It is Friday again and here are a few … or five… highlights from my week:

1. shopping with mother.

even though I had the hurt-ie shoes on it was a fun afternoon.  she found a perfect pashmina scarf to go with her pretty pinkish dress for the big party next month… and some pretty shoes… and appropriate undergarments.  i found a pretty bright pink sheer ruffled neck shirt and cute 3/4 sleeve hot pink jacket … and cool circle silver necklace. It’s good to find a best buy!

2. reorganizing emelia’s room pt. 1.

first i have to say… ugh.  but it is a good thing and pt. 2 will hopefully happen this afternoon.  she is home today after calling to come home from school yesterday with a tummy ache.  she was very tired and mostly slept yesterday with no real symptoms.  today she is tired but feeling better.  the little girl who sits across from her in school has strep throat.  she says her throat does not hurt.  we’ll see.

3.  reba.

and tivo.  we finally got a dvr in our bedroom.  i am totally loving it and have all kinds of shows like reba recorded.  it is awesome.  reba cracks me up. 

4.  getting my hair done.

and not a moment too soon!  i had an appointment on the sixth that didn’t happen so i finally got to go yesterday.  i got more blonde highlights and all trimmed up.  no major changes. 

5.  watching izzy pedal.

i have lots of new video of izzy pedaling the bike at school thanks to melanie.  i left my camera at school to capture the bike ride.  i arrived about half way through.  i am going to post it soon.  she was just pedaling along.  so cute.  when she stalled out in front of her old class the little kids cheered “go izzy go!”  i can’t say enough how much me and izzy heart those people at school.  they are wonderful… michelle (izzy’s para) is like a mom at school… she loves izzy and takes such good care of her, melanie (vt and izzy’s teacher) is so good at pushing izzy and finding fun new things to do.  she is like an in house cheerleader… she encourages all the kids.  camilla (pt) has been working with iz for years and doesn’t give up on her.  she keeps pushing her.  (ps camilla i listened to that song last night you mentioned and you are right.  the words are amazing)… and margaret (st) who pushes for izzy to communicate and always looks for new and innovative ways to make that happen.  what a team.  there is also the ots… heather and karen who i don’t see much, but they are also very special and sweet!

now i’m going to go finish emelia’s room.  wish me luck.  ugh. 

Go visit Susanne for more faves…

1. Rusk shining spray.  Love this stuff.  It is the best I’ve found for straightening my hair without being greasy.  It smells good too!

2.  Big sexy spray and play hairspray.  Love this stuff.  Amanda does too.  It holds but isn’t sticky. 

3.  Bed head spoil me.  This is a great anti-static de-frizzer.  I need both of those things!

4.  Rusk sheer brilliance.  It’s more greasy… but when I straighten my hair I rub a dot in my palm and all over the ends to help tame any frizzies. 

5.  Redken velvet whip.  If you are wondering by now if I use all these things every day the answer is no.   A lot of days I go with my naturally curly hair clipped back or in a ponytail/bun.  But when I take time to fix my hair I do use all of these products.  This product I use after washing.  It makes my hair softer. 

 Writing about hair products is more interesting than something like car insurance right?

Go see Susanne to share you fave 5 or to see more…

1.  Marshalls…. and Napoleon’s Deli.  Emelia and I ran errands today… bought groceries… but first stopped by Napoleon’s Deli after I read on FB that one of my friends would drive like two hours and it was their fav. place.  I had driven by many times and never stopped so I did today and it was delish!  I will be going back.  The owners are french and have strong accents.  The sandwich was really good.  Emelia got soup and loved it.  She finished my sandwich and wanted to stop on our way home for another.  (we didn’t).  Anyway, I heart Marshall’s too.  Just a great place to find a good deal or something neat.  Today I found Ralph lauren polo nightshirts on the sale rack for $5 each.  A six pack of polo socks for $3.  Emelia got a hot pink hat for $2 and a pack of day of the week mudd brand undies for $2.  Good stuff!

2.  Blackberry messenger.  When I was at lunch with Miki she showed me how to put her pin code in and link to her… it’s cool and a lot more convenient than texting.  Now everyone needs to get blackberries!

3.  Coming home to a clean kitchen.  Amanda so very sweetly without being asked cleaned the kitchen after dinner this week!  Very sweet.  I especially love a DRY sink.  dry=clean

4. TIVO.  I heart tivo so much.  We have it in our bedroom now so I can watch Reba reruns anytime of the day !

5.  Our church.  We had so much fun at the dinner last night.  We played a fun game where some of us were given cards to write one false thing and two true things on and we were to read it to the group for them to determine which wasn’t true.  My facts were…  1. born in oklahoma.  2. over 6′ tall.  3.  loves to blog.  Which do you think was the un-true one?

 one

My first fave from this week is the kid walk!  I have to say that Isabelle is not completely thrilled… she is tolerating it at best and only for a certain amount of time.  Last night I put her into the kid walk and sat on the floor.  I rolled her back and forth over and over helping her take steps while counting and encouraging her to take steps on her own.  IT had been a long day and she was pooped.  She wasn’t having any of that… but it was fun and I know she’ll get the hang of it eventually!

two

Orthotics!  I measured Izzy’s feet last night and her right foot is now completely flat or can stretch to a 90 degree angle! We started with that foot at 25 degrees off.   I was pretty excited!  Her left foot was about 10-12 degrees.  It’s kinda hard to be exact, but we are very very close to ordering new standing and walking orthotics!  So exciting.  Her left foot was at 45 degrees when we started a couple of months ago!

three

MOM… who comes every day to do therapy with izzy.

four

Dad!  I got to have lunch with my daddy yesterday and it was really fun.  We enjoyed chatting and running errands.

five

Pringles stix!  My favorite is the cheese flavor.  There are 10 packages in the box and they are less than 100 calories!  A great snack.

