My little (although I've been told by others to refer to him as my younger brother as he is much taller than myself) brother Shawn single handedly helped reduce the homeless population in North Carolina. He fed the homeless. He did their laundry. He helped them find showers. Provided a temporary roof over their heads. He found them a place to live.
Shawn was recently transferred with the Marines to North Carolina. As he, Michelle, and Kiley packed up their lives in California to head to the other ocean, their lives were uncertain at best. They did not know if they would have military base housing available, and wouldn't know until they got to North Carolina. They did not know how much time they would have to look for somewhere to live IF base housing wasn't available. They did not know if or how long they would be able to stay in temporary military housing while they found something long term. SO... the running joke was that they were homeless and unemployed.
All of those concerns have been corrected. Having found a house and working with the moving company to retain possession of their belongings, North Carolina's homeless population has been reduced by a man, a woman, a child, and two dogs.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
All Together Now..."Awww"
Leila has been SO cute lately. And funny. When Leila was just a baby I dubbed her as the "Mary Poppins Baby" (Practically Perfect in Every Way.) Well...that still applies (minus some of her bad habits that seem to be improving ie. eating/sleeping) Anyway, for history's sake, I need to write about some of her cuteness now. Enjoy.
*A couple weeks ago, Leila opened her door around 10:30 pm. NEVER a good sign of what's to come. She walked into my room, climbed up on Kuso's side of the bed (which is usually empty since he works out of town so much), arranged the pillows and got comfy. Then realized she forgot to get under the blankets, so she did. Then she rolled over so we were laying face to face. She says "Hi Mom." Well, I about melted when I looked into her big brown eyes. I asked her "Do you just want to snuggle with mom for a minute?" "Yep." And she did. For about a minute. THEN the REAL reason she came in surfaced..."I wanna watch Shrek." How could I say no?
*A few nights ago we had to run to WalMart to get a filter for our furnace. I also decided to buy a case of soda. When we were checking out, I lifted the case for the cashier to scan. As I put the case back on the bottom of the cart, the box tore open and cans rolled everywhere. Three of them broke open and were spraying soda all over the place. Well....the folks at WalMart finally figured out what to do about the situation and we were on our way. After getting everything in the car and we were driving out of the parking lot, Leila says "Mom!?" "What Leila?" "Mom a mess" (accompanied by giggles.) I said "Mommy made a mess?" "YEAH!" (accompanied by more giggles.) How cute is she? and how much trouble am I in if she already makes fun of me at age two!
*Leila LOVES to climb on and jump off anything. (It's not just for boys.) When she jumps to someone, she has perfect parachute form. Not hunched over and scared like most kids... she lays it all out...straight back, chest lifted...perfect. And she is strong so she jumps far. ANYWAY..back to my cuteness story. She also loves to climb on furniture and has ventured into climbing on the chair, then over to the couch, then jump down. We are working on having her not do this (more for the safety of the furniture). That night she had climbed on the couch and wanted to jump. I told her to get down. She started to get ready to jump then saw me watching. She looked at me, raised her elbows up, shakes her booty, and says "Fifa! Fifa!" (Siva! Siva! - Dance! Dance!) It is SO hard to get mad at and discipline her when she is SO funny.
*Last night, Leila walked into my bedroom again, a little after 10pm. Stands by the door and says "I wanna see mom." Climbed up into the bed, snuggled under the blankets, and laid there for a short time. Then she started the "Where's (fill in any name she knows here. ie Auntie, Kiley, Hank, Grandma, etc.)..all the while giggling and laughing with her beautiful, big smile. THEN...the REAl reason surfaced again "I wanna watch Shrek." It was that much funnier that it was the SAME movie associated with the SAME behaviors as last week.
I LOVE MY LITTLE GIRL. I have the most beautiful, talented, light hearted, amazing daughter ANYONE could want!
*A couple weeks ago, Leila opened her door around 10:30 pm. NEVER a good sign of what's to come. She walked into my room, climbed up on Kuso's side of the bed (which is usually empty since he works out of town so much), arranged the pillows and got comfy. Then realized she forgot to get under the blankets, so she did. Then she rolled over so we were laying face to face. She says "Hi Mom." Well, I about melted when I looked into her big brown eyes. I asked her "Do you just want to snuggle with mom for a minute?" "Yep." And she did. For about a minute. THEN the REAL reason she came in surfaced..."I wanna watch Shrek." How could I say no?
*A few nights ago we had to run to WalMart to get a filter for our furnace. I also decided to buy a case of soda. When we were checking out, I lifted the case for the cashier to scan. As I put the case back on the bottom of the cart, the box tore open and cans rolled everywhere. Three of them broke open and were spraying soda all over the place. Well....the folks at WalMart finally figured out what to do about the situation and we were on our way. After getting everything in the car and we were driving out of the parking lot, Leila says "Mom!?" "What Leila?" "Mom a mess" (accompanied by giggles.) I said "Mommy made a mess?" "YEAH!" (accompanied by more giggles.) How cute is she? and how much trouble am I in if she already makes fun of me at age two!
*Leila LOVES to climb on and jump off anything. (It's not just for boys.) When she jumps to someone, she has perfect parachute form. Not hunched over and scared like most kids... she lays it all out...straight back, chest lifted...perfect. And she is strong so she jumps far. ANYWAY..back to my cuteness story. She also loves to climb on furniture and has ventured into climbing on the chair, then over to the couch, then jump down. We are working on having her not do this (more for the safety of the furniture). That night she had climbed on the couch and wanted to jump. I told her to get down. She started to get ready to jump then saw me watching. She looked at me, raised her elbows up, shakes her booty, and says "Fifa! Fifa!" (Siva! Siva! - Dance! Dance!) It is SO hard to get mad at and discipline her when she is SO funny.
*Last night, Leila walked into my bedroom again, a little after 10pm. Stands by the door and says "I wanna see mom." Climbed up into the bed, snuggled under the blankets, and laid there for a short time. Then she started the "Where's (fill in any name she knows here. ie Auntie, Kiley, Hank, Grandma, etc.)..all the while giggling and laughing with her beautiful, big smile. THEN...the REAl reason surfaced again "I wanna watch Shrek." It was that much funnier that it was the SAME movie associated with the SAME behaviors as last week.
I LOVE MY LITTLE GIRL. I have the most beautiful, talented, light hearted, amazing daughter ANYONE could want!
Gnomeo, Gnomeo, Wherefore Art Thou Gnomeo
Leila LOVES the movie Gnomeo and Juliet. (and who wouldn't after seeing it...it is AWESOME!)Not sure when, but I had this great idea to make Leila dres up as Juliet for Halloween. The idea stuck. We found a pattern very similar to her dress, and my mom got busy.
The Final Result = ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!
Seriously Folks...Could there be a CUTER gnome ANYWHERE on the planet? I doubt it. And Kiley makes a pretty dang cute Rapunzel as well! Kiley was SO funny in her dress. She walked SO prissy and princess-like. It was perfect!
Too bad Leila wouldn't wear her hat after these pictures were taken, so as we "trunk or treated" at my parents church, I carried that hat and hovered it over her head so people could get the full effect. We made the dress a little big, so next year she can be Little Red Riding Hood or a Pirate or maybe something totally different!
(btw...my brother and his family have been here since Friday before Halloween. I've got some adorable pictures from our trip to Wheeler Farm...but that will come later.)
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