February...already???

So it has been a while since I last posted…geesh! Where did the time go? Oh, that’s right! It was December – which is busy with the holidays and stuff and then it was January, which has been really crazy at work! I am sure you are all dying to know what is going on in my life! So, here is my recap:

December was a busy month but full of all the Holiday Fun and other excitement! Let’s see…I took the girls to see The Nutcracker! I have never done that….and I will probably never do it again. I guess I didn’t realize that it was JUST a ballet and there is no talking or singing in a ballet. That shows how cultured I am! We had a good time, actually. We went with two other Moms and their daughters from church. We had lunch at Olive Garden and then went to the ballet in Cincinnati. It was fun to get everyone dressed up and do something like that…however, we decided that next December we would just get together and bake cookies or something fun for the girls. As we were leaving the craziness of the center in Cincinnati, I got a phone call that no mother wants to get…Scott and Isaac were in a car accident. They were both okay but it was scary to get that call and be in Cincinnati where I couldn’t get to them right away. Someone turned in front of them and hit them pretty much head-on. They were in a rental (our van is getting some work done on it) and it totaled the car. Isaac was in the front seat and all of the airbags went off. He had some nasty burns on his legs from the side airbags but was okay. He actually thought it was pretty cool to ride in the ambulance. I got to the hospital right as he was being released. Scott was fine except he probably cracked a few ribs. He was in a lot of pain for a few weeks. Translate that to mean that he was VERY whiney for a few weeks. LOL But thank the good Lord that it wasn’t any worse than that! Isaac had a story to share with his friends when he went back to school!

Christmas was fun as always with family! The kids were spoiled, as always. We have now entered into the world of American Girl Dolls at our house….that is exciting and expensive. Isaac got a laptop for Christmas and enjoys playing on Facebook (Yoville) and other educational sites from school. He thinks he is pretty cool. It has actually been a present for Scott and I too because our home computer is dying and we are getting ready to buy ourselves a new laptop too. We should’ve bought two of them (or Santa should’ve) when they were so cheap. I have no idea what kind we are going to get…it is so overwhelming! But that is off the subject! Christmas was fun and we were able to spend time with family and that is what I love most about the Holidays! New Years’ Eve was fun and less exciting this year, meaning no one was sick like we all had the stomach bug last year! The kids had fun ringing in the new year with their cousins and we had fun being with all the family at my parents’ house. We really are so blessed to have our closest friends as our family!

Then January hit with a BANG! I went through a lot of changes at work…which equated to a lot of stress and hours. But I have a job! I tell myself that every day when I just want to throw in the towel and quit! I went from supporting two people to three and three very, very needy ones at that! It has been crazy busy, but I have a much better handle on it now and am feeling less stressed. I will always be stressed but it is more manageable now. For a while there, I wasn’t managing it very well at all. I hate that. As a mom who works outside the home, I always feel guilty about something! I am not giving work enough or I am not giving the kids enough or I am not giving Scott enough….always something to feel guilty about. I have to work very hard to keep it all in perspective! But I know that I am certainly not alone in that..so that is just the plight of women, I reckon!
The kids are all doing great! It is easiest to just give a person-by-person update:

Isaac - I cannot believe that my baby is 9 and in the 4th Grade! He is certainly losing his “baby” and gaining his “big-boy attitude”. I am not sure how I feel about that! He actually cracked me up the other day because he sent both his Mimis text messages to tell them that he had his first zit. LOL That was hysterical! He is doing good at school, but not as good as he can or as good as he was. The teacher said in his latest report card that the content is getting harder but also that he enjoys socializing too much. I was not shocked by that, needless to say. Don’t get me wrong..he is still an honor roll student, but not all A’s like we are used to seeing from him. He is enjoying texting on his cell phone (the texts are priceless) and gaining some independence – as much as a 9 year old can. He is playing basketball and enjoying it this year because they have actually won a few games. He wants to play spring basketball instead of baseball, much to his Daddy’s chagrin! Scott was an all-star baseball player and would love to see Isaac follow in that, but it isn’t his favorite sport. We will see who wins this battle! I don’t care what he does, as long as he does something! He needs to keep active since he is such a big kid. He still enjoys reading and is active on the Student Council at school. No girlfriends yet, but he is definitely getting more interested in girls. It is hilarious to watch how he is growing up and I just love that he still has that very sweet spirit about him. I hope that continues to grow with him as he grows into a teenager. Seriously….he only has one more year of elementary school. How did that happen?

Faith – What can I say about my little Faith? Gosh, I love that little girl. Her spunky personality just lights up my life! Her teacher feels the same way about her! We see her at games and stuff sometimes and every time we see her, she tells me how much she loves Faith and her spunky personality. I just hope we can channel it in the right direction! She is in gymnastics and learning cartwheels now and absolutely loves it. I was astounded that after only 3 weeks (so 3 sessions) she was nearly doing a cartwheel by herself! The thing that I love the most about her is that she will not let anyone tell her that she can’t do something! She is so strong-willed that she will do it just to prove to you that she can! The girls were invited to an ice-skating birthday party and by golly, she worked and worked at doing it! That is going to serve her well in life! She is doing great at school too and really loves reading. Jodi got her a book for Christmas – The Boxcar Children (or something like that) and said numerous times that it might be too old for Faith, but Faith LOVES it. It is a longer chapter book and she is working her way through it. She loves the story. So, I am very proud of her on that! We are going to get her in soccer and softball in the Spring. So, she is busy! It is neat to see how she likes to teach Gracie things and cheers her on. That is also something that her teacher says about her in class is that she is the first to cheer her classmates on. Now, don’t get me wrong…she is SPUNKY! She definitely wants things her way and is vocal about it, but I am seeing more and more glimpses of her sweet personality as she is growing out of the tantrum phase little by little.

