Love Nest

Our Hodder Camp Family Room was fast becoming a thing. It was getting pretty uncomfortable to lie on the floor, so I grabbed six couch cushions one night and lined them all up. Well, that was a pain when we went to put them all back. I know, I know, cue whiney music now.

I was at Costco later that weekend and while I was (down an aisle I'm never down) looking for those long stick looking lighters, I happened upon a blow up bed, and guess what! it was $30 dollars off! I thought, "what a deal for something we really don't need!

In light of our new digs, I have officially and appropriately changed the name to - 

The Hodder Family Love Nest

   

Rainey is so sweet, and waits to be invited to many things. She was unsure of this and for the first few times definitely needed a welcoming committee : ) We finally got her to jump up, but getting her comfortable enough to lie down, well that was another story.

It's okay baby!

See, you're okay.

She looks like she's thinking, hmmm....

Well...yeah, this is good!!!

Look Mama, I can do it. All by myself!

Um, you switched it up on me guys. 

It's okay baby, you can go up...just like you did before. Same bed, just under a tree and lights now : )

It took forever! I have about 20 pictures of her with her head resting on the bed and me trying to get her to jump.

Okay, but I have to smell it...

   

And taste it.

Okay, I give it the Rainey stamp of approval. 

Bring in the family.

By the way, we are guilty of sleeping out here a few times. We don't just like....we 

l-o-v-e!!

* * *

** When you live in a house with a Meek Feek and pup that both don't talk, and then add in a hub that is at work all week it just happens...you don't mean for it to, but it just does. You tend to speak for the unspeaking. I know...it's annoying, and worst of all, it's probably not what they are thinking, at all!! **

Just Elfin' Around

My heart...so full!

I can't catch the words. Every time I try, they again just stumble out of my reach. 

Today, I will attempt though. 

I changed the game this year. I didn't just change it a little, but a lot. If we were playing Life last year, this year... I swapped it out for Charades. And maybe you love Life, and only Life. And maybe you really don't like acting things out...in front of other people, and I can completely understand and appreciate that.

I just wanted to say thank you for trusting in me, and my game changing ways. I swear to you, that I'm not exaggerating when I say, that with each and every item you see here in this room - we added it with the utmost love and appreciation. And every item will be delivered in that very same way.

There is nothing I love and look forward to more than this. Aviana's Elves has filled our hearts, and holiday season in an indescribable way.

This year it has taken on a complete life of its own. We have seen it evolve in new ways, and by that - this is what I mean...

Some of our friends are taking their children to The Mustard Seed School to hand deliver items themselves. This way their kids can see firsthand. How amazing is that!!

Some have explained this whole thing to their kids and then taken them out to shop for the items themselves. They let them pick and choose how and what they want to donate and shop for. Some of the children chose to shop for the children, some chose to shop for the dogs. The kids then delivered the items to us. I asked them some questions about why they were out shopping, and they were able to explain everything exactly. They MELTED my HEART!!

Some chose to make the most amazing stockings to be handed out to the men at the holiday meal. It was obvious they were assembled with time, love and respect.

Some chose to send cash donations, and trust us to spend them accordingly. With each of these, we kept in mind who sent it, and how that person would want it spent. We have done our best to take the money, and also look at the whole age range and need throughout. We have tried to spread it accordingly as our hope is to avoid leaving a certain age range out, for example...maybe teen boy. 

Rainey didn't want us to forget about the dogs, so we put all of our own money towards them, so far.

It has been so neat to see who affects who, and who pulls at the hearts strings of whom. I have to say, it  has been all across the board, which makes it fun and interesting. I just love it!! 

Like I said, my heart....so full!!         

Anne Frank was so right in saying...

And again, 

we've had some amazing help from our friends at....

TARGET

TACO BELL

STARBUCKS

PANERA

KRISPY KREME

NOAH'S BAGEL

TRADER JOE'S

We're just getting started though! 

If you would like to help us, we would greatly appreciate it.

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

We are going to make the delivery on December 14th. 

Our love to you this holiday season!

Tree Huggers

I love tree.

Thank you Dinah.

You are truly amazing! 

We love you.

5 Years in the Making

Over the years my mom has reminded us that we don't have any pictures of us as a family. I knew it was true. The last pictures we had together were when Dave's sister Dinah took some the day after we returned from Guatemala with Aviana.

** we don't walk around with stuff in our hair, we cleaned the scanner and the picture, I'm not sure what the heck?**

As this was approaching...

http://www.thislittlemiggy.com/2012/11/special-needs-spotlight-aviana.html

Miggy had sent me her questions and asked for some pictures one week before she had spotlighted our family. I knew then, that it was time. Lucky for us, Dinah had just recently moved back from Seattle. 

