Mommy of Angelkids

Wonderful News!!!!

2012-01-12T13:39:00.001-05:00

This is an email I sent to my family this morning....I just wanted to get this out on paper so you can read it! I am sorry that I posted it to Facebook without calling you guys….but I was just so excited!!!!

So, last night…Mom and Dad came over and Dad gave Faith a cross necklace and told her how proud he was of her for memorizing scriptures. After they left, both girls wanted to read their Bibles and work on memorizing scriptures. Gracie quickly lost interest when she realized she had to repeat them to me (HA!) so she ran on. Well, Faith and I sat and we read verses and then, in her new Bible, I noticed a devotional on John 3:16. So, we read John 3:16 and then we looked at the devotional. It told us to read John 3: 1-16. So, I read it to her…stopping and asking questions along the way. When it mentioned being “born again”, I asked her what she thought that meant and she said the same answer that Nicodemus said….to have a new body. Then we kept reading and I could tell that she was still a bit puzzled about the meaning. Then I went back to the devotional and it explained that when you are born, your body is born. When you are born again, your spirit is born. I loved that! That seemed to make a bit more sense to her.

So, we sat and talked about that for a while and I asked her what it meant to be a Christian and she said that it means you believe in Jesus and God. Then I asked her what it meant to be baptized and she said that it means we are wiped clean of all the bad stuff we have done. So, I asked her if there were things that she had done that were bad and she said yes. I asked her what those were called and she said sins. I asked her if being baptized meant that if you did something bad the next day, like hitting Gracie, if you would need to be baptized again in the water. She said no….but she would need to ask God to forgive her.

I asked her if she wanted to be baptized and she said that yes, she has been wanting to be baptized for a while! So, I asked her to repeat the confession after me and she did. Then Scott came into the room, so we did the whole conversation over again so that he could hear it. And then we both smiled and rejoiced and told Faith how proud of her we are…..

It was so beautiful! I asked her if she wanted to be baptized right away or if she wanted to wait until Mimi and Papaw come back and she said she wanted to wait until Mimi and Papaw come back! So, we will plan for that in early April!!! God is so good!!!!!!

Umm.....So it has been a while!

2012-01-09T11:20:00.000-05:00

I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth! It has been so long since I updated that I have decided I am not going to try to recap the last year or so of my life! That would be too daunting! I am not really sure why I don’t journal more, except maybe I was overwhelmed by the idea of trying to recap. Duh, just don’t do it!

I do still read journals and check them each and every day. So, to those that still update…yeah! I read them!

2012. Am I the only person who cannot believe that it is already 2012? I mean, seriously. It feels like it was just yesterday that we were scared of the dreaded Y2K?!?!? I totally get what they mean by “time flies” as you get older. It totally does! Scott and I were just talking last night about how long we have had this little table thing. I remember vividly putting it together in my dad’s apartment in Michigan. So, I was a senior in high school. So, Scott says…that table is about 18 years old and I about died. In fact, I just had to check the math again. Surely I haven’t been out of high school for 18 years. But, sadly….he is right! OH MY! This whole paragraph makes me laugh….

God is so very good to me. Do you ever just stop and think, as we go about our super busy days, just how blessed we are? I know that it is very easy for me to get caught up in a self-pity-party (especially these days) but I am really trying to make a conscious effort to stop that party before it starts and focus on how much He has blessed me. Way more than I would ever have imagined in my wildest dreams!

So…my health journey is still in progress. I was diagnosed with Auto-Immune Hepatitis in April of last year. They started me on prednisone and told me I would be on it for about 6 months. Well, here we are 9 months later and I am still on it. Boo! I am also on another drug that I will be on for the rest of my life. So, of course there are complications from the medicines (now) and lots of risks for more (later) and of course, I am still not feeling great. So, I continue to go to the specialist and continue to go get blood drawn regularly and just continue to trust that He is in control of the situation! Some days I just wonder if I will ever feel “normal” again! Then, I think that maybe a lot of this is just because I am getting older and “normal” is relative! Scott has been super supportive (and scared) throughout all of this. One night, out of the blue to him…because he doesn’t live in my head….I told him that if anything ever happened to me that he needs to remarry because he can’t raise the kids by himself. It freaked him out, but it is one of those things we hadn’t talked about and I thought we should! I guess that I need to invite him into my head more often because then he wouldn’t be so freaked out! LOL

The kids are great. I mean, they are really, really great. God has certainly had His protective hand on our family because one of the drugs that I am really suppresses my immune system….and so I have to be cautious to try to stay as germ-free as possible. Well, the kids have been the healthiest they have ever been since I was diagnosed. That has been wonderful because that complication could be really bad for all of us! So, aside from the constant bickering and “sibling love”…..they are great!

Isaac is thriving in 5th grade and has become quite the social butterfly. I love that boy for so many reasons….one of which is that he has such an awesome personality. No wonder everyone loves him and wants to be his friend! I cannot believe that he has a girlfriend (it will be 2 months on the 16th, he will tell you…LOL) and that this is his last year in elementary school. *GASP* Next year I will have a child in middle school. How did that happen?!?!??!

Faith is such a joy….it is so much fun watching her grow into the person that God created! If there has ever been a child that you cannot tell them what to do…it is Faith. What I mean is….if you tell her that she “can’t” do something, she will prove you wrong! She will try and try and try again until she does it….like zip-lining last year at camp or ice-skating or memorizing a big block of scripture. So far, it seems to be channeled in the right direction….so lots of prayers are coveted as we hope it continues to be channeled correctly! We bought all of the kids Bibles for Christmas. Hers is going to be worn out before the end of the month because she wants to read it all the time. She is working on memorizing the books of the Bible right now along with Isaac. I dare-say, she will get it done first and then Isaac will be so mad! LOL I ‘heart’ her!!!! She has such a funny sense of humor too! One night we were watching TV and a commercial came on for “Say Yes to the Dress” and the bride was a bit older. Faith looked at me and said….”She is obviously getting RE-Married!” She cracks me up!

Gracie is such a DIVA….but our lives would not be complete with her…maybe less filled with screaming and hitting and bossing, but not complete! LOL No, she is getting better about stuff like that, but she definitely still wants things done HER way and in HER time! We (Scott, me, Isaac & Faith) have all created this monster…so we need to learn how to fix it! LOL But there are lots of times when it is so very sweet how much fun she and Faith have playing together and imagining things. She loves preschool and loves for her big brother to help her with “her letters” and anything else that he will help her with. She also has a wild-spirit….the other night I saw her full-moon when Isaac made her mad about something. Oh dear lord, what am I in for? And where did she learn that from? Oh, that’s right…..the very same big brother! I can assure you that Scott and I do NOT walk around mooning people! LOL

Well, I guess that is good enough for my first entry in forever! I hope to be back soon, but please don’t hold your breath!

February...already???

2011-02-08T15:42:00.000-05:00

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!!!!

Two posts in one month????

2010-11-30T15:36:00.000-05:00

So, wow! Two posts in one month! How is that for progress? Really what that means is that I am bored at work and so, I am going to waste some time to update you all on my “oh, so exciting” life! LOL

So we are officially done with our Football and Cheer Season! Football wasn’t quite as exciting as last year, as we didn’t make it to the Super Bowl, but the boys had a good season and we weren’t too sad to see it over. There is just a lot of drama with parents and such on that team. A lot of the boys are from broken homes and the things their parents say and do are just so sad! And of course that carries over to the kids! So, as much as I want the boys to win…I want them to learn life lessons more and sometimes that comes in the way of losing a few games!

Cheer season was really, really good! My first year coaching is under my belt and I think it went great! Tai, the head coach, did a fabulous job and I think we made a great team! She did great with all the details and logistics and I just had a ton of fun with the girls! We took first place in our competition!!!! That was so very exciting and I was so proud of the girls. Now, mind you….we only competed against one other team, but we still took first! And they had a lot of tumbling in the first part of their routine – which means lots of points, even if executed poorly – and we didn’t have any tumbling….so that is really good that we won! We had a party later that night and one of the girls was just bawling as she was leaving because she was going to miss us so much. I assured her that we would see her again next year, but she and her mom were crying as they were leaving. I guess that means we did a good job! Our goals were: to make sure the girls had fun and that they learned something. I think we accomplished both of those goals! And we learned a lot in the process too!

So, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I ran in the Turkey Trot for the third year in a row! It was warm this year, but rainy! I have never in my life voluntarily been running in the rain….so this was a first for me! BUT – I beat my own time! The first two years I did it (a 5 mile race) in about one hour and seventeen minutes. This year I did it in one hour and nine minutes! I was super excited about that great time! I hope I can beat that next year! This is really becoming a tradition that I love….I have done it by myself the past two years and I don’t mind it at all because it is great time to think and also people watch! There are lots and lots of people there. One girl wanted to be my friend and running buddy…and I actually kept up with her for the entire first mile….but then I had to slow down and let her go on! Plus, I had just downloaded some new tunes to my iPod and really wanted to listen to music instead of trying to talk, while out of breath, to a new friend. LOL She was nice, though!

We had a great time at my parents’ house with a bunch of our family. Aunt Susie was there and this was the first time I had seen her since she nearly died with a heart attack about a month ago. She told me that she doesn’t remember much, but she does remember waking up and seeing me crying and telling her that I loved her. That was scary….and I hope a big wake up call for her! It was fun to just be with family and eat and laugh and play games and watch the little ones all play together. Poor Cali…everywhere she went, she had three little mother hens right behind her, Faith, Gracie and Michaela. It was cute, but probably annoying for Cali! God sure has blessed our family this year…and every year. After we left there, we went to Scott’s mom’s house and of course , there is always drama with his family. But we still managed to have a good time. I just ignore the drama and pretend like it isn’t there! LOL His mom has said several things to me about how she wishes we could all be together and blah, blah, blah….so I just ignore it. She doesn’t understand that the drama that accompanies that just is not fun! Oh, the joys of in-laws!!!

Friday, I went shopping with Dad! I was a bit upset because our Wal-mart changed the way they do things and instead of cutting the shrink-wrap off the 5:00 AM deals at 5:00 AM, they let you grab it whenever but you couldn’t check out until 5:00 AM. So….lots of stuff that I wanted but didn’t get. However, there really wasn’t’ anything I “needed” that I didn’t get. I wasn’t very prepared and actually wasn’t in the mood at first….mostly because my body was aching all over from pushing so hard the day before for the Turkey Trot! But…I quickly got in the mood and ended up having a great time shopping on Friday – mostly by myself. I just took my time and enjoyed it! I got a lot of our shopping done, but still have a LOT to do! The kids “Santa gifts” are done. Isaac is getting a laptop (can we say spoiled) and the girls are getting the Bitty Twins American Girl Dolls (again, can we say spoiled)? Now just have to get everyone else bought for and the other little things for the kids. I like them to have a lot to open on Christmas morning! Scott gets annoyed, but I like them to each have the same amount of presents and for it to be a lot….even if I have to wrap up silly things separately! Oh…and I really like the paper I got this year. The girls talked me into buying bows this year…I HATE bows because they never stay on. Plus, Buckeye likes to try to take them off the presents. But right now I have everything wrapped that I bought for people other then my kids under the tree. So far…nothing has had to be re-wrapped. We will see how long that lasts!

Okay….here is where I could use some help! Gracie….she is four now, but she is still having temper tantrums as if she were 2 or 3. I am truly at my wits end with her! On Saturday, we were getting ready to head out and I asked her to try and go potty before we left. She proceeded to scream as if I were killing her slowly for 45 minutes. Seriously….45 minutes straight of screaming, kicking, crying, slamming doors,….full blown temper tantrum. I was a bad mommy and actually threw a plastic stool…not at anyone, just at the floor, because I was so upset and couldn’t get her to stop. That kinda scared Faith and I explained to her that my options were to hit Gracie or throw the stool and I chose to not hurt her sister. LOL After she did this for 45 minutes, she came out and got in the car and said she was ready to go. I was like, SERIOUSLY? This is an extreme example, but she does this screaming, hitting, growling thing every time she doesn’t get her way. It doesn’t always last this long, but she does it a lot. We have tried spanking, time out, taking things away, putting her in her bed and/or room, everything! I am at a loss as to what to do to stop the screaming!!! Any suggestions? We are about ready to turn her in for a newer model that doesn’t scream!!! LOL

I can’t believe that it is going to be December tomorrow! This year has truly flown right on by! I guess it is true what they say…time flies when you are having fun! I love this time of the year …. But I don’t like working this time of the year! LOL I wish I could take the whole month of December off. LOL I guess I will just have to settle for the last week!

Everyone needs to UPDATE your blogs! I miss you all!!

Hello? Testing...1-2-3

2010-11-09T14:26:00.000-05:00

Wow. Has it really been since June that I journaled? And I didn’t even give a recap of our day traveling home?!?! Where has the time gone? And so much has happened.
Let me finish out the story with a shortened version of our trip home. We had to be up and off the ship really early on Monday morning even though our flight didn’t leave until 4:30 or something like that from Miami. We spent the whole day at the airport…shopping, eating, sleeping…and then at the last minute, our flight was delayed. We were all tired and cranky and missing our families and emotional and it wasn’t that fun of a day. To top it off, here is what I found out at the airport when I had a conversation with Scott:
Scott calls me at the airport and asks me if I am sitting down. I wasn’t, but I told him to go ahead and tell me what happened. Apparently on Friday (this was Monday), Faith Anne got into trouble at school. She was in her morning “Kid’s Club” class and she flipped the bird and said the “f” word! Yep, you read that right. So, the teacher (who is a first year teacher) goes across the hall to the Kindergarten teacher (who we know pretty well) and asks her what she is supposed to do? The K teacher tells her that she has to send her to the principal’s office. So….off to the Principal’s office goes Faith. Apparently the principal talked to her about it and filled out an incident report that she gave to Faith to bring home and have signed by a parent and returned on Monday. Well, I was on the cruise. I am the one that typically goes through their folders….Daddy didn’t do it. So, Monday rolls around and Faith had not told Scott about this….and had not shown Scott the report that was supposed to be signed. Faith goes to school and the teacher sends her to the Principal’s office to return the incident report. The principal looks at it and then looks at Faith. She asks Faith: “Did you show this to your Mommy and Daddy?” Faith says: “Yes.” Principal says: “Did you have Daddy sign this?” Faith says: “Yes.” Principal says: “Why did your Daddy print his name?” (side-note…Faith had FORGED his name by printing SCOOT BE*****) LOL Faith says: “My daddy doesn’t know cursive.” OMG. Yep, in Kindergarten, my daughter flipped the bird, said the “f” word, forged Daddy’s signature and lied. I am for sure in the running for parent of the year. So, Scott tells me this in the airport. Mind you, I am tired. I miss my kids and husband. I have had very, very little sleep. We are stranded in an airport. To say that I was upset is an understatement. And I was so embarrassed that I didn’t want to tell my aunts and cousins. I told Jodi first…and then Mom…and then Joy. Joy counseled me (because she is good at that) but then she pointed out a little fact… her children (who are older) had been to my house that weekend. ***Insert glimmer of hope**** Maybe it was Joy’s kids that told Faith to do it! I wanted to blame ANYONE but my Faith! LOL Well, it turned out that it was Faith’s idea and we had to fix it when I got home….but rest assured….that incident report will FOR SURE be a part of her scrapbook for when she graduates from high school. I don’t want to forget this! Not my proudest moment as a parent, but for sure one of the most memorable!
So, I will leave the trip home at that. There were delays and calls of trying to get different flights and sleeping in airports and dinner at Chili’s….and happy to see families, but sad that the fun was over. I will never forget that cruise as long as I live. It was MARVALOUS!!!!
So, life has obviously resumed since then! We had a good summer….didn’t really do a whole lot, but feels like it flew by for some reason. The kids keep us busy with baseball and t-ball and lots of trips to the water park. Isaac had church camp for a whole week and he loved it. He also spent a week with Jodi and Jim and he loved that. So, he had a fun summer. He is just growing up so fast!
Summer came to a screeching halt when Football and Cheer Season started in late July. I say that in jest, but our lives do tend to become consumed with Football and Cheer. Scott helps to coach Isaac’s football team and this was my first year as Assistant Coach for Faith’s cheer squad…and Gracie was one of the mascots! SO! Needless to say, we had a busy end of summer/fall. Practices start in late July and we aren’t done with cheer yet! We have our competition on November 21 and then we will be done. Football is done, though. Let me just summarize by saying this….I do these things for my kids because they want to do them and I want to be involved. As far as football goes, I realize this is pee-wee football and colleges will not look at Isaac’s pee-wee tapes to see if he is eligible for a scholarship. Some of the parents on our team….they don’t realize that. They think that Jim Tressel (OSU’s coach) is at our games scouting. And for Faith and Gracie…they like to cheer because they are loud and they get to dance. I am not out there because I want to be the best team mom ever and put everyone else down. So, that should tell you that there was lots of DRAMA this season with parents on cheer and parents on football. It really is a shame because aside from the drama, I have made some really good friends with some of the parents and I enjoy the social interaction that it brings. It also allows you to spend time with the families of the kids that your kid is becoming friends with…..or maybe you can steer them to not become friends with them! LOL Our cheer competition routine is really, really cute. The coach has done a great job with the girls this year…she handles all the “business” stuff that goes along with coaching and I just come in and have fun with the girls! It has worked out pretty well for us this year and the girls have had fun. I have actually really enjoyed coaching too, but I will be happy when it is over! It is just a long season! And then we will be on to something else, I am sure!
Here is my person-by-person recap:

Scott
He is doing really good. He changed jobs this summer. I honestly don’t remember when…I am pretty sure it was around the first of July. He was working for Time Warner Cable, but left there to go to Cincinnati Bell. He is doing the same thing – door to door sales, but with a slightly different product line. I was very scared for him to take this opportunity, but the District Manager is a guy that we go to church with and he was actually working on getting Scott to come over for a long time before we finally did it. Let me tell you, it has been a huge blessing to our family. The pay is much better and Scott is doing very well there! The pay structure is a bit different and so because he is so motivated by competition and making money, it has been good. I am very proud of him. There was a learning curve and he still gets aggravated from time to time, but it has been a good thing. I am sure, like everyone, we have had our share of ups and downs lately….we just say that we don’t always LIKE each other, but we always LOVE each other. It just seems that life gets so busy and we lose each other in the busy-ness of taking care of the kids – this was especially true during football. We rarely saw each other and so when we did, it seemed like we were always picking at each other. When we took time to slow down and spend some time together, it got better. I am sure that we are not alone and that a reminder to stop and enjoy each other will need to come again and again as we travel this road called marriage together!

Isaac
My little boy is definitely growing up very quickly! He has developed a bit of an attitude (at times) but is still my sweet boy, most of the time! He keeps me in stitches with some of the things that he comes up with! He is doing great in 4th grade. This is the year that most people have told us we would know if we made a mistake or not by starting him early. So far, he seems to be doing really, really well and I think we made the right decision. His teacher said that he is just a very happy kid and very mature for his age. She couldn’t say enough nice things about him when I went to the parent/teacher conference. Of course, that made me very proud! I think he is great, but to hear his teacher say the same was pretty nice! He tried out for a select basketball team and did not make the team. That was pretty devastating for him and Daddy, but a couple of his friends are going to be playing in the same rec league as him, so I think he will be fine. He really loves basketball, but we haven’t worked with him at all and try-outs are during football season. So, we will just have to work more on that next year. He did better at football this year, but is still just not very aggressive for his size. I told him that he is too much like me (LOL) and has a hard time turning the “mean” on for the football field. I am not sure if that is something he will ever be able to do. I guess we will see with time! However, he had fun playing and seemed to really develop some friendships this year with some good kids and that is what really matters. I already miss some of the friends that I made with the moms at football too….but not all of them! LOL Still no girlfriends for Isaac…and he doesn’t seem too interested in girls yet, so that is a good thing! I will take that as long as I can!

Faith
Well, I had her parent/teacher conference last week and so far…she has had a good year in 1st grade! It is funny because the kid that the teacher described is not the kid that lives at my house. Faith – I would sum her up in one word….drama! If you look at her wrong or say that she burped or that she said something or just do something that irritates her….she throws herself down and sobs as if you have just stabbed her in the back. EVERYTHING is to the extreme with her. But her teacher said she is very even-tempered and very encouraging and quick to respond and basically, the total opposite of what she is at home. I guess I would rather he be good there than at home, but I would seriously like that child to come and live at my house! LOL She is top in her class in reading and her writing is great….she is just doing really, really well in school! I was so happy to hear that! Again, to have a teacher confirm what you thought is always a good thing! She has two of the girls that she cheers with in her class and they are her “best friends”. They actually all seem to get along pretty good considering the amount of time they all spend together. It is neat to see how she is developing into a young lady….although there are only glimpses of that because she is still very much my little girl. She is so good at cheer that I am anxious to get her into gymnastics this winter and get working on doing flips and stuff. She has the natural “voice” (LOL) and moves of a cheerleader, so hopefully we can help her pursue that if she wants to. I can’t believe that she is 6! Time just flies by!

Gracie
Where do I begin with little Miss Gracie…or should I call her Pterodactyl? She is a difficult child, of course, because she is my third! LOL She is 4 and in preschool and just growing up way too fast! We changed her babysitter and now my friend, Tai, who is also our cheer coach and her daughter if Faith’s BFF in class, is now watching her. She does a good job with her and has 2 other little girls who are 4 that she watches. Gracie seems to really respect her and knows who is in charge! She just has a very stubborn personality and still throws temper tantrums! I don’t know what I am going to do with that child….it is a bit embarrassing. They are definitely better, but still there. For example, the other day at church she THREW herself down on the ground because she dropped her paper bag and wanted me to pick it up. I was already half-way up the stairs and was not going to turn around to pick up a bag that was right by her hand. So, we left her and she followed us all the way to the car SCREAMING the entire way. Yep, I was so proud. I just don’t know what we can do to make her stop that! She has her own sense of style and will not wear something that I like if she doesn’t like it. I mean, she is just her own little person – very head-strong. I have NO idea where she gets it from! LOL She definitely keeps us on our toes!

So, that is my quick over-view! We are all doing well. Our “new” church is still going great. Scott and I have been missing out on Praise Team quite a bit lately due to football, but we get there as often as we can. That church has just experienced a huge amount of growth over the past few years and they are feeling growing pains of trying to figure it all out. I pray that it will continue to go smoothly. So far, you can totally see God’s hand in everything and as long as they keep Him in the center, it will be fine. We have made some really good friends there – we are involved in a small group and that has been such a blessing to us! One of the biggest ways that it has blessed us is….the two ladies that are in it are into this “bulk cooking”. They cook enough meals for their families and ours once a month and we freeze all the dinners and then just pull them out and cook them. I cannot tell you how wonderful that has been. One time I took a day off work (because we cook all day for about 8 hours) and did that with them. One month I helped with some prep work in the evening before they cooked for 8 hours and then this past month, one of them just did it all by herself. It is amazing and so much cheaper! They are big “couponers” and so that really helps. But it cost me $135 for a month’s worth of dinners and a few breakfasts and lunches. And the food is REALLY good….meatloaf, chicken alfredo, chicken gumbo, flank steak, t-bones, chicken cordon-bleu, some really, really yummy stuff! That has been a blessing…and I have learned some cooking tips! And we are eating great! LOL But seriously, the women in my small group have become good friends and that has been fun to get to know them. Scott actually went and spent a day with one of the guys too….they drove to Chicago for a Cubs game. We have really enjoyed it.

Umm….what else? I know there is so much more. OH! I went to a “Fun” party. LOL Have you ever done that? Let me tell you….I was embarrassed FOR SURE, but I did have fun! Having a few adult beverages helped the embarrassment a bit, but it was all in fun. One of the girls at work threw it and we all sure laughed at lot!

So, a few weeks ago, for my Mom’s birthday, the women in my family got together – My mom, Jodi, Janice and my two older nieces (Desmonde and Dru) and we went out for breakfast. We met at my mom’s house and then left from there. My mom and dad are pretty private people when it comes to talking about any infertility problems they had and the whole adoption process of Janice and just all of that stuff. Not like they tried to hide it, but they just are pretty private and don’t talk about it. Well, that morning, for some reason, we had a very open and real conversation about it and it was so interesting to me. I went home and was telling Scott about it and I was like, I am 34 years old and that was the first time I can ever remember hearing that story and learning those things about when my sister was adopted. And Janice shared about when she went to meet and live with her biological mom for a while. It was just such a neat time and I am so happy we had those conversations. Jodi’s blog made me think of this. Janice shared that after she went to live with her mom for a while, she found out that her mom never, ever told anyone that she had a child. Now, obviously once she met Janice, she ended up telling her other kids (Janice has older siblings) but she still never told anyone else about her. So, after lying about her for over 20 years….and then meeting her…..she still wanted to lie about her. That was the thing that made Janice realize that she didn’t want this woman to be a part of her life. It was very eye-opening to me because I could never understand why Janice couldn’t just feel wanted by my parents and that to be enough for her. And I am sure I will never understand how she feels, but for that brief moment, we were able to see into her emotions and also see my mom’s emotions about how that all played out. I am sure it was good for Janice to hear my mom say that at the time when Jan was born, my parents just went along with whatever the birth mom said because they wanted the baby so bad they were scared to mess it up. I don’t know if I am doing the whole conversation justice, but it was one of those moments that I wish I could bottle up so I could play it over again and again in my mind. And now seeing Jodi and Jim go through the wild roller-coaster that they are on, it just is neat how God’s hand is in everything. Often I think we lose sight of that because we get so wrapped up in the uncertainty and the fleetingness of this world….but He is in control and He knows what the outcome is going to be. Again, I don’t think I am doing this story justice…but it was a beautiful moment and one that I was so glad happened!

Well, if you are still with me…you must be bored! I am sure there is so much more that I could tell you, but I can’t think of it right now! I still lurk and check journals occasionally…so thanks to those who keep me occupied at work! To those that haven’t updated lately, I am bored at work…so please update! LOL

Cruise Recap - Day at Sea

2010-06-15T13:58:00.001-04:00

Day 5 – Sunday, May 16 The fourth day of the Cruise!!!
Well, we slept in a little bit on Sunday too. But not too long because we wanted to be sure to get great sun chairs for our day of relaxing on the ship! So, we went and saved some chairs (which sounds very simple, but with me and Jodi being so stinking indecisive, it really wasn’t very simple!) and then ate breakfast. Then we headed up and enjoyed our time on the deck!!! There were times when there was a group of us laying out, but there were lots more times when there was one of us or so just laying there. Jodi went shopping, Mom was just walking around…I think we were just all enjoying our last day on the boat.

It seems that a lot of funny stuff happened that day, but I am already forgetting it! I do remember that Joy and I talked a lot and we just enjoyed that. We both decided that we missed our kids, but not enough to go home yet! HA! We also decided that we had to talk our husbands into doing a cruise at least once, however we are certain that it won’t be as much as this trip was! So, then we decided to go and do the water slide! So, Joy, Kelly, Jodi and I took off and went to the slide! Kelly is so funny….she is super skinny and cute, but she has no self-confidence. So, she didn’t want to take her swimsuit cover-up off to walk to the slide. So, Joy just told her to walk between she and I and Kelly’s butt would look great. That was hilarious.

The water slide was very fun! I forgot that the water would be salt water though. Oh, and Kelly went first and we were all cracking up laughing at her because she sat up so it took f-o-r-e-v-e-r for her to get to the bottom. It was almost like it was in slow motion. While we were waiting in line, they had a “hairiest chest contest”, so that was funny to watch. There was always something going on at the Lido Deck!

We also decided (me, Joy and Kelly) that we wanted to hate Jeanna (skinny cousin) because she is so perfect, but you just can’t because she is so nice! We decided that while she was sleeping on the deck in her bikini. HA!

So, the day was spent relaxing and I absolutely loved every single minute of it! Oh! I almost forgot that Mom happened to be in the dining room when they were making ice cream sculptures. So, she brought one to me to make up for not ordering me a drink the day before at Cozumel. That was sweet of her (but I was still salty about it…Just kidding)!

After spending 6 or more hours in the sun, I decided to go read or nap someplace in the shade. So, I went to the balcony in our room and dozed for a bit. It was so nice! Then I moved inside and dozed in there for a bit (after showering). Well, I need to tell you that prior to the cruise, I think for Easter or something my mom bought me and Jodi (and her) matching pajamas and robes. Well, it was a requirement that we all have said robes on the cruise….and we all wore them while we were getting ready. So, at this point, we had all taken showers and were sporting our robes just laying around the room killing time until it was time to get ready for dinner.

Well, there was a show in the theater before dinner. Mom was planning on going. Jodi, however, thought that it was the same show we had seen already, so she had talked me and everyone else into not going. So, she was just shooting for dinner-time (8:00) to be ready. Mom was shooting for 7:00. I was also shooting for 8:00 and it doesn’t take me very long to get ready. So….the cruise director made an announcement reminding us of the show and that is when we realized that we all had different plans and that it was NOT the same show. So, all of a sudden, we were sent into warp speed mode to get ready so we didn’t miss the show. It was pretty comical because you would’ve thought that we were the ones performing (since we were all in the same robes and we were all in panic mode). Heaven forbid we miss anything on the cruise! LOL

So, we all got ready in great time and went and caught the last half of the show….and it was good! Way better than the first night!!!! I am glad we caught part of it!

So, we get to dinner….and we were the last of our group of 23 to arrive. Remember how I told you that on formal night we (Mom and Jodi and I) had tried to jazz up the seating arrangements and it didn’t work? Well, when we got to dinner…the doors hadn’t opened up yet, so the other 20 women in our party were there waiting at the doors. The “cousins” (our posse) had a plan and executed it BRILLIANTLY! We ran (or walked very fast) into the dining hall when it was time and staked the claim to our table so that the “young cousins” could all sit together. It worked out BEAUTIFULLY! And we had a BLAST at dinner that night!!!!

Let’s see. Dinner was good….we all thoroughly ENJOYED our last night of chocolate melting cake (the most delicious dessert in the whole world) and we just enjoyed the company. It was a GREAT way to end the cruise! Well, just like the other night, when we were done (or almost done), the waiters sang a song. I got all teary eyed because it was about how our bags were packed and it was time to go and I just didn’t want to go! But it was great…..and then the music picked up and they started dancing on their tables again – LOVED IT. UNTIL…..see, there was this bachelor party that had their dining table next to one of ours. Well, they had picked up two girls that night for dinner and all throughout dinner, they would chink their glasses and the girls would kiss…nice. Well, when the dancing started, the girls (or one of them) got up on their table and started dancing. The music stopped and they got her down and then the music started up again and then a guy from their party got up on the table, so the music stopped and this time…it didn’t start again. So, we all boo’d them and they left with their heads hung in shame…..too bad they ruined the great entertainment that night. But we still had a blast at dinner!!!

We got some great pictures of our group that night and then the P-A-R-T-Y started! We went up to “our band” and danced the night away! I mean….we literally danced the night away! When we got to the lounge, our band was so excited to see us (and were excited to see them) and we all were dancing and having a blast! Even Joy’s mom (the preachers’ wife) joined us! She had a hoot too! And my mom’s cousins who were with us, they danced! They were in their 50’s and had NEVER danced in their life! They were raised strict Baptist and just never did that…..so they did and they had a blast!

There were some guys there….we had a nickname for one of them, but I can’t remember what it was. But he was there with his wife, but she wouldn’t dance with him. So, he danced with anyone that he could…..and had fun getting everyone to dance with him. It was comical. He was pretty harmless even though he tried to dirty dance with my mom! Then there was this other guy who was very harmless and just enjoyed dancing…so he danced with a bunch of us too.

We danced and we danced and we danced! The band played for a long time and lots of people came in and out of the bar. One lady who was dancing with us was like….we wish we would’ve found this bar earlier…this is the most fun we have had the whole time! I was like….yes, we are a fun group! LOL We took pictures with “our band” and told them how much we enjoyed them! The guitar player had a Jesus sticker on his guitar….they were just awesome. I mean, really…really AWESOME!

So, we shut that place down and reluctantly left our band. But the night wasn’t over yet (even if it was after 1:30)! We all went up to the Lido Deck and found the ice cream machines and walked around the top deck. So, that isn’t the brightest idea with an ice cream cone. It is very windy and so the ice cream was blowing all over the place. HA! And it was raining a little bit. And I was wearing a skirt and it was very windy. LOL But we walked around the deck and laughed and took pictures and just had a ball. Then we found some chairs and sat down and started singing! We sang some Acapella songs and just cherished every minute of that evening.

Finally, when we were so tired we couldn’t hold our eyes open any longer….we went to bed. I set the alarm on my phone and it literally told me that my alarm would be going off in like 2 hours and 40 minutes or something like that. Needless to say, we didn’t sleep much that last night…..but we sure didn’t care! We had a ball!!!!!

Stay tuned for my final Cruise Update. The trip home….not as much fun as the Cruise, but quite the adventure!!!!

Cruise Recap - Cozumel

2010-06-14T13:50:00.001-04:00

Day 4 – Saturday, May 15 The third day of the Cruise!!!
So we were able to sleep in a little bit this day. And I have to be honest, I have taken too long doing these updates and I am already starting to forget stuff! So, I might leave out some very important details!

Let’s see….we got up and we did order room service for coffee, juice and croissants again. We went and ate breakfast and I guess we just got our stuff ready for our day at Cozumel. I don’t really remember what we did…oh no! I am pretty sure we just went and ate breakfast and had a slower morning getting ready to get off for the day. We got off the boat at Cozumel and BOY WAS IT EVER HOT! Oh my….I don’t know if I could put into words how incredibly hot it was! But it was pretty neat because we pulled up to our dock right next to another Carnival Cruiseship. We could see right onto their boat and ours was bigger! HA! But it was neat. Jodi, Mom and I watched us pull up from our balcony….and Mandy, Chelle and Joanne did too! Their balcony was right above ours, so we chatted and just watched how cool it was to see this big ship come into dock. Once we docked and heard the “all clear” type announcement, we hopped off the boat! We walked down the long pier to Cozumel! It was so pretty and looked just like what I thought commercialized Mexico would look like. We took some pictures at Three Amigos bar and did a little bit of browsing before we joined up with the folks for our excursion to a place called “Playa Mia”. This excursion was a bus-ride to a beach. The price (which mom bought for us…THANKS MOM!) included a Mexican Buffet, lounge chair, water fun stuff, umbrellas….and DRINKS! There were 10 of us that chose to do this excursion….Mom, Jodi and me, Mandy, Chelle and Joanne and Joy and her cousin Kelly and her mom Janet and her Aunt Betty. So, we all start following the “guide” to our bus….only SOMEHOW we got separated. Joy and I were busy taking pictures and enjoying the scenery on our way there and the moms were following us and we somehow got separated from Jodi. I was a bit panicked, but we quickly found them. LOL The bus-ride over was fun because the tour guy was a hoot. So, we get on the bus and away we go! We get to Playa Mia and we get off the bus and start our little walk back to the beach. There were cute shops on the way, but we all really wanted to see the ocean and beach, so we kept walking. We get to the sand and the beach and AHHHHH….it was heaven! We found 10 chairs together and I immediately know that we need umbrellas because it was H-O-T. So, I go off with the little dude to get our umbrellas….only to find out that I wasn’t able to get enough for everyone, they would only give me two. So, I head back to where I had left everyone and proceed to have the little service guy put our umbrellas up. Then, they all wanted to move our location, so they start moving and I have to move the umbrellas and the service guy ditched me at that point. I guess he didn’t want to put the umbrellas up again. Now, it was a great idea to move spots, but I was a bit perturbed at first because I was fooling with the blasted umbrellas. So, we get to our new spot and I am trying to put the umbrellas back up and it isn’t working and I am hot and perturbed and then the drink guy comes and brings everyone (BUT ME) a drink. I was really perturbed at this point. Here I was trying to get everyone taken care of with the dumb umbrellas and they all ordered drinks but no one ordered one for me, the umbrella girl. HA. Funny how looking back on it now, why would they have ordered me a drink? They were just trying to enjoy themselves and here I was trying to take care of everyone and I didn’t have to do that! LOL Oh well, I was salty just until I got my drink….LOL Then I was fine! It was all about the margarita, you know. LOL So, we got all set up (the service guy did come back and do our umbrellas again) and we headed off to eat. I was a bit disappointed with the Mexican Buffet because I was expecting super yummy authentic Mexican food and it was really just like anything you would find here at our local “authentic” Mexican restaurants. But it was food…and it hit the spot.