Gracie – This child is going to be the death of me. She is so cute and adorable and you just want to eat her up….and then she will throw a holy tantrum and you wonder where she came from! LOL She just gets frustrated when things don’t go her way and she loves to “mother” everyone! She is doing good in preschool…I can’t wait for that parent/teacher conference to hear what they have to say about her. She is really, really struggling with not acting like a baby and that is mostly due to the fact that there are 4 people in the house that struggle with treating her like the baby! Because she screams and throws tantrums, we find that we all try to cater to her more so that she won’t. So, it is a never-ending cycle! It is so funny to me that all three of my kids have such different personalities and yet they are siblings! Gracie is eager to learn to read and write like her siblings…but then she gives up really easy because they will just do it for her. She gets embarrassed very easily and then that draws out a tantrum. I just don’t know what we are going to do about that. Eventually it will stop, right? Please tell me that it will! She has moments of sweetness where she will let us hold her and cuddle her, but then she has moments of bratiness where she just won’t have any of that! She says the funniest things sometimes and keeps us on our toes. But she also absorbs everything we say and that is embarrassing too! For example, she told Faith the other day that she “was done with her”. I wonder where she heard that? LOL She is also in gymnastics and the teacher raves about how good she is – what a good listener, how kind and helpful she is. I asked the teacher if she could send that kid home with me because she currently doesn’t live with us. LOL We are going to get her in soccer and ragball (like t-ball) this Spring. I am anxious to see how she does when she gets to be the one on the Team since she has always been the one watching her siblings!

Scott – well, I told you about the accident. About a month or so after the accident he still wasn’t feeling good, so I finally convinced him to go to the doctor. They told him that he had the beginning of walking pneumonia! So, they put him on an anti-biotic and that didn’t really help. He was just not himself and was sleeping a lot and not feeling good. Then he developed a weird rash on his back that itched and burned and then we noticed that he had some large knots on the back of his neck. He went back to the doctor and after some blood work, they determined that he had mono! Great!!!! At that point, they determined he was not contagious anymore, but that explains why he was not well for more than a month! Thank goodness none of the rest of us got it (at least not that we know of) but there is nothing they can do for mono…it just has to run its course. So, I felt a little bad for riding him so much about being whiney…but he was really, really whiney for many weeks! LOL He is finally starting to feel better – but he is still sleeping a lot more than normal. Hopefully he gets back to 100% soon!

That is my family update! Oh wait, I left out Buckeye! We have had our little shih tzu for a year now and he is doing great. He has occasional accidents still, but he is doing much better and has become a true member of our family – as much as a dog can! LOL

So, things are going pretty good. Mom and Dad are in Florida (lucky dogs) for the winter so that makes childcare interesting for us. We have a great babysitter for Gracie, so that helps. I wish she was going to start school next year, but since she has an October birthday…we have another year of preschool in our future. I don’t think she is ready anyways. She is definitely the baby of the family!
We bought the girls new beds in January and I LOVE their room now! They had bunk beds that we got used from a friend of mine when Faith was born. They were probably 15 or 16 years old and just weren’t very secure, so I was so afraid that they were going to collapse or something. So, we bought them new bunk beds and the unit has a desk on one end and drawers and a shelf on the other end. I absolutely love how their room turned out! They have more room to play and the bottom bunk isn’t attached, so that will be nice as they get bigger. Of course, now that they have a desk…they want a computer! LOL There are some websites with games on them that they can earn “tickets” for their school by playing….so they both love to do that. I am good with it because they are educational ones. It is amazing to me that we have come so far since we were in school. I can remember in junior high going to the computer lab and playing Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego…but we didn’t have any of the cool stuff that they have now! LOL

So, I wish we were planning a Girls’ Cruise again this year! That was so much fun last year and I wanna go again! Any takers? I am not so sure that I can convince Scott of that…but I wanna go! I told him the other day that I was going to book a cheap flight to Key West. He said he didn’t have the vacation time and I quickly replied that I never said anything about taking him! LOL I need a beach! Maybe we can plan a trip to Myrtle Beach this summer. Scott doesn’t love the beach as much as I do, so I am not sure how he will feel about that. But I like to feel the sand in my toes and listen to the ocean! I also like to lay in the ocean on a raft with an umbrella drink in hand…but I don’t see that happening with three kids with me! LOL “Isaac, bring Mommy another margarita!”

As I look back on 2010, I have to say that I am so blessed. I have a great husband (even if we don’t always see eye-to-eye), I have three beautiful children (no, they aren’t perfect…but they are mine), I have a job (even if I don’t always like it), I have a house (with a big payment, but He provides), I have a wonderful family and friends who love me (in spite of who I am)….and most importantly, I have a God who loves me (with all of my faults and failures) and who walks with me every step of the way. Sure there are lots of things I want that I don’t have….sure there are lots of things I would change…sure there are lots of imperfections that I would love to see change…but I am so blessed. I am going to face 2011 with that in mind and just take what life throws at me and use it for HIS glory.

Maybe next time I won’t wait two months to post…but I am not making any promises!!!!