Happy Valentine's Day!

(Lil N, Lil H)

Okay...so I'm a week late. But I wanted to post these pics anyway. Remember last year's Valentine's Day?? Mr. D was in a wreck...didn't get to see his girls all day long, and I think even missed out on a hot dinner. Well, this year's Valentine's Day was much better. Mr. D got home from work with 3 anxious females waiting on him and ready to go. I was hungry myself, but the girls had other plans. See on a shopping trip they made with me to the mall, they spotted the Gondola ride. It's all they talked about for a week. So we promised them we would go ride on it for Valentine's Day. Here's some footage:

After the ride, we went to Macaroni Grill for dinner. It just opened up a few weeks ago. We are thrilled by the way!! Does College Station have one yet? If not, maybe by the time we get back.... Being able to color on the paper covered table was a plus! We did have one small incident at the mall. The mall had a Valentine station set up near the food court. The girls of course wanted balloons. (We have about 20 balloons in our house at the moment. They apparently collect them.) Anyway, the girls were in there looking around...we were talking to some friends that we ran into, and Lil N comes running out of the Valentine station with a big, plush red and white Valentine bear. We thought she had stole it. I immediately took it from her and went to put it back. But our friends said that a man had given it to her. She of course was hysterically crying... Mommy took her bear from her -- so now I'm the bad guy. Our friends pointed out the man who gave it to her.. I assumed he was the owner of the Valentine station. I went over to confirm that she could have it, and before I could get over there, he started walking off. He was just another customer!! Apparently he just picked it up and gave it to her to get a smile from her. How dare he!!! Does he know he has now crushed my child's spirits? I inquired about the cost of the bear, but at $20, which would soon turn into $40 since I would have to buy 2, and the fact that we already have about 40 stuffed animals (apparently something else they collect), I decided that this would just have to be one of those life lessons. So 20 mins later, after much consoling and explaining, Lil N finally calmed down. And after dinner, we treated them to 2 white heart-shaped balloons. So they were happy....Happy Valentine's Day Sweeties!

Internet and a Virus, but not an Internet Virus

Here's an update on what's going on with us. Thanks Nicole for the gentle nudge. ;-) I promise I have 2 good reasons for not posting lately, and unfortunately there will not be any pictures on this post as you'll soon read why.

First reason -- have you heard about the undersea internet cables that are "accidentally" being cut in our area? I think they are up to 4 cables now. Not sure how much coverage that news story is getting back home. But it has made internet life miserable here. The first few days it was completely down, and since then it has been painstakingly slow. I've had problems posting pics on the blog before when the internet was just fine so I'm not even going to try and attempt it today. There is no telling how long just posting this text will take. The funny side to it has been the conspiracy theories that have popped up on why the cables have been cut. The latest one that we read last night posed the question "What news story is America trying to conceal from the Arabic countries?" Of course, it's America's fault.

Second, Mr. D brought home a virus from work and shared it with all of us. We are blaming him since the girls and I hardly get out and go anywhere. Anyway, we've all had it once, and now Mr. D and Lil N are on their second round of it. Lil N finally went to the doctor yesterday and they told us she also has strep. So things have been chaotic here lately and posting is usually the last thing on my list for the day --especially when the internet is iffy.

But on a happier note... a note that I thought about blogging about before the internet problems and sickness struck was that the girls have been doing really great health-wise. (present sickness excluded of course) Lil N's 1 year anniversary for the steroid injections was back in December. We are very happy that she's been arthritis free for over a year now. And neither of them have showed any signs of joint pain or of slowing down. One of their favorite activities lately is riding around the compound on their trikes looking for new treasures (ie. flowers on the ground, plastic bb balls, rocks) -- basically anything they can collect and put in their little trike trunk.

So a BIG thanks to all of you that continue to pray for the girls' health and for our family in general. I truly believe it's made a difference.

More stories and pics to follow at a later date.