After eating, and I am sure some more drinks, we headedoff to the ocean. Mom got us some great rafts and we enjoyed laying on our rafts (drinks in hand) and laughing and talking. For some reason, we kept drifting on our rafts over towards this rope and on the other side of the rope is where these boats were coming in. So, Joy was the designated swimmer and she would pull us over away from the rope. It was quite comical because we kept drifting. Then Joy and I had the bright idea to both get on my raft together and after several attempts and nearly going potty in our suits because we were laughing so hard, we gave up on that.

It was so nice and so relaxing and so fun to just be in the ocean! I think Jodi was annoyed with me and Joy because we kept laughing and she was trying to nap. Also, you know that Jodi likes to have her own space….it was so funny when Joy’s mom just grabbed a hold of Jodi’s foot because she was scared to float too far away. She actually (we didn’t know this at the time) is very afraid of water but didn’t want to miss out on the fun, so she joined us. Anyways…..Jodi did really good at tolerating that, but inside I am sure she was like…get off me! LOL It was just so much fun!!!!

We came in and used our rafts on our chairs (which was an awesome idea) and enjoyed laying on the beach. It was so beautiful! I ended up dozing for a bit and our mother (Jodi and I both fell asleep) had the service guys put more umbrellas up while we were asleep so we wouldn’t burn….that was awfully nice of her! We woke up from our siesta (ha! Appropriate since we were in Mexico!) and Jodi and I went and got “henna-like” tattoos. We got them on our feet and I have to tell you….I LOVED it and really, really, really want to get a tattoo on my foot now! Anyways, we did that and then we went to sit back down for a bit….and then….

Kelly (Joy’s cousin) really wanted to go parasailing. The price that was listed was $60 a person. Well, when we first got there, they told her they could do it for $50 a person if the three of us did it. Well, we were in Mexico, right? So I told Joy and Kelly that we should go back down there and only take $40 each with us. We did and we got there and I did the talking and asked the guy what his lowest price was. He said it was $50 a person. I said, we will do it for $40 a person. He said no. So, Kelly had decided that she was going to do it no matter what, but Joy and I were not. So, she started asking us for money so she could do it for $50. We started to give her money and walk off and the guy suddenly changed his mind and we did it for $40 a person! WOOHOO! Now, if you know me at all, that is a big deal for me….I am never that assertive!

Okay. So, we walk down the pier to this little tiny boat with four Mexican guys on it. We get on the boat and they don’t speak hardly any English….so who knows what they were saying about us. But they get us all suited up and we get ready to go up and let me just tell you….It was AWESOME! We are all three together…I was in the front….Joy was on my back (behind me) and then Kelly was behind her. So, we go up off the boat (we do not get wet) and go high in the sky and it was so beautiful! It was like the second part of my skydive, once the chute was drawn….only longer. The view was spectacular! The water was so many different shades of blue….we could see the entire island….we could see our cruise ship….and all the adobe huts…..and the beach….it was so gorgeous! I LOVED every second of it….Joy and Kelly….not so much. Joy’s harness (that was supposed to be around her legs) wasn’t very secure and ended up around her waist. She was never afraid that she was going to fall because she was securely harnessed, but the harness just wasn’t staying in the right place. So, she was worried and tense because of that. And I am not sure if Kelly just had motion sickness or what, but they were both a little green around the gill by the time we landed back on the boat. Again, you don’t get wet. Very neat. So, we get on the boat and Joy and Kelly are both super pale and not feeling well. I was alright, but I was feeling a little bit queasy. But that was because here we are in the middle of an ocean on a tiny little boat and the boat is just rocking on these huge waves. Well, our rope from the chute somehow got wrapped around the motor when we came in, so one of the guys had to dive in the water to unwrap it. So, we had to sit there rocking the waves while he did that. So, finally we start moving and get back to the dock. We get out and the guys are all talking in Spanish and then they try to offer us a ride back to our cruise ship (on the boat) and we say no and keep walking. Well, Joy knew enough Spanish to know that they said something about “the pretty one”. Come to find out, when they were putting Kelly’s harness on….the guy pretty much fondled her! GROSS! She is very cute and very little….and so, Joy and I were a bit offended that we weren’t “the pretty one”, but it just gave us one more thing to laugh about from our trip!

So, after we got back from parasailing, it was just about time to get back on our bus. We packed up our stuff and went shopping at the little shops they had there. This one guy from a jewelry store called me into his store for “a free gift”. When I went inside, he offered me a free shot of tequila. I looked at him and told him that I had just gone parasailing and the last thing I needed was a shot of tequila. LOL We bought some souvenirs and then got on the bus. I will let Mandy tell you about their experience with the bus ride and their mom.

When we got back to the main area, we spent the next several hours shopping and enjoying the beautiful scenery there at Cozumel. OH! And I also bought a pop which was heavenly since I didn’t have any pop on the cruise. It is the simple things in life!!!! We had fun shopping and buying cheap gifts and great jewelry for ourselves and just enjoying the evening there. Finally we decided to get back to the cruise ship. So, we walked down the long pier again and back to “Destiny”!

After being so hot and so yucky all day….we all couldn’t wait to get in the shower! So, I took a quick shower and a quick get ready and then headed up to the Lido Deck because our band was playing there that night. I found my way there and looked for others from our group, but I didn’t see anyone. So, I got a piece of pizza (loved that 24 hour buffet) and sat down on a lounge chair and enjoyed listening to “our band”. I was by myself for awhile (it is so fun to people watch on a cruise) and then Mandie and Amanda happened along. We chatted for a bit and then I decided to go see if I could find anyone else. Well, I went to the karaoke bar and there was a bunch of our group! I kinda forgot about it…but I guess I sang a song then too. I sang Independence Day. I missed Mandy and Chelle singing. So, we hung out there a bit and then we all went and hit the Midnight Mexican Buffet! That was very yummy and the company was great! I went out and listened to our band some more and watched the crowd get a little crazy. Then I went back in and joined the rest of the ladies and we (the younger generation) sat and talked for a long, long time. We laughed and talked and just had a great time enjoying each other’s company!

So, when we all decided to go to bed, Jeanna’s room was on our same floor, so Jeanna, Jodi and I got to our floor and there was this woman standing in front of this door. Now, some of the room doors were decorated for special events or what-not and this door looked like it has been toilet-papered, but it looked that way the whole time. So, this woman was short and older and we had seen her earlier with a group of people dancing to “our band”. So, she is standing there in front of this door just looking at it. So, we ask her if she is alright and she keeps saying she is looking for her room….”D”…..her room “D”. Well, rooms are numbers and they are not on your sign and sail (or door key) card. The only thing on there is the letter that corresponds to your “muster station” or the place you would go in case of an emergency. So, when she says she is looking for “D”, that really doesn’t mean anything. So, I explain to her that “D” is her muster station, not her room number. She was so confused. Jeanna was so sweet and put her arm around her and I was just annoyed and told her she needed to go to the front desk and ask for help. Jeanna offered to walk her down there and she said no, she would be alright. She could go there by herself. So, she takes off down the hall saying “D” over and over again. We about died laughing. Poor soul. We don’t know how she got “home” that night, but we saw her the next day and she looked no more worse for the wear!

We went to bed that night…tired and sun-burnt, but with big smiles of another wonderful day on Destiny in our hearts!!!!

Stay tuned for our last day on the ship….It was a DOOZY!!!!

Another Cruise Update!!!!

2010-06-02T11:35:00.001-04:00

Here is my next update! I am already starting to forget the details...I better hurry up and finish this before I forget everything!!! LOL

Day 3 – Friday, May 14 The second day of the Cruise!!!

Jodi hopped out of bed at 6:00 something in the morning (CRAZY GIRL) with her binoculars to go out on the deck and watch us pull into Key West. Once she was up, we were all awake because none of us wanted to miss one thing! So, we opened up the curtains and enjoyed looking out our window at the island of Key West. It was cool because there was a Royal Caribbean ship docked on the island too and there were little boats beside them (like, the kind of boats that you would own) so it gave you an idea of just how big these cruise ships are. At one point, Jodi was laughing at me because I was like…Oh! What are they doing? I thought perhaps it was pirates (NOT REALLY) because the little boat got close and then a few guys jumped onto the big boat….they were helping to secure it. What a hoot. It was neat to see the difference in size.

Mom called and ordered us room service so we ate some fruit and croissants while we got ready for the day. Jodi and I were ready before Mom, so we went up to the Lido deck and ate breakfast and then found our way off the ship! We got off and boarded a trolley that took us into Key West! This was my second trip there, but it felt like my first because I saw some things I didn’t see last time and I also saw some of the same things but didn’t know how to find my way around! LOL Mom met up with us pretty much as soon as we got there and we started shopping and looking for Margaritaville! I mean, you have to go to Margaritaville if you are going to Key West….that and have a piece of Key Lime Pie! We actually did both! We found a quaint little Key Lime Pie Shop and we split a piece….none of us really liked it, but we had to have it!

We had so much fun shopping at this one store, especially. It was called “Yours and Mayan” and they had the most beautiful beaded jewelry! I could’ve spent a fortune in there, instead I just spent a small fortune! LOL There were just lots of neat little shops and things to see. We found Mandie and Amanda and they joined us on the last leg of our journey to find Margaritaville. We all enjoyed a yummy Margarita there and then got some souvenirs. Mom decided to head back to the cruise ship to save us some lawn chairs on the lido deck while Jodi and I finished shopping. We finally hopped on one of the last trolleys to the boat. I was in line waiting for Jodi and thought that I would not get on without her because it would be one thing to be stranded in Key West with her and an entirely other thing to be stranded by yourself! In reality, we had PLENTY of time…but I was just thinking about all the “what-if” scenarios. We got on the trolley with this group of high school boys, or actually recent high school graduates. There was a party of about 35 kids on the ship for their senior trip. They were funny because they made fun of the girls on their trip and just listening to them talk was funny. Thankfully, we did not see them the rest of the trip. LOL

Anyways, Key West was wonderful. I wish we could’ve stayed there longer. There was this really neat jewelry and clothing shop that I went to the last time I was there, but I couldn’t find it this time. Funny thing happened..there was one of those living statues (people who pose like statues) and we saw him when we were all together. Well, when we split up and I was walking back to the trolley stop to save our place in line, I was on my cell phone talking to a friend at home. Well, I walked right by him and he yelled at me when I was in front of him to get off the phone because I was on vacation. I about died….I nearly dropped my phone he startled me so much! That was a hoot!

So, we got back on the ship and changed into our swimsuits and went to find where Mom had saved us seats. She chose the loudest spot (LOL) but also the best people-watching spot! At this point, I started feeling bad because we couldn’t save enough chairs for everyone. Mom told me that my Dad worries about this all the time when they are cruising with the group too. So, I had a hard time with that because I wanted to be able to take care of everyone, but I just couldn’t. And that is hard for me. So, I had a hard time relaxing. Then we had some chairs open up next to us right as Mandie and Amanda walked up…so I was able to take care of them. LOL And then Jodi and Mom were leaving right at the time that Kelly and Joy were looking for a spot, so I was able to take care of them. LOL I realized that I was getting a bit burnt, so I went and read a book on our balcony and dozed in the shade. It was just a nice and peaceful afternoon. Then it was time to get ready for formal night!

Formal night on the cruise is the night that nearly everyone dresses up fancy! Mom, Jodi and I got all gussied up and we went down to the Main Atrium. We had made plans to have the entire group meet there for a group picture. Since we were early (SHOCKER), we posed for like a million pictures. They have all these different “photo stations” set up with different backgrounds and so we stopped at all of them, I think! It was funny because the photographers kept calling us sisters…..Mom was eating that up! I don’t think we planned it, but Jodi and I were both wearing black and Mom was wearing red, so we got some really good pictures! It was fun…I felt like we should be hearing Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi song while we were posing. LOL So, the entire group showed up (all 23 of us ladies) for our group picture. There was a little bit of drama with that (go figure…with a group of 23 ladies there was drama, right?) but we got a good group picture and went into dinner! Mom, Jodi and I were trying to jazz up the seating arrangements for dinner, but our attempt failed. Although, we did get to sit at a different table and had a lovely dinner again. The food was delicious (of course) and the dessert was amazing! The after dinner music was wonderful. The waitstaff sang to us again. I am such a dork, I actually got all teary when they sang that night. It was just such a magical experience – being on this dream vacation with all of these ladies.

After dinner, we went to a show that night. They had a “Las Vegas-Style” show in the main theater, so we all went to that. It was a little weird, but still a pretty good show. Something about a big couch and Paris and the couch talked….just a little bit odd. The highlight of the show, well there were three highlights for me. First, Chelle spilled her drink. That was funny to me for some reason. (Sorry George…neither Mandy nor I were about to share ours with her because they were so yummy!) And then the guys in the show came out to do YMCA and one was scantily clad and it was fun to hear my mom and the Aunts hoop and holler about that. The third highlight…I was sitting next to Joy’s mom and Joy was whooping about something in the show and her mom leans over and commented on how loud Joy was since she had had so much to drink. I leaned back over and said, she hasn’t had anything to drink…that’s just Joy! She lives up to her name! It was funny. Joy’s mom was so stinking cute and sweet. I am not sure that she knew how to take our little group, but she was a trooper!

So, we left there and went to check out what was happening at our “bar”. I don’t know if we even went into the karaoke lounge that night….maybe it was a comedian or something instead. But we found “our band” again and had yet another evening of dancing and closing the place down. That night they went on really long because there was another group there enjoying them. They were more rockers then we were, so they requested Free Bird and some other “rocky-type” songs. But let me tell you, that band is AMAZING! We loved every minute of it and danced our butts off again! What a riot!!!! I think the drummer actually broke his cymbal at one point because they were jamming so much. LOVED IT.

We left there and went to our room. We were pleasantly surprised to have received a lovely treat in our room! Since Mom was a VIP, she had a nice photo frame as a gift and we had a plate of yummy treats with Good Night written in chocolate. It was very cool and a nice surprise! We took our showers and finally went to sleep during the wee hours of the morning! It was another day in paradise and another day where I don’t know how we could’ve crammed more into it if we had tried!

I love vacation!!!!

Cruise Recap - Day 2

2010-05-28T15:28:00.001-04:00

Here is my next recap!!!!

Day 2 – Thursday, May 13 The first day of the Cruise!!!
Since our flight left Dayton at 5:45 AM, it was an EARLY morning! I got up and got ready and went to pick up Joy at her house and then we went to my parents’ house. My dad was our chauffer for the trip. We all loaded into his truck and off we went to the airport. Note here…I was pleasantly surprised that not only were Mom and Jodi ready on time, but they were also both in good moods! That is saying a lot since they are not morning people! Yeah Jodi and Mom!!!

We got to the airport and dad dropped us off (breathing a sigh of relief, I am sure) and we went in. We didn’t know it then, but we were the last ones to arrive! How crazy is that since I am the only one used to that early morning hour and I am usually the first to arrive anywhere?!?! LOL I guess we were all pretty excited about this trip!

A very nice lady at the Delta counter helped us immediately (we must’ve looked like we needed it) and we were on our way! We met up with the rest of the group at our Gate. Thank goodness we had our own semi-private area to wait. We might’ve gotten on the nerves of the other passengers. (Or maybe we did anyways? LOL) After some great pictures and my mom handing out our “magic wands” for anything that annoyed us or wasn’t going our way…we were on our first little plane to Detroit.

The flight was fine and we arrived in Detroit with no problems. We all were hungry, so we kinda split up and did our own thing for breakfast. Joy and I opted for a sit-down breakfast at Max & Ermas’. It was yummy! We then headed to our gate and got off with…oh wait, PROBLEMS! We boarded the plane just fine. But then we didn’t take-off right away. In fact, we sat on the plane for a long time. There were storms and such, so we had to wait for a good time to take off. Mom was panicking a little bit….well, not so much panicking as getting upset because this just meant less time on the boat. So, we took off and ended up landing in Miami later then expected, but still in PLENTY of time!

We get off the plane in Miami and head on our way! We found the people holding the Carnival Signs….and one older man who told us that someone’s Mama was looking for us. That was so cute. Joy’s mom had flown from her home in Iowa and the first time they saw eachother was in the airport at Miami. They were both pretty excited!

After retrieving our luggage and boarding a bus to the boat….we were so stinking excited! I remember seeing the ship for the first time and commenting that it was OUR turn to take pictures and get on the big boat! Mandy said, yes…it is our turn to annoy others with our pictures. You aren’t annoyed, right? Well, even if you are..don’t tell me. LOL I don’t really care. Kidding….kinda.

So, we get to the dock (and really, I mean building next to the huge ship). This was my mom’s 10th cruise with Carnival, so she was a VIP. We weren’t sure what that meant, but we quickly found out. We didn’t have to wait in line at all and we went to a little reception room (hoity-toity) to get registered or whatever it is called. We got our sign-n-sail cards (the room key and the way you pay for everything on the cruise) and were on our way!

We were marveling and oohing and ahhing over every little thing on our way to get on the ship…and then we where there! It was beautiful! When you get on, you are in the main atrium and it is like a grand entrance to a very nice hotel. I was immediately surprised that the boat wasn’t nearly as wide as I thought it would be. I mean, we walked on and I could see right across to the other side. Now, mind you, it is HUGE. But that was just my first thought. We got in the atrium and decided to wait to watch everyone else get on before we ventured to our room.

Immediately there was a bar-maid with a tray of umbrella drinks and Mom bought Jodi and me our first drinks on the cruise! LOL We wanted to have them in hand when everyone else boarded! Plus, I think it was my mom’s way of telling us it was okay that we drank in front of her. Neither Jodi nor I have ever drank alcohol in front of our mother. What Mom didn’t know is that this drink was delicious….but VERY, VERY strong! And we hadn’t eaten for quite a few hours. LOL After everyone else boarded, we all went our separate ways to our rooms.

Our room was awesome. I mean, they are very small on cruise ships, but it was so nice! It had two twin beds and a Murphy bed type thing. It went up into the ceiling and they bring it down at night. We had a balcony and the view was incredible. We dropped our stuff and immediately went exploring! We found the Lido deck and sat and enjoyed our drinks (well, kinda because we were feeling a bit tipsy. LOL) and then we had a little bite to eat before we took off to explore the rest of the ship!

Okay, let me explain to those who have not been on a cruise what the Lido deck is. This is the place to be. LOL This is where the pools (salt water filled) and hot tubs are. This is also where there were like 6 or 7 buffet lines and about 6 soft-serve icecream machines. There were 3 or 4 bars and lots of bathrooms and tables and indoor seating and outdoor seating and a water slide and just lots and lots of things here. They have a pizza buffet, a New York Deli line and lots of other things. This is where we ate nearly every meal except dinner. Lots to see and do….and lots of great people-watching opportunities!

So, after we explored the entire ship, we went back to our room to get ready for dinner. We all got spiffied up and headed off to find our dining room. Now, let me insert here that we were all tired and excited and hot and everything all rolled into one. Mom and I took off to find our dining room and Jodi stayed behind to finish getting ready. Well, Mom wanted to try some perfume, so we went to the perfume store and then got lost trying to find our dining room. We finally found it and sat down and Jodi got there right after. LOL She didn’t have any problems finding it. Just a note…Mom and I had problems finding it EVERY NIGHT. LOL

Dinner…WOW. We had the best seats in the whole house. Our group of 23 women (I know, isn’t that cool) had three tables right in the middle of the dining room. Seriously, the best seats in the house. So, they treat you like absolute ROYALTY on the cruise. They put your napkins on your lap for you and just cater to your every whim. After looking at the menu, and following my mom’s advice, I ordered two appetizers (she ordered 3) and then a dinner and an extra dinner to share with her. I wanted to try tilapia (yuck) and this is the time to do it since you can order whatever you want and it is all included in what you have already paid for! Dinner was delicious! We had fun talking and laughing and just enjoying every minute of it! Dessert was DIVINE. Now, I remind you that this is my mom’s 10th cruise with carnival and for the past 10 years we have heard about this great dessert called Chocolate Melting Cake. So, of course that is what we got for dessert…Mickey Mouse Style. What is this slice of heaven, you ask? They bring you this sinful bowl of hot chocolate cake and then two smaller bowls of vanilla icecream and it is DIVINE. There is really no other word to describe it. I am sure it will be in heaven for you to try there if not before!!! So, as we are enjoying this taste of heaven, the maitre’ d introduces himself and then the best part (so far) happens. The waiters start singing and dancing….it was AWESOME. They had these little platform spread throughout the dining room to store the menus and stuff in and to put the trays on to serve from….well, they are also dancing platforms! That was a hoot! We all loved it! Marella, one of my mom’s cousins that we were sitting with, was a particular hoot and was fanning herself because she said she was getting hot from the waiter who was dancing by her. She chose her seat differently the next night to be closer to him. LOL

So we left there and went to the 5th Floor. This is where a lot of the entertainment was. There was a casino, shopping, a piano bar, a sports bar, a karaoke bar, a bar with a live band, a dance bar (like hip-hop or something), an internet café (LOL), a library, a cigar bar, and who knows what I am missing. But you get the point….there was A LOT of different things to do on that floor. We went to the karaoke bar first and what a hoot that was!!!! We got there and got books and Mandy put us all down to sing “Goodbye Earl” by the Dixie Chicks….I put in to sing “Killing Me Softly” by the Fugees and Mandy put in to sing “Something about Elvis” (or something like that) by Patty Loveless. Well, we quickly figured out that the person in charge of the karaoke was the world’s biggest dork with no personality. I mean, seriously….Ines was her name and bless her heart, she needed a behind-the-scenes type job…we think she was related to the captain! Remember that dorky guy in “Dirty Dancing”….the grandson guy…yep, that was Ines. She also couldn’t sing, but thought she could. LOL Anyways, there were some good and some not-so-good singers while we waited our turn. Meanwhile, the “older” ladies we were cruising with also came to the karaoke bar, but didn’t sit with us. They were a riot. Well, it was our turn and so Jeanna, Chelle, Mandy and I (at least, I think that is who went up there) got up and sang Goodbye Earl. Since we were on a cruise with 23 ladies, we had a good cheering section (HA) and it is a fun song, so everyone cheered us on. Well, just as we went to sit down, Ines called my name and at this point…this is what I am thinking….”I am about the whitest girl in here getting ready to sing a song with soul in a room full of soul sisters. What am I doing?” LOL But at that point, what have I got to lose?!??! So, I sing my song and had so much fun with everyone doing the “1 time, 2 time” and “go on girl” stuff. Then Mandy sang her song and ROCKED IT! She is amazing….and it was pretty ironic that she sang a song about Elvis because the next guy sang “Teddy Bear” by Elvis. This is the funniest part….he had a great voice, but didn’t look a stitch like Elvis. He was pudgy and bald. Well, Mom and her cousins all got out their magic wands and tried to use them to make him LOOK as much like Elvis as he sounded like him. LOL It didn’t work. LOL But it was fun!!!

So, some of our group went to bed (party poopers) and the rest of us made our exit from the Karaoke bar when a few of the ladies got out of hand with their song and actually, Ines started to sing again. This was AFTER we had done the Conga Line around the bar (started by Joy) and laughed our butts off. So, we looked in at the piano bar, but it was really smokey in there, so we opted to not stay there.

We went over to the bar with a live band….and it was love at first sight. First of all, this place was decorated so COOL! It was dark, but had these cool lights on the ceiling that were huge music notes. There was a huge trumpet on one wall and the tables had legs that were also instruments. It was just really, really cool. And the band. Wow. What do I say….the band was simply AWESOME! It was a group of guys (I think they were Filipino) and they were amazing! The lead singer was the drummer…..they sang covers from all genre’s. Anyhow, we went in and were up dancing almost immediately. I don’t even think I can do justice to how much we loved this band…..and this band loved us. Have you ever been to a party or a club and seen a group of girls dancing and they look so sexy and sultry and every guy wants to be with them? Well, that is precisely what we were…….NOT! We were that group of ladies that you see that you wonder, umm…do they think they can dance? Then you realize….they are having a ball and I want to be with them! That is what we were! We danced and we whooped and we hollered and we just had an awesome time. The drummer would say “Ladies” and point his drum stick at me….although everyone else thinks he was pointing at them. Anyways, he would ask us to dance and sing songs just so we would dance to them. This was night one of our love affair with Music Network, the greatest live band on Carnival Destiny EVER! We literally shut the place down that night (at almost 2:00 in the morning) and then headed back to our rooms.

When Mom, Jodi and I got to our room, we were so giddy and just talked for a bit while we all got ready for bed. Oh, and of course we had a “towel creature” in our room and chocolate mints on our beds. It was HEAVEN! We fell asleep still smiling from our first “day” on the boat!

Tomorrow is KEY WEST!!!! Stay tuned!!!!

We went on a cruise!!!

2010-05-27T10:47:00.002-04:00

Did you know that we went on a Girls' Cruise?!? LOL

I want to share EVERY detail about it because it was AWESOME! But it will take me a while. So, I am going to post one day at a time.

Here is my first post:

Wow. I wanted to write a recap of our FABULOUS vacation! I am still smiling from our Girls’ Cruise a few weeks ago. Jodi is brilliant for having the idea and I still can’t believe we managed to pull it off. We all have wonderful husbands who allowed us this privilege to go and enjoy ourselves so much. So…here is my Cruiser Chic Recap:

Day 1 – Wednesday, May 12 The day before the cruise
Mom, Jodi, Gracie and I met up and drove to Waynesville and met Janice (our other sister) at Der Dutchman for a lovely brunch! We enjoyed the time to eat and visit so much. I think this is going to be our annual way to celebrate Mothers’ Day! Gracie was really, really good too!

So, after a lovely brunch, we took Gracie to spend some time with Papaw and we headed out shopping. Note to self, shopping with Jodi and Mom is dangerous to my pocketbook. We went to TJ Maxx because I needed to get an evening bag for the cruise. I hadn’t realized that I needed one. So, we had fun shopping there for a little bit until it was time for our pedicure appointment! We headed over to the nail salon and met up with Mandy, Chelle, Aunt Joanne, Aunt Barbara and Jeanna….all of us (except Joanne) got pedicures and it was wonderful! There was a lot of laughing and excitement going on! The nail ladies were a hoot! Jodi and I got the “French Manicure” on our toes ( so pretty!) and then we started talking about buying rhinestones or something to put on them….then Jodi asked about flowers and before we knew it….everyone of us left there with pretty flowers on our toes! We had fun taking pictures of our toes outside (without Chelle and Mandy because they were tanning and wouldn’t let us borrow their feet for pictures).

We then headed (Mom, Jodi and me) to Gabriel Brothers. Mind you, at this point I was completely packed for the cruise and had my new evening bag. Well, don’t you know that I left Gabriel Brothers with two new sundresses for the cruise. LOL Like I said, shopping with them is dangerous. Thank goodness GB is very, very cheap!!! We had fun looking at lots of stuff there.

After that, we went to Mom’s house and I collected my kids and went home to spend the evening with them and try to sleep before the big day!!!

10 Years Ago Today....

2010-04-22T12:42:00.003-04:00

I married my best friend! And today....I couldn't be more blessed. I just look at my husband and how wonderful he is to me and I am amazed at God's blessings in our lives. We have three beautiful children and we are closer today and more in love today than I could have ever imagined.

Now...that isn't to say that we haven't had our moments that have been hard in the past 10 years. We have been through a lot of drama together but God has used those life events to pull us closer to HIM and closer to each other.

I am so blessed to have a husband who puts Christ at the center of our marriage and we share the same love for Christ.

I just wanted to post this as I am thinking about my wonderful husband! I took him ice cream at lunch as he is at home planting flowers....he was surprised. I also have another gift to give him later and he doesn't think I am getting him anything! HA!

Anyways...10 years ago today I was preparing for one of the best days of my life! I always say that it is funny to me to look back now at that day and think about how in love I thought I was. I don't think I really knew what love was at that point. Not sure if that makes sense...but with each day and each year and each baby that was born and each night up with a sick kid and each time he looks at me and each time he cleans the house or does the laundry or buys my special things at the store or brings me flowers just because or pushes me to do something that I really want to do but don't know if I can do or each time he tells me I am beautiful or watching him read the kids a book or saying it is jump on daddy time and watching him play with the kids or the times he stays home with the sick kid so I can go to work or the times he gets the kids ready and comes to watch me in a race or the times he tells people what a great mom I am or the quiet moments when it is just him and I and we just talk....I mean the list could go on and on....each of those moments have made our love grow and made me look at him more and more for the man he is and not the man he will be. I love him and I am so blessed to have him as my husband.

Just wanted to share that today!!!! Happy Anniversary to me!!!!

OH....and Happy Earth Day too!!!

Love ya!

I love this time of the year!!!

2010-04-12T15:13:00.001-04:00

God has a plan for you. Before you even thought about Him and what His plan entails for you, He was already thinking about you and He already had a plan for you. Wow. That is pretty cool!!!

So, we had a great sermon yesterday. I have to tell you that when we first started attending this new church, I wasn’t too sure about the preacher because he is vastly different from Bob and I really enjoyed Bob. But let me tell you, there have been so many awesome sermons. My mind has totally changed about him. Yesterday he preached from Jeremiah 1 and it was a powerful, powerful sermon. Then the sweetest thing happened at the end of the service. Each Sunday they invite people to come up if they need prayer or whatever and it is always so sweet how it is handled. Typically he will tell everyone what the person is requesting prayer for and then invites people who have had similar situations in their life to come up and pray with them. I love that part of the service. It is so neat to see. Anyhow, yesterday there were several people who went up for prayer and right before the end of the song, these two young boys went up together. You could tell that their parents did not know what they were doing and they actually tried to stop them for a second but they were quick! LOL Well, those two little boys went up to request prayer for their grandma who is having back problems. When Randy (our preacher) asked them their Grandma’s name…they shrugged their shoulders and said “Grandma”. So sweet. So, he prayed for their grandma and it was so precious. So precious to see their faith and they knew that their request – no matter how big or small – was just the right request to take to the Lord. Oh, if only we had that same faith and persistence. It was a great ending to a great service. Oh…plus we sang the Revelation Song yesterday and that is just about one of my favorite songs ever and it was so neat to see how it moved so many people.

However, on that note…I have to say that last week on Easter, church was really great in all three services that I sang in. And I had this cool conversation with a guy after the first service. Our first service is a traditional service and the average age of the congregation is about 65 or so. Well, I made the comment to him that it was neat to see some of them “get into” worship with us because that is so rare and there aren’t many. And he said that he has a different theory about that….he said that just because we don’t see them “get into” worship the way that we do, doesn’t mean that they aren’t “into it”. We talked about that for a while and he made a great point and I will certainly keep that in mind. Now, I still think the ones that stand with their arms crossed and their lips pursed together are probably NOT into worship, but who am I to judge? LOL It was just a great conversation and Easter worship was really good!

So, what has been going on in my life the past two weeks since I last posted? Let me recap all of the excitement for you!!!!

Vacation….was AWESOME! We left early on Sunday morning and drove to Gatlinburg. My parents have an AWESOME time-share place there that has a very cool indoor waterpark. So, we got there on Sunday and Mom and I went and got groceries and Scott and Dad took the kids onto the resort and waterpark. The kids had so much fun. That night, we stayed at the park until it closed and then went back to our room and I cooked dinner. We had a relaxing evening and just enjoyed the company. Then the next day we got up and took the trolley (found it!) to Gatlinburg and went to the Aquarium. Aside from Gracie having a few meltdowns, we had fun there. Faith just loved to take pictures of everything and she was a bit scared of walking under the sharks. We all tried to touch the sting-rays and I actually did touch one but no one else could reach them. We ran into two families from Dayton there that we knew…so that was a bit weird! Then we went back to the waterpark for a bit and then we went out to dinner to Logans. YUMMO. Plus CHEAPO. We did some outlet shopping…I have to go to the Disney Store when we are there and then back to the room for dessert and games. Then on Tuesday we just planned on spending the entire day at the waterpark and we had a blast. The kids all love it and just had so much fun playing. I went back to the room at one point and made sandwiches for lunch and we just hung out all day there and enjoyed the time. After cleaning up and grilling out for dinner, we went to the Miracle Theater to see Joseph and the Technicolor Coat of Many Colors featuring Melinda Doolittle (from American Idol a few seasons ago) as the narrator. It was AWESOME and the kids all were great and really enjoyed it….we all did! Faith’s favorite part was getting Joseph’s autograph afterwards. She thought she had seen a celebrity! So cute. Plus the kids got to ride on a camel! Oh….Gracie fell asleep on my lap right before the end, but she still loved it! We got up and headed home the next morning. Being home and off work the next two days was fabulous because we had perfect weather! The girls and Isaac literally played outside pretty much the entire two days. I took them to Cox Arboretum one day. I had never been there before and we will definitely go back because they had so much fun and it was so pretty. I didn’t take my camera and that was really dumb. I got the pictures that I posted here with my phone.

Then that was Easter weekend and we had fun with my family! We painted eggs on Saturday with Jodi’s family and Isaac got to hang out with Austin. He sure loves his cousin! They played a lot of basketball and a lot of xBox. Austin ended up spending the night with us and the boys had fun….well, I know Isaac did. He probably annoyed Austin, but Austin was a good sport! And of course, Easter Sunday was tiring because we had to be at church early and sang in all three services, but that was very fun! Then we got to spend most of the day with my family – which I LOVED – but we had to leave before everyone else to go to Scott’s family….which I could’ve done without. Oh well. I enjoy spending time with them….but lately there has been drama again, so that makes it not as much fun. Plus, when my family gets together, it is really more of a gathering of my best friends, so I just hate missing out on any of that! But…did you know that we are going on a cruise in May? LOL So, that will be awesome! I am getting so excited!

So, anyways….then I had to go back to work and work was crazy busy! But at least I have a job! I ended up spending one night in Columbus, which was okay. I just enjoyed one night of total quiet and peace in a hotel room. That doesn’t happen very often. And the rest of the week was spent just getting caught up at work and running to soccer practice and baseball practice and t-ball! The kids are super busy…but they are enjoying it all. Poor Gracie isn’t in anything yet, but she enjoys running everywhere with me. Well, for the most part! LOL

We have been doing some landscaping at our house and I just don’t want to come to work! I would rather be sitting in my backyard and enjoying the fruits of our labors….or just enjoying the sound of the girls playing (or screaming) in the backyard! They LOVE their playground so much. I need to get them a new see-saw thingy to put in place of the baby swing since we don’t need that anymore. They will play out there for hours. It is so funny to listen to their imaginations as they play baby or go on rock hunts or push the dog down the slide (LOL). They crack me up.

