Pictures????

So, I should really be working. I have a million things to do. But…I feel like posting! So, I am going to do that before I tackle the items that have been on my “To-Do” list that I don’t really want to do. Does anyone else do that? Every day before I leave work, I create my “To-Do” list for the next day. Inevitably, there is never enough time to get it all done so some of the tasks are carried over to the next day….and sometimes the next day….and the next day….and the next. There are just some things that I put off. I don’t know why I do that, because then I just dread them the next day, but I do! Oh well. I always get it all done, just not always in the right order!

Anyways….not really a lot going on to post about, but I will anyways! Work has been stressful, but good lately. Good because Stinky Pete has been out on vacation! He comes back tomorrow, though. So that is a bummer. But it has been a nice break without him here creating a bunch of dumb stuff for us to do. We have been able to get stuff done instead. Although, back to my first paragraph, there are two things that I have put off! Funny thing happened to me yesterday morning. I was sitting here, minding my own business, typing away at my computer about 7:30ish. I thought that I saw something out of the corner of my eye…and that is where my window is too, so it could’ve just been outside. So, I look over and low and behold, a little mouse was looking back at me! I about DIED. I sat here and looked at it in disbelief (and fear!) and waited for it to turn around and go where I couldn’t see it anymore. Then I promptly jumped up and yelled for my friend who happened to come in early (normally I am here by myself until about 8:00). We had the geebies together and called the maintenance guy. Of course my friend (the mouse) could not be found now. So, now I have mouse traps all around my office and I am extremely paranoid! I work in a building that has 29 floors and who knows what kinds of things live here with us….but that was too close for comfort for me! We laughed about it all day….I was hoping to come in and find a dead friend in one of my traps, but nope! And I haven’t seen him again yet today either. I was telling everyone that growing up in the country, we had mice in our house all the time….but country mice are fast and scared of people. This little guy wasn’t that fast and I don’t think he was scared of me! I think he was staring me down because I was in his house! LOL Nothing like a little excitement to start the day!

We have reason for a HUGE celebration in our household…..Faith Anne has been wearing big girl panties since last Friday! Yep, that is right…the DIVA finally decided that she was ready to do it and has done really well! She has had two little accidents where she started to go but then realized she was in panties so ran to the potty. One time she was busy playing and she stopped and asked me…”Mommy, am I wearing a diaper or panties?” I said..”panties”…so she said….”I gotta go poop.” And ran to the bathroom. So, she is getting it and she is doing so well and I couldn’t be more excited! We went and bought her a Dora’s Magic Castle on Saturday because we had been telling her we would get her that once she started going potty. Funny thing was, when we got to Target, she picked out all these cheap toys for her gift. So, we bought her this pop-up castle that she said she wanted. When we got it home, she didn’t like it. So, we took that back and bought her what we had originally wanted anyways! The castle. She has played with it a lot. When I pick her up from Barbara’s, she asks me if the castle is still at her house. What a funny kid. She is still a DIVA, but at least she is a DIVA in panties now. At church on Sunday she was cracking me up because I would tell her to tell people that she was a big girl with panties on now, and she would just pull her dress up and show them! This is a HUGE milestone for us! Only one in diapers now….that will save some money! And now it isn’t like an assembly-line for changing poopy pants now! LOL

Gracie is still not sleeping very well. I know, know, know that we just need to let her cry. But that is so much easier said than done. We tried that technique the other night and it was horrible. She wouldn’t stop screaming and so we only got about 3 hours of sleep. Not fun! We might try again this weekend. The easy thing to do is just feed her and then let her sleep with us. But that is not the solution. So, it is my 3rd kid, I know what I need to do…..it is just so hard since she shares a room with Faith Anne. Maybe we will put FAB in Isaac’s room this weekend when he is gone….

Isaac is going to spend the weekend with his Uncle Jimmie (and sometimes Jodi). He is so excited. Jimmie is picking him up on Friday and taking him to a tractor pulls and their house. I think he is bringing him home sometime on Sunday. So, does anyone want my girls this weekend? LOL Faith Anne will be lost without her big brother! Or, she might just like the extra attention! Anyways, I think it is great that Jimmie likes to have Isaac around for those things. I am sure that Isaac talks his ear off….but Jimmie probably does the same! Good bonding time for them.

