The Fuqua Grandparents

I could not have asked for better grandparents. Big mama and Papa were absolutely awesome. They not only helped raise me but several of my other cousins as well. Papa has gone now but he is still quite visible. The love he shared with my Big mama is seen in the eyes of all of their offspring. Here is a small group who were able to gather and spend time with her. They did a great job.

Love knows no distance or drama

Today I spent time with siblings I rarely see or talk to. It was good to see them. They have changed so much since our last encounter. As the big sister the one thing I want to teach them is love knows no distance or drama. No matter how far apart we are I will always love them. I will always be their big sister.

Why

So three years ago shots rang out in my little town that caused the entire US to stop. The Virginia Tech massacre was horrific not only to our town but to our country. I spent that cold day tending to a few wounded and transporting the bodies of those who didn't make it. I remember waking up the next day thinking it was all just a bad dream. This morning I woke to a normal day but knowing that yesterdays events could have created another nightmare. Yesterday a 13 year old boy went to school with 2 loaded hand guns and enough ammunition to destroy those we love. Fortunately the Angels were watching out for that school and the guns were found. While so many are looking for ways to complain and criticize how the school handled things, I am just happy to go about my day not lifting a body bag. The children of our country are begging for help and someone needs to pay attention. Instead of attacking others we should take the time to talk to our children so perhaps we can stop this from happening again. Today our kids are safe but what about tomorrow?

Being a good EMT

So tonight I am spending quality time at the station. I am tired as crazy. When I agreed to fill in for someone else I didn't realize it was PROM NIGHT. OMG! Please let the little highschoolers behave. The last thing I wanna do is pick up some drunk, crying highschool girl. I get enough of the college kids up chucking the happy juice.

I had such high expectations of how this weekend was gonna go. The garden was finally gonna get done, the deck would get stained, the costume for Taylor's colonial day would get sewn, my bed room would be immaculate along with my bathroom and garage. That was interrupted by kids, rescue, and a thunderstorm. At the end of the day I have the garden 1/3 completed, deck stained, kids warn out from playing, and a 7 year old little boy with a sore arm from my IV but a normal blood sugar. I guess I was able to get some good things accomplished. Perhaps today wasn't a waste after all.

Fun time had by all

So, my visit to DC was great. The kids were happy to skip 2 days of school. On Tuesday hubby dropped us off on the Mall. We toured the Museum of Natural History. The kids were thrilled to explore the rooms featuring animals that they had never seen before. Jasmine was wondering why the museum killed so many animals just to stuff them and put them on display. Wow! I totally didn't have an answer for that. We headed over to the museum the kids had been waiting all day for, Air and Space. This is such a hands on place. They love touching and watching what happens when they pull, push, and turn things. This is the one place no one will tell them NOT to touch. So, after a very expensive lunch at McDonalds, it was time for a potty break. Jaden decided he didn't need to go. While waiting patiently for the girls, Jaden decided he might try to go after all. Jasmine quickly finished up and stood with me. Minutes tick by and neither Jaden nor Taylor have emerged from their stalls. I peek in on them and they are clearly not wanting to be disturbed. The restroom was empty until 2 high school aged girls come in. Now, those of you who have heard of me speak of Jaden's bathroom issues know that they last place I want that boy going is in a public toilet. He can literally peel the wallpaper off with his smells. The girls go in their stalls and close the door. A short time later a loud explosion echoes across the nearly empty bathroom. There is a pause and you hear a voice ask, "wow, was that you"? "Huh? No!" insert sounds of shock and giggles here. I am stuffing the laugh back in as more unnatural noises are coming from Jaden's stall. A little while later a little voice says, "Okay mommy, a lot of poop came out of my butt". I congratulate him on his bodily functions while we wash up and leave before anyone can pin that smell on us.

Hubby joined us about an hour later and we toured the the National American History Museum. Now this place was cool. All of the First Lady's dresses were on display. I also saw stuff like the first vacuum cleaner and James Brown's cape. My favorite part was explaining all of the Black entertainment history to my children. Pretty soon it was time to head to the book signing.

We were there around 4:45 and it was getting pretty crowded. By 5:50 they were up to group 8 with 50 people in each group. Oh yeah, I was in group one because I went to the store at 10 am. Woo hoo, it paid off. PW showed up on time after removing paper towel from her pits she made her appearance. There was loud cheering and applause. She looked just like in her blog. I'm not sure what I expected her to look like. I don't usually gush over celebrities but I was pretty darn excited to meet her. She doesn't sing on the radio, she isn't on the front of any of my magazines, and she isn't a movie star, she is a regular person just like me who has a real family and enjoys cooking and photography. Ree decided to share her life and cooking with the world and that makes her cool in my book.