I am sure there is so much more that I could say….I feel like I could go on forever, but I am also sure that I would bore you to tears! Love to all!!!

Spring Break!!!!

2010-03-25T11:18:00.001-04:00

“Be careful little eyes what you see. Be careful little eyes what you see. For the Father up above is looking down with Love, so be careful little eyes what you see.”

Not sure why that popped in my head just now, but it did so I thought I would share. I love that Casting Crowns Song that includes this song at the end. How true it is; how true it is. Amazing that the little songs we learned in church as kids can have such an impact on us even as adults….or in some cases, especially as adults.

You know, God is just really working in my life right now. Being a Christian for so long, I have definitely experienced times in my life where I know that I was far from God. And I have definitely experienced times where I know that I am close to God. This is one of those close to God times. I don’t know why we allow ourselves to move far from Him when it feels so good to be close to Him. I know that Satan orchestrates that, but we allow it to happen. So, anyways….I really think that our new church is challenging me in ways I have needed for a while. It has a lot to do with timing too. But when you spend time in His word and in prayer and you deepen your relationship with Christ, other things fall into place.

So, what is going on with me? Well, I am on vacation next week…can I get an Amen!?!?!? I am so ready for a week away from work. I was originally only planning on taking three days off, but just changed my mind yesterday that I wanted the whole stinking week! Now, I am sure I will pay for it when I get back…so I will take my laptop and do some work from home next week, but a whole week of not getting up at 3:45 is so exciting to me! We are heading to Gatlinburg with my parents on Sunday and will come back from there on Wednesday. We don’t really have a lot planned while we are there – other then spending time at the WaterPark at the resort that my parents own a time-share in. The kids are excited about vacation! I haven’t even started packing or getting stuff ready for that yet. So, I am going to be busy on Saturday!

Well, according to Jodi’s facebook note…we have less than 49 days until our cruise. WA-FREAKING-HOO! I can’t wait! We had a fabulous time this past weekend with our “cousins’ sleepover” at Jodi’s house. Although, I fell asleep before the end of the karaoke, but we had fun! We always have fun when we are together…we need to do it more often! I am telling you what….God has blessed me with some awesome people in my life. If you read Mandy’s post, you can tell that we had some deep conversations on our way home (sorry that you missed it, Jodi) about what a difference God has made in our lives. It was just so powerful and we were all in tears at one point because the magnitude of what one young girl did for our family hit us all at the same time. It was very cool. One of the things that we have really been talking about in my Bible Study group is that it isn’t always our responsibility to cultivate the seeds that are planted, but it is our responsibility to plant seeds. It was just a powerful conversation. When you can look back in time and see where one person planted a seed and then another cultivated it and then to see the ripples and how God works….amazing.

Our adventures with Buckeye are going pretty good. He is a very sweet little puppy and he is getting the hang of how/when/where to go potty. We still don’t let him have the run of the house, but soon he will be able to go where he wants. He is going to stay with a very nice family from our church while we are on vacation. They have a bunch of animals and live out in the country, so he should have fun there. Oh, plus they have 4 sweet kids to play with him. We went to lunch with them after church last Sunday and we had a great time. They started going to our church about the same time or a little bit after us and so we have formed a friendship over the months. They are a very sweet family. It is funny because we really don’t have anything in common with them, but we all get along great. Anyways, I am sure Buckeye will have fun there. The kids are going to miss him, but taking him on vacation would NOT be fun!

Yesterday, I picked Isaac up from his Student Council Meeting and the advisor came over to me and told me what a great kid Isaac is. She said he is her most dependable and responsible kid on the Student Council….which is amazing considering there are 4th and 5th graders on there too. She said that he is always the first to volunteer to do anything to help and he constantly asks her how he can help her. Talk about making a Mama proud?!?!? I told her thank you and then she said…”No, thank you for raising such a fine young man.” Now, that fine young man doesn’t always reside at my house, but it was so nice to hear that from a teacher! Wait until she has Faith and Gracie! HA! Boy will she be surprised! LOL

I was so mortified by Gracie the other day. On Saturday night after we got home from Kentucky, my family loaded up and went to Rita’s (the most yummy ice/custard place around) for their free ice day. So, we get up there and are standing in line and I pick Gracie up and pretty loudly she says (with her hand on my chest now)…”Look Mommy! I can feel your big boob!” I about died right there in the parking lot. Of course everyone around us heard that…..and they were all snickering but trying not to look too much. The lady behind me was dying laughing. Scott was like…did she just say what I think she said? Umm..yes…she did! That girl is infatuated with my chest and hers now too. The other night I was giving her and Faith a bath and they both just kept saying boobs over and over and over again. And Faith used to call them “chubby-chubbies” and she remembered that and was like…well, they are kinda chubby mom. Oh, this is going to be fun.

Well, I am going to go eat my lunch! My mother-in-law is going to keep the kids tonight so I can go out to dinner with some football moms and then I am going to check a few more places for a swimsuit. I am so sick of swimsuit shopping….wonder if I could just wear a bag! LOL

Love you all!!!!

Warning: A Rambling Lunatic Wrote This Entry

2010-03-11T12:52:00.002-05:00

Seriously…is it Friday yet? Let me tell you, this has been a week! For some reason, work has been extremely stressful this week and home has been busy – so I feel like I am spinning my wheels but not getting anywhere! I know that you all have been there before too! Can I get an Amen?!?! LOL

((Insert girl squeal here)) We are having our “Cousin’s Slumber Party” next Friday night and I simply can’t wait! The Ohio Cousins need to talk about the driving situation, but I am so excited! I need a little get-away! ((Insert girl squeal here))

My kids crack me up….I have been thinking about this today and I just keep giggling about it. The school is doing a fundraiser and for some reason, Isaac and Faith decided that they would only return one form and then share the prizes that they get. Not sure what made them decide to do this because I never even mentioned it, but fine by me! So, yesterday I asked Isaac which of them would actually return the form in their name and he said… “Well, we had a drawing and Faith Anne won, so I put her name on it.” So stinking funny. There is no doubt in my mind that he literally wrote his name down and then Faith’s name down and pulled a name out of a hat. I was at Bible Study when this transpired, but it cracked me up!

So, I have had a couple of melt-downs this week and I just think that the stress of work…well, that I allow the stress of work… to get to me too much. And then trying to be a good mother and a good wife and a good Christian and a good housekeeper and a good….well, you see. The list goes on and on! Again, I know this is something that we all struggle with and I am not alone, but sometimes I just feel like throwing in the towel because I just can’t do it all! I really liked that “invisible” post that Mandy put up because that is often how I feel! Sometimes it all just gets to me and then what I don’t like about myself is that I take it out on the people that I love the most. The other day…Monday…was just NOT a good day for work. All around…just not a good day. Well, it happened to be one of the days that I “leave work early” and go get the kids from school and then work from home for a few more hours. Well, Isaac had a club after school and Gracie was at the sitters so it was just me and Faith Anne. I literally just looked at her and started crying because I feel like I am failing her so much. She was happy as a lark cutting and coloring while I was sitting across from her working. But I looked at her and thought….here I am working when I should be spending time with her. UGH. There are times, as a mom who works outside of the home, that I just feel so guilty. Then there are other times that I know I would not be a good stay-at-home mommy….but Satan just knows what buttons to push and how he can help me bash myself. I know I am rambling….so feel free to stop reading. But it just helps to put this out there…ya know? I think that as moms….well, not even that….as women, we will always feel guilty about something. Not cleaning enough, not exercising enough, not being a good enough mom, not being a good enough wife, not being a good enough cook, not spending enough time here or there or anywhere. Anyways….Satan uses those feelings and then piles on inadequacy and insecurity and before you know it, you are feeling worthless. Which is the exact opposite of how God views us and wants us to view ourselves. He treasures us like rare jewels and he treasures our efforts and uses them for His glory. How can I let Satan tear me down over and over and over again? I bet that hurts God’s feelings. Then I begin the questions (or Satan pushes play again) of how can He love me so much…why would He love me so much?

I guess it is good that I realize it is Satan who plants these seeds…but I need to get better at shutting Satan down and not allowing them to grow.

Again, I know I am rambling but it feels good to put this out there. I hope I am not alone with these struggles.

As you can see, God is working on me…..THANK GOODNESS. I have been spending more time in His word and in prayer and in just “being” with Him. Now mind you, I need to spend a lot more time with Him….because it is pretty amazing how much it makes a difference. But when I feel Him working on me is when I feel the guilt and the doubt and the insecurities mount. I wish Satan would just take a hike right on out of my life! HA! Don’t we all?!?!?

Okay….I need to get back on track.

Scott is going to Butler Springs (church camp) this weekend for the Men’s Retreat. He is going with his buddy Jason and our old Minister and friend, Bob. There is a big group of men from our church going. So, I hope they have a good time. I know he has been looking forward to it and so have I, actually. It is so neat to see how God is working in both of us since we have been at our new church. Again, being pushed out of your comfort zone can be a very good thing. So, it is just me and the kiddos this weekend. We are going to go over to Mom and Dad’s house and do a little “Welcome Home” decorating. The kids are so excited to do that…and about them coming home!

Cute idea for mommies of little clutzy girls, like my Gracie. On Tuesday, she fell at the sitters. She didn’t really have any cuts or anything, she just landed funny on her wrist. So, to get her to calm down….normally a bandaid will do, but Tera told her to close her eyes and she painted her wrist with sparkly fingernail polish and told her to open her eyes and then said that it was Princess Dust and the Princess had put it there to make her feel better…..and of course, she did! LOL She was so excited and proud to show it to me when I got there. I thought that was a great idea for future reference!

Well, I have rambled enough for one day. Thanks for loving me in spite of my flaws and rambles!!!

Spring?!?!?

2010-03-09T15:04:00.001-05:00

I think Spring might be here…at least this week it is! I don’t know about you, but the sunshine and warmer weather has me in a great mood – even though work has been extremely stressful this week. Ugh…it is only Tuesday! Seriously!??!?

Well, the adventures of Buckeye are continuing at our house. I really to believe that Scott and I are both too anal about having a clean house to have a dog, but these are the things we do for our kids! Although, Isaac isn’t that interested in the dog! The girls are more smitten with him than Isaac is! I think he would rather be playing his xBox or watching TV or playing basketball! Silly, silly boy! We need to transition the dog to going outside for the potty instead of going on the puppy pad. I put him outside yesterday and he was like…umm…now what? LOL He just stood there and looked at me. He did poop for the first time outside when Faith and I were walking to get Isaac from school yesterday. That was funny because he kinda did it mid-walk. LOL I bet you are so interested in the bodily functions of my dog! LOL He is a funny little thing. He has a pet squirrel (stuffed animal) that he loves. He will occasionally bark and growl at it. And he also barks and growls at his reflection in the window. The other night I was cracking up because he would peek his head out from around the couch and see his reflection and start barking and growling. Ferocious little thing! HA!

The family is all doing good! My parents come home this weekend…can I get a Woot! Woot! ?!?!? They have been gone since January 2nd and we all miss them terribly! Honestly, the babysitting situation has been just fine. We just miss them! And the kids really miss them. We are going to make some signs to go over and decorate their house with to welcome them home. Also, I do need my handyman of a dad home! I have a list for him to start on when he gets back. LOL Mom said he needs to feel needed…well I need him!

I have a real dilemma. Well, it may not seem like a real dilemma to y’all… but it is to me! The Vera Bradley Outlet Sale…well, the day I am supposed to go to with Jodi, Joy and her cousin Kelly is on Friday, April 30. That is the same weekend as the Women of Faith Conference in Columbus. Well, I have already made plans with Jodi, Joy and Kelly to go to Vera that day. A big group of ladies from my new church are going to WOF and leaving on Thursday night to stay in a hotel for the conference. I think that would be a great opportunity to really get to know the women at my church…and several of them have been asking me to go. I don’t really have any good friends there like I had at BCC…mostly because we haven’t been there long, but also because I need to attend more of the things that they do for women to develop those relationships. Anyways…Scott is urging me to go to WOF because he thinks it will be cheaper (HA!) but also because he wants me to make friends too. So, I am in a tough spot. I don’t want to let Jodi, Joy and Kelly down…and I don’t want to miss out on the great deals…but I do want to go to WOF…..so I just don’t know what to do! Decisions, decisions. I was actually pretty surprised that Scott would be okay with me going to WOF because I would be away from home for two nights and then just a few weeks later I will be on our cruise. But I think he knows how much I enjoy WOF and this is a neat thing to be able to go with a big group.

Onto other topics….I have to tell you that I am really enjoying being a part of the Worship Team at our new church. It is really fun!!! I actually am on the rotation with Sara’s previous MIL…which is interesting. We are the two real altos…and then there is this “tenor” who sings with us. BUT he can’t read music (not that I am good at that) and he just sings what harmonies comes naturally…which is the alto part…so Patty and I have to fight him for a part. We kinda just wait to see what he sings and then pick a different part. We have laughed a lot about it. It is fun learning all the different personalities and quirks of the groups. Scott sings opposite weeks of me, so he has a whole different team that he works with. It is just so much fun….Oh…and Sara…Patty is giving me her 20% discount on vera, so that is WONDERFUL. She brought me a new purse to church on Sunday and that was so fun! It is the little things in life that I get excited about. Have you seen the new Cha-Cha purse by Vera? It is ADORABLE!

I am all over the place today! I went swim suit shopping last week and let me tell you….is there anything more depressing than that?!?!? I literally left the store fighting back tears. ICK. Just not fun. I won’t go into all the details, but believe me when I tell you that skin that is no longer filled with as much fat is not pretty. LOL I ordered a suit from Chadwicks and HATED IT….so I sent it back. I just ordered one from Lands’ End (a friend had a good discount that I could use and free shipping) so we will see how that one goes. I thought I needed it before the cruise, but I really need it by the end of March for our vacation to Gatlinburg. My parent’s time-share has an indoor waterpark and that might require a swim suit that doesn’t fall off of me like my old one does. Anyhow….suffice it to say that I HATE swimsuit shopping.

I am very excited that next weekend we are having our Cousin’s Sleepover at Jodi’s house! Yeah! That will be a good time…and we can talk about our cruise-ware! I haven’t bought anything yet…I was thinking of wearing the dress I bought for my MIL’s wedding since I have only worn it the one time. So, we will see. I wonder how fancy everyone else will want to get. I did get my passport ordered, so that is a big relief. And I made my final payment for the cruise…so I am all set! If only May would get here sooner! Actually, I shouldn’t say that because it already seems like time is flying by!

Well, I guess I should get off of here and finish up some stuff at work. I just felt like rambling for a bit so that is pretty much what this post is! Maybe you just feel like you are talking to me.

OH! Listen to what my darling Gracie did yesterday….I went to pick her up from our Sitters in Centerville (yuppy town) and she tells me that Gracie pee’d in her backyard! LOL Apparently they were outside playing….Tera went into the house to get something and came back out to see Gracie’s bare butt squatting in her yard to pee! I about died when she told me. I am thinking that their daughter Madison showed her how to do it because we have certainly never done that….but it was so funny! Now, Isaac…I would believe in a heartbeat (thanks Dad), but Gracie?!?!? She thinks it is funny. LOL

Tootles!

Buckeye...

2010-02-28T19:20:00.004-05:00

In case you haven't seen on Facebook...here is the newest addition to our family! I cannot believe that I let my husband and kids guilt me into a dog....but he is pretty cute. Now, if we can just get him potty trained....life will be good!!!! Thank goodness we have hard-wood floors!

All of the kids love him...even Gracie! We just got him yesterday and she is already carrying him around the house. Thank goodness he is good with kids. He just lets Faith and Gracie carry him around like a baby.

Well, not much time for a long update...just thought I would share pictures of our new baby!

Testing...Is this thing still on?!?!?

2010-02-24T10:03:00.000-05:00

Yes, that is right. Don’t adjust your screen….this is a new post! And yes, this is a Christmas background still on my blog. Unless one of you can tell me how to change/get rid of this, I will have to live with it. I can’t remember for the life of me how I did this and therefore, I can’t remember how to make it go away! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

So…what’s it been? A year or so! Geesh! Time flies when you are having fun! To be fair, I have never stopped reading those that post….I just stopped posting. I think at first I was busy and then it was just so long that I didn’t know where to start and that was overwhelming to me…so I just kept putting it off. But I decided that I need to do more blogging…so here I am!

Life is good! I mean, seriously…life is good. Now, that doesn’t mean that life is perfect! HA! But who wants to listen to all my problems….and the problems that I have are so minute compared to the struggles that others face. I just have to look at my life and be amazed at how much God has blessed me. I have a husband who treats me like a queen…now that doesn’t mean he is perfect (who is?) but I fall more in love with him every day and I appreciate how he takes care of me and the kids. I have three beautiful kids who amaze me every day. I have a house…and lots of debt….but then we both have jobs….and God provides for our NEEDS. I feel so blessed.

My job is going good. In January, my work-load basically doubled which really threw me for a loop. I spent most of the month working 12-14 hour days. I would work all day at work with no break and then go home and get back on my computer as soon as I could. Not the best work/home-life balance, but it was necessary. I am in a better groove now, so it isn’t as bad. I like being busy and feeling like I am adding value, so it has been good for me professionally. Personally, I am going through one of my spells where I feel like a bad mother. I just go through this periodically, but some days I feel so guilty because I feel like work gets the best of my day and the kids and Scott get what is left over. I have to work really hard to not allow that to happen and to not let myself get so guilty. I know that I could never be a stay-at-home mom….but there are times I wish I could just take a break to spend more time with the kids. Ahh…like I said, I go through this every few months and then it gets better. I just have to work through it and work on cherishing every minute I do have with the kids!

Speaking of the kids…they are really doing great. I love giving a play-by-play of each of them…so here goes:

Isaac
Well, I didn’t get to share here….but he had a really great football season last year! His team was nearly undefeated (lost one due to a bad call) all season and made it to the SuperBowl! That was a ton of fun (I actually painted my face! LOL). They lost that game, but it was so cool to make it there. He had a lot of fun with football last year. He is doing really, really good in school. I laugh now at how much we struggled with our decision to send him or to not send him to Kindergarten early. I believe we made the right decision for him. He is at the top of his class and just really likes school still. He just had his first science project (or should I say WE just had it!) and that was fun. We studied the Wii to determine if playing video games can be considered a form of exercise. The three games we tested were bowling, baseball and boxing. Bowling was NOT exercise (raising our heart rate to at least 50% of our maximum heart rate) for any of us….Baseball was exercise for me and Scott, but not Isaac….and Boxing was exercise for all three of us. That was a cool experiment! I just went to google and typed in something about science projects and video games and poof….there was the idea! He thought it was really cool. So, anyways…he is doing good. I am just so proud of that little guy! He has such a big heart!!!

Faith Anne
Oh, my little DIVA! She had so much fun cheering last year for football. She took it very seriously and does a great job. Right now she is on the fence about doing it again this year because she says she gets too thirsty and hot (LOL). However, she and Gracie both still go around the house doing cheers and their cheer dance. So, we will see! I am supposed to be the assistant coach, so hopefully she decides to do it! LOL She is doing great in school too. Funny thing…on her report card the only area she received a minus on….self-control. HA! She tends to want to get her own way and not be very happy about it if she doesn’t get her own way! She is very stubborn and determined and I just have no idea where she gets it! RIGHT! We recently went to Bounce-U (an indoor bouncy house place) with our new church (another story) and there was this huge slide that all the kids wanted to go down. HOWEVER, in order to get to the huge slide…you had to climb up this insane ladder made of bungee cords. It was REALLY hard. I guess the older kids were all struggling, but were able to do it. Well, when it was time for the younger kids (Faith’s group) to go to this room….not many of them could do it without help. Well, Faith was determined that she was going to do it by herself. And by golly, she had to work at it for 15 minutes or so….but she did it all by herself….3 times! I was so proud of her and that just said a lot to me about her character! She will not let anyone tell her she can’t do something (which is not always a good thing) and she will keep trying until she can do it. This has been evident in her learning to tie her shoes and play games on the Wii and just lots of things. It is so cool to see her learn and just so interesting to see how different she is from Isaac. She loves all things GIRLY and just keeps me on my toes.

Gracie
And then…there is Gracie, our God’s great sense of humor!!! Let me just tell you that there is NEVER a dull moment when Gracie is around. It is funny…she is the third child, but she is like a little hurricane making waves wherever she goes! Where do I even begin with her?!?!? She is Faith Anne’s shadow, but also walks to the beat of her own drum. She wants to be wherever her sister is, but wants to do it her own way if that makes any sense. She definitely tests the limits and has so much spunk that I don’t know what to do with it half the time. She has all of my stubbornness and Scott’s in one little body. For example, she LITERALLY screamed for 30 minutes straight one day because she wanted to open the garage door but couldn’t because she had gloves on. So I made the mistake of opening it. Well, she was screaming and crying and so I put her in her room. She had an absolute temper tantrum for 30 minutes…then she was very quiet. I nearly went to check to see if she was still alive, but then she opened her bedroom door….walked out of her room and out to the garage door. She opened it and went out into the garage and then closed the door behind her. She opened the door and walked into the house and said…"Hi Mommy”. I was like….are you kidding me? Yeah, so that is a taste of Gracie! OMG…. Half the time, I am not sure whether to hug her or spank her, but one thing is for sure….our lives would not be complete without little miss Gracie!!! She cracks me up because she will come and find me after playing in make-up or jewelry or whatever and ask me if she looks FABULOUS. LOVE IT!

So the kiddos are great! Scott and I are doing really, really well! We will celebrate our 10th anniversary in April. That seems so hard to believe. We are planning a weekend get-away, but not really sure where yet. We are toying around the idea of going to Chicago. Scott wants to go to a Cubs game (woo-hoo) and I would like to see a show or shopping or something. So, who knows. He isn’t much of a beach person and since I am going on the girls’ cruise in May….I am not pushing him for a warm spot! I will get my beach fix in May!

Well, one of the biggest changes in our lives came last year in September. The church we had been attending (and the one that Scott grew up in…for 28 years) had some issues that we did not agree with, so we left and started “shopping”. We actually only went to two other churches and quickly found our new church home! It is funny how God had to KICK us out of our comfort zone to put us where we needed to be. Oh my. There are just no words to describe how wonderful this has been for our family. It is like a breath of fresh air….and it has strengthened my relationship with Christ and Scott’s relationship with Christ and therefore, our relationship with each other. It has just been amazing to see how this has all worked out according to HIS plan. It was certainly not our plan. And I will tell you that I still miss so many of the familiar faces and friends that we left behind, but I just KNOW that we are where God wants us to be right now. We are both part of the praise team at our new church and loving every minute of it. And I start teaching a Sunday School class (once a month) in March. We actually go to a Sunday School class together…for like the first time ever…and it is really nice. It is neat to go to a “bigger” church that has lots of things to offer and you don’t have to do everything. So, it is a new and exciting experience for us! It was really hard initially, but is so good now!

There is so much more that I could go on and on about….but I probably better get back to work. I will just add in that I have been working on Weight Watchers for 28 months now…that is a long time. I am not at my goal weight yet. That is a bummer. But I have lost close to 130 pounds from my heaviest (right after having Gracie). I still struggle sometimes, but I am sort of settling into this new way of living for me….healthier. Now my problem is that I don’t know if I will be able to get to the number on the scale or the size of clothes that I would like to without addressing a situation called loose skin. Yep, I have a lot of it. I guess that is to be expected for all the years I was not nice to my body. So…that would come by the way of surgery and that just isn’t in the cards for us unless I can figure out a way to get insurance to pay for it. So…that is a bit depressing. On one hand, I am very proud of the hard work I have done to get here…and I know that I have not done it alone. It is not by my strength…FOR SURE. But on the other hand, it is frustrating that I can’t really get past this last hurdle. Not sure if that makes any sense or not….but I LOVED something that Mandy posted not too long ago and it can really be applied to SO MANY aspects in life. She said something to the affect of… “I don’t have to be perfect, just persistent.” That is so true in my weight loss journey….but probably more importantly in my relationship with Christ. He doesn’t expect me to be perfect, because He knows that I can’t be. But He does expect…and deserve….for me to be persistent. So…thanks Mandy for sharing that! It has meant so much to me!!!

Well, toodles! I am going to try to be a regular poster again….so we will see how that works out! Any help on removing the Christmas theme would be greatly appreciated!!!!

More Pictures

2009-04-15T09:22:00.002-04:00

So...I just wanted to share some more of my favorite vacation pictures. Enjoy!

April?!?!?

2009-04-09T10:38:00.002-04:00

It is almost Easter! Is that crazy or what?!?!? It seems like we just had the Christmas Season and it is already Easter! I guess that old adage about time going by faster as you get older must be true! Although, I am not getting older! LOL

I am in a giddy mood today and I am not sure why, other than I just found out that they are laying off people again…and people that do what I do….so I am trying to be super positive. One of the ladies that I work with…she and I have been cracking jokes about it all morning since we found out, but it really isn’t funny. It is really scaring me to death. But….I keep telling myself (over and over and over again in my head) that God will provide. No matter what happens, He is in control and He is the Lord of my life and He will take care of me. So….enough of that “Debbie-Downer” topic!

So, what has been going on in my world? Let’ see….most exciting thing is that we had our Family Vacation last week! It was wonderful! Jodi might say differently, but don’t listen to her! LOL Just kidding…I am sure that spending a week with my 3 rugrats when you aren’t used to being around kids all the time was culture shock….but I think we all had fun! We went to Disney World!!! Mom, Dad, Jodi, Isaac and Faith Anne left on Friday and got to Florida on Saturday and Scott, Gracie and I left on Saturday and got there on Sunday. They enjoyed the beach on Sunday, we all enjoyed the beach (Cocoa Beach) on Monday and then we headed to the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday. Let me tell you…seeing it through the eyes of my kids….there really are no words for how amazing that was. I kept getting emotional all day when I would see them get excited about things. God has blessed us so much to have the opportunity to raise these 3 precious angels and to experience life through them. Now, that doesn’t mean that there were not moments that I would have liked to kill them…or give them to Mickey Mouse to take care of (LOL), but it was so neat! In fact, Gracie had a “time-out” on the steps of Cinderella’s Castle – with the Fairy Godmother looking on. Jodi took a picture of that! LOL It was MAGICAL, as they say. I will bore those of you that I will see soon with the details in person! Everyone else, there is just so much…I don’t know how I could capture it in one entry! Basically, I spent most of the day with just the girls and Scott took Isaac to do the “big-kid” type stuff. We all had fun and I think everyone got to do what they wanted to do. Most importantly for Faith Anne, we saw Snow White right at the start of the day! Very cool….although Jodi and I agree that you have to be a complete DORK to work there….part of the requirement, I am sure.

Anywho, the next day we pretty much lazed by the pool at our resort and then did some shopping. We had a lazy day to recover and then on Thursday, we went to Hollywood (what used to be called MGM). Now, there was debate as to whether we should go to Hollywood or Animal Kingdom and I won….Hollywood. We had a great time, but I think if I had to do it over again, I would go to Animal Kingdom. Since we have been back (of course), so many people have told me about all the cool things at AK. Anyways…we went to Hollywood (so there) and it was fun! Again, I took the girls and everyone else went off to do “big kid” stuff. I had so much fun with my girls! We saw Playhouse Disney on stage….VERY cool and got pictures with a TON of characters. It was so much fun. I hooked up with Mom, Dad and Jodi at lunch and spent the rest of the day with them. It was very neat. There were cool things at Hollywood!!

Friday we went to Downtown Disney and that was very cool. You definitely want to make that a stop on your Disney Tour. Maybe even go there first…they have some really cool things there. We enjoyed the day there and then had to pack up for our trip home! We left Saturday morning and got home on Sunday evening.

All in all….it was a FABULOUS Trip! I wouldn’t really call it “vacation” because I was absolutely exhausted when we got home…but it was a great trip! I can’t wait to go back! After we save up again, because MAN that place is EXPENSIVE! EVERYTHING is more expensive there….like, there is no “Dollar Menu” at McDonalds! LOL But it was worth it! The kids had a BLAST and made lots of great memories! I need to get my pictures developed! I better work on that before Easter so I can share them with the cousins!

So, aside from that major excitement in our lives…everything else is just cruising right along! We came back from vacation to the start of soccer and t-ball for Faith Anne and baseball for Isaac! Needless to say, our calendar is CRAZY these days. I actually had to post something on our fridge at home to try to keep everything straight. But Soccer is only April and May, so that will only over-lap with t-ball a little bit. Baseball/t-ball games don’t start until May sometime. I can’t wait to see how Faith Anne does!!!

Speaking of Faith Anne….she did great at her Kindergarten Screening! She scored 137/200 and the average score was 112. So….we are feeling pretty good about our decision to send her to school in the fall. We meet with her preschool teacher next week to talk about what to work on over the summer. We are going to do the full day program for her like we did with Isaac, so I am feeling very good about this decision. It was a lot easier than Isaac’s! And Gracie, we won’t have a choice…so that is good! I don’t do well with decisions because I second-guess myself so much. Anywho…so my FAB will be starting Kindergarten in the fall!!! Oh, the thing she did the worst on with her testing…Body Awareness! LOL I laughed when I read that. They tell them to draw a person and they get points for like eyes, nose, fingers, ears, etc. So, apparently she wasn’t very detailed with her drawing. Too funny.

Gracie-Girl, as I call her…she is just as ornery as ever! She has been having some bowel problems lately…don’t you love knowing that. So, I might have to take her to the doctor if that persists, but it is fun to see her personality develop more and more each day. She is definitely stubborn (no idea where that comes from) and not easily persuaded to do something that she doesn’t want to do. I can tell that she is going to be a challenge for me! We butt heads A LOT. But I still love that girl so much! She can be so sweet one minute and then punching her sister the next (literally). Never a dull moment!

And my buddy Isaac….he is doing good. We have had some challenges at school…he has brought home some D’s and F’s, but his report card just came out and he got all “E”s and “S”s. So, I am very proud of him. The teacher is transitioning from doing their work together as a class to letting them be more independent and doing their work by themselves and that has taken some getting used to for Isaac. Plus, he is always worried about taking care of everyone else (again, not sure where that comes from) and he needs to just focus on his own needs! He is such a good kid…with a big heart. He is so much like my dad at times!!!!

Speaking of worrying about everyone else…at one point on our vacation, I told Mom that the reason that she and Jodi bicker is because they are so much alike. (Jodi and I had just had that conversation too). So, mom looks at me and she says…Okay, Missy. Just for the record (because that is how I started my comment to her) it is not your responsibility to make everyone else happy and to make sure that everyone else is having a good time. And I have thought about that so much since she said that….I really do do that! I really do spend a large part of my time making sure that everyone else is taken care of and that everyone else is happy…..sometimes I forget to think about me. Now, believe me….I am not saying that I am not a selfish person…because we all are and I am no different. But I do need to find a balance sometimes. Sometimes I tend to fall to one side too much. Well, that might sound very conceited…but I am certainly not meaning it to. It was just a deep thought that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about…

Scott is doing good too. He had fun on our vacation, however I wasn’t very nice to him. I keep looking back and I was so worried that he would say something he shouldn’t or get on my family’s nerves that I didn’t let him have much fun. I kept telling him to be quiet and not say that and not do that….that wasn’t very nice of me. I guess I should just let him get on their nerves….lol. I probably got on their nerves more by telling him to be quiet than he would’ve if I would just let him be himself! LOL Oh well! Anytime you vacation with family, you love them dearly, but you realize why you don’t all live together all the time! LOL

Well, I think I have rambled about nonsense long enough! I just wanted to share a bit of our vacation with you! Love you all and I do check up on all of the journal-goddesses every day! I don’t always comment, but I do check them daily! So, I am praying for you and loving you all!!!!

I am still alive!!!

2009-03-10T08:59:00.001-04:00

So, yeah…it has been a while! Like two months! What is that all about? I still check everyone’s journal every day…but for some reason I have a hard time taking the time to post. I think it is because there is so much to say, but yet….not enough time. I don’t know. But who cares? I am here now! LOL

Let me give you a person-by-person update before I get to me!

Gracie
Well, Gracie is growing up so fast! She is talking a lot and just changing and developing quite the little personality. She is so strong-willed and such a little pistol. I just love her to death, but there are moments that I could just strangle her! She is a screamer…she screams when she doesn’t get her way…and she likes to torture her brother and sister. But then she will also do the cutest things that just melt your heart. So, she is something else!!! She is still pretty tiny comparatively speaking….but she holds her own!

Faith Anne
I have enrolled my Faithy in Kindergarten! Can you believe that? She goes for her screening at the end of this month. She is so ready to go….but I am not sure that I am! I just can’t believe it is that time already! She is such a little drama queen. Everything with her so melo-dramatic. But she also has a very loving side….she is my cuddler and just likes to be held and told that you love her…over and over and over again. She seriously wants like 10 hugs and kisses every night – from everyone. The other day I was at Target with the girls and they were both riding in the cart and they had been hitting each other (SHOCKER) but then they started singing the “I Love You” song from Barney (HATE that show) and hugging and kissing each other. It is moments like that….I cherish and hope they really do end up being the best of friends like I am with Jodi! Oh, and Faith Anne regularly tells me that she wants to get married too. What a funny little girl! She is really liking gymnastics and looking forward to starting soccer and t-ball soon! Of course she will have to have all pink stuff…cleats, shin guards, ball, bat, glove, etc. And then she will be cheering for football too. So, she is going to be busy! But it is her turn…she has been to all of “Isaac’s Stuff” for the past few years…now it is her turn too!

Isaac
Well, Bubby-Man is doing really good too. His grades are slipping a little bit at school (not all “A’s”), but he is doing good. His biggest problem at school is talking too much (really?) and being too concerned about everyone else and not just himself (again, really?). But overall, he is still doing good in school and still really likes it. His teacher’s husband passed away, so that was rough on him because he has really grown to love his teacher and he was sad when she was out for a few weeks. His basketball season is now over…he LOVED playing! His team lost one game, so they had a great season and a lot of fun. At the last practice last week, they had the kids play the parents and so I got to play! That was a lot of fun…even though he fouled me a lot. He is excited to start baseball too and he is really excited that football season is getting closer. It was funny because in football, he just isn’t very aggressive…well, in basketball, he was almost TOO aggressive! If we can just get him to switch that, that would be great! But he always keeps us busy! He is such a “pleaser”….a lot like me, actually. He just wants everyone to be happy all the time. When Gracie is upset…or even Faith Anne, he wants to do whatever it will take to make them happy. He is just a sweet, sweet kid. Don’t get me wrong, he teases his sisters some too….but when they are really upset, he is always the one to go get their favorite book or toy or try to take their punishment for them. They are blessed to have such a great big brother!!!

