Warning: Gross content ahead.

Abby was having some, ahem, intestinal issues today while we were out and about, and I had to change her messy diapers twice just while we were eating lunch. We went to the library, and I was reading her a book. I heard and then smelled her latest attack of gastrointestinal distress, and she quickly confirmed it by saying, “Mommy, I pooped!”

I said, “I guess we’ll have to go out to the van and get a diaper so I can change you.”

Abby said, “No, Mama. I’ll just sit on my knees.”

When you’re reading a good book, it’s just so hard to stop!

Please to notice how my daughter just turned two the end of March. Also, can I call your attention to the full sentence that I quoted verbatim? In addition, I hope you are impressed that she not only can identify her knees, but she can refer to them appropriately and use the word in a sentence. She’s a genius child. That’s all I’m saying.

I have finished the twenty-sixth book in my Epic 100 Book Attempt of 2011.

“The Gravedigger’s Daughter” by Joyce Carol Oates was a fantastic read. The story follows the life of Rebecca Schwart, the (barely) American born daughter of German immigrants living in post war New York. Rebecca’s life takes a dramatic turn when she witnesses a violent family tragedy, and she is thrust out into the world on her own. I enjoyed this book immensely. This book was about relationships. First, the author delves into the relationship between Rebecca and her family of origin, mainly her father. Next, her relationship with her husband, Tignor, is focused on. The second part of the book is mainly centered around her relationship with her son, and, finally, her relationship with her second husband.

This was a long book, and it took me a while to finish it since I was traveling so much. It was very good, though, and I was very satisfied with how the story was wrapped up. That said, the epilogue was one last look into one of Rebecca Schwart’s relationships. This one with her cousin whom she had never met via letters sent between them. The epilogue is just a few pages long, but it opened a new story line. The letter exchange ends abruptly, and the reader is left wondering what exactly happened. To be quite honest, I was almost in tears when I read the last page. I. Wanted. More. I guess that’s a good way to end a book.

I give this book four and a half stars. It was definitely an engaging read.

A Post In Bullet Points

1. I’m behind in blogging about things that I have wanted to blog about because I’ve been doing a lot of traveling and haven’t had Internet access and time to do it.
2. I am still going to finish blogging about our road trip. I hope you’ll still be interested, even if it’s kind of late coming and mixed up with other posts.
3. We went to Disneyworld. I will definitely post photos from that.
4. We are in the middle of a big remodeling project that takes even longer than it has to because Chris has to work and, like I said, we’ve been traveling. Sometime, I will post some picture of that. Having the house torn up and helping with the few things I can help with (like tearing up flooring and staining steps) has also prevented me from having the opportunity to blog.
5. I have been reading, and I have another book review to share very soon. The year is half over and I’m only a quarter of the way through my goal. I’m hoping to have more reading time in the next couple of months.

Dumas, Texas. What can I say about Dumas, Texas?

Dumas, Texas is a little town in the panhandle of Texas. Driving down Dumas Avenue is a little like visiting the United Nations. Somehow or another, Dumas, Texas has become the recipient of a number of refugees from places like Somalia and Burma. Along with that unusual addition to their small Texas town, Dumas is also home to it’s fair share of cowboys, rednecks, and teenage girls in pajama pants. They have a great Oriental Supermarket where you can get chicken and sticky rice, and a fabulous snow cone place that is open till ten p.m. Do you know about Texas snow cones? They are very different than what I’ve had in Tennessee. Far superior. Dumas has a fantastic park to visit with your kids, but, alas, none of the water fountains work. This is a real bummer when it’s a hundred degrees outside. However, if you have a more adventurous mother than my kids had, Dumas has a nice little waterpark next door where you can cool off.

Snow cones or waterparks or a backyard sprinkler, take your pick, but you’re going to have to cool off somehow. I wasn’t kidding about the one hundred degrees.

We spent most of our time in Dumas hanging around Amy’s parents house. Visits from Amy’s sisters, Jami Leigh and Julie, were the highlights of our days. Abby warmed up to Jami pretty quickly. I think it might have had something to do with Jami having the same face as her Aunt Amy.

As I mentioned before, one of the best ways for the kiddos to cool off in the Texas heat was by playing in the sprinkler.
~
~

Over the weekend that we were there, we all loaded up and drove to Lavern, Oklahoma. The kids all wore there tie-dyed shirts that Jami helped them make.
Here are the boys in the “boy van”.And the three big girls in the “girl van”.

From left to right: Ethan, Miah, Joshua, Jeremiah, Elijah, Owen, Kaleb, Sarah, Charleigh, Emileigh, Abby Jo, and Kyra

The evening that we arrived, we checked into our (surprisingly nice) motel rooms, and then went to a small family get together. The next morning, which was the day before Memorial Day, we went to several cemeteries to place flowers on the graves of some of their family members. It was pretty sad at times, because this family had lost three children. A sixteen year old, a fourteen year old, and a baby. Watching their parents decorate their graves made me hold my babies a little closer. While at one of the cemeteries, I snapped a couple of pictures of the Oklahoma scenery.

~

Later in the afternoon, we went to Amy’s great aunt’s house for a bbq dinner. The food was fantastic. Seriously, it was so good.

We went back home that evening, and started getting ready for the festivities of the coming day…Julie’s thirtieth birthday party.

Julie’s birthday was one of two important reasons that Amy was making the long trek to Texas. She really wanted to attend her baby sister’s birthday party. The other reason that two days after the party, Julie was having brain surgery. For that reason, everyone really wanted Julie to have a fantastic birthday. She had a great party, and I enjoyed getting to know some of the characters in Amy’s stories.

This is a picture of me and Julie. I’m glad we like each other. As the next picture indicates, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Julie and I could share grandkids some day.

This is, of course, my son, Owen, and the little girl is Julie’s daughter, Miah. They first met last year when the kids and I went with Amy to Dumas the first time. Apparently, they still have their spark. (I LOVE this picture!)

Amy Jo and I before Julie’s party.

Me and my Kyra Joy at the party.

Amy Jo, Jami Leigh, Amy G., me, and Janae….Jami said it was a picture with all of their mom’s adopted daughters.

The day after the party was very low key. We mostly just sat around the house relaxing. Here are some random pictures I thought I would share:

Abby Jo and Emmy-Kai-Kai, as she calls her. They were pretty good friends.

Kyra Joy and Jami’s daughter, Charleigh. They were delighted that everyone agreed that they could pass for sisters.

We were using our hands to block the sun. Jami was trying to take our picture, but the sunlight behind us was too bright. Turns out, I LOVE this picture of us. It’s so happy!

Me and my Elijah

Love it!

~

The heat was getting to us.

~

Our trip was drawing to a close, but, before we headed home, we had one day left. The day of Julie’s surgery. Amy Jo was going to go to Amarillo with her family for the surgery, and I was staying at her parents house with the kids. We had too full of a day to include it in this already too long post. So, until next time…