Tomorrow/Today

So today the kids and I spent time hanging out in DC. The hubby has some meeting up here. Like a good mother, they were required to do some school work before venturing out of the hotel. We didn't have a car so we walked around. There are some great shopping places right across the parking lot. After Jeff's meetings were over we headed out to more shopping, dinner, and sightseeing. We have spent quite a bit of time in this area but that doesn't stop the excitement of seeing the White House and all the monuments. Tomorrow we will get dropped off on the Mall and museum hop while Jeff has more meetings. His meetings should be over by noonish. The real fun will begin. I am going to a book signing. Ree Dummond, AKA The Pioneer Woman, will be signing her cookbook. I am pretty excited to get to go. I started following her blog about 6 months ago and I love the photography and the recipes. I haven't found one I don't like yet. I will post pictures tomorrow. Now I am heading to bed because those kids are gonna wear me out in the morning.

I know... I know...

So it has been quite a while since I have blogged. Life has been a bit crazy in the mad house. Occasionally I answer the phone, "house of chaos, how may I help you?" Since my last post, I have been to Disney World again. I did another photo shoot of an adorable little buddy, Austin. I made it through another anniversary of April 16 Virginia Tech massacre. I am less than a week away from my girls' cruise. I am going to see Pioneer Woman at a book signing on Tuesday. So, let's get started on catch up.

1. Disney- This trip will definitely go down in the history books as a memorable trip. Brandi couldn't go so this meant Jeff and I got to take 3 kids and a toddler to Disney World. My mother went along for the fun. We could not have done this trip without her. The trip started off well. We arrived at our resort on Saturday morning only to find they didn't have a record of us booking even though I confirmed less than a week before. Jeff whipped out the confirmation and we were quickly handed room keys. We checked in extra early so mom, the kids, and I headed out to Walmart while Jeff slept. The vacation was off to a good start until Monday afternoon. While enjoying The Lion King show at Animal Kingdom a smell began to attack us that caused me to go blind for a short period of time. I'm pretty sure I lost nose hairs. It seemed to be coming, not from the baby but, from my 6 year old son. Of course he denied such things. So I did what any good mom would do. I blamed it on the people in front of us and secretly wondered what the heck they had been eating. After a short while I could no longer believe my precious little boy. I told him it smelled strangely as if he had pooped himself. THIS, he owned up to. Yep folks, that's right, my 6 year old son had pooped himself in Animal Kingdom. Perhaps he wanted to smell like the other animals on the safari. After looking for the hole to swallow me, I dragged my foul smelling offspring to the nearest bathroom. Once I calmed myself, I realized just how crowded that bathroom was. I turned to my son and instead of spanking him within an inch of his life (like my head said to do), I asked him if this happened because he was trying to pass gas. He hung his head in shame and admitted he had in deed done this. I accepted a swim diaper from my mom that she happened to have in the baby's diaper bag. (yea for my mother's need to over pack). While standing with my son while he "finished" the deed, I found myself gagging and wondering just what did I feed that boy and making a mental note to NEVER feed him that again. It suddenly occurred to me that the full bathroom was now very empty. My own mother had abandoned me to breathe in the toxic fumes coming from my youngest child. Once all done and cleaned up, he apologized for lying and pooping his pants. I accepted his apology and we finished the day with a smile. The next day, however, my 7 year old decided she didn't need to tell me she needed to potty. Instead she just did it in the back seat of my mini van and hid the evidence under a chair in the hotel room. Yeah, that went over like a ton of bricks when those clothes were found. What is wrong with my children and their bodily functions when they get to Disney World? My mother, meanwhile, was getting eaten alive slowly by something in her room. By the end of the trip we were pretty sure it was bed bugs. Nope, it turned out to be fleas. Someone before us broke the rules and brought in a dog. NOT COOL PEOPLE! There are rules against dogs in hotels for a reason and this is it. On the way home my sweet little nephew was happily eating KFC when he gagged and projectile vomited all over himself, the car seat, the floor, and the door. Yep, time to seriously detail the mini van. We pull over at the next gas station in South Carolina. While my mother and Jeff ran around searching for towels and soap to clean up the mess, I took the gross little toddler out of the car to clean him off. He was soaked all the way to his diaper. I stood him up outside the van to strip him. I immediately got attacked by sand fleas. I am swatting sand fleas and stripping sweet Jamie when he decided this was the perfect time to show me his new trick. He can make himself pee. He gave me the cutest smile and tilted his pelvis forward and began to spray the ground. I am half laughing and half yelling at him to stop it while trying to swat the attack of the killer fleas and clean up vomit and hold on to the wizzing naked 16 month old. My mother and Jeff come around the corner to see me desperately holding on to said naked child when he decided to now splash in the puddle he has created. OMG I would pay money to have a video of that moment. My mother is laughing and Jeff is mortified that Jamie is dancing naked in urine. Yep, down in history...