Scott
Well, he is doing great at work, in spite of the economy. I guess that people are home more now, so they don’t want to give up their cable. So, that is good for our budget! We still don’t see a lot of each other, but I am assuming that most people our age with kids our ages are like that. One day we will get to enjoy each other again! I am blessed to have a hubby who is so good to me. He really takes care of me and the kids….and he doesn’t complain about it…too much! LOL He spoils me! He has been very busy at home the last few weeks because we switched bedrooms for Isaac and the girls. So, that involved a lot of painting and repairing walls and re-hanging curtains and pictures and stuff. They look REALLY nice and we are SO glad it is done! I wish we could afford a bigger house, but I do love what we have…if only we had one more room! Some day….

And me…well, I am doing good. I had a big scare with my job in January. We had a big shake-up here and did some restructuring and down-sizing. There was about one week where I really, really thought I was going to have my job eliminated….and honestly, it still could happen. But for now, my job is safe and it has changed some, but I still have a job! In this economy…that isn’t something to take for granted! I have a new boss…a woman! I really like working for her. She has a very annoying voice, but she seems to be a good person to work with and she is very appreciative of what I do. So, that is work!

I am still losing weight….but very, very slowly! I guess that I am okay with that because they say the slower it comes off…the longer it will stay off. But I do wish I could just wake up skinny and at my goal! That just isn’t happening as fast as I would like it to! I have about 25 more pounds to go to my goal. At this rate…I might make it there by next year. LOL I have decided that I am really going to try to just enjoy where I am at in this journey instead of always trying to move faster. I am way healthier now than I have ever been…way more active than I have ever been….actually wearing smaller clothes than I remember wearing since high school...so I guess I can’t complain too much! I have learned a lot about myself on this journey…but still have so much to learn. I don’t think you ever “arrive” when you are someone like me, who has had a weight issue my whole life. The moment you think you have “arrived” is the moment that you start gaining back, I think. So…anyways….that is going good! I hit a pretty big milestone in my journey last week and it felt GREAT!
I have some fun and exciting things coming up! This weekend, the girl cousins are all going to Kentucky to Jodi’s house for a baby shower. The shower is on Saturday, but we are all going down on Friday night and having a slumber party at Jodi’s house! I am so stinking excited! We are going to play karaoke and just have a great time laughing together! I can’t wait!!! Then, we are going on vacation to Disney World the last week in March for Spring Break! That is so very exciting too! I am dreading the drive down there, but I can’t wait to see the kids’ reaction to the Magic Kingdom! We are going to go there two days….and that is all, at this point as far as the parks go. Mom and Dad and our whole family and Jodi are all going…so it will be a blast! This is the last year that we can go with Gracie being free…and I was able to get 20% off the tickets through work, so it won’t be TOO bad. But I can’t believe how expensive it is!!!! So, that is exciting! Then in April, the cousins are all going to Women of Faith…and Mandisa is going to be there…WAHOO! Have you heard her new song…LOVE IT! I need to get her CD. And then the weekend after that….is the Vera Bradley Trunk Sale! I don’t know who I am going to that with or the details of that…but I WILL be there….that is FOR SURE! Oh….and then one other thing I just thought of, my cousin Michael and Kami are getting married in June and Isaac is in that wedding. That will be fun and all the Oklahoma crew will be in town, so that is another exciting thing to look forward to! And Tessa is getting married in May….just lots of exciting things on the horizon!

Well, I am sure you are bored with my rambling by now. I know there is so much more to tell you, but I will bore you with that another day! I do ‘lurk” every day! It is part of my morning routine when I get to work! Love and hugs to you all!!!!!

What a Weekend!!!

2009-01-12T10:06:00.002-05:00

***Disclaimer*** I am doing this at work, so I know my Christmas theme is still here but I can't get rid of it at work. I need to log on at home so I can change it. Sorry!!!

Hey there! Yeah, so it hasn’t been so long since my last post. That is out of the ordinary for me…but I had such a jam-packed weekend…I thought I would share it. Really, I think there are just some things I want to “talk” about. Ya know?

So…anyways….Friday night wasn’t very exciting. Scott took Isaac and Faith Anne to a basketball game, so it was just me and Gracie and we went shopping. I always have fun when it is just the two of us. She just says the cutest things. She really talks well…and A LOT for her age! So…that was pretty much Friday night.

Saturday was like the never-ending day…but it had some great “me-time” built in too! We got up early because Isaac had his first basketball game! Wow. That gym was like MASS CHAOS. It is a big gym and they have these huge curtains to divide it into 4 basketball courts. So, yeah…four games going on at the same time. Plus, it was picture day….so it was craziness! Faithy’s preschool teacher from last year was there and I asked her if it was always like this and she said yes…sometimes worse when all the grandparents decide to come too! But anyways…his first game was great! We had the camcorder, but it messed up for some reason so we didn’t get it on tape! Bummer! But that kid (Isaac, obviously..lol) was more aggressive in basketball than he ever was in football! He did a really, really good job and he scored! The first time he tried he scored! I was one proud Mama!!! They won…although they were winning so much at the half that they reset the scoreboard and then kinda stopped tracking it. It doesn’t really matter because it is just so entertaining to watch!

We left the basketball game and Scott and the kids dropped me off at home…by myself! BLISS! He had to work down in Wilmington so he took all three kids with him to our friend’s house so they could all play together. HEAVEN. Yeah, so I ended up cleaning house some and reading some. Then my mom came and picked me up and we went to Skinny Cousin’s baby shower! That was fun because Mandy and Chelle and the other Mandie were all there, so we were able to visit and just relax. Skinny Cousin got a lot of cute and adorable baby girl clothes – lots of pink!!! She is so funny…she told me that I definitely have the title of Skinny Cousin right now because she is so pregnant. Umm.. yeah, but that won’t last! LOL

So then Mom took me home and I had another 2 hours of BLISS (aka being home alone). LOL I seriously cannot tell you the last time I was home alone! I know lots of you are in that same spot…it was WONDERFUL for those that can’t remember! I cleaned more and did laundry and read some more. Then I started dinner and then my quiet time was over. It was bliss…short-lived, but bliss nonetheless!

We ate dinner and then I went to church for PT practice. I missed having Sara there, but I had fun hanging out with Tessa! We talked wedding stuff some and just commiserated with each other when we were frustrated. LOL

I got home from there and Scott had lined up a sitter (I knew about this before) and we headed out to go to a bar to hear my Uncle’s band play! We went to the wrong place at first and talk about being uncomfortable. We walked into this little dive and everyone stared at us….it was the wrong place. So, we found the right place and talked to my Uncle and his “should-be girlfriend”. We met my MIL and her boyfriend there. Well, the invited my FIL and his wife…because the four of them hang out regularly…. At one point, Scott says…”how weird is it that I am sitting in a bar with my parents. And not only my parents but my mom’s boyfriend and my dad’s wife. WEIRD!” It was a bit strange. But the band (Diddley) was REALLY, REALLY good!!! I had never heard them with a full band before and I was AMAZED and PROUD of my Uncle!!! Go DIDDLEY!! I am ready to be a groupie!

So…the next morning, I had to sing in both services at church. Okay….so I was very emotionally charged anyways because I was all excited about Isaac’s baptism. Well, before the first service started, I hear this older woman in the congregation start to berate Jason, our Worship Minister. I mean…she was talking to him like he was a dog. At first, she was so loud that I just thought she was teasing….but then I realized she was serious and I just was astonished. I walked back to the room we pray in before the service and saw Jason and I just started crying. I felt so bad for him that she would talk to him like that. So, we prayed and waited for me to get composed (I couldn’t stop crying and that was making him uncomfortable…LOL) and then we made it through the first service. Fine…so….I was making tea and getting ready to go to Sunday School and I just was a nervous wreck! Laura (Hair Dye) had to help me with my tea because I was just shaking and a mess! So, we get to Sunday School and our teacher wasn’t there…but there was 6 of us ladies and for some reason, I had diarrhea of the mouth and just spewed out all of the fears and nerves and emotions of the day. I was in tears telling them about how proud of Isaac I was and about our meeting with Stew (the youth minister) and about Scott and I arguing last week about his dad and about his dad and about how worried I was that my dad would punch his dad and about blah, blah, blah. You get the point. So, they all prayed for me and we prayed for one of the other girls who is really going through a rotten time right now. It was just a beautiful example of how God wants us to minister to each other.

Anywho….so we walk out of there and I am feeling pretty good about everything. I head over the church and see Mandy and her family there and that was so special to me…. And then I headed into the sanctuary and I saw Chelle and Matt and Katie (Mandy’s sister) and Jodi and Jimmie and my parents and both of Scott’s sisters and Deanna and their kids and my MIL and Rob (her boyfriend) and my FIL and Patty (his wife) and I felt so blessed to have such a loving family there to celebrate this day. THEN…Scott pulls me aside (mind you, I am supposed to be praying with the PT before the service) to tell me that his dad wants to be in the baptistery with them too. WHAT? I immediately said no way. So then Scott says…well, then maybe we should tell your dad no too so we don’t cause a scene. And I said…NO WAY. I said we are doing this the way Isaac wants us to. Then Scott starts to walk off and I grab him again and say…”This is Isaac’s day. You tell your Dad for once in his life this day isn’t about him and needs to stop trying to make it about him.” I then went back to the prayer room, but they were done praying and walking out….I grabbed Tessa and hugged her and asked her to pray with me and am in tears. She hugged me and prayed (man, I love that girl) and then we head onto stage…but first, Jason sees me and is like…..are you okay? I was like…Yeah, I just need my FIL to not be here. He says…well, let’s just sick (insert name of mean old lady who attacked him earlier) on him. We both laughed and went onto stage and had an AWESOME, AWESOME service. And my baby boy made the greatest decision of his life. He chose God….and just like the song that we sang says….the angels were praising with us yesterday. It was beautiful….it was so awesome….and I had my awesome and wonderful family ALL there with me. I love them all so much.

As a side note….Scott didn’t want his dad up there either, but he didn’t know what to do and he was trying to keep peace and not cause a scene. I guess when he told his dad no, his dad was actually fine with it and said that he just wanted us to know that he was proud and wanted to be a part of it. It wasn’t brought up again (so never to me) and he actually came up to me afterwards and hugged me and was crying and saying he loved me. And I saw him hug my dad too. Now…I still can’t stand the man. But…he is Scott’s dad and I have to learn to tolerate him. This bitterness that I harbor against him isn’t hurting him, but it is hurting me and it could hurt my marriage if I don’t let it go. That is going to be a daily struggle….but I have to do it.

So….anyways, after that, we all (and I do mean ALL) went to lunch at BD’s Mongolian BBQ at the Greene and it was so much fun!!!! We had a great time together and I think everyone liked it….we had to leave abruptly because Isaac had a football party, so I felt bad about that. But it was just so neat and emotional for me to look around that room and see so many people that I love there to support my family and my son.

When we got home…I was exhausted. Physically…but more so emotionally. It was such an emotional day….good, bad and hard….but emotional all around!

God is so good. There just aren’t words for how great He is. I am so blessed. I am blessed to be a part of a family that comes together to celebrate together. I am blessed to be a part of a family that comes together to pray for each other. I am so blessed to be a part of a church family that loves and teaches my kids. I am just so blessed. God is so good. Thanks for letting me share my weekend with you!

Love you all!!!!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-06T08:42:00.002-05:00

Wow! So, 2009 is upon us! That is just so hard to believe! It seems like it was just yesterday that we were scared of Y2K and all that jazz! Where does the time go?

Well, we ended up 2008 with a really great Holiday Season. I am not sure why it felt so wonderful to me this year, but it was just a great time of spending time with family and enjoying all of the many blessings that God has given us. I am usually sad when Christmas and New Years are over….I don’t really get depressed, just sad. I just hate to see it all end. But this year….I wasn’t happy to see it go, but I wasn’t sad either because it was just a great time!

Umm…we hosted my MIL’s side of the family “Family Christmas” at our house again this year…that was nice. It is always nice to do something like that because my house has never looked so good! LOL We remodeled our main bathroom (thank you Dad!), Scott repainted and redecorated our back bathroom and he painted our laundry room. Oh, he also painted all of our new doors (we have had them for a while, but just never painted them) and bought all new door handles for them! I am telling you…my house looks great! Oh, we had to buy new furniture too…we got a couch and loveseat (buy one get one free offer) and so that led to a new rug and new curtains and new footstools! LOL So, our house looks really great….and that was our Christmas present to each other. We didn’t get each other anything else because we have just spent so much money on our house here lately. But anyways…..so we had his whole family over….about 45 people! That went really well. We moved a bunch of furniture around and it just worked out great and I think everyone had a good time.

Umm…Christmas Eve was at my Mom and Dad’s house and then with all my Mom’s family at my Aunt and Uncle’s house. It was just a wonderful day all around. I always enjoy time spent with my family….and this year was no different! We went caroling to a few houses in their neighborhood and I LOVED that. We used to do that all the time when we were kids…..so it brought back some very sweet memories and it was fun to see Isaac and Faith Anne having so much fun with it too. Of course, we told them it wasn’t like trick-or-treating, and the first house….they came out with a plate full of cookies. LOL But that was really fun! And I got a Vera Bradley purse from my cousin, so what could be better than that? LOL It was just a great, great time with my favorite people in the world.

Christmas Day was fun…with one exception…but the kids had so much fun opening their presents and playing with their toys. They got some really great things….and a lot of really great things. We had both of our families over for breakfast and that is always so special to me….to have everyone together. Chaos…but like Mandy said, good chaos. After everyone left, we had naps….HEAVENLY….and then we went over to my MIL’s for dinner and games and then over to my parents for snacks and games. It was just a very fun day!

The one exception to the day....my FIL. He is just a POW (which stands for Piece of Work). He and his wife were late coming over on Christmas...so we didn't wait for them to eat. Then they still weren't there by the time the kids were itching to open their presents...so we handed them out and were just getting ready to open them when they walked in. He was upset that we didn't wait for him...whatever. THEN! Scott was showing him the bathroom that my Dad and Scott worked so hard on to remodel and he says it is nice....but asks why he didn't replace the hinges because they were rusty. WHAT? We have new flooring, new toilet, new vanity, new sink, new medicine cabinet, new paint, new door, new door handle and you point out that the hinges are rusty?!?!? THEN......he gave my kids a few small toys....he gave Scott $40....he gave both of his daughters $40.....he gave his other grandson (my nephew) all kinds of toys.....and he gave my SIL's "friend" $20 gift card..........He gave me.........NOTHING. Yep, NOTHING. Now, I don't want or need anything from that man, but to come into MY house....and to disrespect me like that....what a POW!!!! Needless to say, Scott hasn't spoken to his dad since Christmas and I don't care if I ever speak to him again. My MIL says it was probably an over-sight....but it is now 2 weeks after Christmas. Don't you think he would've found it by now if he just forgot my present? LOL Oh well....just chalk it up as one more thing about that man that makes him a POW. LOL

The day after Christmas was nice because my Dad offered to keep all three kids so that my mom, Jodi and I could go shopping! We had lunch and shopped and that was really fun…we stayed away from the big crazy stores….just went to a few small ones. That was really enjoyable and a nice time with them!

Let’s see….so then New Years Eve, we ended up having everyone over to our house because my Mom was really sick. So, we had my family (the cousins and one aunt & uncle) over to our house. We had so much fun playing games and just being together to celebrate the New Year! It is so fun for me to see Faith Anne and Gracie play with Abbey and Katie and then Isaac with the boys because it just brings back so many memories from our own childhoods. We all got a good laugh out of the girls playing dress-up with real dress-up clothes and not my lingerie….inside joke. But it was just so much fun – as always – spending the evening with my favorite people (except some of them were missing). I am so blessed to have family that double as my best friends and I genuinely love them and love spending time with them. Isn’t God great?

So…those were the major holidays! The other days…I was on vacation, so they were just blissful! LOL I had a lot of time with the kids each day….a nice reminder of why I am a better Mommy because I work! LOL Just kidding…kinda. My kids just fight a lot. They actually would play really, really well together for a few hours….but they would fight a lot for a few hours too. So, that was annoying. But it was just nice to “be”. We had a lazy schedule and they got to stay in their PJs for as long as they wanted to and play with their toys or watch movies or just hang out. I read some books….saw some movies….it was just a really, really great vacation!

Ummm…but now back to reality! I didn’t do great with my eating plan while I was on vacation. I pretty much just ate whatever I wanted. I did go to the gym every day – actually more than I normally do! But I still gained weight…not much, but enough to kick my butt back into gear. I would like to hit my goal and lose 28 more pounds this year. I would like to be a WW leader or at least in the training program by the end of the year. So, I have to get focused and I really need to jazz up my exercise routine to help with my problem areas! It is so neat to be able to buy clothes at whatever store I want to now! But I need to lose more off my top half so that I can fit more comfortably in those clothes! LOL My momma cursed me with a big chest, so I am not sure how to get rid of that…but I am going to work on it! LOL

Other goals for 2009….just to live each day to the fullest and be positive. There is so much in my life to be grateful for and I often lose sight of that. God has blessed me beyond my comprehension…..and He always provides. He has blessed me with a husband who loves me…and although he gets on my nerves sometimes, he really treats me so wonderful and does so many little things for me that I too often take for granted! He has entrusted me with three beautiful children….and I don’t deserve them…that is for sure. We have a home, we have two cars, we have all of our basic needs provided and we have the promise that He is coming back for us one day soon….God is so good and I don’t say that or think about that often enough.

One more note….Isaac is going to be baptized…probably this Sunday. We have to meet with Stew to make sure that he is ready for this….but he has been asking us for a few months now and to hear him explain what it means….oh my gosh. It is so precious. He “wants God to take the yuck out of his heart and replace it with good stuff.” He knows that “all of the yuck won’t come out…and more yuck will come in….” but he wants “God to live in his heart and help him take care of the yuck.” So precious. How ever did I get so blessed?

Have a great day! Love and hugs to all!!!!

December Greetings

2008-12-10T13:46:00.000-05:00

So, Happy Holidays! I cannot believe that in two weeks, it will be Christmas Eve! Boy, do I have a lot to do between now and then! But I am going to do it all with a joyful heart and the knowledge that we are celebrating the most wonderful time of the year…the birth of our Savior! It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle and stress of the Holidays…but I am not going to let that steal my joy this year! God is good all of the time and all of the time, God is good!!!!

It seems like so much has happened…and yet my life isn’t that exciting, so it is probably a bit boring! The most exciting thing (at least that I can remember) is that I completed the 5 Mile Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day! Hope, my friend from work, and I walked/jogged the 5 mile race and DID NOT FINISH LAST!!! It was an AMAZING experience and one that I know I will do again! I really want to do the Jingle Bell Run this weekend…so we will see. But the coolest part…..Scott, Isaac, Faith Anne, Dad, Jodi & Jimmie all came and cheered us through the finish line! It was so cool to be coming up on the finish line and see my family there cheering for me! What an AMAZING thing!!! Never in my life did I ever think I would have the will or the desire to do that…but I had both and it was awesome! And again….very awesome to have my family there cheering for me at the end. I was surprised to see them all there and very touched!

Umm…this Facebook stuff is pretty addicting! I have had a lot of fun reconnecting to people from the past! One really neat person that I have been talking to was a good friend of mine at college and now he is a youth minister and it has been really need to chat with him. God puts people in our lives when we need them….and he was such a great friend to me then and now. It is neat to see how God has worked in his life. And the people from high school….and just this morning a lady that we know from the small church I grew up in contacted me….it is WILD! The bad thing is…it is a big time-waster! I have too much to do to sit and play on it…but I do when I can!

Another very exciting thing is our bathroom is being remodeled as we speak! My Dad is doing it for us! I am so excited! We have been wanting to do it for a while, but he has been busy with “paying” customers. Well, he just finished a job and we are going to be hosting Scott’s Family Christmas (about 50 people) at our house, so he said he would get it done for us before then! It is going to be BEAUTIFUL! I wish we could’ve gotten rid of our blue tub, but that is major renovating – like tearing down walls and stuff…so we just went with new flooring, new vanity, new sink-top, new toilet (a tall one!) and new medicine cabinet! And he is going to put wood trim to match the vanity around our mirror so it will look better. I am so stinking excited! He started it yesterday and should have it all done tomorrow, I think. It will be so nice…and didn’t cost that much. The labor is usually the most expensive part…and he gave us a discount (lol) and then Scott’s aunt works at Lowes, so she got us a great discount on that stuff….so it only cost a bit over $500. That is a lot since we are tight for money at the holidays, but so worth it in the long run. I will have to post a picture of how beautiful it is! LOL

And yes….Christmas is almost here! I am totally done shopping with Faith Anne, although if we had the money I could just keep buying her all kinds of stuff. She was the easiest to buy for this year for some reason. I need to get a few more gifts for Isaac and Gracie….and a few other people. I have only really been out shopping once – the day after Thanksgiving. This weekend, my boss is having his Christmas party….we might try to get some shopping done after that if my parents don’t mind keeping the kids a bit longer.

We had our family pictures done last week at Walmart. I was really upset because we had an appointment t Portrait Innovations on a Sunday at 4:20. So, we got all dolled up and got there at 4:15 and they told us it would be over an hour wait. What? We had an appointment? What is the point of having an appointment if I have to wait over an hour? So, after speaking to the manager….we just left and got an appointment at Walmart. We actually went straight to my parent’s house and had my Mom take our picture for our Christmas cards…it was alright. I am not sure how you get a good picture of two adults and 3 kids under the age of 7. Anywho…the last family picture we had….I have lost at least 100 pounds since then and had my eye surgery….and Gracie was 2 months old! So, I can’t wait to get them next week!

Ummm…this past weekend was my Annual Girls’ Weekend with my friends at work. We went to Indianapolis and had a great time – shopping, food, dancing…just lots of fun. One of the girl’s mom just passed away in September, so this was a very needed trip for her. It was nice to be able to just be with friends and be ourselves. We laughed together and we cried together. It was a lot of fun. I can’t wait until next year!

Here is my person-by-person update…

Scott
He is doing great in Cincinnati (his new work “place”)! He is already moving to the top of her their sales people and just doing a good job. He is much happier with his boss and seems to like it. The drive isn’t too bad….and it helps that gas prices went back down. We don’t see a lot of each other because of our schedules and the kids, but things are going great!

Isaac
He is doing really good in school still. We had his football party and he loved seeing all those friends again. Basketball has started…but right now it is only one day a week and in January it goes to two days….that is nothing compared to football! He likes it so far – we will see! This is his first year playing this sport.

Faith Anne
She is good – just lots of drama with this little girl. She is definitely the middle child! She is doing well in preschool and we still haven’t gotten her in dance or tumbling yet. I need to get something secured for the first of the year. She is very creative and loves to color and create things. Deanna (our babysitter) always brings arts and crafts for the girls and Faith Anne loves that. She talks about it for days!

Gracie
She is such a funny little girl. She keeps us in stitches. She makes the cutest expressions. I can’t believe how good she is talking…she says Hannah Montana (oh dear lord) and just is really good for her age with talking. She is very demanding and throws a fit if she doesn’t get her way…typical baby! Oh wait, I was the baby…did I say that? LOL

So, there is never a quiet or dull moment in our house! Oh…we had to get a new couch too! We went to Morris and they had a buy the couch, get the loveseat free deal. So, we got that. It looks really nice…but still needs broken in…ya know? But our old couch broke…and again, since we are having Christmas at our house, we had to get a new one. One good thing about hosting a party is that your house gets really clean and fixed up! LOL

Well, I have to get going to get Isaac from school. Hope all is well with you all! I think most of us have migrated to Facebook because this is becoming a ghost-town…except for Kelley!!! I love keeping in touch with everyone….no matter how we do it!

Merry Christmas (in case I don’t get back here)!!!!

November Ramblings...

2008-11-18T15:19:00.001-05:00

Well, hello again! Am I the only one that cannot believe that Thanksgiving is only one week away? I always look so forward to this time of the year! The holidays are always so much fun. I just love spending all the extra time with family! And my kids love all the sights and sounds of the Holiday Season! I am a big dork and I already have all of our inside Christmas/Winter decorations up! We are closed on Veteran’s Day, so I typically do it then. This year, I did it the night before because I had a long weekend off. Anywho, I did it all by myself because I am a bad mother! LOL No, really because when the kids help me, the ornaments all just go in one place – the bottom. So, I did it after they were in bed so they woke up and were so excited to see it. They will get to decorate their trees in their own room. Isaac has a tree from last year and I am going to get the girls a pink Princess Christmas Tree. Faithy is so excited about it.

Oh…I am bad about telling about the pictures! I took these with my phone one day. The girls had asked to go out back and play….well, Scott had raked the leaves into piles and was going to move the piles (by way of tarp) to the curb. Wel….the girls ruined his piles. It was so funny….I took a picture and sent it to his phone. He was like…umm….what happened to my piles? I said…what piles? LOL But they had fun and that is all that matters!!!

So, everyone here is doing fine! Here is my play-by-play…or person-by-person:

Isaac
He is doing great in school! I am just so proud of him. He lost his front tooth and the other one is loose. He might really need his two front teeth for Christmas! Actually, the one he lost already had the other one behind it. He looks so stinking cute. And he learned how to whistle, so he is very proud of that! He is kinda sad that football is over, but also kinda glad. They ended up having a really great season and got beat in the 3rd round of the tournament…they did really, really well. We all cried when they lost, but I am kinda glad they did because if they would’ve won, I am sure we would’ve made it to the Superbowl, which was this past Sunday and it was so cold and snowy…that would’ve not been much fun! Their party is coming up and he is looking forward to that. Basketball starts in two weeks. This will be his first year playing, so I hope he likes it!

Faith Anne
She is doing great in Preschool! I met with her Teacher and although I am not a big fan of her teacher, she did say that Faith Anne is very bright and she sees no reason why she wouldn’t be ready to start Kindergarten next fall. Isn’t that unreal? She absolutely loves to sing…all the time….and it doesn’t matter what. She makes up words to her own tunes. Her music teacher at school is Mrs. Maloney, but she calls her…and insists that she is right…that it is Mrs. Baloney. LOL But she just loves to sing and do anything with her hands creatively. We are going to make Christmas ornaments this weekend, I think. I just love her spunk….but it does get her in trouble sometimes. She hits Isaac a lot….so we have to work on that. He needs a bit of her spunk! LOL

Gracie
Well, aside from the royal temper tantrums…she is great! I guess that I had to have one kid who throws true temper tantrums. One night (well, actually on more than one occasion) she was in her room screaming (and I do mean screaming) for 45 minutes straight. One time, I handed her her ball (or pacifier) and she threw it across the room. I held her while she screamed/cried for about 20 minutes and then she just crawled out of my arms into her bed and went to sleep. Yeah, so that has been lots of fun. LOTS of fun. I have just been putting her in her room and telling her when she is done screaming she can come out. I have done pretty good for the most part of keeping my cool….but sometimes it does really wear on me. Other than those….lol…she is great. She is like a little sponge and just soaks up everything her brother and sister do. She can count to 12 and she can say most of her ABCs. She sings the same songs that Faithy sings and she does all the motions to Jesus Loves Me. She can be so stinking sweet and adorable one minute…and then throwing a temper tantrum the next! But I wouldn’t trade her for the world! She is definitely a “mama’s girl”.

Scott
He is doing good…he turns 34 tomorrow! He transferred to Cincinnati and mostly sells at apartment complexes now. So…nothing really changed except for where he goes for his meetings – he goes South now instead of North. So far he likes it, I guess that is what matters. He is working with his buddy Jason quite a bit, so that helps. So, things are going good for him!

So yeah…things are just plugging right along. I am sure that I am not alone in feeling the financial strain of the economy and of course worrying about the holidays. It seems like this time of the year, every year, things start to fall apart financially. BUT…God always provides and I am confident that He will continue to care for us. I just have to remember that He is in control and He will provide for our NEEDS. I just get the “wantsies” too much! LOL

I am still sitting around 80 pounds down. I just can’t seem to move much past this point. I gain a pound and then lose 2 and then gain 1 and then lose 1….it is frustrating. I have been increasing the intensity of my work-out, so I am losing inches…I can see it in my clothes. So, that is good…but I really had a specific goal in mind for the end of the year and I am just teetering right above it. I am doing the Turkey Trot (a 5 mile run on Thanksgiving) so that is exciting. Now….I am not running! I am going to walk and jog…but just to say I completed it is going to be an accomplishment!!! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would do something like that! So, think of me at about 8:00 on Thanksgiving! As long as I don’t finish last, I will be thrilled!!!

Work is great now that Stinky Pete is gone. My new boss is wonderful. He has his pitfalls, as all bosses do….but overall, he is leaps and bounds above what I had before! Obviously times are scary for financial institutions, but so far it appears that we are faring alright and that my job is safe. That could change at the drop of a hat though! The good thing for me is that I have worked in the branches before and could easily transition back to that world…and that is the safest place to be – the least expendable. Times are scary right now for everyone!!! Raise your hand if you are ready for the Rapture?!?! I know that I am! I am ready to get my kiddos Home to the Lord!

Umm…I guess that is good for a quick update. If I have time in the next few days, I would like to do a post about all of the things that I have learned this year in my weight loss journey. It really is so much more than just the physical side of things…God has really worked on me this year. And for that, I am very, very thankful!!!

Love you all….and if I don’t get time to come back….HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-10-30T12:56:00.002-04:00

So is everyone else feeling like me and you can’t believe that it is already the end of October? WOW. Where has this year gone? Not to sound old, but time really does fly by the older you get!

We have had some excitement since I posted last time! Last week, Tuesday night, I was at home with the girls while the boys were at football practice. I was sitting with Faith Anne and reading her a book and Gracie had just gotten down off my lap. She tripped over my foot (because apparently I am not supposed to have appendages). She fell into our gliding rocker – pushing the seat back and exposing the wood underneath. She cut her eye and got a big shiner on her eye! I freaked out because it was bleeding and immediately starting swelling…so I called Scott and made him come home from football practice. We put ice on it and decided not to take her to the hospital. The cut wasn’t that deep and it was so close to her eye, I don’t think they could’ve done stitches anyways. I have a scar in the exact same place next to my eye! Plus, she was acting fine. I still got up to check on her a million times that night! But doesn’t she look pitiful in this picture?!?!?

So, the very next day….I kept checking on her with the babysitter and then I headed home to get Isaac from school….when I get a call from Scott that he had been in an accident! I am so lucky that I wasn’t in an accident trying to get to him! He was sitting (stopped) at a green light because the car in front of him was turning left…the car behind him didn’t stop and the speed limit was 55. So, she hit him going pretty fast. She was driving a big Denali and he was driving his little Focus. So, the picture I have attached is the rear end! The front end also had damage because he was pushed into the car in front of him. Yeah, it totaled our little Focus – our little PAID OFF Focus. That is the bummer of it all. Praise the Lord, Scott was fine and the kids were not with him….and we are getting over $7300 from the insurance company for our 2003 Ford Focus that had 97,000 miles on it! While I was typing this post…we bought a car! We bought a 2003 Ford Explorer with the third seat. This is a blessing in disguise because the Focus was too small for our family of 5, but did I mention that it was PAID OFF?!?!? Anyways….we only had to finance a little bit that we will pay off in February and we got a vehicle that we can all fit in comfortably and it has less miles than the Focus did! At any rate, God is good. Scott wasn’t injured even though all the attorneys that have called us and sent us letters want him to be. LOL

So…those two things have helped to make our lives very interesting! The other thing that has been going on….Isaac’s football team is STILL UNDEFEATED! We made it through the first two rounds of the tournament, so we have a big game on Saturday morning! We are playing another team that is undefeated. So…about 9:00 on Saturday, say a little prayer for Isaac…and his parents because I have turned into quite the crazy woman at these games. I know these kids will be so heartbroken if they lose and it is really so much fun to watch them win! They won by an interception this past Sunday and it was so cool! One of our boys intercepted it at the 10 yard line and ran in for the touch-down. Talk about an exciting win!! Football season has been extra fun this year! And Isaac is really enjoying it all! There are some good kids on his team.

So, that is the really big things that have been going on here! Let me give you a person-by-person recap….

Scott
Obviously the biggest thing with him has been this accident! But, he is also transferring from the Dayton area to the Cincinnati area for work. He has been guaranteed that he will have all the North turf to work (which is closer than he has been driving lately) and he will be working with his buddy Jason again….and his boss is a friend of their’s. I don’t really understand it all…but I am just praying that he made the right decision. They really didn’t want to lose him from Dayton, so I am sure he can come back if it doesn’t work out….but that is weighing heavy on my heart and mind. I just want him to be happy and if this will help that, then I am all for it.

Isaac
I gave you the football recap….more importantly; school is going really good for him! I went to his parent/teacher conference and she had nothing but great things to say about him and how bright he is. On all of this testing they do, he is leading his class as far as where he is now vs. where they should be. He is doing exceptionally well in math – so he is for sure my kid. The only problems she is having with him is talking – and more because he is making sure everyone else is doing what they are supposed to be doing – and not putting his name on his paper. So….I already knew about both of those things and we have been talking to him about that. But she really had some nice things to say about him and it went really good! I took him and Faith Anne to see High School Musical 3 on Sunday and he liked it, but hid his eyes at the kissing scenes. He is such a funny kid. It is so fun to see him growing up and hearing some of the things he comes up with. I love experiencing every new thing with him….he is such a joy!

Faith Anne
My little Diva is always keeping us on our toes! I think I am going to get her in dance, but we are having a dilemma because football season is lasting so long. She is doing good at preschool and seems to be learning so much. I hope she will be ready for Kindergarten next year. I really want to put her in the Kids’ Club program like we had Isaac in, so hopefully that will work out for us financially. She still has her ornery streak where she hits or bites or kicks her siblings when she doesn’t get her way, but we are working on that. Talking to her or reasoning with her is hard….but it does seem to help some! It is just funny how different she is from Isaac. Here is an example…the other day when we were leaving the movie theater, for some reason she and Isaac both started to run at the same time. I saw it about to happen, but I couldn’t stop it…they bumped into eachother and she fell down really hard. Immediately she starts crying and so does Isaac because he feels so bad and it was truly an accident. Faith Anne got up and hit him…..and he was crying because he felt bad for her! Yeah…if he would’ve been the one to fall, I am pretty sure she would’ve just laughed at him. They are so different!!!!

Gracie
Besides the constant bruises, she is doing great and developing such a cute little personality and saying so much. She really talks very well for her age…a lot better than Faith Anne did at this age. She is talking in sentences and just says the cutest things. We definitely have to keep a constant eye on her! We keep joking that Grace wasn’t the best name for her….Faith Anne told my mom we were going to change her name! LOL

So, that is our update! Me? I am doing good. My weight loss has really slowed down – which is very depressing! But I knew that would happen. I have less than 30 pounds to go to be at my goal…but that might change once I get closer.

OH! I am doing the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving! Yep…Hope (the girl I work with) and I are all signed up for a 5 mile race on Thanksgiving Morning! Now, I have no delusions that we are going to WIN that race…I just want to say I finished it and NOT come in last place! The slowest person last year finished in 1 hour and 37 minutes. I know we can beat that. I have done 2 miles in 25 minutes, so if I can shave some time off of that, we will be fine! It starts at 8:00 that morning. I am so exciting about this….and can’t wait to say that I did that!!! I hope this is the first of many more to come!

Work is fine…..kinda boring right now. I know it is going to pick up here soon, though… so I am just enjoying it for right now. My new boss is great…so I don’t have all the drama to write about that I did before!