What else? Oh, this weekend we got together with Mom and Dad and Jimmie and Jodi to celebrate Father’s Day and Dad’s birthday. We had a really good time. Dad made some really, really yummy ribs! We also took the kids fishing. It was so funny….we got to this pond and AS SOON as Faith Anne put her pole in the water, she had one! I wasn’t ready with the video camera….but she was excited. Then she was getting bored because she wasn’t catching anything, so Jodi caught one and when Dad took it off her pole, he told Faith Anne he needed to put more bait on her line, but really put Jodi’s fish on her hook and she thought she caught it. It was a lot of fun. We just had a good day of visiting and eating! On Sunday, after church, we met with Scott’s Dad and Step-Mom….and his Aunt from Texas was in town with her husband, so we had dinner with all of them. It was a nice, short visit. Those are my kind of visits! They came over to see our house and then left…so it was nice. Then his sister came and got Isaac and Faith Anne to take them swimming. Scott, Gracie and I all took long naps…it was heavenly! I love days like that! They just don’t happen often enough!

OH! Friday night we went to Kristin’s birthday party and they had a real pony for the kids to ride! It was so cool! Isaac got on it right away with no problems….except the pony walked a lot faster when the kid was big….so that was funny. Faith Anne was scared to death (surprise, surprise) and wouldn’t go near the pony. We worked with her all night and finally Scott just put her on there. She cried at first, but then loved it. We got her and Kristin on there together and they were two little “Princess Cow-Girls”! They both had on pink cowboy hats and were saying “Giddy-Up Sugar”! It was so cute! We also got a great picture of Gracie sitting on the horse too.

Well, I guess I am going to go. If there are pictures on here, that means I figured out how to do it! They are from my cell phone, so they aren’t the greatest! Oh, and by the way….I bought a new digital camera. I accidentally won it on Ebay! I got a Kodak Easy Share 7.1 megapixel camera and printer dock. I bid on it, but didn’t think I would win it….but I did! I hope I like it!!!

Have a great day….hugs and love to all!

First Day of Summer

So, it has been a while….and I have also been lurking and not commenting. Sorry! Things just are always so busy at work these days and there is no way I get time to journal at home, so I read journals every day (it is a habit now!), but I just don’t always comment. But I am keeping up with you all….and praying for the Journal Goddesses!

Let’s see….so much has happened, I don’t think I can remember everything, so I will just give you highlights! I am sure you are all dying to hear about my very exciting life!

So, Isaac had his last day of Kindergarten! Yep, that is right. I now have a First Grader! Man, I am getting old! His report card was just glowing and I got some great pictures of him with his two teachers. And I finished the school year the same way I started it – with tears! I just cannot believe that my baby is out of Kindergarten. Where has the time gone? He is just growing up into a little man right before my eyes. He is doing great in t-ball – really great. He hit a home-run in a little “All Star Game” they had a few weeks ago. He just ran his little heart out and got all the way home. I was so proud of him! We have a really great team – I hope we stick with most of the same kids for a long time. I know that at least 3 of us are going to move up to coach pitch next year, so we will all stick together. I am not sure about the rest of the kids. I feel sorry for them if they have a different coach next year because our coach does such a good job, he has set the bar high. Anyways, I know you all don’t care about t-ball, but it is a big topic of conversation in our house! I love that Isaac is so involved. He only has a one week break between t-ball and football and that week is Camp Extreme, so he is going to be busy all summer!