2.Will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm going to bed.

Second unofficial clients

So yesterday I spent a little time with some of my neighbor/friends' kids. She was wanting some "school like" shots of her kids. Sorry but I 'm just opposed to that kind of shot. I was only able to convince the 6 year old to stay in front of the camera for a few minutes. The 7 year old, however, it destined to be a model. She loved the camera and was quite patient. I gave her the chance to add in her own poses too.

Can we be done yet?

The rest of the pictures are on my flickr page.
On Friday Brandi and I set up the basement to do a little photo shoot. I planned all day what the kids would wear. I spent the morning searching for cute props and new shirts. After the well behaved children put on exactly what I laid out, it was time to take pictures. Hahahahaha, yeah right. It took about an hour just to get them dressed. I learned I have a ham in the family. Jaden is so full of himself I thought the boy would explode. He wanted every other turn to be his. For the next shoot I am bringing duck tape or that child. He was EVERYWHERE. Jasmine was cooperative. Taylor just wanted it to be over. RJ (Booga) was so busy running I was just tired looking at him. I was able to get a few shots.

Not Me Monday

This Not Me Monday is more a YES I DID Weekend. I was completely sick of the yucky white junk that kept falling from the sky. I was also at the end of my rope with 3 kids who were climbing the walls. We all needed a little space from each other and since Mother Nature was not going to cooperate this weekend. I was gonna take care of it myself. There was another snow storm heading our way and I was not shoveling again. Heck, I was still sore from the last storm. Dear sweet husband came home to a tight faced wife who had spent the day separating kids and cleaning up messes. The conversation went a little like this:
Toya: I'm leaving
Jeff: Ummm, where are you going?
Toya: I'm going to Disney
Jeff: What about the kids?
Toya: They are going to Granny's. You are welcome to join me if you want to but I'm leaving.
Jeff: Where are you gonna stay?
Toya: Don't know. I'm sure I can work it out.
Jeff: Ummm, I guess I will ahh, go

I had already called my mother and informed her that I needed a mental health weekend. She agreed to spend quality time with her grand kids. Yep, the woman is a saint. I pretty much had a little over 24 hours to make this happen. Jeff had over 110,000 Hilton's Honor points. Who the heck has that many points saved up? Lucky for me Jeff did. We were able to get 2 FREE nights at the Hilton in Downtown Disney. With in 24 hours we were packed and in the car heading down the road to freedom. We drove all night. I woke up as we were arriving in Disney World. We arrived too early to officially checked in so we spent time hanging out in Downtown Disney. The weather was just beautiful. It was cloudy but near 80 degrees. We walked hand in hand giggling like newlyweds. When the time came to check into the hotel, we were pleasantly surprised to find we had been upgraded to concierge level. When we got to our room we discovered what that meant.
I had an awesome view of Downtown Disney. In the distance I could see Disney Studios, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom. At night I could see the fireworks. Okay, that was pretty cool. We went to to Universal City Walk to have dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp. Yep, that was good. On our way to dinner I got a call from Jerry. He is the uncle of my "adopted" daughters Kellie and Leslie. Jerry was such a great host while we were in town. He allowed us to be his guests in the parks. Yep, free park tickets! He did not have to be so generous and we appreciated him so much. On Saturday Jeff and I met up with Jerry and had a great time in Epcot. We hopped the monorail and headed on over to Magic Kingdom. As night fell I immediately regretted my decision to not take my tripod. Since the park was not a full as when we usually visit, this would have been the perfect time to take some cool slow shutter speed shots. I had to practice being really, really still. This is what I got.


We had a great weekend. It was wonderful not having to dress someone else. I didn't have to beg, plead, or look after anyone other than myself. If we wanted to do something, we just did it. Well the carefree life is over now. I am back to the land of reality. Unfortunately my reality included shovels, snow, and more school closings. My mind is already planning my next great escape.