So, Trunk or Treat is tonight! Isaac is going to be a beat-up/bloody football player, Faith Anne is going to be Snow White and Gracie is going to be Minnie Mouse. I will try to get a good picture to post of my three kiddos. I am not looking forward to all the candy…but it is supposed to be great weather and the kids always love it so much. I am taking tomorrow off so that I can go to Isaac’s party at school. I like to participate in those as much as possible…I don’t want him to feel like his “working mom” didn’t get to be there for him. So, I am making cupcakes and going to help! I love that…it is so fun to see them interact with their friends…and embarrass them with a hug or a kiss! LOL

Well, that is about it for today! I will be so extremely happy when the election is over! I loved what Kelley posted or emailed…I don’t remember which….about no matter who wins the election…God is still GOD and HE is still in charge! I am so scared for our world right now – not even just our country. I hope Jesus comes and takes us home soon!

Love to all!!!! And Happy Halloween!!!!

Say your prayers today, please....

2008-10-15T10:12:00.001-04:00

Where does the time go? Am I the only one who cannot believe we are in the middle of October and heading into the Holiday Season? Wow. Time just seems to go at warp speed anymore. I know, I know…I sound like an old person. I guess I kinda am an old person! LOL

Well, quite a bit has happened since last time…the first thing I am going to write about is just the biggest thing on my mind today and I would ask that you stop what you are doing (even reading this! lol) and say a prayer for Jodi, Jimmie and the two precious foster children that they have to say goodbye to today. Thanks for doing that…. So, today is going to be a rough day for them, but they are going to be (and have already been) so blessed for listening to God’s prodding and showing His love to these little girls. So, we saw them over the weekend and it was sad to say goodbye to them. Faith Anne and Maycie just kept hugging each other and the goodbyes took forever. And that was a three year old and a four year old who didn’t really know that they wouldn’t see each other again. Those girls have made a lasting impression on all of us!

The other thing that is weighing on my heart is today would have been my Aunt Barb and Uncle Claude’s 37th Wedding Anniversary – she passed away last Wednesday…one week before their anniversary. Last week was a whirlwind…It started on Friday night while I was at the Ladies’ Retreat. They had to pick up my Aunt by ambulance because she had gone into what we thought was a diabetic coma. Her blood sugar went down to 30. So, Saturday morning as I was leaving the retreat, I called my mom to firm up our plans for the day and she told me that it wasn’t looking good for my Aunt. So…I cried pretty much all morning and at Isaac’s football game that afternoon. It was Parent Appreciation Day, so our whole family walked out on the field with him at the start of the game. Well, Mom came to the game and she and I left for the hospital as soon as the game was over. My Aunt was not doing well at all and it was hard to see her like that. The next day (Sunday), they moved her to Hospice. At the hospital, the person from Hospice told them that their goal would be to get her home. Well, as soon as they got to Hospice, the nurse immediately told them that she was in the final stages and she would not be going home – that she had less than a week, from her best guess. Let me tell you – Hospice is an amazing, amazing place. The work they do is just amazing. That night, Aunt Barb would respond somewhat to my Uncle and her kids. So, at one point…we all gathered around her bed and the chaplain led us in the Lord’s Prayer and Psalm 23 and then another clergy sang a few hymns. It was just an amazing experience. My cousin Michael got out his Bible and read some scripture…..it was so beautiful. So, both Monday and Tuesday I had to work but would go straight from work to Hospice….and then we got the call Wednesday morning that she had passed away. I am glad it happened the way that it did…she passed very peacefully. And I know that she is healed completely and loving all the children up in heaven. She was an amazing person who loved so many and that was so clear in her funeral on Friday. We had family in from Oklahoma and so Thursday & Friday were consumed with family time and grieving time. My family definitely all pulls together and shares a lot of love and laughter. It was just what Aunt Barbara would have wanted. Please continue to pray for my Uncle Claude and the kids – Andy, Michael and Nichol and Michaela, the grandbaby. For them, the hardest days are still ahead and I am sure today is going to be a hard day for Claude.

Thank you all for your kind words, prayers and hugs. I really appreciate it.

In other news, I haven’t heard anything from the school about that job. I am thinking they probably gave it to someone internally…but it would’ve been nice to at least have gotten an interview! I am going to have to check on that. I wasn’t really holding my breath, but it would’ve been nice!

Quick recap on my family…

Isaac
He is still doing good in school. I have a conference with his teacher on Thursday and his report card should be coming out soon. He has gotten in trouble a few times for talking too much – go figure. But I think things are going good there. He still says he likes school and his teacher. They are on a field trip today and my Dad is there with them. He is such a good Papaw! Isaac’s football team is still undefeated! Our last game of the regular season is Saturday and then we enter tournament time. It would be so cool for them to go all the way – they would get to play at Welcome Stadium (UD’s field). So, we will see! He is going to miss it when it is over, that is for sure. He has a really good time – and so does Scott!!!

Faith Anne
She is still having some behavior problems…but they aren’t horrible. I am thinking it is her age and a middle child syndrome. But I do really enjoy her…she cracks me up and can be so very sweet when she wants to be. She seems to be doing good at Preschool. I am anxious to meet with her teacher to see what she thinks about her.

Gracie
My baby turned two! That is just so hard to believe! She kept saying “my birthday” and still does. If anyone else says it is their birthday, she has a fit. We had fun at her birthday party….she really enjoyed throwing everything (tissue paper, card and present) out of the bags. LOL It was the fastest I have ever seen someone open presents! I had to go back through everything afterwards to see what she got since she just threw everything, but it was very cute!

Scott
Things are going fine for him with work….and he is still enjoying coaching football. I think he will be happy to see the season end, but he has had fun this year. I think we are both ready to get back to a more normal routine…until the next thing starts!

So, that is about it for us, I guess. It has been a crazy few weeks, but life should be settling down again soon. Scott and I have a date night this weekend and we haven’t had time for just the two of us for a very long time…so I am thrilled about that! I think we are going to do dinner and a movie. I want to see that movie “Fireproof”, so hopefully it is still in the theaters this weekend.

Oh, I have been enjoying the “reconnecting” part of Facebook! I don’t know much about all the other “stuff”…but I have been talking to a few people from high school and college and it is really neat to get reconnected through that! It has sure brought back some good memories!!! Now all the other stuff, I will have to figure that out when I have time to sit and play with it…but the talking to people is fun!

Hope you all have a great week…..praying for Jodi and Jimmie!!!!

Happy Fall Y'all!

2008-09-30T10:18:00.000-04:00

Hey there Ladies! Yet again…time has just flown by! I cannot believe that tomorrow will be the first day of October! That is just craziness! I guess that I get so caught up in life that I lose track of time! Must be old age!

Although we always have so much going on…not much has really changed! But I will still give you the play-by-play on each person in my family! Before I get to that….whoever would have thought that a hurricane would affect us here in OHIO. But it did! Hurricane Ike played havoc with all of our lives…and we had no power at our house for 8 days. It was just crazy! We even had Isaac’s birthday party (30 kids) at our house with no power. Yeah…that was lots of fun. So, now we have power and life is getting back to normal!!!

Scott
Well, he is doing just fine! Work was interesting there for a while because of the power situation. And so because of that, they weren’t allowed to sell – for obvious reasons – so they had to work nights “guarding” generators. Yeah, that was fun. It wasn’t that bad, but it did play havoc on our routines! The money was really good for that though…and he worked like 10 – 12 hour shifts. So, he is back to selling now and things are finally back to normal. He took Isaac to the OSU game this past weekend and they had a really good time. He is really enjoying coaching Isaac’s team this year and making good friends with the other coaches. It is definitely a fun time for him and all of us.

Isaac
Well, after all of the drama at the beginning of the school year…..he LOVES his teacher. Yep…he loves her. I think she started the year out like the mean catholic school nun just make sure the kids respected her…and now she is having fun with them while learning! He brought home his mid-term report yesterday and he all I think 4 S (Satisfactory) and 3 E (Excellent). So, he is doing great! We have parent-teacher conferences in a few weeks, so I am looking forward to that! He seems to be doing good all around, so hopefully that continues!

Football is still lots of fun for him and he is getting better and better. He could still be much more aggressive, but maybe that will come with time. If not, I am sure he will self-select that football isn’t for him. It is way too early to determine that now. Now, he is just having fun with it! We had four Sunday games – in a row – and now the rest are Saturday, so that makes us all very, very happy! It has been hard missing church for those four weeks.

My baby boy turned 7 on September 18. That is so hard to believe. Wow. We had a football party where he invited his ENTIRE football team. We had no power, but the people across the street did…so I had videotaped their game earlier that morning and we ran an extension cord across the street so the boys could watch their game on TV. It was so funny….but they were all boys and had fun, even though we didn’t have a gourmet meal! LOL Lots of boys…too many boys….but it was fun!

Faith Anne
Well, sometimes she is doing great. Other times, not so much! I really think we have a case of “middle-child syndrome” with her and if she is getting all of the attention, she is fine. When she has to share the attention with her siblings, she is a little brat. We are working on that with her. I am really trying (trying very hard) to talk to her and try to reason with her about her behavior. It is hard to not just scream at her for being so mean, but then what lesson is that teaching her? So, I am trying to make a very conscious effort to sit with her and have heart-to-heart conversations about her behavior. It isn’t working yet, but it might! LOL

She is doing good at preschool and seems to really like it. Her teacher this year really treats them like Princesses’. Great. Just what she needs. LOL But she is constantly singing or doing cheers and she is so much fun to be around….when she is getting your attention! LOL

She had a great time on vacation with my parents and Jodi and Jim and their girls. She talks about it a lot still.

Gracie
Little Miss Gracie has become quite the “mama’s girl”. She only wants me most of the time and wants to hug me and stuff all of the time. It is very sweet and I am enjoying it very much – especially since I know she is my last baby! She certainly has a mean streak, but she can also be so very sweet. She is an adventurer and not much scares her. It is funny to me how different she is from Faithy and just in general, how different all three of my kids are.

Gracie will be 2 on October 9. That is so hard to believe. It seems like just yesterday I was sitting in Tim Horton’s crying because I was pregnant…and not wanting to call Kelley and tell her because they were trying to get pregnant. And now…I wouldn’t change a thing about having Gracie and Kelley has had 2 more kids! God just has the greatest sense of humor! He keeps us on our toes!!!

So…that is the down and dirty on everyone. There is so much more…but who wants to be bored with all the little details? The update on our childcare situation is that Stephanie (Scott’s youngest sister) her “friend” Deanna is watching the girls for us at our house on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. She is charging us a bit more than my Aunt charged, but we are saving on gas money….and things are going good so far! I have to admit, I do have some reservations….but she really loves my girls and they love her. I know she would never do anything to hurt them. She has their day all planned out. They do craft time every day and the girls are really having fun with her. So, we will see how things go. She goes to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so as long as that works out, we will run with it.

I would like to ask for your prayers. I have applied for a job at the school district here. It is a Payroll and Benefits Analyst position. I don’t know if I am qualified or even that I really want it. But I had been telling my MIL that I would love to get on with the school – they have good benefits and it is just a great place to work. So, she sent me an email about this position and on a whim, I applied. That was yesterday. I thought more about it and I sent in my resume today. The starting salary is exactly what I am making currently….so just pray that whatever God’s will is…that it be done. I would love the opportunity, but it is also scary because I have worked here for 11 years now. It would be a big risk and a big change. This is heavy on my mind and heart right now….

I am down about 78 pounds. It is coming off slower and slower. I am trying really hard to just be happy with where I am instead of always looking at where I want to be. This has been a long journey, that is for sure! And I still make mistakes along the way, but I really think this is going to be “the last time” for me. I really think I am going to be able to keep it off this time.

We did have the Bethany Dillon concert at our church a few weeks ago and that was awesome! It was really intimate and just her and her guitar and it was so neat to hear her talk about where the songs came from – where she was at when she wrote them (spiritually) and just to hear her. My mom went with me and we both really enjoyed it. Stew talked at the intermission and he always does such an awesome job. It was just a great evening.

Well, I have so much more that I could say, but then no one would read it because it would be too long. Hope you are all doing good…love ya!!!

All over the place....

2008-09-04T08:11:00.000-04:00

Hey Girlies! I hope everyone is doing just fine! I know that Jodi and Mandy are still on vacation in Gatlinburg – lucky ducks. I wish I was on vacation! I could sure use one…but then, I bet we all could!

I have been on an emotional roller-coaster for the past few days…but more on that later! Let me update you on my world! I will start with the kiddos – their lives are more interesting!

Isaac
Well, my baby boy is doing great! He started 2nd Grade last week. Yep…that is right…2nd Grade! Where, oh where has the time gone? I took his first day off of work so that we could all take him to school that morning and then I could be there to pick him up. He didn’t really want us to walk him to school and he certainly didn’t want me to take pictures, but I did both! We found his classroom and his locker and we met his teacher. He got all settled in his chair and looked up at me with his big brown eyes. I asked him if he was ready for Mommy and Daddy to leave or if he wanted us to stay. Well, he said with his words that he wanted us to leave, but his eyes were saying something else. So…of course I started crying. So then he really wanted us to leave. LOL So, we left and Scott was teasing me about crying. Next year will be even worse since Faith Anne will be starting too! So….I picked him up that day and the drama of the first week began. I had heard some horror stories about his teacher – how mean and strict she is. Well, she sent home a contract for us to sign as parents and Isaac had to sign it too. I am scared of her! LOL The first week was rough….Isaac said that she was yelling at some of the other kids and she almost sent him to the office for asking someone to hold the door when they were going outside on their walk. He almost missed his recess because I (mommy) forgot to sign his homework. It was a rough week. Friday night, I was talking to Laura W and had pretty much decided to pull him out of her class. I was going to give her this week and talk to her at the Open House. So…fast forward through the weekend….more traumatic stuff happened (I will tell about that in a minute), so I was just an emotional wreck worried about all of this. So, on Tuesday when I went to pick him up from school…I was talking to a friend of mine who is a kindergarten teacher at his school and she has a daughter in Isaac’s class. She told me that Isaac will be fine and that she purposely put her daughter in this teacher’s class because she is a great teacher. I guess her strategy is to kinda “scare” the kids the first week to make sure they know who is in charge and that they respect her. From what Isaac has said and from what she told me at the Open House, that boot camp is over and things are more normal in the classroom. So, after talking to my friend and after she talked to Isaac, we both felt better. Then the Open House was that night and I waited around to talk to the teacher when there were no other parents around. We had a really good conversation and I actually think that I like her. She just had nothing but great things to say about Isaac and how he is the brightest kid in the class and very respectful and well-behaved. I told her that he was scared of her and she apologized for that but assured me that things would only get better from her on out. I told her that he is a very sensitive kid and what you can say to one kid would crush my kid’s heart. It was a very good conversation and I left there feeling so much better about that entire situation. He says that he likes her now and that he likes being in her class. So, we will see how the year transpires, but after a rocky start….things are looking up for 2nd Grade!

He is doing great in football too. They won their first two games and then tied this past weekend. He isn’t very aggressive on the field, but he is having fun and that is what really matters! I can’t believe that he is going to be 7 in two weeks. Wow. Time really does fly!

Faith Anne
Little Miss Faith Anne is on vacation right now with her Mimi and Papaw, YaYa and Jim (Jodi) and their two little girls. Apparently they are having a great time. She is too busy to really talk to me, that little stinker! Here I am on the verge of tears because I miss my little girl and she doesn’t even want to talk to me on the phone because she is having too much fun! This will be the last year that she can do this because next fall she will start kindergarten! She had to miss her preschool orientation and her first day of school, but I figured that it wasn’t a big deal since we know what to expect this year anyways. So…next week she will start back to school.

I haven’t gotten her into dance yet…I will probably look into that next week too. I need to take her to a dance studio or something because the rec center schedule doesn’t work for us with our football schedule. So much to do, so little time!

Gracie
Gracie is doing great and enjoying the extra attention she is receiving this week since Sissy is gone. But she misses her Sissy! She walks around the house trying to figure out where she is! She is at such a fun age, although challenging. But it is fun because she is talking non-stop and it is starting to make sense! You can really decipher a lot of what she is saying. She is a pistol and hits her brother and sister a lot….or bites. The other day she bit Faithy on the back really hard, so I bit her back. We are still struggling with keeping her in her own bed at night. If I lay down with her until she goes to sleep, she is fine…but if we just try to lay her down, she gets up about a billion times. That and she is very attached to her “pew” (purse) and “ball” (pacifier). I think she might be my biggest challenge yet when we have to take the ball away from her.

So…the big traumatic news in our life is that my Aunt Barbara, the one who has watched my kids for the past nearly 7 years, is not going to be watching them for us anymore. She is taking a full-time job in the daycare at their church. She called me and told me on Friday night….I was out to dinner with Laura W and I just started crying! I was so worried about Isaac and his school situation…and then this news….I kinda lost it. We were really busy on Saturday and Sunday, so I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it then…but on Monday and Tuesday, I cried off and on all day. The thing that makes me so sad is that I have never had to worry about my kids. I knew that they were with someone who loved them and was taking very good care of them. I just love the influence that my Aunt has had on their lives. I am sad that Gracie will miss out on that the most. I mean…Isaac was with her for 5 years….Faith Anne was with her for 4….but Gracie was only with her for 2. SO. All of that being said, I totally understand that my Aunt needs the full-time money, but I am just sad for my kids….and we don’t really know what we are going to do! My parents will still watch the kids 2 days a week….we just have to figure out the other 3. There is a chance that a good friend of mine from church is going to be quitting her job and staying at home in December in January….so that might be a solution. I think we are going to try to find someone for at least Fridays right now and make it work with our flexible work schedules on Mondays and Wednesdays…but we have to find someone for Fridays because Scott has meetings at work on those days. If we can make that work for a while, then we will save some money and hopefully this other opportunity will fall into place so we can leave the kids with someone we know and love and trust. If that doesn’t work out, we are back to square one and don’t really know what we will do. We have been spending about $450 a month in childcare and preschool for the girls….if we have to take them to a daycare, that will go up to about $1100 a month! Wowzers. I know that we have been getting off really cheap and we will for sure be paying more than what we paid my aunt….but nearly $700 more a month?!?!? Why do I even work?

SO….please keep us in your prayers. I know that this is a dilemma that every working mom has to face….but this is really our first time facing it! This is very new and unchartered territory for us. And Scott doesn’t get how I feel about this. He doesn’t get why I am so upset. I tried to explain to him that there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t feel guilty about being at work…about being away from my kids. And when I am at work all day, there isn’t a minute that goes by that I am not worrying about work but also worrying about my kids. I guess that Dads can shut that off, but Moms can’t! They are a part of me and they are always on my mind and in my prayers.

Well, I guess that brings you up to speed on the drama in our lives right now. Thanks for your prayers….God is so good.

In other news, I will keep this short because I know this is running long…but we had a wonderful holiday weekend. We jammed as much into it as we could… but saw a lot of family and had a really great time. My Dad’s family from Oklahoma came in town and it was great to see them all….and then we went to Somerset, Kentucky for my Mom’s family reunion and had a wonderful time there. I am just continually amazed at how Awesome God is and how blessed I am. I need to keep that in perspective when I let all these “problems” get to me. In the big scheme of things, I am so very blessed.

Love you all….Hopefully we will hear full vacation updates from Jodi and Mandy!

August...already?

2008-08-18T14:43:00.000-04:00

Wow. So, it has been a month. Really? A month? Where did the time go? Why is it that time goes so much faster the older I get. Or maybe it is just that the older my kids get the crazier my schedule gets. Who knows? But I can’t believe it has been a month! And what a month it has been! I will try to bring you up-to-date.

Well, my family survived Camp Extreme week at church. It was actually very good and not too stressful. The only stressful thing was the time commitment. Everything else about it went smoothly and was fun. It is just such a time commitment. But time well spent.

I went on my Emmaus Walk the following weekend – the last weekend in July. That was so wonderful. I can’t put it all into words here, but I can tell you that it was an amazing and life-changing experience. I went into that weekend thinking that I knew what Love and Grace are…but I really experienced both that weekend and I will never be the same. I made some really great friends…gave up some junk I have been carrying around for a very long time….got to know myself a little better….just had an amazing experience. If you have never been on an Emmaus walk and would like to….talk to me! I would love to help you have that same kind of experience that I had. It is indescribable!

I am only 1.8 pounds shy of having lost 70 pounds. Which means I am only 40 pounds away from my final goal. That is pretty exciting. Scott and I are going to go on a long-weekend type vacation when I hit that mark. We might even go on a 3-day cruise if I can convince him of that! I hope that this will happen in the early part of next year. I am not going to start planning it until I am like 15 – 20 pounds away. But that is definitely something to look forward to! I am really going to try to stop focusing so much on where I am going with this and focus more on how great I am doing NOW and where I am at NOW. It is so easy to get so caught up in the numbers, when really it is more about how I feel and look. I mean, I am adding years to my life by just getting healthier. So…that is what is going on with that part of my life. I have started reading the “Lose It for Life” book again because I just think it has so many great lessons in it that I will need to continue to apply for the rest of my life.

Other exciting things in the past month:

Well, the little thing of an answered prayer (dripping with sarcasm) that Jimmie was alright and they were able to “fix” what was wrong with him. We were all pretty worried about that, but God came through in a BIG way!
Scott and I were asked to sing at a wedding of a girl from our church. The wedding was in Columbus, so they paid for our hotel the night before and we were able to really enjoy our little “honeymoon”. My parents and his Mom helped with the kids, so we were without the kids and had a wonderful, wonderful time together! Sometimes it is easy to forget what just being a couple is like! The rehearsal was fun and the wedding was amazing. We just enjoyed ourselves so much!
We also got to have a date day! Yesterday we went to a Red’s game and there was a MercyMe concert afterwards. We went with another couple and just had a wonderful time again! The weather was perfect and we just had fun together. We ate dinner at Montgomery Inn and that was a special treat that we weren’t expecting to do. Then Scott went to the Bengals game last night….so he had a really fun sports day! Even though he doesn’t like the Bengals, Isaac does…so they had fun doing that.

Let me do a “Missy-Style” post to update you on the kiddos:

Isaac
Football has started! We are in our 4th week of Football! We had our first game this weekend and we won! That was very exciting! He is really enjoying football and having a lot of fun with the other boys on his team. He has an awesome coach this year and he is learning a lot. He needs to be more aggressive…he is much too nice! I keep telling Scott that he gets that from me. But really, I think he is just so much like my Dad. Although, Dad was a good football player. He just needs to learn how to be “mean” on the football field while still being the “sweet-boy” that he is off the field. Hopefully that will come. But he really tries hard and hustles – so that is all we can ask of him! Scott is having a lot of fun being on e of the coaches. I think they have like 7 guys and I don’t know who is having more fun, the coaches or the kids. It is a good group of guys. So, right now football is Monday – Friday for 2 hours each night. This week it is only 4 nights and then next week, during school, it is 3 nights. He starts 2nd grade on Tuesday of next week. That is so hard to believe! It seems like just yesterday he was born – let alone kindergarten and 1st grade! We are going to go up to his school probably every night now until they post who his teacher is. He really wants one certain one, so hopefully he isn’t disappointed. We have just about all of his supplies…but we haven’t bought him any new clothes. Hopefully we can squeeze that in sometime this weekend. He is just doing great! Keeping us busy, but doing great!

Faith Anne
My little drama queen…she is doing good. We just took her to her 4 year check-up last week and she is 42.25 inches tall! She is just growing up so fast! She starts preschool the week after next and is very excited about that. We got a letter in the mail telling us who her teacher is, so she has been telling everyone about that. She is a little confused because she just assumed she would have the same teacher again this year. She certainly keeps us entertained – she is always making up songs and singing non-stop. She also loves to dance and just be the center of attention. I need to look into getting her signed up for something – bad Mommy. But she is doing great and I just love her personality!

Gracie
She is just at such a fun age – although she is still into absolutely everything. Probably the cutest thing about her right now is that she won’t go anywhere without her “Pew”…which is what she calls her purse…and yes, it is a Vera Bradley purse. In it, she stores her pacifier (called her ball) and a few little toys. It goes EVERYWHERE with her. Jodi calls her Sophia from the Golden Girls. It is too funny. Mom and Dad’s neighbors even commented on it! But she is just so much fun because she definitely has a very strong personality. There are lots of aggravating moments, but there are also lots of sweet moments too. I am enjoying her more and more now as she is getting out of her holy terror stage. I am sure there will be more holy terror moments to come, but it is getting better! It is funny to me how different she is from the other two.

So, that is my play-by-play for the kiddos. Things are going great right now. Oh, sure…I am worried about finances – we always are. But God is so good and He provides for all of our needs. Worrying is just not doing anything for me, so I might as well just let go and let God. He wants to take those worries from me, so I am going to do my best to give them to him.

I do have a couple of prayer requests. First, my Aunt Barbara on my Dad’s side of the family was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given 3 – 6 months to live. Jodi and I went to visit her on Friday and she looks pretty bad. I know that we serve a God of miracles and that He is in control. And I have complete faith that if it be His will, she will be healed. So, please just pray for His will in the situation and for the family to be strengthened. She is a Christian and her son Michael is a Christian, but I am not so sure about the rest of the family. They could all use some major prayers. Again, God is good and He has performed miracles in this family before (remember my cousin Michael from last year). I just pray that His will be done and that we, as a family, are able to minister to them.

Also, please keep Jodi and Jimmie in your prayers. There is a very good chance that the two angel girls they have been loving will be leaving them next week. So, please pray that they are strengthened for whatever the future holds – both Jodi and Jimmie and the Mayce and Aniya. Whenever those girls leave them, I am confident that they leave with the love of Jesus in their hearts like they have never known before – and that is because of Jodi and Jimmie. So, I know that they are following His will, but that doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to a part of their heart. So, please pray for them!!! Jodi and the girls were up this weekend and my kids just had so much fun playing with them – we had so much going on that I didn’t get to spend as much time with Jodi and I would’ve liked – but we did make sure the kids spent time with the girls. They are definitely a part of our family and will be missed!

Alrighty….well, I better get back to work, I guess. Work is great – Stinky Pete is gone and I have a new boss that I absolutely love!

Love you all and I hope it won’t be so long next time!!!

Hey Everyone!

2008-07-17T14:27:00.003-04:00

Here are some vacation pictures! The first one is from where we spent most of our time - the beach of Sanibel Island. The next one is me on our boat-ride to Key West. I also have a sunset picture from our boat-ride back from Key West. And then there is FABulous with her BFFs at Sweet-N-Sassy salon and her new hair cut! Now for the scoop.....

Okay. So I am sorry that it has taken me so long to post after my VACATION! Life just gets crazy…as you all know very well! Let me give you the recap!

Kelli’s hubby took us and dropped us off at the airport on Thursday morning. We got there about 5:00 and our flight was supposed to leave at 6:10. Well, we see right away that it is delayed by one hour. Okay. Not a great start to our day, but we had a 2 hour lay-over in Detroit, so no big deal. So…we get our boarding passes and then they start weighing and tagging our luggage and Kelli’s suitcase was more than 50 pounds. She had borrowed one from her parents and it was HUGE. That cost her $50. Not a good start to our day. So, she pays that and is not happy, but we vow to not let it ruin our day. We go through security and they pull her off to the side and rudely tell her to sit….she had a bottle of sunscreen – new and un-opened – in her carry-on. That is a no-no. It can’t be larger than 3 ounces. So she has to give that to them. She is now on the verge of tears and I am trying to keep her together. The girl is getting ready to turn 40 so she is emotional! LOL We got to our gate and finally (after the hour delay) board our plane and go to Detroit. We run across that airport to get to our next gate (seriously it was at least a mile!) and it is on time! Great!!! We see our plane come in and watch the people get off it. We watch our suitcases arrive to be loaded…and then we hear an announcement that due to mechanical issues, our flight is being delayed and there will be an another announcement in 30 minutes – which is 15 minutes past when we are supposed to be in the air. We were hungry, so we went to look for food…we found some and came back only to find that all the people that were waiting to board our plane were gone….empty…poof. Our first thought was that they boarded it without us…not good. Then we realized that they had just moved us to a different gate and plane. Good! They were already boarding…great! So…we get in the air to Fort Meyers. Life is good. I could tell the plane was starting to descend…I was excited…and ready to get off the plane. Then…the plane starts to ascend again…what? I asked Kelli about it and by this point, she was annoyed with my many questions – I am a bit of a nervous flyer. So, she ignored me…lol…she was watching a movie on my mp3 player. Sure enough, the pilot comes on and says that there was a thunderstorm over the runway, so we are gonna fly around for a few minutes until it passes – you know Florida storms. So, we see some golf courses, the ocean…the same golf courses, the ocean….the same golf courses, the ocean…and then the pilot comes on and says that we are going to have to go to Ft. Lauderdale to re-fuel and then come back and try to land again. WHAT? I want to go to FORT MEYERS, not FORT LAUDERDALE! Whatever. So….20 minutes or so later, we land in Fort Lauderdale. We are not allowed to get off the plane and just wait for them to refuel. Great. We are done getting gas…we get in line to take off….we are like the 2nd plane in line…and then all of a sudden all of these planes are passing us…what? The pilot comes on and tells us that for some reason we have been pulled out of the line for take-off…we need to park and get directions..so hang-tight. I WANT OFF THE PLANE! LOL Don’t know what happened, but we eventually took off and headed to Fort Meyers. This time….no problem! We landed!!! Hallelujah! We got our rental car…that was a trip…..and then found our hotel. It was very nice! It wasn’t as close to the beach as we had hoped, but for the price…it was perfect!
So, the first night we went to the beach – of course – we ate appetizers at some small dive on the beach. Then we went to Super Target and got the stuff we needed for our day at the beach the next day and then ate dinner at Cheeseburgers in Paradise. We had a great first night there after the whole flight situation!!!

Friday, July 4th…we got up early and had our free breakfast at the hotel and then headed to Sanibel Island! We stopped by the visitor center and looked at the map to figure out what beach to go to…got that figured out and went down to find it. We found it and let me tell you…it was a piece of heaven! We walked out…determined to get all of our stuff in one trip…and it was a long walk because this was a beach that was so beautiful and so un-commercialized…it was awesome! You literally looked left…saw nothing but beach….looked right…saw nothing but beach….looked out…saw nothing but ocean…looked behind you…saw nothing but vegetation. It was wonderful. We staked our spot…oh, we had bought one of those Styrofoam coolers and filled it with ice and drinks. I carried it out there and it started to leak. Well, it was stinking heavy, so when Kelli picked our spot, I might’ve put it down too hard…it broke! Ice and drinks went everywhere! It was awful! We salvaged as much ice as we could…but it was kinda comical!!! Anyways, we got all settled and I decided to go get in the water for a bit. I wasn’t in there but like 10 minutes and I saw 2 dolphins – not even 20 feet from me! So..yeah, at first I was thinking sharks. LOL But then I realized it was dolphins and I was so excited. I started yelling for Kelli and then got out because although they are friendly, they were a little close! But that was very cool! We literally spent 7 or 8 hours at the beach that day. It was HEAVEN. We read or slept or played in the water or just watched the waves and people. It was such a wonderful, wonderful day. We went to dinner at a cool restaurant on a marina that night and then sat in their lounge area that was on the 2nd floor to watch the fireworks. Very cool way to spend the 4th of July!

Saturday, we got up early and went on a boat-ride to Key West! The ride was 3.5 hours long…and we just sat on the top deck and watched the waves pretty much the whole time….awesome! When we got to Key West we rented bicycles and rode all around the island! I hadn’t ridden a bicycle in more than 15 years, so that was interesting! Lots of laughs there! But I didn’t wreck! We went to the southernmost point…only 90 miles from Cuba! Then we had lunch at a place called Kelly’s – it is owned by Kelly McGinnis. We did some more riding around and then went shopping…we went to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville…that was AWESOME! It was just a wonderful, wonderful day. We saw as much of the island as we could until we had to get back on the boat to come back. It rained a little bit, so we sat in the lower deck and watched a movie and then went up to the top deck to watch the sunset. It was amazing!!! We saw a ton of rainbows! That night, we went to a hopping bar at Ft. Meyers for dinner. It was karaoke night, so that provided lots of laughs! We had a great time there.

Sunday…that was Kelli’s 40th Birthday! We got up very early and I gave her her present….that was fun! I got her a really cool bracelet. Then we went to the store and got more drinks and snacks for the beach…and a real cooler! We headed back out to our same beautiful beach and spent another 7 hours at the beach! Then we went shopping and then back to the room. We ended up taking naps – the sun wipes you out! Then we went back to the same dive on the beach and ate dinner there. It was a wonderful, wonderful day!!!

Monday, we got up and headed to the beach…again! We spent as much time as we could there before we had to come back to the room and get ready to go home. We got to the airport JUST IN TIME because I thought we flew out at 3:56, but instead it was 3:00!!! The flight home was perfectly uneventful! We were a tad late getting into Dayton, but nothing like the trip down there!!!

So…that was our vacation! I know I left out a bunch, but you get the gist! It was a FABULOUS vacation that I loved every minute of and would do it again in a heartbeat! Jodi wants to take a cruise when she turns 40 in two years…count me in! It was wonderful!!!!

So, when I got back…FABulous turned 4! I can’t believe she is already 4! So, the day after her birthday, we went to Sweet-N-Sassy with 3 of her BFFs. It was a fun – DIVA-FILLED day! My MIL brought the girls long-stemmed pink roses…very cute. They had a wonderful time and I LOVE Faith Anne’s new short hair-cut! It is so cute on her…and her hair is perfect for it!

The next day, I turned 32…whoopee! Scott and the kids took me to lunch – which was nice – and then I took the kids to the Clinton County Fair with my parents. We had a great time…and it was a fun way to spend my birthday!

Then I had to come back to work…but GUESS WHAT?!?!?!? STINKY PETE IS GONE!!! Yep, he got moved to Austin, Texas…so I have a new boss….and he is WONDERFUL. He is someone I have worked with for the past 7 years and I LOVE HIM! Now, he isn’t perfect, but he is WAY BETTER than Stinky Pete! So, that is very, very exciting!!! Stinky Pete actually told me that he was moving before I left for vacation…it was official when I got back. So, very cool!!!

Then we had Faith Anne’s birthday party…fun, but Brayden – my nephew – bit two kids! And of course, the two kids he bit were Lucy, the little girl at our church who has leukemia, and Jodi’s foster-daughter Aniya. So…that was bad. I felt horrible and wanted Stacey to just leave with him, but how do you tell your SIL to leave? It wasn’t good.

So…this week we have Camp Extreme at church – which is SUPER fun, but SUPER tiring! I run from work to get the kids to home to change clothes and grab a bite to eat to church…and then home to bathe the kids and then put them to bed and clean up the house or collapse into bed! That has been our lives this week. But tonight is the last night and it is so much fun for all the kids – so it is worth it! We don’t have big plans for this weekend, so hopefully I can get my house back in order!
Well, that is about it for now! Thanks for hanging in there this long, if you did! I am going on an Emmaus Walk next weekend…so it might be a while before I post again! Love to all!!! And please keep Jimmie (Jodi’s hubby) in your prayers! The uncertainty is very hard! We just have to trust that God is in control!!! Love ya!

VACATION!!!!

2008-07-01T08:56:00.000-04:00

So, how in the world am I going to survive this day at work? I am bored out of my mind at work and today is my LAST DAY BEFORE VACATION! There always has to be a “last day before vacation”, but they really stink! Hopefully either I get a fun project to work on to make the time go by fast…or my boss just says to go home early. Yeah, that isn’t going to happen…so hopefully it will just go by fast!