Faith Anne is still my little DIVA! She really is FABulous! She is very excited about her Princess Party coming up for her birthday. We are calling it a “Princess Tea Party”. My mom said she is really going to make tea….not like the kids will drink it. I wish I could find some cool “tea-sets” to use for it. I bought stuff for the kids to make crowns (just sun visors for the boys), so that should be fun. I hope this potty training stuff kicks in soon. I am trying not to make a big deal about it when she goes in her pants, but make a HUGE deal out of it when she goes in the potty. She has had some all dry days at my Aunt’s house, but when she gets home, she is just so stubborn. We haven’t decided what we are getting her for her birthday, so we need to get that figured out. I am sure it will be something “Princess”. What is funny is that she hasn’t seen any of the Disney Princess movies. Someone asked her who her favorite princess was the other day and I just laughed and said she doesn’t know who they are….but she said Snow White. I was shocked. Don’t know where she learned that from. I am getting really bad at buying her clothes! She is just so much fun to shop for and now she can wear “big girl” sizes (not the “T”s) and those are even cuter! So, I have to steer clear of Children’s Place and other places that have cute clothes or I buy her stuff she doesn’t need! I did buy her a pair of Jelly Shoes! I HAD to get those! I cannot believe they are back in style!

Gracie is doing great, although she still doesn’t really sleep through the night. We need to move Faith Anne to Isaac’s room temporarily while we just let her cry and learn to put herself back to sleep. Actually, just last night my parents had Isaac and Faith Anne overnight, so I just went and put her pacifier back in her mouth when she started crying at 3:30 and she went back to sleep….only until 5:00. So I got up and fed her and then she went back to sleep. It is just getting really old, and lord knows she doesn’t need the bottle in the middle of the night. She is wearing 18 – 24 month clothes and she is only 8 and ½ months old! She isn’t crawling yet, but she is scooting on her butt wherever she wants to go! It won’t be long. She gets up on one leg, but then can’t figure out how to get the other one around yet. She still spits up, but not as much as she used to. She does really good eating….we can’t shovel it in fast enough! So far, there really hasn’t been anything she doesn’t like to eat, except peaches! And who can blame her?!?! I don’t like peaches either. She just keeps giving me raspberries (and thus, showering me with the food) when I try to feed her peaches. That is what she does when she is getting full too. It is her lovely way of telling you she has had enough. Isaac and Faith Anne think it is very funny when she gets food all over me. They really enjoy Gracie and Gracie LOVES them. She just watches them and giggles at them all the time. There are still times when I cannot believe we have three kids…..it can be overwhelming….but they are great. There is never a dull moment in our house, that is for sure. Whenever Jodi calls, she comments that it sounds like we have a circus in our house….and we kinda do! Sometimes are worse than others, but it can get wild!

Scott is doing great at his job. He just is really a great salesman and has found a niche’ for himself. I am so proud of him. I think he had a nice Father’s Day. It was a little weird because my parents were out of town in Florida, his Dad was in Kentucky with his grandparents and then Scott and Isaac went to a Red’s game. So, I spent the day with the girls! But that is what he wanted to do and since our families weren’t doing anything, it was fine with me. I love my Sunday naps! We are getting together with the families this weekend…mine on Saturday and his on Sunday. Anyways….Scott got a new gas blower (yippee) and a t-shirt for Father’s Day. He has been wanting the blower for a while, so whatever floats his boat! I am not very good at expressing my emotions all the time with him….I can be a nag more than I will tell him that I love him. So, I really put some thought into the card I gave him and told him how I really feel and not just how I usually nag him! I need to do that more often. I just get so wrapped up in “life” and the kids and all that, that I just don’t take the time to express myself to my husband and he really is a great husband and father. It is neat to see how he has grown over the years and to see how he continues to grow….

So, that is the update on my family! I had a really wonderful time in Kentucky with Jodi and Mandie. We had a great dinner, Lion King was amazing (if you ever get a chance to go, you should absolutely see it) and then Howl at the Moon was fun – but man am I glad that I don’t party like that anymore…..it brought back some memories of my wild college days and I don’t miss them! It was fun to be there and watch people and the music was great, but I don’t miss those days of trying to meet someone and blah, blah, blah. I told Scott when we got home that if something happened to him, I would just be single forever because I do not want to enter the dating scene again. But, we had fun! It was a whirlwind trip down there and back because Mandie and I both had to get back for family stuff on Sunday. I felt bad leaving Jodi’s so soon, but I bet she enjoyed a nice, long Sunday nap without us being there! And she was a very good Bed and Breakfast Hostess! If you are ever down that way, you should book a room at their “Inn”! They give you gifts and everything!

