HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOVE!

Happy 33rd Birthday to my beloved husband! I can't believe you were only 23 when I first met you! I still remember what you wearing. It crazy how time is just flying by!

Thank you Honey for everything you do. I know you have been so supper busy these past couple months, but thank you for making Karenza and I laugh every day. You are so special to us, and we love you with all our hearts! We hope you have a very enjoyable day!

We have a cake baking for you, your favorite, white cake with rainbow chip frosting! We have your presents all wrapped, and Karenza has written in her card for you! I can't wait for you to read it, it is so cute! Happy Birthday Babe! I love you so much!! (Since he doesn't read my blog at work - I can mention this).

A couple days ago Karenza and I went shopping for Randy and I told her that we were going to make a cake for Daddy, but that it was a surprise. I kept telling her all day that it's a secret and she can't tell. Randy came home and she said "Daddy, Mommy and I have a secret, I know you want to know, but then if I tell you it won't be a secret any more!" It has just been eating at her, but she has been very good at keeping the secret. I never did show her the presents we bought him cause I know she'd tell! One secret is hard enough to hold for a 3 year old! She is spending the night with Mom and Dad tonight and Randy and I will be going out for dinner at his choice! I will post pictures later of Karenza helping making cake (well actually licking the beaters!) and of throughout the day.

Had to Share

I am one never to get too political, especially on my blog, but I received this forward yesterday from a friend and I just had to share it:

T. J . Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the RepublicThis idea sounds just crazy enough to possibly work, so naturally it won't be given serious consideration. How great is our bureaucracy!!

Hi Pals, I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00.My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.Of course, it would NOT be tax fre e.So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A family has $595,000.00.What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.Repay college loans - what a great boost to new gradsPut away money for college - it'll be thereSave in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.Buy a new car - create jobsInvest in the market - capital drives growthPay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improvesEnable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or elseRemember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in o ur Armed Forces.If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( "vote buy" ) economic incentive that is being proposedby one of our candidates for President.If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!As for AIG - liquidate it.Sell off its parts.Let American General go back to being American General.Sell off the real estate.Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.Sure it's a crazy idea that can "never work."But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!How do you spell Economic Boom?I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 BillionWe Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

Kindest personal regards,BirkT. J . Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic

PS: Feel free to pass this along to your pals as it's either good for a laugh or a tear or a very sobering thought on how to best use $85 Billion!!

The Grayson's Visit

Hi There! It's been a busy week. On Saturday after Randy's football game Cindy (Karenza's daycare provider) called and asked if I would be able to watch her girls for a couple hours. Randy was busy with training a client for the afternoon, and Karenza and I were just going to be home so I of course said I would. The are 18 months old twins. We had our hands full. They were so good, and so cute! Karenza tried holding Brenna and they tipped over and she started to cry and so I picked up Brenna and was sitting in the chair with her and then Brailyn wanted to be held and then Karenza was jealous so I was holding all three on my lap! Not enough of me to go around, but I did love having little ones in the house again! Made Karenza seem so much older to me. I always think of her as being little 'cause she is the only one I have, but with the littles in the house she seemed to big to me! She was such a good help. She shared her toys with them, and helped them with their snacks, and even wanted to help change their diapers. When it's her turn to be a big sister she definitely will be a great one!

Brailyn is on the left, and Brenna is on the right. Brenna's shirt says "It wasn't me it was my evil sister!" HA!

Then on Sunday we got a call from Randy's sister and said that they had left Alabama that morning and were driving through ND on her way to Alaska. She is moving back there, and Randy's Dad was helping her drive. They drove straight through and got here about 9:30 Monday morning. They stayed the whole day, and left at about 4:30am. It sure was nice to see them. Crystal has a five year old daughter Naijayla and her and Karenza talk on the phone all the time so it was nice for them able to play. I was listening to them have a conversation and Jayla said at one point "You know Karenza, Grandma sure does miss you!" Karenza said "Yeah - I know!" haha We hadn't seen them since our wedding. Even though it was short it was still so glad to be able to see them. We miss them so very much. Karenza cried and cried when she woke up Tuesday morning and they were gone. I felt so bad for her. Maybe we will see them at Christmas. We'll see. Below are short pictures of their short stay:
Karenza and Naijayla coloring in Karenza's room. They always talk about coloring so they finally got to do it together, and I put the pictures up on the fridge. They play so well together!


Karenza and Jayla looking through the wedding album trying to find themselves. Karenza said "My mom always cried at the married!"

Smile girls!

Crystal braiding Karenza's hair for me. I wish we lived closer to each other so she could do her hair for me! It always looks so nice when she does it!

Sitting so good!

Jayla visiting with Karenza while she gets her hair done.

The whole gang!

Papa getting some sleep before he has to drive another 14 hours to Washington!