So…since it has only been a week since my last post, I don’t have a lot to say…but like I said, I am bored! So I am sure I can think of something!

Maybe I won’t do a person-by-person update this time. Maybe I will just talk about what is going on.

Last week, my Daddy turned 65! That is just so hard to comprehend for me. When did I get so old and my parents age so much? I mean, seriously, they are both in fantastic health and I don’t think either of them look or act their age, but 65 is a scary number for me in my mind. I guess I just can’t really fathom the day that they won’t be here anymore. Anyways, I have just been thinking about that a lot lately. We didn’t really do a whole lot to celebrate his birthday. For some reason, going out to dinner with me and my three kids wasn’t his idea of a relaxing dinner! LOL We did go out to dinner later in the week, and validated why he didn’t think it was a relaxing dinner! Three kids – especially with two under 4 – is just a lot!

Last Friday night, Scott had a softball game. He plays for his work team and my Uncle Poncho plays with them…so it is fun to go to those games and see my family! Plus they won! Anywhoo, after the game…somehow I left the ballfield with 2 extra little girls! LOL Not sure how this all came about, but I left with Abbey May and Madison (Mandy’s daughter and our friend’s daughter). We first went to the fireworks (there was some sort of celebration on the Base) with Mandy, Steve and Eli…and Isaac was with us too. Scott and Gracie went home. So, we watched the fireworks and then the girls all came to my house for a sleepover! I didn’t realize when we first asked Abbey that it was her first sleepover (besides at her grandparent’s, of course). She was so cute when I asked her if she wanted to stay…she said that she would have to think about it and then ask her Mommy and Daddy.

I got the girls situated in bed and asleep before midnight and then they were up by 7:20. They played pretty good together, aside from the normal drama of sharing toys. Gracie wanted to be right in the middle of whatever they were doing and that didn’t go over too well. At one point, I was putting laundry away and I hear the three older girls all telling Gracie to go away and then all of a sudden I hear crying….Gracie bit Madison on the foot…and left a mark! She bit her pretty hard! I was like…couldn’t you have at least bit your sister and not one of the other girls?!??! So, then I think they were all scared of Gracie the rest of the morning!

So, my nice peaceful and shopping-filled Saturday morning plans didn’t happen, but that was alright because it really was fun for the girls and I had fun watching them! They played tea-party, doctor, mommy, dress-up….all kinds of things! At one point, Abbey was in Gracie’s bed being the baby and Faith Anne and Madison were hugging…they were being the Mommy and the Daddy! LOL So cute to see little girls play together!

Oh….just had to insert this. Did you know that I have collar bones? I didn’t know I had them until I felt them yesterday for the first time. Funny how I am noticing little things like that since I have lost so much weight. I am down 63 pounds now. I am hoping to just maintain or only have a slight gain over the next week of vacation.

So…vacation! Kelli and I fly out on Thursday morning and get to Ft. Myers around noon. We are both so excited! We are planning on going to Key West one day and renting bikes to tour the island! That should be really fun! Since we have both lost so much weight and are both so aware of it, I hope that we keep each other on track! We are planning on splitting a lot of meals and stuff – not only to watch what we eat, but also to save some money! And we are going to get up and walk on the beach every morning to watch the sunrise! If we can get up and go to the gym at 4:00, we can surely get up at 6:00 to watch the sunrise! So, we leave Thursday and come home on Monday evening. I am so excited, but I am also starting to feel guilty and sad about leaving the kids. I am going to miss them so much….but I also need this Mommy time. I know that some of you probably think I am selfish for doing this, but everyone is different and this is something that I need for me. Scott is so great to let me do this. He is going to have help with the kids from my parents and his mom. Plus he is great with them and manages them every morning by himself anyways!

I promise to tell you all about it when we get back…and will try to post some pictures! I don’t come back to work until next Thursday! So…two days of work this week and two days of work next week! I was gonna come back on Wednesday, but that is my birthday and I decided that I would rather be home with my kids on my birthday then at work!

Umm…let’s see…..Isaac’s baseball team won their game again last night. He played 3rd base one time and he didn’t do very good. He just wasn’t paying attention at all. The coach talked to him after that inning and the next time he played pitcher…doesn’t mean he pitched because it is coach-pitch, but he stands next to the pitcher. That is usually the person who gets the most action…and he did great! I was so proud of him! He is having a lot of fun and learning a lot! Last night was his coach’s last night because they are on vacation and we only have two more games….he got all choked up talking to the boys. His oldest son was there and he made him come next to him and told him that it wasn’t but a blink of the eye ago that he was their age. It was so sweet…he is such a sporty, manly, man…but also so tender-hearted and good with the kids. We are blessed to have him as a coach.
My little girl, Faith Anne, will be four on Monday! That has just flown by! We are taking her, Abbey, Kristin and Madison to Sweet and Sassy on Tuesday to have their hair done and their nails and toenails painted! That will be very cute, I am sure! Then we having a Hannah Montana party next Saturday! I would love to find a cute dress with sequins on it for Faithy to wear to her party….so I need to look for that. She is a true Diva!

Oh…so…this past weekend, I went to a birthday party (took Isaac and Faith Anne) at the skating rink. So, how do you teach a kid to roller skate? I tried to help Isaac and Faith Anne, but I don’t know how you teach them to do it! Isaac was not gonna give up and he (by himself) went all the way around the rink (holding onto the wall). Now, it took him a long time…but he did it! Bless his heart, he wanted to go again and ended up wiping out pretty bad. I seriously thought we were going to have to go to the ER, but then he felt better. Faith Anne did alright, but she didn’t like it too much. I put skates on and instantly remembered how to do it and did really, really well….until….I was going to go back out to the rink and fell on the carpeted step! How dumb is it to have a step in a skating rink! LOL I have a big knot on my knee…but I really think that Scott and I are going to go there on a date-night soon. It was so much fun, I had kinda forgot how much I loved that!

Well, I guess I better do something constructive here today! Take care everyone and I won’t be able to keep up with everyone…so I will “see you” when I get back! Love you all!!!

I am still alive!!!

2008-06-24T14:48:00.000-04:00

WOW. I can’t believe that it has been so long since my last post! I check everyone else’s journals ever day, so I forget to update my own, I guess! Either that or time just flies when you are having fun! That could be it too!

So, since you all seem to love it so much…here is my post in the style of Missy:

Scott
He is doing just fine! Since he works in sales – and sales of something that people don’t “need” when times get tough, things have slowed down some for him. We have seen it reflect somewhat in his paychecks, but we are hanging in there! It isn’t bad yet….so hopefully he will continue to do okay. He is still one of the top salesmen in his division, so I guess that is a good sign. And he still seems to really like what he does – especially the flexibility of it! I enjoy it so much because he is such a big help around the house. I know, I know…I am very spoiled by him! He still does all of the grocery shopping, all of the mopping, all of the yard work…we split the laundry pretty evenly now. He is just such a good house-husband since he has more time at home then I do. In other news with him, he is enjoying helping with the coaching of Isaac’s baseball team, playing softball on Friday nights and getting ready to help coach Isaac’s football team! So, needless to say, he keeps busy! We don’t see a lot of each other, but that will change…one day!

Isaac
He is doing great! I think he misses his friends from school. He gets out his yearbook frequently and looks at his class picture. He has been reading a lot this summer and doing great with that. He spends a lot of his time working on “projects” – which means lots of paper, crayons, glue, tape, etc. He and his sisters could sit for hours and create things. He also really has enjoyed the Wii! I probably didn’t share this cuz it has been so long – but his report card from 1st Grade was just awesome! He was above the grade-level expectation in most things – and the things he wasn’t were like music (hello?), art and gym. So, in reading, math, writing, etc. he was above the grade level. We were so proud of him! We bought him a new game for the Wii – Mariokart and let me tell you, that is a very fun game! We have all enjoyed playing that when we get the chance!

He is doing good in baseball! The first few games he struck out a few times, but since then he does great with hitting. Now, if we could just get him to stop watching the ball when he should be running, that would be great! He also needs to work on his fielding some…but their team is great and they all seem to really have a great time!

We signed him up for a Sports-Fun-Camp this week and so far he really likes it. They just play games all day long…so he was one tired pup last night and I am sure he will be tonight too! But we wanted to give him something to keep him busy in the summer. He will have football camp in a few weeks – the same week as Camp Extreme. So, he will be tired that week too! But then football practice starts like a week or two after that….so then he will really be worn out! We are very excited about his football coach this year – it is a guy that Scott went to school with and they are a very strong Christian family. He was actually a high school football coach in Georgia but then came back to join their family landscaping business. We practiced in the field next to them last year and we were always impressed with them – so that is very exciting! There is another kid on their team who is taller than Isaac – so between the two of them in the line – they will do a great job of clogging up the middle!

So…Isaac is doing great! Just keeping us moving!

Faith Anne
My little princess is turning 4 in less than two weeks. Is that hard to believe, or what?!?!? I can’t believe it! In so many ways, it seems like just yesterday that she was born – but in others…not so much! We are having a Hannah Montana party for her! She is very excited about that! We are also taking a few girls to Sweet-and-Sassy to get their hair done and their fingers and toes painted. That ought to be a trip!!! She is such a girlie-girl! I know that she will love all that girlie stuff! She is constantly asking me if she is beautiful and I, of course, assure her that she is! I need to work more with her on being beautiful inside too….she does have a temper with her brother and sister!

She is still terrified of dogs – so it doesn’t look like we will be getting one when she turns 4. I am really fine with that, because that would just be one more thing for me to clean up after, but I know that Isaac is disappointed. But she is truly terrified of them, so I can’t justify making her miserable!

She is so smart and should have no problem starting Kindergarten next fall. Her preschool teacher just raved at how far she had come in her first year of preschool. So, hopefully she does just as well this year! Do I sound like an annoying mother who brags about her kids? Well…I am! LOL I think we all are!

So, Faith Anne is doing fine and is becoming my “big girl” more and more every day!

Gracie
Where do I begin with Gracie? Well, some of you have heard this story – so if you have, I apologize. But for those that haven’t…you might have thought that you have been in the running for World’s Worst Mother a time or two with your kids? Never fear! I have that award all locked up!!! A few Friday’s ago, Scott had been doing yard work and the girls were outside playing. I was on the patio watching them. Well, Scott went inside to take a shower and the girls were on the patio with me – playing. Well, I must’ve dozed off and next thing I know, Faith Anne is asking me where Gracie is? I jumped up and looked in the back part of the yard and didn’t see her…so I ran out the front gate – which was open! I ran out front and didn’t see her….and since it had only been a split second and I didn’t really look in the back yard very well, I ran back to the back yard and looked in the two little houses we have out there. I then noticed that the back gate was opened too. So, I ran out that gate yelling for her and looking for her….Faith Anne is following me the whole time…also yelling. So, we ask an old man if he had seen her and he said no, so we ran back to our yard and I ran inside. Isaac was playing the Wii and I asked him if he had seen Gracie – he said no. I told him to go tell his Daddy to get out of the shower because I can’t find Gracie and I ran out the front door and up and down the street looking for her. Nothing. So I ran back to the back yard. No Gracie. I ran back out front and was crying (duh) and Scott finally came out and he starts yelling at me. I told him to shut up and just help me find her (we were both a little freaked out) and he ran one way down the street with Isaac and Faithy and I ran the other. I turned around and came back to our house with every intention of banging on all the neighbor’s doors to ask for their help. About that time, Gracie comes walking towards me! We have a path across the street from our house that leads to the school and the ball fields…we use it a lot. Well, at the end of the path, the first thing you encounter is a big parking lot. She had opened the gate to the back yard….walked all the way up the side of our house, through the front-yard, ACROSS THE STREET, up the path and into that parking lot! When I saw her, she was on her way back to me. I didn’t know whether to hug her or strangle her! Of course I picked her up and HUGGED HER…but then Scott had to take her from me because I was HYSTERICAL by this point and was shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. So….yep…Worst Mother of the Year Award goes to….ME!

Other than that (lol), Gracie is good! I can’t believe that she is almost 21 months old! She is very ornery and has her own unique personality from the other two. Scott and I maintain…and you might think we are joking, but I assure you we are not, that had she been our first, she would have been an only! Life with Gracie is never boring, that much is for sure!!! I love her to pieces, but she sure brings a whole new dimension to ourlives!

Me
I am doing pretty good. I am at a bit of a plateau with my weight loss – stuck at 60 pounds. I am hoping to get past that tomorrow at my weigh-in. I spent part of this past weekend fasting. It really is a good thing for me to do – both physically and mentally. Physically – obviously it cleans some of the toxins out of your system – but mentally it is good for my spiritual well-being. I think I got pretty comfortable with a 60 pound weight loss and started to feel a bit prideful of it. I needed to re-focus and remember that I didn’t do that by myself. God has been with me every step of the way. If I lose sight of that, I will probably put it all back on! So, I am feeling better about the way things are going there. I still have a long way to go, but I do feel so much better being 60 pounds lighter…and buying smaller clothes!

Work is….well, work. Changes are on the horizon….but I don’t want to go into all of that right now. It will be an interesting…and probably stressful…few months! But…what’s new?!?!?

Kelli and I leave for our vacation next week! We fly out Thursday morning and return on Monday night. We are going to Ft. Meyers, Sanibel Island! I cannot wait…and I cannot be more excited about it! We have both worked so hard to lose weight before this trip…..I know that we are going to enjoy feeling better about ourselves and just enjoying a care-free vacation! We plan on visiting a different beach every day that we are there and just enjoying the freedom to pick up and go whenever we want to! So, I will have to share some pictures of that! We are planning on taking a day-cruise to Key-West one day….that should be exciting! That is my birthday present…and my Christmas…probably this year and next! We actually got a great deal - $500 for the air-fare, the room for 4 nights and a rental car (per person). I thought that was a great deal!

Umm… I guess that is about it for me! I know this is a long post, so hopefully you made it this far! I have been REALLY bad at leaving comments lately…so I am sorry for that! But I do read every day and most importantly, I do pray for my Journal Goddesses!

Love you all!!!!

June...already?!?!?

2008-06-03T11:11:00.000-04:00

Yeah, okay…so I have totally started this entry like 10 times, but I always get distracted and never finish it! So, hopefully this time I get it finished! It has been a while since an “actual post” for me. Although, not as long as others (clearing throat…Dawn, Debbie, Jodi…the list could really go on and on!).

Things are going great in our household right now! Let me just give you the play-by-play for each person! I know everyone loves it when I post like that!

Scott is doing great! Work is going fine…he is keeping busy at home because he is a wonderful wife/husband! I know that I am spoiled by him….so I appreciate it! I try to remember to say thank you very often because I really do know that he spoils me. The ladies that I work with are always amazed by what I tell them that he does! He really does make a great wife! LOL I went to my first softball game of his the other night. They have a team with the guys he works with…and my Uncle Ronnie is the pitcher! Anywhoo, I was there for the first time and so was Aunt Joanne and her whole family – including Eli! So, although I didn’t get to visit with Chelle and Mandy much (I had to be the scorekeeper and watch Gracie at the same time), it was great to see them and know that Mandy was doing so much better. And that little Eli is so beautiful! You just forget how little they are!!! Anyways, they lost the game…actually they were winning until the last inning and then a new dumb rule kinda did them in and the other team scored like 20 runs in the last inning. I think I am not allowed to go to anymore games! LOL Anyways…so Scott is doing good! His company had a family picnic day at the Beach Waterpark this past Sunday. That was very cool because it was free to get in and they fed us lunch and the drinks were free all day! We left Gracie with MIL and Scott spent the day with Isaac while I spent the day with Faith Anne and we had a great time! It was perfect weather! Scott and Isaac went on all of the waterslides and had a blast! I spent the whole time in the kiddy-pool area with Faith Anne and she loved it.

Isaac is excited because his last day of school is on Thursday! He has done so great this year in school….I am anxious to see his final report card! They have been doing some fun things these last few weeks and he brought home his journal yesterday and it is neat to see what he has written about all year…and how much it has improved! They had a pool party last Friday and all the kids went to the Rec Center. I was a bit tiffed at the school because they asked us to send sunscreen, which I did, but obviously no one helped my first grader put it on! He was SCORCHED that evening…and in a lot of pain. I will make sure to talk to someone about that next year! He had fun anyways! He is doing really good in baseball! At their game last night, he hit the ball on the first or second pitch all three times he was up to bat and they were very good hits too! He got mad because when he was running from 2nd to 3rd, the boy who was up to bat hit the ball right to the 3rd baseman, so he got out two times that way. He started to cry, but kept himself in check. It was all I could do to keep from going and giving him a big hug, but that would’ve been worse! We tried to explain to him later that even the fastest runner can’t beat that if it is hit right to the 3rd baseman! After each game, the coaches pick the MVP and they get a lunchbox full of stuff…well, Isaac got it last night! He was so happy and I was so proud of him! I do have to tell you something funny….he was outside playing with the neighbor boys and he thought I had gone inside. So, he starts to shake his private area in a little dance and then ask them if they want to see his nipples? I caught his eye and he knew he was in trouble….as I was stifling back laughter! So, after the boys left, we sat down and talked about it and I told him he shouldn’t do that…blah, blah, blah. Later that night, because of course Scott wasn’t home when this happened, I told Scott that he needed to have an anatomy talk with Isaac. So, he did and he told him that it is his job to bring honor and grace to the family of God and also to our family and by doing that and saying those things, he isn’t doing that. I don’t know how much of that he understands…but we have to start trying to make him understand that now! He is only 6!!! I guess because he hangs out with mostly older kids though, we are gonna have to deal with all of this early! Oh boy!!!!

Faith Anne is all done with preschool now! She had a great first year and I am so glad that we sent her! I just wish we had sent Isaac too! She really loved it and I can see that it made such a difference with her socially as well as academically. Her teacher actually cried when she hugged Faith on the last day. I think she really liked her spunk! She is already looking forward to next year. She is also looking forward to her birthday party in July. We have been asking her what she wants to do and she has some grandeous ideas…so we’ll see what we end up doing. My MIL is mad because the day we might have her party doesn’t work for her….but oh well! She kinda irked me off about that last night. Whatever. So, we are still trying to figure that out. Otherwise, Faith Anne is doing great. I just love her personality and watching how she is becoming her own little person. You can definitely tell that she is a middle child because she is in constant need of affirmation. She wants to always tell me how much she loves me and in turn, for me to tell her how much I love her. I don’t mind it one bit…it is just funny how different she is from Isaac in that respect. We don’t have her signed up for any dance or anything right now…so I need to look for something for her to do. I have enjoyed the break from that though! We still always have something going on, it seems!

Gracie is well, I am not sure how to put it! She is really a doll-baby, but she is also a difficult child! I can tell that she is FOR SURE going to be my challenge! She just has her own mind about everything and if she wants to do something….get out of her way! I want to channel that strong-will in, without breaking it altogether. My mom went to Kentucky to watch Maycie and Aniya (Jodi’s girls) and she said that after being with Aniya for that time, she realized just how difficult of a child Gracie really is. She is just ornery – into absolutely everything – and very, very stubborn. She is talking more, which I love. I love to hear her say “Sissy” and “Bubba”, which are two of her favorite people and words! But if they take something she wants, she has no problems biting…hitting…screaming…whatever to get her own way! I love her to pieces, but she is a challenge!!!!!

So, that is the short update on my family! We are a crazy bunch, I tell you! Things with me are going pretty good. I asked my boss if it looked like I was going to lose my job and he said definitely not…so hopefully that holds true. There have been so many cuts around me, that I began to panic. But he assured me that that was not going to happen.

I have lost 57 pounds and weigh in again tomorrow. I am just in a groove with it right now. I hope it continues! For some reason, it seems that it is really clicking with me this time and I really think I can do this and I can keep it off! It will be a constant struggle – I am sure for the rest of my life – but I am going to keep at it!

Kelli and I are trying to figure out where we are going for our get-away in July. We were waiting to get a good last-minute deal. It will be here soon…so we need to figure it out. I am excited about getting away for a few days! I would love to go to California or Florida…we’ll see!

Well, I better get to work. I feel like I am leaving something out that I was gonna share… but I can’t think of what it is now! Love you all and praying for so many!

Update on Mandy

2008-05-29T08:43:00.002-04:00

Thank you Prayer Warriors! My mom just called me with an update on Mandy! They did not keep her at the hospital last night and they did not find any blood clots - HALLELUJAH!

We are still not really sure what they "diagnosed" as the problem, but I do think they gave her some migraine medicine. So...not sure if that was the root of the problem or what.

I am sure the fact that she just had a baby last week and she was probably over-doing it might have played into this as well!!!

So, thank you for your prayers...they are much appreciated! Hopefully she will update us soon or if I hear more, I will certainly pass it along!

The whole blood clot thing really had me freaked out since I just about lost my friend Kelli to blood clots a few years ago! But...God is good!!!!

I will try to put a real post up later today - if work allows! LOL

Love you all and appreciate you all so very much!

Please Pray...

2008-05-28T19:54:00.002-04:00

Ladies, It appears that we need to keep two of our dear Journal Goddesses in prayers right now! Debbie - which hopefully you have seen her emails and know what is going on there with her eye. And now Mandy. I just got off the phone with my Uncle Ronnie (Mandy's dad) and she is at the hospital in the ER. They have not admitted her yet, but she is having substantial chest pains and having difficulty breathing. They are looking for blood-clots. Like I said, at this point they have not admitted her, but I am not sure what the rest of the evening will look like for them. Mandy's parents have both Abbey and Eli.

I will update as I hear more, but I now that she will appreciate your prayers - as well as Debbie! Just pray for God's wisdom to be with the doctors and for His peace to surround everyone involved.

Love you Girls!!!!

Hump Day!

2008-05-21T09:08:00.000-04:00

Happy Hump Day Ladies! I am really looking forward to a weekend, even though I had an unintentional 4-day weekend this past weekend! But I love Holiday Weekends! Just something about knowing you have more time with the family…makes me smile!

So, let’s see…it has only been a week this time since my last “real” post. Of course, I told Mandy that I was the official reporter so I had to go to the hospital to see Eli right after he was born so that I could report it back to you all! I took my job very seriously and got there just a little more than an hour after he was born! LOL It was really my Mom’s idea! I think she was so excited because this was the first baby that was born now that they live in Ohio. She said when they were in Kentucky it was so hard to not be able to come to the hospital right away. So, as soon as she called me to tell me he was here, she asked if I was ready to go to the hospital! I have to tell you…she made me cry at the hospital. My mom is not a very emotional person…so, I get it from my Dad, not from her. Anyways, when Uncle Ronnie (Mandy’s dad and my mom’s brother) walked in the room, my mom said: “Well, congratulations again Brother!” and they both got all teary-eyed….which means that I have to get teary-eyed too! That was a sweet moment. But as you can see, he is adorable! Mandy looked great and was feeling great at the time (thanks to the epidural). I know that they will have some rough days ahead as they get used to having a 4 year old and a newborn, but they will do great!

Well, Scott went on his Emmaus Walk this past weekend and he had a FABULOUS time! For those that don’t know what that is, it is a 72 hour spiritual renewal weekend retreat. It is just a wonderful time of reflection and really, so very much more. I don’t want to go into a lot of detail because there are lots of wonderful surprises built into the weekend, but let me just tell you that he loved it! I am so glad that he was able to go and have that time just for him. He certainly deserves it!!!

So, I dropped him off at the church for that on Thursday night…so I was flying solo with the kiddies this weekend! We did great….except for the last part of the weekend when things took a turn for the worse, but I will get to that in a minute!
Before I took him to the church, we went to dinner at Outback! That was nice to have a quick date-night! We don’t get that very often! I took the day off on Friday and went to the church where he was at to serve him breakfast…he was surprised by that! Then I was able to go and do some shopping all by myself! My mom had the girls and Isaac was at school, so I went to a few stores…all by myself! Did I mention that I was all by myself? LOL It was heavenly to be able to look around at my own pace! And since I have lost so much weight, I really have to try things on because I am not sure what size I am! And let me tell you, I had to squelch a squeal in the fitting room when I tried on a pair of capris that were like 6 sizes smaller than what I was wearing at my heaviest! I haven’t seen that size in MANY, MANY years! So, that made my shopping trip even more enjoyable! LOL

Well, after I picked up the girls and Isaac, we went home and I was able to take a nap with Faith Anne and Gracie while Isaac played the Wii. I told him that he had a decision to make because he wanted to go to the Family Fun Nite (picture mass chaos) at his school, but I didn’t want to take all three of the kids there by myself. So, I told him to decide to do that or go to the mall and we could go to Build-A-Bear. Well, he chose to go to the mall! So, when we got up from our naps, we had a quick dinner and then headed to the mall. They were all three very good and we had fun at the BAB store! The girls both made doll babies and Isaac made a doggy. We did a bit more shopping, split a milkshake, played in the play-area and then headed home! It was a very nice evening with the kids!

Saturday…we got up and cleaned the house some and then walked to the church’s rummage sale. We just kinda had a leisurely day. I made all three kids take a nap – because they got up so early and more importantly because I wanted to take a nap! Isaac had a birthday party to go to at a pet store. That was fun for him….and he got 3 free goldfish as party favors! So, we now have 7 goldfish! I took them all out to dinner and then picked up a girl from our church who watched the kiddos for me while I went to a church service. Jodi came up for that and we had a great time!

Here is where the fun starts! At about 2:30 in the morning, Gracie starts screaming! I go into her room and the smell hits me as soon as I open the door – yep, we had the stomach bug! Well, SHE had the stomach bug! And Scott isn’t home. Great. So, I persuade Faith Anne to stay in bed and I get Gracie stripped down and in the tub. I left her in there while I went and stripped her bed and re-made it. I had to keep going back and forth between the bathroom and her bedroom because she kept crying. But it was easier to do the bed while she was out of the way. This happened 2 other times that night. Lots of fun! She got sick a few more times on Sunday…but thank goodness for my parents! They came and took Isaac and Faith Anne to church and then just kept them pretty much all day.

Here is a cute conversation I had with Isaac on Sunday morning:

Me: You are going to have to stay away from Gracie today.
Isaac: Why?
Me: Because she is sick and I don’t want you to catch her germs.
Isaac: I can’t!Me: Why?
Isaac: (tears in his eyes and voice shakey) Because I love her!
Me: Umm…can you love her from a distance today?

That kid is so sweet…..most of the time!

So, Gracie slept most of the morning/afternoon and kept stuff down all evening. Scott came home…we were happy…we went to bed….we woke up to Gracie getting sick two more times! So, I ended up calling in sick – or actually working from home – so I could stay with her. She is better now and so far, no one else has come down with the stomach bug in our house. Hopefully it stays that way!!!!

Faith Anne had her last day of preschool yesterday and tomorrow there is a picnic and then she is done until next year! I have to remember to get her teacher gift all wrapped up today! I decided to give them the Vera Bradley softback book covers with a $10 gift card to Barnes & Noble (or whatever bookstore that is at the Greene). I think a teacher would appreciate that…at least, I hope they do!

Baseball is in full swing for us. Isaac has games on Mondays and Wednesdays and Scott has softball on Friday nights. The girls have been pretty good so far, so hopefully that continues!

Well, we have something going on every day this weekend…including going down to see Jodi, Jimmie and the girls on Memorial Day! It sounds like the weather is going to be great this weekend….and it is about stinking time! I told Scott that I was glad it was going to be hot on Monday because I bought Faith Anne a very cute red, white and blue tank top! LOL It is all about the fashion with her, you know!

Love you all and Happy Memorial Day!!!!

Baby Boy is Here!!!!

2008-05-19T20:13:00.003-04:00

Today is a GREAT DAY! Mandy and Steve welcomed their newest addition to the world! Here is the information:

Eli Jacob Lee was born at approximately 2:50 PM. He weighed in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces and measured 21.75 inches long! He is adorable as you can see for yourself!

Mom and I visited them about 90 minutes after he was born and Mandy was feeding him his first bottle...he ate it right up and gave her a good burp!

Big Sister Abbey is doing great and is having fun looking at her new brother! She was a little upset that she didn't get to feed him, but we assured her there would be plenty of time for that! She also didn't want Mommy, Daddy and Eli to stay in the hospital tonight...but Grammy was going to take her home, so I am sure she will get over that very quickly!

Mandy did great and she looks great! I will let her share all the details once she gets settled in, but Praise the Lord! We have another bundle of joy in our family! Dr. H has now delivered 8 babies into this family!!!!

Thanks for your prayers! I know that Mandy and Steve treasure them! Love you all!!!!

Hi Y'All!!!

2008-05-14T09:53:00.000-04:00

Holy Cow! It is the middle of May already! Is it just me or does this year seem like it is flying by? I guess that is a sign of “aging”, huh? Seems to me that time just goes by faster and faster! Boy, that sounds old. LOL

So much has happened since my last post….I just feel like we are running a marathon lately! I told my friend Kelli that having this third kid has really pushed me over the edge for some reason! There is just never any “down” time it seems. Oh well! Scott and I always say that we wouldn’t have it any other way! The kids are just the light of our lives and we don’t know what we would do without them and the craziness that they bring!

First, let me tell you that our Vera Bradley Shopping Day was a ton of fun! Joy, Jodi, my Mom and I all rode over to Ft. Wayne together and we had a blast! We had lots of good conversations, laughter and of course, shopping! Laura (Hair-dye) and her mom followed us over, so we had lunch with them too. It was just a super enjoyable day! I am sure that was in part to being in “my happy place”! The prices weren’t as good as they were last year, but we still got some great deals and I got lots of presents bought…and too much for myself, but I digress! LOL It was a great, great day.

Now, let me just do my normal…person, play-by-play! Here goes:

Scott: He finished up the patio and got all the tree trimmings off to the dump and the yard looks so very nice…if it would just stop raining! I LOVE it and I am so proud of him for doing it…with LOTS of help from my Dad, but he still did it! He really takes pride in his yard! We have really enjoyed being on the back patio and the kids playing on their swing set. We had Bob and Joy and their family over for dinner one night and it was just so nice! We also had a party at our house this past weekend that I didn’t tell him about until a bit last minute! He was a trooper and got up early on Saturday (which is really hard for him to do) and started working on the yard and got done just in the knick of time! So, he is doing good…allergies are bad for him this time of the year. I am very, very excited because he is going on an Emmaus Walk this weekend! For those that aren’t familiar with that, it is a weekend-long Spiritual Retreat that is just amazing. I hope he loves it! I take him to the church tomorrow night and he doesn’t come home until Sunday night! So, it will be a long weekend without him, but very much worth it! So, keep him in your prayers this weekend! And me, I guess! LOL

Isaac: He is doing so well in school – I just can’t tell you how proud of him we are! His report card is all E’s and S’s (Excellent and Satisfactory). He is “above grade level” or “at grade level” average in everything and really excels in math and reading. I can’t believe that he is almost done with the first grade! Man, time flies…(there I go again, sounding old!). He had his first coach-pitch baseball game on Monday night. He did good! He had to use the tee for his first at-bat…after 7 pitches if they don’t hit it, they pull out the tee. But for his second at-bat, he hit it! I was very proud of him! He is already talking about football and anxious to start that….I am not since that is every day! So, luckily we have a bit until that starts! His school program was really cute and he did a great job and so was his church program. He has watched the video of that several times already! He sure loves to see himself on TV! I am still amazed by him every day because he is so much like my dad in some ways – very, very tender-hearted. He is so patient and loving with his sisters, even when they are hitting him! He has his moments, but for the most part, he is so good with them.

Faith Anne: She is also just growing up so fast! She had her dance recital a few weeks ago and it was very good…lots of laughs! She was probably the best (maybe I am a bit biased) at following the instructor – except for the one time when she realized that people were watching her and she had to put on a little show for them. We have watched that a few times too and she loves to see it. She loves to look at herself in the mirror, in the TV…really wherever! She sometimes will watch herself cry in the mirror! So funny. She had a program at her school last night and got a “diploma”. It was very cute and she did a great job singing really loud! Preschool has been so very good for her! I am amazed at how much she has matured this year socially and academically. I guess we really notice the difference because we didn’t send Isaac to preschool. Faith Anne is definitely a leader in her class, as her teacher has told us. They have a picnic next week on Thursday and then they are done for the summer! I know she will miss that!

Gracie: She is still a hornet, as my Grandma calls her! She has a very unique personality! I honestly think they switched her at the hospital and she isn’t our kid – except for she looks too much like the others! She is very strong-willed and free-spirited! Can we say…CHALLENGE?!?!? She is starting to say more words, finally! For a while there, we really only heard her say Papaw! But now she says a lot more. We have to really watch her all the time because she gets into EVERYTHING. The other day she got into the bathroom and had my pads all over the floor…and some stuck onto the wall. She is very ornery, but adorable! She will literally be looking at you when you tell her to stop something (like pulling on the curtains or getting a knife out of the drawer or hitting her sister or biting Isaac…basically anything bad) and she will look you right in the eye and keep doing it! I have never witnessed anything like it! The other two were NOT like that at all….so it is very interesting, to say the least! But I love her to death!!!

Me: I am doing alright! I have lost over 50 pounds now! I weigh in today, but I am thinking I will be up to about 54 or 55 pounds after my weigh-in. So, that is going good. It is so exciting to wear smaller clothes and to see the progress! I have a pretty empty closet right now because nearly all of my summer clothes from last year are way too big this year….but that is a good problem to have! I gave about 6 bags of stuff to Scott’s sister! I am getting rid of the stuff because I am planning on NEVER going back to that! In fact, I think I am going to try to become a PT Weight Watcher’s Leader once I hit my goal. That would be a great way to stay accountable to keep the weight off…and it would be very rewarding, I think. So…I still have a LONG way to go to that, but I am shooting for that! Aside from that, everything else is going alright. I am a little concerned about my job right now because of the economy. There have been some job eliminations around me….not in my “department”, but in some very close to me. The only people who are really “safe” are the branch employees. So, I could always go back to the branches, but I would lose my flexible hours. We’ll see….I could be worried for nothing, but it is a bit scary when you see others that you work with lose their jobs. If I did lose my job, I would get about 20 weeks of severance pay, so that would help while I tried to find something else. But….the job market isn’t the greatest right now! So….that is weighing on my mind some. At this point, I have no reason to think I would lose my job, other than speculation. So, you all know me…just something for me to worry about!

Umm…everything else is going fine with me. I am really enjoying reading my Bible every day and spending more time in prayer. It really is amazing how much better my days seem to go when I stop and spend time with God. I really think that is why I am also doing so well with losing weight this time too. I have really worked on addressing ALL aspects of my weight issues and not just what goes in my mouth. I really do recommend that study that we did, “Lose it for Life”. It is a great study!

Mother’s Day was really great – or I should say the weekend was really great! Saturday we had our “impromptu party” at our house. It ended up being a Birthday Party for Mayce (Jodi’s oldest foster-daughter)/Mother’s Day get together! It was a beautiful day and the kids all had so much fun and it was great to visit with “my girls”…the cousins! Poor Mandy just looks so miserable and ready for Baby Boy to make his entrance! We tried to play corn-hole and get him moving, but he is being stubborn! Every day I keep thinking that it might be the day that we get the call! Anyways, we had a great time! It was so neat to see Mayce and how she reacted to everything…I think it was really special for her. Then on Sunday, we had Scott’s mom and sisters over after church and that was nice. Scott grilled out (while under the umbrella) and it was a good dinner! Oh, I forgot to mention that I was woken up by Scott, Isaac and Faith Anne putting a plate in my face and yelling Happy Mother’s Day! They made me an egg sandwich for my “breakfast in bed”. Scott also got me a gift card to Sephora – one of my favorite stores at The Greene. I had a very nice Mother’s Day, thanks to my great Hubby!