Work has been busy, but fine. Stinky Pete and I are getting along better – now, he is still an idiot, but we are getting along alright. He still kinda walks on egg-shells around me, but I think that is funny. I am finding it easier and easier to be more vocal with him and telling him what I really think. Not sure if he thinks that is a good thing or not, but I do!

Well, I need to get to work, so I guess that is all the updating I am going to get to this time! I really do keep you all in my prayers. I have been doing much better with my daily devotional time lately…and it is so amazing to me how much better my day is when I start it with prayer and devotion time. I don’t know why I let time get in the way so much!!! If you are ever looking for a book to use, I highly recommend Joyce Meyer’s “Battlefield of the Mind” devotional book. It is really good. I am also reading one called “Faithfully Fit” and it is about dieting. It is really good too. I just started that one on Monday, but it has some great insights.

Well, have a great day! Hugs and love to all!!!!

My 200th Post on Blogger!!!

Is it only Wednesday? And it is only 2:00 on Wednesday. I wish this week would just hurry up already! I am looking forward to a three-day weekend!!! Can you tell?

Well, not a lot has happened since I last updated, but I am bored at work. Now, that doesn’t mean I don’t have a lot to do, but it does mean that I have no desire to do what I should be doing. How is that for honesty? I am just in one of those moods!

So, let’s see…Monday night ended up being a very fun evening! Tera and the girls and her baby boy came over and we talked until the guys got home from work. Then it started to pour down rain, so their softball game was cancelled! Oh well! I was secretly relieved because I didn’t feel like lugging all the kids there anyways. And we got more time to just visit with them! Tera and I get along very well…and obviously Scott and Jason do. We have a good time together. Faith Anne had a lot of fun at their house. She has talked about it ever since! And they belong to the pool in Wilmington (where I grew up), so she took the girls to the pool on Monday. She is braver than me! She took the two girls (3 year olds) and Hunter (her 6 month old) to the pool by herself! So, they had a great day. So, after we ate dinner on Monday, we were just sitting around and talking and she and I decided to take off and go to the Greene for a minute. We just went to Bath & Body and The Children’s Place - but it was a nice break for her! She is a stay-at-home Mommy and Jason works two jobs, so she doesn’t get much time away from the kids. It was a nice (short) break. So, anyways…that was Monday evening!

Tuesday….I worked from home all day because Scott got up pretty early and left to go to Kentucky to visit his grandparents. So, after I got Isaac off to school, the fun began. It was a very stressful day because Gracie was whiney all day and I was trying to WORK, but she wanted to be held! It wouldn’t have been so bad if I didn’t feel pressured to actually “work from home”. I did get some things done, surprisingly enough, but she just wasn’t very happy yesterday. She finally took a longer nap so I was able to do a few things, but it wasn’t a great day. Oh well! If I was just off work, it would’ve been fine. Faith Anne was pretty good, but she is very demanding too. So, Kelli was nice enough to offer her husband Steve to come and pick Isaac up for his t-ball game last night. The coach likes them to be there early…like 20 – 30 minutes before the game, so it was nice that he picked Isaac up and the girls and I were able to come a few minutes later. His game was great. He is doing such a good job…and he hit his first double last night! Of course he did it last night when there wasn’t a big fan club there for him. Scott wasn’t there and my parents weren’t there (they were at my niece’s ball game) and only my MIL was there from his family. But Isaac did great and he was so proud of his double….as was his Mommy! So, after the game, we walked home and Isaac called Scott to tell him all about the game. I know that he hates that he missed it, but he was where he needed to be.

I talked to him briefly this morning on his trip home and he said that his grandpa has lost a lot of weight (and he wasn’t big to begin with) and is extremely weak. I guess that he slept most of the time that Scott was there. I am so glad that he went to visit them. I have a feeling it won’t be much longer….

So anyways, back to last night….Gracie was just in a funk all day yesterday and again last night. She didn’t sleep well. I think she is getting more teeth in, but it is driving me crazy! She is just whiney and needy. Oh well….this too shall pass!!! I just keep telling myself that!