Well, Emelia got all A’s for the fall semester.  Amanda got all A’s too, even in her college concurrent classes (College Algebra & English Comp I).  Bailey didn’t quite do his BEST… but he is working harder this semester and we have set up some guidelines.  We just want them to do their very best.  That’s all.

They sent Izzy’s report card home yesterday.  This letter from her teacher and vision therapist, Melanie, was attached.

Kindergarten Progress Report

January 8, 2009

Izzy is demonstrating improvement on a regular basis in several areas since our last progress report.

Izzy is using her eye gaze on a more consistent basis to choose activities and when making her preference known from a choice of two things.  She is becoming more vocal both with her likes and dislikes!

In the general education classroom she sits very attentively during group time on the carpet and has started responding vocally when the other students are interacting with her.

Izzy’s new chair is allowing her to be more on the same physical level as her peers in the classroom.  The students love to sit beside her or stand by her chair and help her with her work.  Izzy shows she enjoys this as well by looking at them and trying to do what is asked.

In Physical Therapy Izzy is showing major improvements.  She always pushes with her legs when asked to stand and seems to be developing more head control.

My goal for Izzy is that we continue to provide her with many opportunities to communicate her wants and needs to friends and teachers and give her many opportunities to communicate what she is learning.  We will continue to try to make school fun, interesting, challenging and a place where she can make many good friends.

Izzy is precious and a delight to work with!

Melanie

1.  I ♥ Melanie.  She always expects a lot from Isabelle and I give God the glory for each and every improvement, but expecting things from Isabelle is wonderful because she meets those expectations.

After school yesterday Melanie mentioned she had a good day with Camilla.  When we got home Camilla had emailed this:

Annie:

Sorry I had to leave today before I got to talk to you.  Izzy did a fantastic

job in P.T. today.  Her standing looked incredible - feet flat on the floor (she

had her braces on), working really hard to keep her knees straight, keeping her

head up.  I was really encouraged today and I am so excited for that Kidwalk to

come in. Izzy seemed pleased, as well, and smiled several times. It was a great

day.  I told her she brought joy to my heart!!! Hope you all have a great

weekend.

Camilla

2.  I ♥ Camilla!  She has always pushed Isabelle with love!

3.  I ♥ Michelle, Izzy’s paraprofessional.  She is a mom away from mom and is always cheering Izzy on!

4.  I ♥ Margaret, Izzy’s speech therapist.  She is one of the biggest backers of izzy’s understanding!

5.  I ♥ You!  For always keeping her in your prayers.

I’m a little under the weather today… a cold/sore throat has caught up with me and I’m staying snuggled in!  I have Izzy and Princess to keep me company and warm… Here are five other favorite things keeping me busy!

1.  Hot stew!  Matt helped me make a huge pot of stew yesterday and I don’t think anything could have tasted better today for lunch! 

2.  A good book!  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (recommended by Camilla).  I’m really enjoying this one!

3.  My tried and true cup full of sonic ice and coke! 

4.  Food Network.  I’m enjoying watching all the cooking and thinking about awesome things to cook!

5.  The laptop… a window to the world. 

What’s your fave 5 today?? Visit Susanne to play along!

1.  Decorating the tree… Izzy was SO proud of her little ornament she made at school.  I knelt beside the tree and she reached up to hang her ornament and then smiled a really happy proud smile!  She worked hard on her Christmas projects and loved when I showed them off!

2.  Finding cute BELIEVE ornaments!!!

3. more believe ornaments!

4.  Looking at the pretty lights on the tree!

5.  Izzy’s new stroller!!! 

Lots of favorite things this week… like lunch with my sweet nieces (toni & candace), lunch at TED’s with my friend Miki, Great school days for Izzy!, lunch time outings with my terrific brother, wonderful improvements with Izzy’s feet from her new AFO’s this week!  Just lots of good stuff.  God is good!

1.  Amazon.com…  I have gotten so much Christmas shopping done on amazon and the free shipping makes it even better!

2.  All the great coupons and early bird special that are being emailed.  Like this from JCPenney…

3.  Izzy’s outfits from Hanna Andersson!

4. taco chicken quiche… made for dinner last night.  It is YUMMY!

5. My friend Judi who switched my bloggy design to these cute fleur de lys which I heart!!! and is going to make me a beautiful after christmas winter design!  She’s an awesome bloggy designer!

1.  The crazy car ride to Tulsa…

2.  Thanksgiving Dinner!

3.  Spending time with family…

4.  Coming home.

5.  Leftovers!

I met with Kari today at Cheesecake Factory for lunch!  I am basing my fave 5 on this bloggy meeting …

In no particular order…

1.  Baja Chicken Tacos at Cheesecake Factory!  In a word… YUM!  I heart these things.

2.  Brownie Sundae Cheesecake (which I took home to share… )

3.   Getting to visit face to face and have a fun conversation with a bloggy buddy.  Kari is a really sweet person and I’m glad that the cool bloggy world has let me meet her!  I actually met her back in the Summer and she is losing weight at a crazy fast rate!  Shrinking before my eyes!  I had my camera in my purse but she somehow escaped without a pic…

4.  This cool figurine that Kari brought to me!  Isn’t it beautiful?

5.   This one isn’t really related to today specifically… but have you seen/smelled the paula deen candles at Walmart??? I got a creme brulee candle the other day for under $5 and it smells so wonderful!