Randy and Karenza

I was looking at the Bismarck Midget Football League website and found the below picture of Randy and Karenza. There are a couple photographers that walk around the whole day snapping pictures of all the games, kids, cheerleaders, and fans. Here is the link:

http://www.bismarckmidgetfootball.com/pics08/091308/w2s1/w2s1-171.html

She has her new M&M jacket on from my Mom and Dad that they brought her back from Las Vegas it has a green M&M on it (the signature M&M) and underneath it it says "Heartbreaker". It is so cute. She calls it her "Sandy" coat, as in Sandy from Grease!! She is going back and forth of wanting to be Sandy or a cop for Halloween. Not sure where the whole cop idea came from, but we'll see what she ends up being. She is also staying home with me tomorrow and we may head over to Mom's to make salsa for the day. I spent the afternoon rocking Addie and watching the movie "21" with Holly. It was a wonderful afternoon!

Have a great weekend.
~Miranda

Brief Update

It's been a while since I updated. Life has been kind of hectic and I have just been so tired at night that I haven't gotten on the computer much.

Friday the 5th was my last day of full responsibility for work. My last official day will be October 8th. I am just available if they need me for questioning on anything. I am not hanging around my office much, and said if they need me they can reach my cell phone too if it's an emergency. They haven't called, but I have gotten quite a few emails. I still have been taking Karenza to daycare to try and keep the normalcy in her life, and so I don't loose her spot. I try and keep her home one day a week though. She loves going, and she gets excited to stay home one day too. She will stay home with me tomorrow as my cousin and his wife just had a baby yesterday in Jamestown and so we will drive there for the day. It's about a hour and a half drive. Mom gets back today from Washington state. Her, my Grandma and Aunt and Uncle drove there for a wedding and have been gone a week. Mom and Dad went to Las Vegas first weekend in Sept. and got home Monday and then Mom went to the west coast. So she's been busy, and will be glad to be home I am sure.

This past weekend I took Karenza to Sesame Street Live (forgot my camera!) and her and I had a blast. I bought tickets for the 11th row from the stage and they were such good seats. What a cute show. Abby Cadabby came out in the crowd and gave Karenza a high five and she was so excited. Sesame Street had a number of the day and the letter of the day. The number of the day was 1 and the letter of the day was 'K'. When that letter popped up on the screen she said "Mommy, that's my letter!" I have been working and working with her on writing her name and we haven't gotten past the 'K' yet, so she is really familiar with the letter K, and when ever she sees it anywhere she points it out that it is her letter. How perfect was that, that her letter was being used in their show! I bought her a toy a spinning Elmo that lights up for $15.00 and then we went and got some popcorn, and water. She wanted ice cream and it was $3.75 for one scoop of ice cream!! I thought that was really expensive, but I bought it for her any way. We got to our seats and she took about 5 licks and it started to melt and get all over and she looked at me and said "Mommy, is it okay if I don't want this any more?" So I took it and threw it in the garbage! There was an intermission for 15 minutes and during the intermission they sold Elmo balloons. Well every kid was getting them, so I couldn't tell her no when she was looking at all the other kids' balloons too. The balloon was $8.00! I am just glad I don't have 5 kids. We'd be sitting in the general admission session all sharing/fighting over one toy and one balloon! That's when you bring their Grandpa and Grandma along! hahaha. But we did have fun and she really enjoyed it so it was worth it. Plus her and I got to do it together just by ourselves. We don't get to do that too often.

Karenza stayed with my Dad on Saturday night after Elmo. She was taking care of him while Grandma was away! I am not sure what time they went to bed or what time she woke up but she came home so naughty. I think Grandma must be the one who installs a little discipline when the parents aren't around. Papa is well, just a Papa! She had fun though.

Below are some pictures throughout last week:

In her new jeans I bought, her new shirt Papa and Grandma bought, and her new purse I bought

That deviant smile

This is how she came out of her bedroom last night when I called her for dinner

Notice a crown & a tutu on her head, and the high heels on her feet. I of course told her she looked so beautiful!

This is how she was dressed when she came out of her room when her dad came home from football practice last night. His t-shirt on and a pair of bunny ears on her head!

Start of Football Season

This weekend is the start of probably a very quick September. Randy is coaching both a 7th, 8th, and 9th grade football team for St. Mary's Middle School/High School and he also is coaching a 5th and 6th grade team the Kansas City Chiefs for Midget Football League (http://www.bismarckmidgetfootball.com/). So tomorrow morning he has his first game at 8am, and his second game at noon. So we will be busy this whole weekend with football. I love it though, and love going to his games. I am getting to know the parents and all the kids Randy has been working with. They really look up to him. He is also refereeing flag football which is on Sundays. So we don't see him very much. Will try and take pictures and post more of all the results. Can't wait for the real NFL to start on Sunday. Didn't get to watch much of it last night as I was working and doing my last month end. Mom and Dad left for Las Vegas this afternoon for the weekend. Karenza and I will pick them up on Monday. Sorry such a quick post, but Randy just walked through the door and better go spend time with him while I can! ;o) Have a great weekend.