Can you tell how much we love Dinah as a photographer? But of course , as a sister first and foremost!

❤

Dinah and Avi!

***

Dinah surely had her work cut out for her this day! A rambunctious Rainey, a sweetie with no head/body control, and the two of us cuckoo birds! 

Phew!!

Rainey was too funny. We just let her off the leash to see what she would do.

First she ran right,

Then the left, 

and then...

She just wedged herself right in the middle!

But after these pictures, when we weren't looking...I heard a splash, and sure enough she was in the creek!!

So...she had to leave the photo shoot for a while to dry off!

Can you tell how much we liked that tree with the heart in it.

It was an accidental find!

Rainey was still wet and muddy in these pictures. She had been rolling around in God knows what!

I Remember You?

Music is my life. My life is music. Thanks to the worlds greatest invention, Apple TV, this house is in, and on a constant rotation, day and night. Our little girl was brought up this way. By the tender age of 2, she could name that tune in two notes. She would stop whatever she was doing every time Butch Walker, or Gary Allan would swivel through the speakers and lock eyes with me. With the sweetest smile, and voice...oh that voice, she would scream, "Mommy, Butch Walker!!"

These memories are forever on ice. Frozen in time. That's what happens when something like this happens. When your child was stopped. Abruptly. They become forever encapsulated in a glass box of memories, protected and guarded in the hearts of the people that knew and loved her most.

Those memories teeter. They delicately balance. They walk a tightrope. When exposed to air, and the light of day, they hinge on wavering emotions. Do we silently assess each others? Or do we just share freely? I'm not so sure. Probably a little of both.

There's a fine line of wanting to remember Aviana, but also wanting to forget her at the very same time. I will forever be so proud of who she was, what she used to do, and say, and my hope is that everyone who knew her, will always remember her too, but the truth is - as more time has passed...I am so thankful for all I have forgotten. Forgetting makes this journey easier in some respects, as remembering is at times just too painful.

There will never be a time in our lives where we don't reflect back on that little girl we once had, as she was such a big part of our lives. We will always look back with pure happiness, great sadness, or most likely...a combination of the two. How can we not, when every single day we look at her now, and at some point - we are reminded of her then?

It was not my intent to delve into all of this with you today. My intent was to share a memory, one of how much Aviana used to love music, and still does. I have always thought I was supposed to be a singer in a Rock n' Roll band, but the problem is - I can't sing. That doesn't stop me from singing to Aviana all day long. And guess what? Because she can't talk...she can't stop me! No really, she likes it. I came on here to share the song she really loves when I sing to her lately. I can kind of tell because she really looks at me. Her eyes go back and forth intently, her arms move, and she looks all lovingly.

I secretly think she likes it so much because it says...

I belong with you, you belong with me

You're my sweetheart

And for other reasons...

Me

My friend Jen sent this to me today. After cleaning up all the water I immediately spit out my face in laughter, I realized the irony as I just so happened to be having kind of a crappy day, while making a pie at that very moment!

This is 'me' so perfectly!

Thanks Jen!

Love you...

❤

Movies with Our Meekers

My prior movie track record was about two in 10 years. I have this problem. I get super fidgety. Worse than the worst kid. It's the self diagnosed restless body leg syndrome thing. We almost went to many movies over those years though. 

It usually went something like this - I'd spontaneously flash Dave the last minute look and say, "I can do it! Let's go." But as the bright lights of the building loomed ahead, the fear of being confined to one, tiny square box of a chair would start playing...over, and over, and over, in my head and I would scream, "Forget it! I can't do it! Anywhere, but there!"

But then, something strange happened. Right after the accident - I needed to stop the spinning. I needed distance. I was all too close to an all too real reality. If only for a moment, I had to escape, but to where? A new movie theater had just opened a few miles away. I wondered if I could do it? I had to try.

Love & Other Drugs was playing. It was a Sunday night at 10:35 pm. Yes, I was squirming the seat, but I was gone. My mind was gone. Into that movie I was, and far from my new world. There, was exactly where I needed to be, wanted to be.

From then on, movies became my refuge. I prefer going by myself. Just me, myself and I. It's my secret slice of time...away. Lately though, I've had company. I have to admit, they've been a nice addition. 

At home, we've tried to see if Aviana has any interest in watching TV. I've put on cartoons, Animal Planet, various Disney movies, Christmas movies, etc. and she has zero interest. She prefers to either look at me, or the wall. But never, and I mean never, the TV.

I figured the same would be true for the movies. So, we just took her along for the ride, a change of scenery, a good two hour cuddle, things of that sort. 

The first movie we took her to was Searching for Sugar Man. You might remember what this one was like for us. She was on my lap, and slept for some of this movie, so I couldn't really see much of what she was doing. 