So, Isaac only has 2 days of school left! And Friday is a family picnic day! So, Scott and I both took the day off to go to that with him and then I think we are all going to the Rec Center afterwards. It is supposed to be nice and hot, so hopefully that works out. We asked him what fun thing he wanted to do, and that is what he came up with! And then that night, he and Scott are going to a Red’s Game. So, I think his last day will be special! I was talking to one of the 1st Grade Teachers last night and I was asking her about getting him a tutor for the summer. She suggested just doing a “ramp-up” in August instead of all summer. She also suggested signing him for a reading club thing at the Public Library. So, I am going to look into that. I thought that was a great suggestion!!! She thinks he needs a bit of a break, but then to start early in August. He has visited her classroom (they have them all do that to show them where they will be next year) and she said she thinks he is right up there with everyone else in his class. I am so proud of that little guy!!!!

Little Miss Faith Anne…where do I begin? That little thing is driving me CRAZY! She refuses to go on the potty….she demands everything…she hits Isaac….she takes toys away from and scolds Gracie….she is something else. But the next minute, she is so cute and adorable that you just want to squeeze her up! Scott says that I have met my match when it comes to stubbornness, but I don’t think I am that bad! I love her to pieces, but she is a challenge…make that a CHALLENGE. Pray for me with that little girl, PLEASE!!!

So, I am really looking forward to this weekend! I will have to let you all know how wonderful Lion King is. Last year when Jodi and Mom went…that is all they talked about for a while….and every person I have talked to who has seen it has nothing but great things to say. So, it should be a great time!

Well, I guess I have put off my work long enough….I need to get back to it. Have a great day! Love you all!

Weekend Update!!!

Hello Ladies! Man, this weekend flew by! I guess that is what happens when you jam too much into two days! But it was a fun one!!!

Let’s see…last week, I don’t think anything too exciting happened after I posted. At least not that I remember now. Oh, Isaac’s t-ball game was interesting on Thursday night. For some reason, the other team’s coach didn’t like our coach and the parents on that team seemed to forget that it is a Kindergarten/1st Grade team. They were out for blood, but somehow accused our team of being that way. It was very odd. Our coach is about the opposite of that…he just cheers for everyone. Now, he is very vocal – by that, I mean he is constantly cheering/coaching the entire game. Whether it be for our kids or their kids, he is always being positive. Anyways, the other coach was not nice to our coach a few times. Then after the game, the commissioner (guy in charge) came to talk to our coach….turns out he (guy in charge) reeked of alcohol, so I will disregard what he said. But he told our coach that he needed to stop pushing the kids to “compete” so much and blah, blah, blah. OBVIOUSLY he has never watched our coaches coach, because they are the most positive team I have seen out there yet. It was just very odd….and I felt bad for our coach because he really took it to heart and called all the parents to apologize – even though he did nothing wrong. I think the entire team responded as I did…I am THRILLED that he is our coach and hope he will be Isaac’s coach next year and the year after that and the year after that. I am hoping that the other team and the guy in charge just had a bad night and that everything will be fine again tomorrow night. It was just strange, but left a bad taste in my mouth…ya know?

So, anyways! Let’s see…Friday night, we went out to dinner and then shopping at Gabriel Brothers…LOVE that place. Got some really good deals! After spending $60, we left with 4 shirts for me, 1 for Scott, a onesie for Gracie and two pairs of shorts and a shirt for Faith Anne…oh, and a nightgown for Faith Anne and one for her friend Madison too. Not bad!!!! Then we went to the Party Store and I got some decorations and things for Faith Anne’s Princess party. We got home and got all the kids in bed and I took off and went to Target by myself. That was nice. Got some more stuff for Faith Anne’s party and a present for her friend Madison. Oh…and I got a present for Faith Anne’s birthday too! We are trying to buy stuff now so that it won’t all hit the pocket book at the same time!