To Post or Not to Post?

I have debated and debated on whether to post about this or not, and I have finally decided to share it. Maybe in hopes of getting it off my chest, and to maybe lower my blood pressure!

Last week on Wednesday after I picked up Karenza from daycare I had taken her up to see Addison and Holly. My cell phone rang, and it was Cindy (her daycare provider) telling me that "Tommy's" (I am using other names instead of their real one's) Mom had called her and said that Tommy had a bite on him, and he said Karenza did it. Cindy told me that "Gina - the mom" said she didn't want this blown under the rug and she wanted something done about it. Supposedly this is the second time Karenza has been accused of this. I have never seen her bite anyone or has anyone else ever accused her of biting. Cindy said she wanted to call me to let me know so that I can talk to Karenza about it.

I first asked Karenza if anything happened at daycare today (after we had left the hospital and it was just her and I). She said no. I said did you and "Tommy" fight? She said no. She usually has something to say about her and Tommy. They usually are really good buddies at daycare. I then asked her if she bit Tommy. She said "No." I said "Karenza, you really need to tell Mommy if you did." When I say that she usually starts to cry (because she thinks she is going to get in trouble). She never cried, and she said "Mommy, I already told you I didn't do it!" She actually accused him of biting her. So I called Cindy back and told her what Karenza was saying. She said she would tell "Gina". The next morning when I took Karenza to daycare Cindy said that "Gina" called her the night before and blew up on her because Tommy is insisting that Karenza did this, and that Cindy didn't see them do it.

No one saw it, Tommy didn't cry when Karenza supposedly did it. Cindy told me that he usually tells when anyone does anything to him, and she was alarmed that he didn't about this. She also told me the bite mark doesn't look consistent with a bite mark. Even Tommy's Dad said it didn't look like a bite mark. Any way Gina blew up at Cindy and Cindy is now no longer watching Tommy and his younger brother. Cindy called me Thursday night telling me that Gina had called her telling her that she thinks Karenza is being abused because of her aggression towards Tommy. I was really upset that she would make such accusations when we can neither prove or disprove that Karenza bit him. If I made a fuss out of every time Karenza had a mark or marks on her from daycare that she said some other kid did to her I would be making accusations every other week. I mean I understand if it really is a bite mark, and it continues to happen. I wouldn't want Karenza in that situation either. But, we can't prove it and the day it supposedly happened Cindy said Tommy never cried or complained once about Karenza or any other kid.

Then on Friday, Cindy told me when I picked Karenza up that Gina had reported it to Social Services of neglect on Cindy's part. Well, they called Cindy and said that there is no warrant to those charges because it's a three year old against a three year old not specifically neglect on Cindy's part. If they had found probable cause Cindy would have to report this every year on her file. Today I got a surprising call from Social Services as well wanting to ask me some questions about what happened and my side of the story. Not much to tell from my side, except I am being blamed of ludicrous accusations and my daughter said she didn't do it. I mean it's a three year olds word against a three year old who do you believe? Seriously! My heart just sunk, my heart was racing, and I was frankly pissed that it had gotten this far. The lady from social services said to me that there doesn't seem to be any speculation of abuse from talking to me so that she wouldn't pursue the investigation any further. Are you kidding me? I can't believe this parent has taken it this far! I have absolutely nothing to hide from Social Services and they are more then welcome in my home to see just the kind of living Karenza has. I mean I totally understand that Social Services needs to look into things, but Karenza doesn't even have marks on her. I just don't get it! I mean is my name now in a database to "watch" and will they now be following me to make sure that she isn't being abused?

And poor Karenza doesn't even have a clue this is going on. She just gets more and more upset that I keep asking her about this when she already told me she didn't do anything. I mean whether she did or didn't I never once thought I would have Social Services calling me to see if there is an speculation of abuse in my home. When I dropped Karenza off this morning Cindy told me this past week at daycare the last few days were so nice. She said there was no fighting, no whining, and everyone played nice. So sometime when a parent accuses another parent of something maybe they should look in the mirror. Their child may not be an angel. Cindy even said to me today, "Do you realize how many times you say 'be good, and don't be naughty' when you drop Karenza off?" I said "I guess not really." Cindy said "Everyday!" I know Karenza is not an angel, and she does get in trouble at daycare some days and she does get put in time out at daycare and reprimanded for it as well as when she gets home. She knows the rules, and I expect her to follow through with them whether she is at home with me and her Dad, at her Grandpa and Grandmas, or with her baby sitter. I know that things like this come along as being a parent, because we all parent so different. I told Randy my job is eliminated and Karenza gets kicked out of daycare what timing! Good to hear that the last few days at daycare have been good and that she has been good. Hopefully it continues and that I know she is really good, and not an instigator. She really is a sweet girl who is loved so very much!!