We took her to two movies in two days over the holiday weekend. In both of these movies she sat on Dave's lap, so I was able to see exactly what she was doing. The first was Silver Linings Playbook, and the second was The Sessions. If you've seen it you might be screaming at the screen, "Oh Meeks...cover your precious, little eyes!!" 

You know me by now, and some things have to hit me over the head...a few times, for me to realize they aren't a fluke with Aviana. Well, I'm here to say - she loves the big screen!! That's where it's at for this girl!! She was actually watching both of these movies!! Both of these movies were holding her attention! 

And yes, it's not lost on me that both of these movies are Rated R, have bad language and one has tons of nudity, but whatever...as long as it's something that grabbed her attention...I'll take it!!! Like I always say, she's way beyond her years and has been through more in her short little life than most will ever go through in their entire life. What's the big deal in the grand scheme? Nothing.

But now that we know she likes the BIG SCREEN, the next movie we go see will be for our girl!! You watch, I bet she won't be interested! She'll probably be thinking, "This is boring! Where's all the smut and butt?" No, it wasn't really like that ; ) But really, she's a squirly one...always keeping us on our toes!! 

Avi sweetie...would you like some?

This one came out dark, but I love it too much not to post.

Dave snatched her on up after our pre-movie photo shoot!

❤

Back to life. Back to reality.

Back to the here and now.

I hope you all had a nice, relaxing, drama free holiday! Isn't that the ultimate goal? 

I have to say, I loved reading all of your comments about what you were looking forward to most, and who was making which pie recipe, and who was finally swayed in the blind pie test from Sweet Potato over to Pumpkin!! Loved every minute of it.

I hope you got my comments back. I am new to this whole leaving comments back thing. I don't totally get it, so the person has to check back? That just seems counterproductive if you ask me...there must be a better way, is there? 

As for us, Avi kicked things off with a cold, and I had a T-Day Vaca take down. Does the latter sound exciting? Like one of my very favorite holiday episodes of Friends - where like Monica, every ounce of my competitiveness comes out and I whoop every single person near, and far? Well unfortunately, it was neither fun, nor exciting...and was a huge, sucky, string of headaches and for days on end. These brain benders involved many Imitrex shots, and the missing of Thanksgiving dinner...but not PIE! 

The headaches ducked and weaved in and out, so thankfully all the days weren't completely shot.

Aviana was feeling her worst in this picture but coincidentally, it happens to be one of my absolute favorites. Amy is in Wisconsin and while we were having a texting marathon one night, I sent this one to her. I loved her response...

"Oh Meekers...you are so ooty! She looks so beautiful when she's illin...why can't I look like that when I'm sick?!?!?!"

We make any excuse to bust out The Hodder Camp Family Room. Avi being sick seemed like the perfect reason!! When Aviana is sick, she wants her Nana. 

"What's that you say Nana? Tell them Avi comes first!! Okay I will. Yes, right when we hang up."

A pup makes everything better.

Yep. Aren't they beautiful?

It was... 

A girl, a guy, and five pies 

around here, but I forgot to take the after picture : ( 

Guess what I discovered over the break? After all this time, of wearing my pants, I'm supposed to keep them away from FIRE!! Who knew? Not me. Thank god I finally saw the tag...I can start being more careful!! Phew.

My dad came down for the holiday and brought his dog Snoozer, and Snoozy's new sister Chelsea. A few months ago I turned my dad on to the Kris Karr website and as it turns out, she has a section about dogs in need of adoption as they are on death row. Well Chelsea was one of these dogs, and my dad just so happened to get attached. 

He didn't know it at the time, but Chelsea was all the way over in New York. To make a long story short, after many emails back and forth with one of the most amazing dog lovers named Karen, my dad could not turn his back on Chelsea. So after a plane flight to San Francisco - this lucky girl now lives in beautiful Lake Tahoe. She's a feisty little sweetheart! 

Just yesterday, Kris Karr's website updated my dad and Chelsea's story. 

Look at them, sharing Rainey's bed together.

My dad, Karen and Kris collectively saved Chelsea's life. Every time I look over at her, or see her playing, eating, or sleeping, that's all I see...a little life that was saved. 

Truly - a pit bull, at that age?

Saved. 

Beautiful.

Even over break...the laundry must be done, right?

But these two keep it interesting!

Kama used to dig through all the laundry, tossing it all around, until she found the dryer sheet. She would then rip it to shreds.

Right when we got Rainey, I was in tears to see her do the exact same thing...with every single load.

I have asked every person I know that has a dog if theirs does this, and all have answered no. 

Do any of yours?

Doing launder, or should I say...disrupting launder ~ is exhausting!