I guess that is about it for now! Sorry this is so long. I guess when I only post once a week or every other week I have a lot to say! Love you all and hope you are enjoying the month of May!!! Hopefully we will be able to share news of Baby Boy’s arrival soon!

Just a pop in to say.....

2008-05-06T08:00:00.002-04:00

Happy 30th Birthday Mandy!!!! Today she is the BIG 3-0!

Love ya!!!!

Falling Apart

2008-04-30T10:53:00.000-04:00

Well, it has only been a little over a week this time! But, wow…what a week it has been! I can definitely tell that I am getting older and falling apart! Dang being “in my thirties”!

Let’s see, where to start? Well, last Tuesday was our 8th Anniversary! We really didn’t have anything planned – I was going to just cook Scott’s favorite (well, one of his favorite dinners) and have an evening at home with the kids. Well, when my dad asked Scott what we were doing and Scott told him, he insisted that he and my Mom would watch the kids so we could at least go out to dinner. We hadn’t asked them because they already do so much for us.

So, we ended up going to the Greene and to BD’s Mongolian BBQ for dinner – we love that place, but don’t take the kiddos there. So, we ate there and then just walked around and shopped a bit after and then went home. It was a nice evening! I forgot to mention that in the morning, I noticed that my back was hurting and trying to go out – it typically goes out about once a year. So, by Wednesday morning…I could barely move. Yep, my back went out!

So, that was how the week went last week. I worked even though my back was hurting horribly. There was lots of activity at my house because Scott and my Dad were working on the patio – I will tell about that in a minute – but I could do nothing to help. It was pretty bad. Finally on Friday, it still was bad so I went to the doctor. Yep, same as always, muscle spasms. My muscles get really, really tight for some reason and I can’t move. The doctor stretched me out some, but gave me a muscle relaxer, pain meds and directions for exercises and said it would just take time.

Well, Saturday morning comes and I have no choice but to get up and get moving, even though I can barely move! We had lots going on…trees being trimmed, youth that we “won” in the auction coming over to do yard work, Dad working on the patio, Lowe’s delivering tiles for patio, dance class for Faith Anne, baseball practice for Isaac, circus tickets for all of us and tickets to see Spam-a-Lot with Kelli in the evening. Needless to say, it was a JAM-PACKED day and I had no time to feel sorry for myself! It all went okay – the musical (Spam-a-Lot) was FANTASTIC! It was a spoof of the Monty Python movies (thanks to Sister for making me watch those) and it was fabulous – one of the best plays I have ever seen!

Sunday rolls around and I am still in lots of pain. I had to teach preschool and luckily my helpers were wonderful and we didn’t have many kids – that went off without a hitch. My mother-in-law took all three kids home with her for a bit while Scott had a meeting, so I went home and straightened up the house and then laid on the heating pad until I had to go get the kids. My back still was bad all day Sunday.

Monday – I woke up and it was a miracle (Thank You GOD), my back was better! Not 100%, but I could get out of bed! I actually went to the gym and took it easy, but was able to do some workouts! Then…the bad part! My stomach does not handle pain meds well, come to find out. And the kind that this doctor gave me, I had never had before and it did some horrible, horrible things to my tummy. I ended up leaving work early on Monday and missing all together on Tuesday with tummy issues.

So, today…I am on the road to recovery! I am actually starting to feel somewhat normal again!!! Geesh, I told you that I was falling apart!

Exciting weekend coming up for us! Let me tell you what all we have going on and you tell me if you would just call in dead:

Thursday night: Isaac’s musical at school – he is so stinking excited about it
Friday: All day shopping trip to the Vera Bradley outlet sale with GIRLS!
Saturday Morning/early afternoon: Church play practice for Isaac, Faith Anne’s Dance Review and Isaac’s Baseball practice – at the same time…should be interesting
Saturday afternoon: Birthday party in Wilmington
Saturday evening: Praise Team practice (I think) for either me or Scott
Sunday: church
Sunday afternoon: Church play

PHEW! It is going to be a busy weekend with lots of excitement! Jodi is coming up tomorrow – so that is really exciting! She gets to leave the girlies with Jimmie so she can enjoy Isaac’s play and the shopping day! Then she has to scoot back to KY because she is singing (and has a solo) in their community choir cantata on Sunday! I wish we could go, but it is at the same time as Isaac’s play at church!

So, all good stuff, but just a lot of good stuff!

Everyone else in our household is doing good! Isaac is doing alright with baseball. He is a little scared of the ball still, but this is his first year with coach-pitch…I am sure it will get better. Faith Anne is her normal diva self! Gracie is into everything still and as rotten as ever!

Now, our patio. We already have a wooden porch area off the back of our house. We also have a lot of yard! Well, on one side of the porch, it was always muddy and grass didn’t grow very well. So, Scott and my Dad put in a new addition to our porch with pavers! It looks fabulous! I am so excited to get out there and get stuff moved around and all pretty! They just finished it on Sunday and then I have been so sick that we haven’t gotten a chance to do much else to it yet. Plus, Mom and Dad are giving us a really nice patio table and chairs to put out there, so once we get that, we can get everything situated the way we want it. But it looks very, very nice. They did a great job! I am so proud of Scott! My Dad helped immensely, but he had Scott do most of the grunt work and he did all the measuring, figuring and stuff like that. Honestly, my dad is more of a dad to Scott than his is…but we won’t even get started on that! It looks great! You all will have to come over and see it soon! I am ready to have a party or something out there!

Well, I better get to work! I haven’t been here much this week and I am taking off Friday…so I better get something done today!

Love ya…and lots of prayers for Sara’s family! I have a new prayer place – I have been tanning in the morning before my work-out and I spend that time in prayer! It is really a good place to do some talking to God!

Love ya!

Pictures and an Update!

2008-04-21T09:27:00.003-04:00

So, wow! It has been nearly a month since I posted. What is up with that? It doesn’t seem like it has been that long, but I guess that is because I check everyone else’s journals every day. I just don’t take the time to update! I know you all are just dying to hear about my exciting life! LOL

Let me explain the pictures! The first picture is of me and my Girls! I mean, me and the Girl Cousins! We took this yesterday at the baby shower that we had at my house for Mandy and What’s-His-Name (that is the baby’s name! LOL). It was a fun shower and I wanted a picture of all of us because I don’t think we have one! Then we have Faith Anne after her hair-cut. Next is Isaac at a Bengals' basketball game (for charity...I know they play football!). And then Gracie on our way to vacation.

First, let me recap our vacation! For Spring Break we went to Gatlinburg for 4 days and 3 nights. We stayed at my parent’s time share and had a good time! Let me just say that it certainly was not a relaxing vacation – more like just chasing the kids around a new place that isn’t child-proofed. But we had fun…and more importantly, the kids had fun! Gracie was an escape artist. Most of you have probably heard the story by now, but at any rate, she escaped from our room when I thought Scott was watching her and he thought I was watching her. She went up two flights and stairs and was trying to get into someone else’s room. Yeah, that wasn’t very much fun. She also made it challenging to go see shows…so we went to one show with her and then Scott took the other two to another show without me and her. She and I went shopping in Gatlinburg instead. Bless her heart, she is just such a hand-full! We keep saying that if she had been our first, she would’ve been an only child! And I am really not joking about that. So, anyways, vacation was fun. On our way home from Gatlinburg, we stopped at Scott’s grandparent’s house to visit with them….we actually had every intention of spending the night there, but talk about a non-child-proofed house….we were pretty much miserable because we spent the entire time chasing the kids and trying to keep them out of stuff. So, we left at night when it was time to go to bed. The kids slept the whole way home and woke up in their own beds with their own toys – we were all much happier people! So, that was Spring Break!

Scott: He is doing fine. He lost the weight-loss challenge at work by 3 pounds. But he still did great! Since they had their final weigh-in, he has slacked off a little bit, but he is still watching what he eats and going to the gym occasionally. He was in a wedding last weekend and you could really tell when he was all gussied up that he has lost weight. It was a fun wedding to be a part of because it was his friend that he has had the longest – their parents were friends so they have been friends their whole lives. All the guys in the wedding were high-school buddies, so they kinda revert back to their high school days when they all get together. They goofed off a lot, but had a good time. The wedding was fine and the reception was a blast! They had a live band there…I think they were called Crushed Velvet and they played mostly 80’s stuff. We had so much fun! So, that was fun for us. He has been working (with my Dad’s help, thank goodness) on our patio. We decided (we, meaning he) to put down pavers and widen our patio a bit. The real goal is to get better use out of the space in our backyard. So, they have been breaking up bricks and digging up the space. I think they are going to start laying them this week – so that is very exciting! He loves to work out in the yard…he just doesn’t get a lot of time to. Next weekend, we won two girls in our church from the auction to raise money for their mission trip and they are gonna come do our mulch! Hopefully Scott supervises them, but that will be nice! I was going to say free labor, but I guess it wasn’t really free! We did go to a Third Day concert a few weeks ago. That was a lot of fun too! It was three other banks (Revive, December Radio & Sanctus Real) and Third Day. It was an awesome concert! David Crowder Band is coming on Halloween, so we are going to try to get tickets to that too. Good times. Our anniversary is tomorrow – 8 years! I am not sure what we are doing to celebrate it. I need to figure out when I am going to go buy him a present! I always wait until the last minute. So, gotta figure that out. He is going on an Emmaus Walk in May and I am really excited about that!

Isaac: He is doing great! His most recent report card was really, really good. He got +’s for most everything – which means performing above grade level. He also got mostly E’s and a few S’s (Excellent and Satisfactory). We are just so proud of him! He said that his friends call him Math King because he is so good at math. He still really likes school – wonder how long that lasts? He is in the 1st Grade Musical here in a few weeks and he was crushed that he didn’t get a “lead role”. He is a member of the choir. Thanks to good advice from Angela, I helped him through that. He really wanted to be a shark, but there are only so many shark parts, apparently. LOL He has started baseball practices and this is his first year of coach-pitch. He certainly isn’t the best on the team…but he isn’t the worst either. He needs some practice because he is still pretty scared of the ball. They use real baseballs this year, so they are harder…which scares him apparently. But he will catch on. They have only had 4 practices….I love, love, love his coach and it is fun this year because we know so many of the parents from last year. So, that keeps him and us busy! His homework load has gotten greater, so we have to spend more time on that each evening. It is hard for me to get the uninterrupted time from the girls, but we do our best! It seems that when we sit to do his work, if they are there, they think they need to be right where we are! He is very patient with his sisters…he has his moments, but for the most part, he always gives in to them and is so sweet and loving with them – even though they aren’t with him! He is just a big cuddle-bug!

Faith Anne: Well, we got her hair cut again! We cut another 5 or 6 inches off of it. It looks very cute and is much easier to manage. She just has such a tender head….and a whole head of thick, thick hair. She seems to like it this length. She is doing good – she is just getting over an ear infection. She was running a really high fever on Monday and Tuesday of last week…but had no other symptoms (said that nothing was hurting her). So, on Wednesday, she was at my Aunt’s house and I called to check on her and my Aunt told me she was just laying around…she took her temp in her ear and it was 105!!! And Faith Anne said her ear hurt! So, off to the doctor we went and sure enough, she had an ear infection! So, she is feeling better now, but that was scary! She has her first dance “recital” coming up. She is very excited about that….she loves to dance. She is such a girly-girl because she loves to play dress-up and look at herself in the mirror. She is also in this stage of telling me how much she loves me all the time (and I do mean all the time) and tells me that she loves me the most because I am her Princess Mommy. She cracks me up. Now that the weather is getting nicer, she wants to be outside all the time – well, they all do….but especially her. She loves to swing or just play in the dirt. She also makes up songs all the time…she is constantly singing. Such a cute age right now!

Gracie: Well, as I have already told you – she is a hand-full! She is into EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING. It doesn’t take her very long at all to have my house in disaster mode. Right now, she is a giggle-box. She just giggles all the time. We are going through the stage where she doesn’t want anyone to leave, ever. She cries when someone leaves. We are really bad parents, because we still haven’t broken her of a bottle at bedtime. Now, I know with my other two we broke that much, much, much earlier than now. So, we really need to work on that…but it is just so easy! We really have to work on that soon. She is very attached to her pacifier. That was another thing…on vacation we thought (notice the word thought) that we lost her only pacifier. So, we went to three different stores in search of a replacement and apparently they only carry her kind at Meijers, which they don’t have in Tennessee (at least not where we were). Everytime I would bring her a new one to try, she would either spit it out, throw it at me or just flat out refuse to put it in her mouth. What a stinker pot! Hopefully she is just as easy to break of that as the other two were….but I am thinking that is too much wishful thinking! She is adorable, but she really tries my patience sometimes! Like Scott said, I think God gave me her to help me overcome my OCD issues!!!! It ain’t working!

Me: Things are going really good right now. You all know how we go through seasons of life – well, I am in a good season right now – pretty good, anyways. I have now lost a total of 47 pounds and I am feeling really good about that. I still have a LONG way to go, but 47 pounds is a great start! We finished our “Lose It for Life” study at church, but I am still going back through the book and the workbook. It is a really, really good study. I highly recommend it to anyone. Umm….work is work. Stinky Pete has days where I think he is getting better…then he does something to remind me of what a big doof he really is. But I am tolerating it much better now…for the moment anyways. I think he will probably get promoted (because we do such a good job of making him look good) next year. So…I just need to stick it out one more year! I had my endometrial ablation done about a month ago and have had no real problems. The procedure itself was painless and I slept great after the anesthesia. We’ll see how the next few months go! I had bronchitis last week and I am still very congested. But wah, wah, wah. There is so much stuff going around, I can’t really complain!

So, that is about it for me, I guess. I am sure there have been lots of other things that have happened, but this is long enough already! I will try to not make it so long before I post again…but I won’t make any promises!

Spring Is Here!!!

2008-03-24T09:28:00.000-04:00

Happy Spring…as I sit here with my jacket on and two heaters on in my office! I am so ready for some warm and sunny weather! And for it to not be so cold in my office!

Well, I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! We sure did….it was a whirlwind, but a great, great weekend! For the first time ever, my parents had their entire family (plus two “extra” angels) at their house yesterday! Yep, that’s right…my sister Janice and her husband Eddie were BOTH there! Eddie has never come to any of our big family get-togethers….and they have been married for 14 years! There was just a tad bit of chaos as all 16 of us were under one roof, but it was wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! The kids all had so much fun together. Jan’s kids are older, so they are like great little babysitters! Jodi’s two angels were so much fun to have around and it was amazing to see how well both she and Jimmie are doing with them – maybe more amazing to see how great Jimmie was with them since none of us had any idea he would do so great – Jodi was a given! So, Easter was wonderful, but very busy! Church, dinner at Mom and Dad’s house, dessert and family fun at Grandma’s house and then more dinner and dessert and fun at MIL’s house. We finally got home last night around 8:00 and got the kids in bed, the house back in order and then crashed! Actually, Scott and I played the Wii – that was fun! I whooped him! He hadn’t really played it yet, so I had an un-fair advantage, but it was fun!

So, does anyone else have more candy than Halloween at your house? Yeah, we do. It is crazy! Not good for the diet! Speaking of that, I did hit the 40 pound loss mark last week. I hope you can gain back 40 pounds in one day – cuz I sure tried yesterday! Not really, but I did enjoy all the wonderful food that holidays bring! I just am going to have to work extra hard at the gym and eating good before my weigh-in on Wednesday! I don’t want to have a gain! I have been doing WW for 20 weeks (going to meetings…not counting the 2 weeks at Christmas that I didn’t go) and I have only had 2 gains…one was right after my girl’s weekend and I knew that would be bad and the other was less than one pound, so that shouldn’t really count. So….hopefully this week isn’t another one! But if it is, I will chalk it up to the holiday and move on! Only bad thing is, we are going on vacation next week….so I don’t want to have another bad week then!

Yeah, next week is Isaac’s Spring Break, so we are going on vacation! My parents decided not to go this year, but they are allowing us to use their time-share in Gatlinburg! We are leaving either Sunday or Monday. We don’t check into the resort until Monday, but might break up the trip for the kids. Then we will leave Gatlinburg on Thursday and head to Somerset, Kentucky to visit with Scott’s grandparents. We haven’t quite decided if we are going to spend the night with them or not. I am not sure if they handle all 5 of us! Their health isn’t the greatest, so we might be too much for them! We’ll see. But we are looking forward to vacation! We haven’t decided what all we are going to do while in Gatlinburg, but the resort has an indoor water park, so we looking forward to that! I think Isaac wants to go to the Dixie Stampede – but I am not sure how Gracie will do with that. So, we’ll see! Hopefully everyone stays healthy and it isn’t a cursed vacation like it was last year when we went down there! Unfortunately, Isaac’s spring break and Jan’s kids weren’t the same week…so that led to us all not going together like we have the last couple of years.

So, the kids are all doing great…let me give you my recap:

Isaac is still doing great in school! He told me the other day that the kids in his class call him the “Math King” because he is so good at math. That was always my strongest subject, so maybe it will be for him too. The first graders are doing a musical on May 1 – this was the night that I was supposed to have a Girl’s Overnighter for our trip to the Vera Bradley Sale! So, I had to back-out on all the girls because I couldn’t bear to miss his first musical! He is very excited about it. He did get in very big trouble last week. He and I were playing the Wii and Gracie kept getting in front of him, so he pushed her out of the way with his foot (kicked her!). I made him turn it off and go to his room….he marched off to his room and I heard him yell…”I hate my mommy! I hate my life!” I was LIVID! I marched into his room and smacked his face and told him that I better NEVER hear him say those words again…..the word hate is like a cuss word. We had a long talk about it once we both calmed down. I thought I would have a few more years before he said he hated me…..boy, that sure hurt my feelers! It is amazing to me how much he is growing up and how fast! It is scary!!!!

Faith Anne is doing great…she is really a very smart little girl. She knows all of her letters and can tell you what letter words start with. I am just amazed at how much preschool has done for her socially and academically. Now, she is still a DIVA through and through, but she has her sweet, sweet moments. We were at the Chronicles of the Cross service at church and we were taking communion together and she just kept giving me kisses on my cheek and telling me she loves me. Those moments, I could just bottle up and they are priceless – other moments, not-so-much! She really enjoyed getting all dressed up for Easter – again, a true DIVA!

Gracie is good….I will tell you this, though. Had she been our first, she would’ve been an only child, I do believe. That girl is adorable, but she is ornery! She gets into ABSOLUTELY everything and if you scold her and tell her no, she just stares at you and does it anyways! Last night, we were at MIL’s house and her boyfriend got out a laser light….well Gracie and Brayden just had a ball with that! They were like cats chasing that little red light and then Gracie just got tickled by it and started laughing really hard – like a deep belly laugh. It was so adorable! We all were dying laughing at her, which just made her laugh all the more! It was very fun! She is something else!!!! She climbs onto everything and babbles incessantly…but you can’t understand most of what she says. She does CLEARLY say Papaw…boy she loves her Papaw.

Scott is doing great….he has lost almost 30 pounds, but I don’t think it is going to be enough to win his Biggest Loser challenge at work. He could starve himself this week and win the $200, but I don’t see that happening. He had a good weekend with his Dad a few weeks ago when they went to the boy’s basketball thing in Columbus. I guess his Dad admitted that what he did to his mom was wrong…not sure that he really apologized, but he at least admitted he was wrong….baby steps. We are just both looking forward to spending time together next week! Hopefully the kids don’t argue all week!

So, we are all doing good! The “Lose it for Life” study is about to come to an end. We only have one more week after this one left in the book. It has been a really, really good study and I am going to miss meeting with those ladies each week. I highly recommend it to anyone who has/does struggle with their weight. It is really so much more than just about losing weight – it is more about FINDING a true relationship with Christ in the process – very good. Oh, Scott is going on an Emmaus walk in May….and I am going on one in July! I am excited about those two events! I have been wanting Scott to go for a long time, and since he is going…Jean (great lady at our church) wanted me to go too. I went on the teen version of that almost 18 years ago, but I think the adult one will be just as wonderful. So, exciting stuff there!

Please keep me in your prayers on this Friday. I am having an out-patient procedure done – an endometrial ablation. Hopefully it will help me with all the female problems I have been having lately. They do put you to sleep for it, so I am looking forward to some good rest on Friday! Hopefully it goes smoothly and the recovery is quick since we are going on vacation the following week!

Have I mentioned we are going on vacation next week? LOL I am a little bit excited! I just have to make it through this 4-day work week!!!

Well, I better get to work – especially since I only have 4 days this week!

Love you all and hope you all had a wonderful Easter! I lurk every day even though I don’t always comment!!! Take care!!!

Prayers still needed!!!!

2008-03-15T09:51:00.003-04:00

Hello Ladies! First of all, thank you so much for your prayers! I know that Jodi is feeling them - but keep them coming!!!

My mom and I had a nice trip down...it was nice to talk because even though I see them a few times each week, we don't get a chance to really talk! So, that was really nice and really needed!

We got to Jodi's house and met the two beautiful babies!!!!

Macy will be three in May and has a beautiful....and energetic....personality! She is really beautiful and she and Faith Anne hit it off from the start!

Aniya just turned one in February and she is also beautiful....and chunky! But beautiful and sweet! She immediately came over to me and I picked her up and started hugging her!

We had a great day of getting to know the girls and shopping for stuff for them! They literally came with the clothes on their backs! So, we had fun getting them some stuff! There was a slight mishap where Macy ran away from us in Wal-Mart - she thought it was fun - and my Mom went chasing after her with Jodi in tow. It was humorous now that we look back on it....we aren't used to a runner because none of my kids have ever done that!

But Jodi and Jimmie are doing fine...just getting over the initial "shock" of going from no kids to two kids! These beautiful girls just need someone to love them and Jodi and Jimmie will do great with that!

They should find out on Tuesday night more information....an idea of how long they might have them, etc. Jodi got them signed up for Day-Care yesterday and the people there all seemed very nice and excited to have these two angels join them.

We might get to see them at Easter if J&J are allowed to bring them up here! That would be so much fun!

Please continue to cover them in your prayers....for Jodi and Jimmie as they adjust to this big change....and for Macy and Aniya as they miss their Mama - that they would feel and see Jesus' love through J&J.

Love you all....and appreciate your prayers more than you can ever know! I am so proud of my sister and Jimmie for choosing to serve God in this way.

Please Pray!!!!

2008-03-13T20:51:00.002-04:00

So...I will let Jodi post all the specifics when she is finally able to update us...but the gist is...

today Jodi and Jimmie received their first (and second) call for assignments for Foster Care. The first one...they prayed about and didn't think it was in God's plan...and just so they knew for sure...God closed that door for them. The second one...they prayed about and felt it was God's leading....so the door remained open until they picked up two beautiful girls this evening!

SO....they have a almost 3 year old girl (one month until she turns 3) and a 15 month old girl in their care! We aren't sure how long this placement could last, but the important thing is that they have their first opportunity to do God's work in this calling He has placed in their hearts! Please cover them in prayer....for both Jodi and Jimmie as they adjust to this HUGE change....but also for those beautiful babies. Pray that God surrounds them with the peace and love that only HE can provide.

My mom and I are heading down there first thing in the morning with my two girls...play-mates! We are excited and want to be able to help Jodi with whatever she might need with this first assignment....but prayer is so important!

Thank you in advance and I am sure that Jodi will update us on this EXCITING news when she has a free moment!!!!

Love you all!!! No time to update on me...I gotta get stuff together for these precious babies!

Do you remember me?

2008-02-26T09:21:00.003-05:00

Hi! Gosh, time just keeps flying by, it seems! These are pictures from our vacation last year...man I wish we were back there again!!!! I have been really good at “lurking” lately! I am keeping up with all of you – just not commenting very often and not posting. I am not sure what is to blame for this funk I have been in when it comes to journaling – but I thought I would break out of it today! Aren’t you glad? LOL I am sure you have been on the edge of your seats waiting for me to up date you on our very exciting life!

Let’s see…It seems like lots has happened, but then again, it seems like so much is still the same! I have been doing pretty good on my weight loss, although I feel another plateau coming on. I sat at 20 pounds down for a while…but am now up to (or down) 34 pounds lost! I still have 81 more to go to be at my “goal weight”. It feels good, but I just have such a long way to go. However, I am already down sizes (plural) and that is a great thing! I have been down this path before….but I really hope and feel that this will be the last time. This study we are doing at church – “Lose it for Life” is really good and really focuses on replacing your desire for food and immediate gratification with God and deepening your relationship with Him. It addresses the ROOT of the problem and not just my weight issue. My epiphany that I had a few weeks ago is this: I will always struggle with food because I am addicted to food – but just because I will always struggle with food does not necessarily mean that I will always struggle with my weight. The two do not have to go hand-in-hand. So, that part of my life is under control – God’s control – and is going pretty good. There are rough days, but I am on the right path in this journey! I have been going to the gym at least 5 days a week and that just makes me feel so much better about myself. That is what I have really realized in this journey – I have so much emotional baggage associated with my weight and how I have let that define me for so long. It is hard for me to grasp that God loves me and God chose me. That is a hard truth to swallow when you don’t love yourself and you spend most of your day thinking horrible thoughts about yourself. See….I told you that this study was good and really works on all of you – not just your food issues. So, that is what is going on there….sorry to “dump” so much stuff – but it’s been a while! LOL

So, here is my infamous (according to Josy) recap of my family:

Scott is doing really good. He has been trying to eat more healthy and going to the gym pretty faithfully since the first of the year. I have to keep reminding him that it isn’t a diet – but a more healthy lifestyle that we are working on. At any rate, he has lost 18 pounds! They are doing a biggest loser at his job and he is in second place – but only because they are going by # of pounds instead of % lost….I guess that was too hard for them to figure out! LOL But anyways, he is doing good. He has also been playing basketball on Friday nights at the Wilmington Church of Christ. That has been fun for him and good exercise. He did get hurt a few weeks ago when he got elbowed in the ribs. I think he just bruised his ribs really good, but he sure did whine about it forever. Anyways, he is still doing great at his job even though that causes us to be like single parents! He is home with the kids in the morning by himself and I am home with them in the evenings by myself because I work early and he works late. But it is working for now, and we know that there will come a day when we won’t have to sacrifice so much for the kids – sometime far, far, far off in the future! LOL

Isaac is doing great and is just growing up so stinking fast! He is, by far, our sweetest kid. He just has such a tender-heart. Now, don’t get me wrong…he isn’t perfect and he has his moments, but more often than not, he is constantly thinking of others. He must get that from me…LOL….just kidding. He gets it from my Dad, for sure. Anyways, he is doing great at school and with swimming. Between his activities and his homework, he keeps me busy! But he also does a good job with helping out at home with chores and with his sisters. He tolerates quite a bit from them. We have him all signed up for coach pitch baseball that starts in April and for football that starts in late July. I think swimming ends right about the time that baseball starts. I wanted to get him into soccer again this year, but he is too old for the Pee-Wee league and I haven’t really looked into any other programs. So, he might not get to do that…which wouldn’t be so bad, I guess. Last night he called one of his friends from school and talked to him on the phone for about 15 minutes. That was funny….the part that I heard. He ended up going to his room and shutting his door. Then he came out and wanted to call some other friends, but I wouldn’t let him. This growing up thing, kinda bizarre! Well, here is where I need some parental advice…He asked to go over to his friend’s house and I told him no because I don’t know his friend’s parents. How do you set up a meeting so you can meet them and see where they live and stuff like that so that you can allow him to do stuff like that? Does that make sense? I thought of just inviting his friend over and then meeting the parents like that…but then that still doesn’t show me where they live. I was hoping that this problem would just fix itself somehow, but it isn’t going to. So, since this is my first time with this….thoughts?

Faith Anne is still my darling little DIVA. We had her parent-teacher conference at preschool a few weeks ago and her teacher just had wonderful things to say about her. I asked her if she could send that child home, because I think I am getting a different one at my house. LOL But she went on and on about Faith Anne being the only one in the class who knows just about all her letters and how good she is doing in school. We can definitely see the difference that Preschool has made – academically and socially. She gets to interact with other kids at church and my Aunt’s house, but there is just something different about the social atmosphere at school. I think that Faith Anne needs the structure of the social setting there – if that makes sense. At any rate, she is doing good at school and she still loves her dance class! This Saturday is parent-day, so we get to sit in and watch their class! I am super excited about that! At the end of her next class she will have a recital! Then we might look at putting her in a different program rather than just the rec center…..although they offer a twice-a-week class in the Spring and that might be good for her. We’ll see….but for now, she is doing great and loves it!

Gracie is our little piranha and tazmanian devil all rolled into one…..with a sweet spirit about her occasionally! LOL My grandma was telling one of my uncles all about my kids and she said: “Isaac is into swimming, Faith Anne is into dancing and Gracie, well Gracie is into everything.” How true, how true! She can be so sweet and yet so rotten all at the same time! She is into EVERYTHING. When you come into our house, you will see chairs in front of all our drawers because she gets into whatever she can find to get into. She also bites everything. The other day, she was chasing Isaac and trying to bite his butt! Oh, and just last night, Faith Anne left the bathroom door open….and the toilet seat up and she hadn’t flushed. Yep, guess where Scott found her? Needless to say, she had a bath right away. You can’t help but laugh, but it is also a bit frustrating for this mama with OCD issues. The other night Scott was laughing and he told me that God gave me Gracie to help me get over my OCD issues – or to make them worse….the jury is still out on that one! But I love that little girl and wouldn’t trade her for the world! Jodi was up visiting this weekend and she had Gracie on her lap and was singing Jesus Loves Me and Gracie was signing Jesus over and over again – moments like that just make all the other stuff disappear.

We have been enjoying our tax refund! LOL We bought ourselves a bedroom suite! We had been using the dressers that my parents bought for me when I was in junior high, I think. They were really high quality – 20 years ago – but were starting to fall apart. So, we bought a headboard/footboard and dresser with mirror and chest. I LOVE it! It was delivered last week….and we absolutely love it! We also have all new doors in our house! My dad hung all new six-panel doors for all of our bedrooms, bathrooms and linen closet. They are very nice…we still have to paint them and buy new hardware, but they are so much nicer than the crappy old doors we had. The doors were not expensive at all! I was surprised by that. I guess the expensive part is the hardware….which is why we haven’t bought that yet! But anyways….that is exciting! We are getting our trees trimmed soon – as soon as the weather will permit! Which, speaking of the weather…I am about sick of winter! I love spring, but I am just about ready to skip spring and jump straight to summer! LOL

I guess that is about it for me right now. Hopefully next time won’t be so long! Love ya!!!!

God-Moments

2008-02-04T14:26:00.000-05:00

Not a long post today…but I wanted to post what my beautiful three year old said the other day.

We were driving home on Friday and I was telling Faith Anne about the Memorial Service that we were going to attend later that evening for Miss Pat. Miss Pat is the mother of a dear friend of ours who passed away from cancer. She was a wonderful grandmother-figure to all the kids of our church….and especially to Isaac and Faith Anne. She was in the nursery frequently with them and even in Isaac’s preschool class as their Prayer Partner. We also had small group with them – so they knew her very well.

Well, as I was telling Faith Anne that Miss Pat had gone on to heaven to be with Jesus, my three year old says:

“Mommy, Jesus says ‘Come to Me and rest.’ That is what Miss Pat is doing. She went to Jesus to rest.”

Through my tears I told Faith Anne that she was absolutely right. Miss Pat was in heaven with Jesus, resting.

WOW. Talk about a “God-Moment”. We were very blessed to have known Miss Pat.

Hola Ladies!

2008-01-31T15:36:00.000-05:00

Where does the time go? Geesh! I feel like I blink and another week has passed! There just seems like there is always so much going on. It has been kind of a crazy week. Let’s see….

Last week was a typical week….but then the weekend came and things went crazy. Two women from our church passed away over the weekend, which has just led a crazy week. I think that all of the families involved seem to be doing alright. There was cancer involved in both. But, both are now in heaven and in no more pain, so that helps ease the pain.

On Saturday, we had our Women’s Gathering. When I got there, I found out the news about Pat, one of the women, who at that point was just not doing well and had been taken to Hospice. Well, my immediate thought was to get on my knees and pray. But I didn’t…. So, Joy was our speaker and she did a phenomenal job…just great. She welcomed us to come up and pray at the end and I just kept sitting there…even though I kept having the nudge to get up and go get on my knees. I stayed in my seat…. And then, one of the songs that came on during the quiet time was “I get on my knees”. Okay, HELLO LORD. That time I listened! I went up to the altar and got on my knees and prayed. See…..all of the different studies that I have been doing lately have one thing in common…..the word SURRENDER. God is really working with me to SURRENDER my ALL to Him. It is a daily thing….something that I will never “arrive” at – but more like something I will do every day. Anyways, He just amazes me and I am excited to see what He has in store for me….when I FULLY surrender to Him.

Everything else is going along just like normal. Isaac got his second report card for the year and he is doing really great. I am so proud of that little guy! His reading is coming right along and he is just doing great. He is excelling in math – I think he gets that from me. I was always good at math – not so much anymore. He is also doing good in swimming! Scott was able to take him the other night and he was impressed with how he did. In fact, he is in Level 1 and this class lasts one month. Most kids have to take it more than once, so I signed him up for Level 1 again next month (February). But on Tuesday, they told him that he gets to move on to Level 2!!! I am so proud of him! He is really doing great!

Faith Anne is still LOVING her dance class. She dances to everything….or shakes her booty as she calls it. Oh, that reminds me. We have officially joined the “High School Musical” craze at our house. We watched 1 & 2 the other night and the kids loved them. By the end, all three of them were dancing. Faith Anne would hop off the couch everytime there was a musical number and start dancing.

Gracie is just as rotten as ever! She is into EVERYTHING. I mean….EVERYTHING. You turn your back for one minute and there is no telling what she has gotten into next! But she is so adorable – you can’t help but smile at her! And let the heaven’s rejoice – She has slept through the night for the past week! Like…every night! From 8:00 to 8:00 or later! HALLELUJAH! I cannot tell you how happy that makes me! What a difference a night of uninterrupted sleep makes…even if I still only get 5 or 6 hours of sleep.

Last Friday night, Scott went to play basketball with his buddy at a church in Wilmington – so I took all three kids – by myself – to Cici’s pizza and then to Magic Castle. I know, a little crazy. But, they were as good as gold! I mean, seriously, they were the best they have ever been! We had so much fun! Then we came home and put Gracie to bed and we had a “PJ and Popcorn” party to watch HSM 2. It was a really fun evening. I told them if they could just act like that more often, we could do stuff like that more.

Well, Jodi and Jimmie are going on their cruise this weekend! They board the ship tomorrow – I am very excited for them! And Mom and Dad get back from their month-long vacation this weekend. I can’t wait for that! The kids miss them so much – and I do too! Although, we have so much going on this weekend…not sure how much we will see them! Hopefully they will come to the church SuperBowl party! But, Saturday is going to be a crazy day….gym, Dance Class, Baby Shower, Princess Abbey’s birthday party and Praise Team practice! It is going to be a busy day! I hope I can get it all in! I think that Scott is going to have to do the Build-A-Bear part of the Birthday party. But she is VERY excited about that – cool idea Mandy!

