift--traffic cones. It seemed really strange at first, but the kids really love them. I never imaged that they could have so much ...