Saturday morning we had a bit of a lazy morning…not really, since the kids get up so early. But then Scott had to go work at the Strawberry Festival and Mom and Dad came and picked me and the kiddos up to go to the festival. On the way to our house, they stopped at a garage sale and bought us a $5 stroller! I have been looking for a smaller stroller….but hadn’t found one I liked yet….but the $5 one is PERFECT! And so was the price! So, anyways, we all got loaded up in their truck and headed up to the festival. Boy, was it hot!!! I didn’t buy a thing…I was disappointed because I really wanted this one thing that I saw…but I wanted to ask Scott first. So, I called him but he didn’t answer until we were too far away from it….so I didn’t get it. Oh well. It was very hot, but the kids had fun. Dad took them (well, Isaac and Faith Anne) to play hockey and they had a great time doing that. Mom and I got to look at stuff and I got some great ideas for this old window I bought. I need to work on that project. I also got some great ideas for Jodi! I wish she were with us, she is so talented….anyways…that was a fun day. We left the festival and went to Steak-N-Shake for dinner and then headed home. The two older kids took naps but Gracie was having no part of that, unfortunately because I needed a nap! Oh well….so I got up and did laundry and stuff like that while Scott was at PT practice. Then when he got home we gave the kids baths and piddled around the house (don’t really remember what all we did) and that was it for Saturday!

Sunday….we got up and everyone got ready for church. It was a great Sunday! I got to go to Sunday School for the first time in a while and we had good discussions….and I went to service by myself….meaning, I left Gracie in the nursery….and that was nice! The song service was great, the messages were both great…we are really blessed to have Beef at our church. I pray that he will still be here when my kids are old enough for the youth program. I have really enjoyed hearing him preach last week and yesterday. And as soon as Steve started preaching, I just started crying. To see how God has worked in his life…. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I was talking to Funny Fingers after church and we were tearing up together about it. Anyways, it was a great service. And I LOVED hearing Baby Tony making a few noises during the service. He is a perfect little baby – so precious.

We left church and went home and had lunch. Then we were off! We went to Wilmington for Madison’s birthday party. We couldn’t stay long because we had to leave there and go to another party. However, Faith Anne and Madison are two little DIVAs and they were having so much fun together, that Tera (Madison’s mom) had a crazy moment and asked to keep Faith Anne and bring her to us tonight for the church softball game. So, we left Faith Anne there (she didn’t even notice we left, I don’t think) and we (4 of us now) headed back to Kettering. Scott and Gracie went to his cousin’s graduation party while Isaac and I headed to a church for the free football physicals. Well, we got there along with a million other people and decided that standing in line was not worth the $20 my doctor will charge me for the physical. So, we got the forms we needed and left to go to the graduation party. It was at least a 2 hour wait…not for me!!! Patience is a virtue that God did not bestow on me! LOL or GOL….for those of you who don’t know what that is, see one of Sara’s comments!!!

So, after the graduation party, we headed home and gave the two kids baths. Scott went to Men’s group and I just enjoyed the peace and quiet! It was a nice evening – good way to finish the busy weekend!!!

So, here I am at work….again! This is going to be a short week, so that is good! I leave to work from home in a bit today and then I am going to work from home all day tomorrow. Scott is going to drive to Kentucky to see his grandparents tomorrow and come back on Wednesday. They are both ill…his grandpa is in the final stages of prostate cancer, so he needs to go visit them. And then I am taking a vacation day on Friday because it is Isaac’s last day of school! They have a family picnic and then we are going to take all the kids to the rec center or somewhere fun if it rains. And then Saturday….WOOHOO! Saturday I am going to Kentucky with Mandie (my best friend from high school who married my cousin) and we are meeting up with Jodi (staying at her house!!!) and going to see The Lion King! I am really looking forward to a fun girls night out! We are coming home on Sunday ( I am thinking we will leave when you all head to church, Sister…so you don’t have to miss on account of us). I don’t want to be gone too long from the family, since Scott is being nice enough to let me go on yet another girls weekends!!! I have had quite a few of those this year, not that I am complaining! But I don’t want him to realize that…LOl

So, I am looking forward to this week! Well, I guess I need to get my stuff packed up! You all have a blessed Monday and I will talk to you soon! Love you all!!!