So, I am still losing weight! I have lost nearly 28 pounds so far. But more importantly than the weight I have lost, I am really working on my “relationship with food” and my relationship with God. This study (Lose it for Life) is awesome and does such a great job of addressing the emotional, physical and spiritual battles we face with our weight issues. I LOVE IT and highly recommend it to anyone!

Well, I have to get going! Hopefully we don’t get all of this bad weather they are calling for! If we do, tomorrow will be interesting!

Love you all!!!!

Back to Work after a 3-day weekend...blah!

2008-01-22T10:21:00.000-05:00

Where did the time go? I can’t believe it is already January 22! I guess that time flies when you are having fun! And life has been fun – busy, but fun! God has just blessed me more than my feeble little mind could’ve ever imagined. Does anyone else ever feel like that? I know that I have felt that way a lot lately. No, I am not rich in terms of money. But in terms of gifts that God has given me, I am the richest person in the world. Now, if I could only remind myself of that every day – especially the days when I have the “wantsies” and start desiring other things!

So, anyways….things are going pretty good right now. Work is work. Not much to say about that because nothing is really different! My boss has been acting a bit strange lately, so maybe he is going to move soon. That would probably be a great thing, but I can’t say for sure because you never know who might replace him! Although, I don’t see how it could be much worse!

Scott is doing good at work. He gets frustrated at times because things are always changing, but he is still doing a great job and the hours are really great for our family. Now, it stinks because we both often feel like single parents – he in the morning and me in the evenings….and we only see each other for a little bit in the evenings during the week. But….we make it work! He has been going faithfully to the gym and losing weight already. I hate that men lose weight so much faster than women! Grrr… But he is in a Biggest Loser challenge at his work. So, if he wins, it would be $200! That would be nice!

Isaac is doing great. His swimming lessons are lots of fun for him. He actually jumped off the diving board for the first time last Thursday. The instructor was right there to catch him, but he was so proud of himself! I wish I had brought my video camera….or at least had my phone ready! I was busy with the girls so I didn’t get my camera ready in time. Oh well, it was cool! He is doing good and he really enjoys it. We just got him signed up for Coach Pitch Softball….I guess you call it that. That will be fun – and more challenging for him than T-Ball. That boy loves his sports…hmmm, I wonder where he gets that from? LOL We moved Scott’s PlayStation 3 into Isaac’s room and he LOVES playing the sports games. He really loves playing them with his Daddy too. So, usually when Scott gets home in the evening they play a game together before Isaac has to go to bed. He had his first sleep-over on Sunday night! We have had Jacob W. spend the night at our house, but Isaac has never stayed anywhere else before. So, he got to spend the night at Jacob’s house and he was so excited! I guess he had a little trouble going to sleep – but he has trouble going to sleep at our house sometimes too. So, my little boy is growing up so fast right before my eyes!!! We get his report card on Friday, so I am anxious to see how he is doing. From the work he brings home, it appears he is doing good. So, hopefully that reflects in his report card! He hasn’t had any behavior issues at school, so I am very proud of him!

Faith Anne is enjoying her dance class so much! I wish it was more often than just once a week because she loves it so much! It is called “Dance for the Very Young” and they do ballet, jazz and tumbling. She looks so stinking cute in her little outfit! She has been doing great with sleeping on the top bunk of their bunk beds. (Did I tell you that we took the crib down and put Gracie in a big girl bed with rails? We were DUN with the crib – after nearly 7 years of constant use!) So, anyways…Faith Anne sleeps on top and she loves it. She also loves Preschool. And let me tell you, I was so proud of her last night. We were playing games and we played High-Ho Cheerio…or whatever it is called. And then she wanted to play Isaac’s Boggle Jr. game. I didn’t think she could do it – but she totally knows her letters and was able to do it with very little help from me! That is amazing to me….I guess that is the difference that preschool makes…we didn’t send Isaac to preschool, other than what they offered at church. So, I was so proud of her! She, too, is growing up so fast!!!!

Gracie is really doing great in her big-girl bed! I don’t think she realizes that she could climb out of it if she wanted to….she just sits up and either plays or cries. I LOVE how much more room it gives them in their bedroom to play! And I was able to move a lot of the toys out of the living room and into their room…LOVE that! She still doesn’t always sleep through the night, but she is doing better. She is developing such a unique personality – I just love her. She doesn’t really talk yet – which is odd at 15 months, but I am not going to complain because I know how much they talk once you get them started! LOL I mean, she talks, but you can’t understand what she is saying. And that is because she has an older brother and sister who jump at her every “Uhhh” and get her what she wants. Oh well…I am sure it is a pretty normal “3rd Child” thing. She does the cutest thing when she is “dancing”….she basically just raises up one leg and that is her dancing. It is hysterical! We just sit and laugh when she does it, which prompts more of it! ADORABLE is all I can really say about her!

We have survived the time that my parents have been gone pretty well. I am not sure if they are coming back next week or staying longer in Florida. Part of me obviously wants them to come back and I know they miss the kids terribly, but the other part of me knows that they will get back and have a few days with the kids and wish they would’ve stayed down there and out of the cold longer! So, I haven’t asked them what they are doing yet. They called on Sunday and my Dad almost started crying when he was talking to me about the kids. Bless his heart. But my Dad – who is going to be 65 in June – climbed a rock wall on the cruise ship! Hello?!?!? Does he realize he is going to be 65 in a few months? He really does think he is Superman! Mom took pictures of it, so I can’t wait to see those!

My doctor’s appointment went fine. She sent me for an ultrasound – which I had and was no fun! But everything looked normal there. I find out the results of my pap next week…so hopefully everything is normal. There are three ways they can treat this condition that I have. One, birth control. I don’t want to do that because Kelli developed blood clots on her lungs (pulmonary embolism) and just about died from the pill. Two, 800 mg of motrin starting the day(s) before your period and taking it every 8 hours for the entire time. I am not a big fan of that because that isn’t good for your stomach or anything really. And thirdly, a procedure called endometrial ablation. This is an out-patient procedure where they put this instrument inside of you and burn your uterine lining – which prevents it from growing back. The chances are good with this that I would never have a period again and it doesn’t put your body into menopause. Before they can do that procedure, they have to make sure that there are no other abnormalities – hence the ultrasound. So, for right now, I am on the 800 mg of motrin until I go back to the doctor in March. Then we are going to discuss what they found and what I want to do. I am probably going to opt to have the procedure done if I am a candidate for it. So, that is what is going on there…thanks for your prayers and thoughts.

We are doing two great studies at church – Lose it for Life on Wednesdays and Because of Jesus on Sundays. Both are really great and their messages inter-mingle quite a bit. The Lose it for Life is all about making healthy lifestyle changes that also affect your emotional and spiritual being as well. We have only met one week, but so far…I am REALLY impressed. I completed my first 24 hour fast this past weekend – not something they tell you to do – but something that was recommended by our leader as a way to help learn the lesson of self-control. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would – and I know that was a God thing. But that is a great book that I highly recommend to anyone! I am excited about doing that along with the WW that I am doing.

So, things are plugging right along and going pretty good. Again, God just continues to amaze me with His grace and His love. We are so undeserving – but because of Jesus we are able to accept those gifts.

Love and Hugs to all!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-08T08:10:00.000-05:00

WOW! It sure has been a while! I guess that I got all caught up in the hustle and bustle of the Season and so I haven’t been here in a while! I have been a faithful reader of those of you who post regularly…and I am very grateful for those who post because it does help break up the monotony of work!

Well, we had a wonderful Christmas and New Years! I am always so sad to see the holidays go! So much anticipation and build-up and then it seems like it is just over so fast! This year was especially nice because my Dad’s family from Oklahoma came in town for Christmas…and because Jodi stayed the whole week between Christmas and New Years! So, we had lots of fun doing things together. That certainly made the holiday week seem longer, but I was still sad to see it go! I feel that way every year!

Let’s see….I am not going to recap everything for you, but just hit the highlights! The Saturday before Christmas, I started having some female issues….pretty major ones. So, I spent most of that day in bed when I had lots of baking and such to do. At the risk of sharing too much information, I was basically hemorrhaging and in a ton of pain. After talking to the doctor-on-call, I took a pregnancy test to rule that out. Still not sure what is going on there…have been having those same problems off and on for the past 2 or 3 weeks now. I go to the doctor on Thursday. So, we had that to deal with….then Faith Anne woke up vomiting on Sunday - the Sunday before Christmas! Luckily, she only had like a 12 hour virus and no one else got it. It was not fun though…and I was so worried that we were all going to get it for Christmas! But she woke up on Christmas Eve and was all better…so Praise the Lord for that! I was on my knees in prayer all day. I know that may sound silly, but we seem to have a health issue of some sort on every holiday…so I just turned it over to God because He is the only one who can fix that!

So, anyways…Christmas Eve we were kinda back to normal. I actually spoke to my doctor and they called in a prescription for me – something like a medicinal DNC to get me cleaned out. Like I said, I am anxious to go the doctor on Thursday to try to figure out what is causing this. It isn’t normal and it is making me feel horrible.

ANYWAYS….can you tell I am a bit worried about that….Christmas Eve was wonderful. We had a great time at my parent’s house…then we went and spent a short amount of time with my Dad’s family…then we went to my Mom’s family and had a wonderful time of food, singing, laughter and presents and some more laughter! We got the kids in their pjs there and then headed home. Once the kids were in bed, “Santa” visited our house. There was a lot of stuff to do this year since the kids are spoiled rotten, but it looked so nice on Christmas morning…and the kids got everything they wanted and then some for Christmas. Isaac’s Santa gifts were a basketball hoop (the big one to go outside), a remote control helicopter and a digital camera. Faith Anne got a life-size Belle doll that dances, a complete ballerina outfit for her and a family of bears (Daddy, Mommy, Brother and two Sisters). Gracie got a doll baby, a ride-on toy and a pound puppy. Oh, they all got pound puppies. Santa figured since Faith Anne is deathly afraid of dogs still, that this would be second best to actually getting a puppy! Plus, I had Pound Puppies when I was a kid and loved them….actually, one of my close friends from high school – her step-dad’s ex-wife is the inventor of PP. So, they still receive royalties from them because he helped her start and fund the business. I think that is a neat tie to them too!

So, anyways…Santa was good to the kids. And then they also got a bunch of gifts from us…too much. I over-do it every year, but I just like buying them things. We had everything out of their boxes by noon! I LOVE that! I am anal (as if you didn’t know that already) and it drives me crazy to have toys still in their boxes….that and wrapping paper all over the floor.

Since the family from Oklahoma was in town, we didn’t have our normal Christmas morning – my family (Mom, Dad, Jodi and Jim) didn’t come over to our house for breakfast like they normally do, but Scott’s family still did. So, I missed that time with my family, but we did have a nice time with Scott’s family too. We had breakfast with all of them and did our gift exchange and then his Mom and her boyfriend left to go see his family and his Dad and his wife left to go see her family. Scott’s sisters and Brayden (my nephew) stayed with us all day. We had fun playing with all the kids toys, playing Karaoke on the PlayStation and cooking dinner. It was a relaxing and enjoyable day. They left in the evening and I took Isaac and Faith Anne over to my parent’s house to see the crew over there. We had fun playing some games and then came home. It was a nice day! I don’t think we have ever just stayed home all day on Christmas before and let the kids play with their toys. It was nice!

The rest of that week was spent shopping, playing games, seeing movies and just doing stuff with Jodi and the rest of the family. It was a fun week! Scott got a lot of stuff done around the house while the kids and I were out doing fun stuff! Not sure if that is a fair trade-off, but that is what we did! LOL

New Year’s Eve was a party at my parent’s house with my Mom’s family. That was fun, as always…but there are a lot of kids now! LOL At one point, I was joking and commented on how many kids are running around and one of my cousins said…”Well, you brought half of them! The rest of us only brought one or two!” NICE! LOL It is just funny because last year, the kids were all fine entertaining themselves with little toys or whatever. This year, they needed to be entertained…so it is just the difference in ages. Next year, they will probably all be fine by themselves again. Faith Anne and Abbey had a blast playing together. Those little girls are so stinking cute when they get together. It was a fun night of food, games, laughing and some more laughing! I always love to be with my family on holidays!!!

After all of that, it was back to reality and work! BLAH! I loved having the time off, but it was hard to come back. I missed the kids like crazy those first few days! I still do, really. But it is what it is! Isaac started back to school yesterday and Faith Anne goes today, so we will be getting back into more normal routines now…except my parents are gone for the month to Florida (they are cruising next week)…so that makes my schedule more crazy with trying to figure out who is going where and when….but it is all working out so far! Isaac starts swimming lessons tonight at the Rec Center and Faith Anne starts dance class on Saturday at the Arts Center. I am looking forward to them both getting involved in something….and they are both very excited! I hope the girls do alright while we sit and watch Isaac swim….I am a bit nervous about that. They should be fine. And if not, I will just have to walk around the pool with them to keep them occupied!

So…I tried to comment on Kelley’s journal the other day, but it wouldn’t let me (I couldn’t see the word verification that I was supposed to type, so how could I type it?). Anyways….yes, adding that third kid makes life CRAZY! BUT…..it is so much fun too! Last night…I got home with the kids at 5:30. I didn’t sit down – not once – until 9:00. There is just always something that needs to be done or somebody that needs something. It is never-ending. But, when I made a comment to Scott about it, he said…”you wouldn’t have it any other way…” and at first, I thought….”uhh….”, but then I stopped and realized that he is right. God has blessed us so much. I am thrilled to have these three little blessings to take care of. So, I am going to try to remember that when I am ready to pull my hair out!

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of our first date….can’t believe we have been together for 10 years! More than that, I can’t believe all that He has done for us in 10 years. God is good all of the time and all of the time, God is good!!!

Love you all! Happy New Year!!!

Where did the time go?

2007-12-18T15:06:00.001-05:00

Wow! Time really slipped away from me! I just looked at my Journal and realized that it has been 2 weeks since my last post! I thought it was just last week. LOL

So, I am here at work absolutely bored out of my mind! It is very frustrating because there is so much I could be doing outside of work, but I am stuck here! The rest of the week will be better because I have small things to do at work and something fun to do each day that will make the day go by faster. But yesterday and today have been painfully boring! You can only try to look busy for so long! Luckily, Stinky Pete isn’t here! He is in a meeting in Chicago and then on vacation, so I don’t have to deal with him…which is heavenly. But still bored!

I can’t believe that Christmas is almost here! I have lots to do still…it seems. But I am not really stressing about it because what I don’t get done, I just don’t get done. I am trying to just enjoy the time because I always get so sad after it is over!

Things are going to be a bit different this year because some of my Dad’s family from Oklahoma are coming in for the week of Christmas. I am excited to see them all, but also a bit sad because it may mean that we don’t get to spend New Year’s with my Mom’s side of the family – which has been a tradition! Scott isn’t too happy about it because he doesn’t know my Dad’s side of the family hardly at all. He hasn’t been around them much because we haven’t been around them much. So, we are still un-decided on what to do about that. I just hope that I can make everyone happy….that is always my dilemma! LOL

And Scott’s mom is going out of town on Christmas day with her boyfriend (to his hometown to see his family)…so we have invited his sister’s over to spend the day with us since they really have no one else and the thought of them being alone on Christmas Day upsets me! So, they are going to hang out with us….that should be fun, but different. My family usually comes over for breakfast too, but since the Oklahoma crew is coming, I probably won’t see them at all on Christmas Day. So…not bad, just different.

Umm…the kids are so excited for Christmas to get here. We had Christmas with Scott’s extended family on Sunday. That was fun and the kids had a blast playing with all their cousins. There was a WII there and Isaac loved it. He was breaking a sweat while they were playing tennis and bowling. Maybe next year we will find one of those for him! I hate that they are so hard to come by….that is the bad thing about Ebay! Everyone gets them to make money and the people that really want one for their kids can’t get one! Oh well…

Anyways, I need to get the rest of my presents that are at my parents’ house and get those wrapped up so I can see what I have for each kid. Isaac is at the age where I am sure he will be counting presents to make sure he isn’t jipped! But it has just been so much easier to buy for Faith Anne this year. We (actually Santa) is getting Isaac a basketball hoop – so that isn’t cheap. But how do you explain to a kid that Santa tries to spend the same amount of money on each kid and that the Santa presents also cost Mommy and Daddy money! I tried to tell him that as he gets older, the toys he asks for are more expensive…so he will probably get less than his sisters. Well, he said, “But Mommy, the toys I get from Santa are expensive. You can still buy me some too!” LOL So funny!

Faith Anne had a “Breakfast with Santa” at her school last week where we had breakfast and then each class sang a song on stage….very cute. Then they got to have a class and an individual picture with Santa. She did very good with that! She has told Santa that she would like a Family of Bears…that is 5 Teddy Bears. As if we need more stuffed animals at our house! She says the cutest thing….she said: “Mommy, I am brrrring….” Meaning, she is cold. So, I asked her if she was brrring the other day and she said no but asked me if I was brrring….too cute!

And the other day, Isaac got up on Saturday and came right to me and said that he needed to call his Mimi Ohio and “remember her something”. She had told him she would take him bowling sometime…so he had to “remember her” about that. I know I should correct them when they say these things, but they are so cute and this age will only last so long! LOL Thank goodness for that on some days!

Gracie is just cruising all over the place and getting into every last thing! She has left the tree and presents alone for the most part. She is such a cute little thing…I just wish she slept better. She technically sleeps through the night…but wakes up sometime between 4:00 and 6:00 to have a bottle. We need to stop that, but it is so much easier to get her back to sleep with it. I know, Bad Mommy!!!!

The kid’s program at church was great…they were all so cute. Our cantata at church went well…I forgot the words to my song, of course. But I – actually God – made up for it. He really helped me come up with some new ones that fit! I hate that I get nervous and forget words…I should’ve used my book! But even on Sunday when we sang it again, I had my words and still messed them up! LOL Oh well. It is over – thank goodness!

I am doing pretty good on WW. I have lost about 18 pounds since I started…so that is okay. I wish I was doing better, but I can already tell in my clothes. Kelli gave me some pants that were a smaller size then I had been wearing and I can wear those. Just not gaining the normal “holiday weight” is a big plus for me! We are starting a Wednesday night study at church in January that is called “Lose it for Life”…so I am looking forward to that! That should help…and I am anxious to start a Bible Study again. We haven’t been to small group in over a year and it is just so hard to get involved in stuff…I won’t go into everything…but anyways….that is cool!

Umm..what else? My life is pretty boring, so I don’t have a lot to post about! I mean, we are always busy….but who wants to hear about the everyday stuff of life with three kids and two parents that work full-time out of the home? Suffice it to say that it is chaos. Faith Anne is starting a dance class at the Rec center in January and Isaac is starting swimming lessons. I need to get them both involved in something. Isaac’s classes are Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Faith Anne’s is Saturday mornings. So, it shouldn’t be that bad. I think Faith Anne will really like the dance class – it is called Dance for the Very Young and just teaches the basics of tap, jazz and ballet. She loves to shake her booty, so it should be interesting! At the party on Sunday, she put on quite a show with her dancing! I think she gets that from my mom! She is always playing music and dancing with the girls. Gracie can get her groove on too! Isaac is like his Daddy – not the best dancer! LOL

Well, I guess I have bored you enough for one day! Talk to you all soon! Love you all! And post more often so I won’t be as bored at work!!!!

Exciting Times!!!

2007-12-05T09:57:00.000-05:00

We had a BIG NIGHT last night! My Faith Anne overcame two of her big fears last night! We have been trying to talk her into getting her hair cut for a long time now! As you know, she has a whole head-full of hair….my mom has trimmed it several times – probably taken nearly 6 inches off herself. Well, we wanted to get it cut to make it more manageable because it is just so hard to deal with…and she hates to have it fixed. So, she has been so scared and determined to not get it cut for the past few months. We have even stopped in at Sweet and Sassy – a very girly salon – a few times to check it out and she has FREAKED out every time. For some reason, I asked her if she wanted to get her hair cut on Monday and she said yes! So, I made her an appointment for Tuesday – not really thinking she would go through with it…but we got there and she did GREAT! They really do a cute job there…wearing a Princess cape, watching a movie, then when she is done they spray their hair with Glitter and then something that smells like cotton candy and they put a star on their face. It was very cute…and I LOVE her new do! They cut off about 3 – 4 inches (maybe more) and layered it! She looks so adorable and it should be easier to manage now! I was so proud of her!!!

So, since we were at the Greene and Isaac was anxious, we went to see Santa! Faith Anne has been telling me that he is not going to sit on his lap…that she would just yell at him what she wanted and he could throw her some candy. So, we walked in to the little house and there were some kids on his lap having a grand-old time. I asked her if getting her hair cut hurt and she said no…so I told her that this wouldn’t hurt either. So, when it was our turn, she was a bit shy…but then she just walked right up to him and gave him 5 and then let him put his arm around her for a picture. Then, when we were paying for it, we turned around and she was sitting on his lap talking to him!!! WOW! I was so proud of her! She had a BIG NIGHT! Hopefully she is out-growing her fear of EVERYTHING. Isaac is hoping she is out-growing her fear of dogs because he really wants one…I am not sold yet!

So! It was an exciting night for us! Well, actually…it started out even more exciting – only in a worse way! Gracie got into the bathroom while I was taking care of a fight between Isaac and Faith Anne…and she got toilet bowl cleaner everywhere. I panicked, thinking she had eaten some of it….so I debated on taking her to the ER, but I talked to Mandie (my cousin’s wife who is a RN) and she told me to call the poison control number and that I probably wouldn’t need to take her to the hospital. It had bleach in it, so she said that the good thing about that is the taste is horrible, so if Gracie ingested any of it, it wasn’t enough to hurt her. Even so, I felt horrible and Gracie slept with us last night because I was so worried. Bad Mommy….I win the Worst Mommy of the Year award – that is for sure! I am telling you – neither of the other two kids EVER, EVER, EVER got into stuff like this. So…that was the excitement of our evening!

All of that stuff aside, things are going good! I love this time of the year! I actually love the anticipation of Christmas more than Christmas itself, if that makes sense. Anyways, Thanksgiving was wonderful! We had a great time with Jodi and Jim and Mom and Dad in Kentucky. Too much food, but we had fun! Then we went shopping on Friday, which was fun, and to see Fred Claus – also fun! We just had a great visit and enjoyed ourselves. The kids did NOT want to leave their house….they have so much fun there.

We are doing an Advent Bible study each night – “we” means me and Isaac and sometimes Faith Anne. I am really trying to make sure they know the real meaning of Christmas. Last night at the Greene, after we sat on Santa’s lap, we stopped at the Nativity Scene and they sang a Christmas carol to us…the kids enjoyed that. I wish we could go Christmas caroling – that is one of my favorite memories from when I was a kid – going Christmas caroling in Port William. I guess we live in a bigger community now, so it might not be as easy to do…but that was such a good time!

I am not done with my shopping yet…still have quite a bit to get, actually. I also have a lot of wrapping to do. A lot of my presents are over at my parent’s house, so I need to get those over to my house so I can get them wrapped! I don’t want to put anything under the tree yet because I am sure that Gracie will get into it! She has left the tree alone, but we put it up so she can’t really reach it easily.

We have our first snow day today! I don’t know how much snow we have out there, but it sure looks pretty! It was slow getting to work today, but not too bad. The main thing is the crazy people who think they are invincible…their driving makes it bad for everybody else. Isaac was disappointed because his class was going to the Secret Santa shop today to pick out gifts for his family, but he gets to spend the day with my Aunt and his cousins instead, so I am sure they will have fun. We just bought the kids new snow boots over the weekend, so that was perfect timing!

Yeah, Scott and I had a date night on Friday! That was nice! We went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner – YUM – and then we did some Christmas shopping. We had a great night together! It was the first time we had left the kids with a babysitter instead of our parents….so that was fun! I had the best thing at CF…I don’t remember what it was called, but it was grilled chicken with asparagus and mushrooms and some sort of wine sauce and mashed potatoes! And then we split a piece of cheesecake for dessert….it was DIVINE! I have been back on weight watchers for a few weeks….but I did really good at dinner because I only ate half – actually less then half of my dinner – and we split the dessert. So, it wasn’t that bad! I have to lose some weight – for many reasons – but one of them is that Kelli and I are planning a beach get-away next year for her 40th Birthday. So….that is good motivation!

Umm..I feel like I am rambling and kinda all over the place. I guess that is what happens when it is so long between posts. I really do read everyone’s journals regularly, I just don’t comment very often or post very often. No good excuse, I guess.

My dad’s family is coming in town from Oklahoma for the holidays….that will be fun, but also different because we are always with my mom’s family. So, hopefully it all goes well. His family can bring drama sometimes, so hopefully this time is different! Then my parents leave for the month of January to go to Florida and on a cruise. That will be an expensive child-care month for us! But I am excited for them! This is what they have worked so hard for!

Well, I have to get back to work! December and January are very busy times for us! Everyone have a great day and love to all!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2007-11-20T11:29:00.001-05:00

Wow! Can you believe that it is just about Thanksgiving? I cannot! Where, oh where has the time gone? I hate to say it, but our parents are right! The older you get the faster, it seems, that time goes by! But….I LOVE this time of the year! I just love it!

So, it has been a while….just lots going on, I guess! Not that I can think of what that is right now, but there must be something! Everyone in our household is doing good…but with a family of five, there isn’t a lot of downtime! It is still hard to believe that I am the mother of 3 kids sometimes…but then I look in the mirror at how tired I look and how I am aging, and it is obvious! LOL

Let’s see…Scott is doing great at work. He is working more hours now that he doesn’t have to rush home for football – which means more money! So, that is a good thing! He just had a birthday yesterday – that was nice. I didn’t get him anything yesterday because I had bought him tickets to a Brown’s game a few weeks ago as his early present. But we had his family over last night and I cooked meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans – his favorite dinner – so that was nice. We had a very good visit with his Mom and her boyfriend. So, it was a nice evening. I think that is like our Thanksgiving with them….since we are going to Kentucky (YEAH) for Thanksgiving. I am looking forward to getting away and having a nice visit with my family! It seems like it has been forever since we saw Jodi and Jimmie, so I am looking forward to it very much. But, I digressed…Scott is doing fine! LOL

Isaac is still doing great at school. He is really growing up, which makes me sad and excited at the same time. It is exciting to see him go through all the changes, but also reminds me that my little boy is growing up! Yesterday, I picked him up from school and then we were home for a bit before we went to get the girls. He talked my ear off. But it is amazing to see how his mind works. He is really putting the pieces of stuff that he is learning together. He loves to sit and write books and illustrate them…or copy a book onto paper. Again, just amazing to see how he is growing up so fast! I am thinking about signing him up for swimming lessons in January. I think he needs to do something and that is something he would really enjoy…and we can do that on a month-by-month basis. So, we’ll see….but I am thinking about it. It is two nights a week, so not as daunting as football. Oh…and he got a trophy for football (all the kids do) but when the coach presented it to him he said Isaac was the “Most Improved” and he had the best attitude. I am so proud of him - especially about the attitude! Football was fun, but we are glad it is over for this year!!!

Faith Anne – what can I say about little Miss Faith Anne? She is doing fine at school – I guess. I don’t get much interaction with her teacher since I don’t pick her up or drop her off for school, but she always tells my parents that Faith Anne is good. So, they have conferences in like January or February, so I am anxious to hear what she has to say. Faith Anne has been sounding things out and telling me the beginning sound to the word. She has also been playing this little Barbie Laptop that has her identify the letter and she is getting better at it. Isaac is jealous that she is going to preschool since we didn’t send him. They are having Breakfast with Santa at her school on December 13….I am not sure if we are going to take her or not because she is so deathly afraid of Santa – well, just about anything actually. It is ridiculous how scared she gets over things. We were at a parade the other night and she was terrified of the horses – who were attached to a carriage and no where near where she was. She was scared of the people dressed up in costumes and the nativity scene people and the band and….yep, everything. We went to a pet store and got a few puppies out to play with and she was screaming and shaking she was so scared. And the puppies were LITTLE. One was a Yorkie Poo and only weighed probably 3 – 5 pounds. It was only the second time that puppy had been out to play with people and the puppy was shaking like a leaf and then just laid on me and Faith Anne was terrified. Then we got a Shih Tzu out and played with it and again, she wigged out. That one played with me for a bit but then literally laid in my lap, but she was still scared. Looks like we won’t be getting a dog soon! The people at the pet store told us to come back as often as we want to. So, we will probably try to do that once a week or so to try to help her get over at least that fear. It is very odd. My MIL suggested we talk to the doctor about it, but what can they do for her? LOL I don’t want to medicate her just because she is scared of stuff. So, anyways, she is a trip. I can’t believe she is scared of anything as mean as she is! She is just very feisty! But I sure love that feisty little thing – she keeps me humble, that is for sure!

Gracie is walking all over the place! She started one week and by the next she was cruising all over the place! And she is into EVERYTHING. A few times at my parent’s house she has actually gotten into the bathroom (they aren’t as good at keeping the door closed as we have become accustomed to) and gotten toilet paper and put it in the toilet…..along with her hand! She knows where it goes, at least! LOL So, she is into everything and has already started getting time-outs! But she is such a sweet baby too. She doesn’t sleep really good – so hopefully that will come eventually. But she is fun and I can’t wait to see how she does with Christmas this year. We have our tree up – and I mean up! We actually put it up on the coffee table so she can’t reach the ornaments. She hasn’t bothered it too much yet…I think it will be fun to watch her open presents and all that fun stuff!
So, that is us in a nutshell, I guess. I did have a GREAT Girls’ Weekend last weekend – well, the one before the last one. Anyhow, we had a great, great time in Louisville, even though Jodi didn’t join us – it would’ve been more fun if she had, but I understand. We went shopping and we went bowling and we went to Church Hill Downs and we went to Howl at the Moon and Hard Rock Café – we just had a great, great time! It was nice to get away with some friends and just be a girl – with no kids and no hubby to take care of! We met a professional baseball player! This table of men (mostly married men…so it was just friendly) started talking to us as soon as we got to Howl and one of them was a baseball player. Well, that is what they told us. Of course, I didn’t believe them. I was sending Scott a text message to ask him if he had heard of him, but it was late and Scott didn’t answer me. I ended up getting his picture and his autograph – still not really believing that he was for real…but when I got home, I googled him and he is for real! He was called up from the minor leagues this year and only played in the majors for part of the season – but how cool is that? And another cool thing…the Extreme Home Make-Over show was in town and the cast was all staying at the same hotel as us! So, when we got back to our room that night, there was a “Call Sheet” left under our door. They must’ve had us confused with some of the people associated with the show…but it was very cool! It had all the numbers and locations and times where they were going to be. Unfortunately, Ty didn’t get in until Sunday night and we left Sunday afternoon. But it was still neat! We saw several people with the t-shirts on, but none of the stars! So, we had a great weekend!

Uhh…like I said, we are headed to Kentucky for Thanksgiving! I am not sure when we are leaving, either tomorrow and staying at a hotel with an indoor pool in Florence so the kids can have some fun, or Thursday morning. I would rather just leave Thursday morning, but Scott wants to leave tomorrow night, so we will see! Either way, I am looking forward to a great Thanksgiving with my family and then some fun shopping on Friday! My Dad, Jimmie (maybe) and I are planning on getting up very early to go shopping! We got some great deals last year, so hopefully that will work out again this year! I am not really looking for anything specific this year, I guess. I really need to get a game plan!

So…I guess that is about it for today! I need to get some work done since I am off until next week after today! That is a blessing!!!
Have a great Thanksgiving!!! Love you all….and I am very thankful for my Journal Buddies!

TGIF!!!!

2007-11-02T09:23:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday! I love Fridays! The day just seems more bearable than the rest of the week….yeah! So, can you tell that I am bored at work lately? I think this is my third post this week…yeah, that is how bored I am!

So, I am going to attach a cutie picture of Faith Anne – it is her Preschool Picture. So cute! I wish that I would’ve bought more of those. And I am going to attach on of Isaac in his football stuff and one of Scott and Gracie from our vacation. I just love that picture. I may have posted it before…but I love it! I wish we were at the beach again!

Tonight we have a surprise birthday party for MIL. It is at 5:30…isn’t that a weird time to have a party? I am stressing because I usually don’t get home from picking up the kids until 5:00 or after – especially since I haven’t seen my parents for 3 weeks! I can’t just walk in and take my kids and leave…ya know? And we still have to make the appetizers that we are to take. I am taking beer bread (which I haven’t made yet) and spinach dip (that is made!) and then that cheesy/salsa/sausage dip. Scott is supposed to throw that together today, so hopefully he gets that done. I doubt we will stay at the party long…I am imagining that there will be a lot of their friends there….and not the best place for our kids to be. So, we’ll see. I don’t think she has any idea that we are doing this…the funny part is that I think the reason Rob (her BF) is doing this is because FIL threw her a surprise party before they split. Yep…6 years ago. I am rambling about nonsense…next topic.

The kids (meaning Isaac and Faith Anne) absolutely infuriated me yesterday. I was picking Isaac up from After-Care at school and trying to get all three of them into the truck….well, one of my neighbors was parked next to me and she was getting in her car so we were talking. Well, we were trying to have a conversation and my kids were acting like complete wild Indians….they were horrible! They were fighting and crying and screaming…I was so embarrassed….absolutely embarrassed. I made them go straight to their rooms when we got home. I don’t know why they do that sometimes! They fight about who is the first one in and then who is the first to get their seat belt on and then who is the blah…blah…blah…. It is never-ending!

Little Miss Gracie is walking all over the place! My Aunt had to take my Grandma to the doctor yesterday and she had my girls with her so Grandma got to see Gracie walking and that juts made her day. She gets so excited when she starts to get close to something and she starts squealing. She is just so stinking cute! However, she is into EVERYTHING. And if you tell her no….she just throws a fit and puts her hands on her hips. What a little attitude already!!!! I don’t know where she gets that from! LOL

The big football game is tomorrow morning! If we win tomorrow, we play again on Sunday. And if they win on Sunday, they play again next Saturday. So….go team, but I won’t be heartbroken if they lose. I don’t really think that Isaac will be either, at this point. He doesn’t want to turn in his uniform. He keeps saying that he is going to hide his jersey so that he doesn’t have to turn it in. I know he will be sad, but at the same time….the break will be nice! They have been scrimmaging the 3rd grade team this week because we are the only Bantam (K-2) team left. He has had fun with that…but he has been sore every night! So, root us on for tomorrow….but if we win tomorrow…then we don’t want to win on Sunday! LOL I need my Girls’ Weekend next weekend!

Yeah, so four of us that work together, we have been doing an annual Girls’ Weekend for the past few years. This year, we are going to Louisville and staying in a neat hotel in downtown right across from 4th Street Live – shopping/food/night-clubs. It should be a really good time. We are planning on going to Howl at the Moon Saloon on Saturday night…and hopefully Jodi is going to come down and meet us! I am sure it will be a fun time!

Well, we are getting our van back – AGAIN – today. Hopefully they get it right this time! If not, I will for sure be writing a nasty letter….or maybe I will do it anyways. We’ll see.

That is about it for today! You all have a great day and a great weekend! Kelley – I visited Franklin’s my-space last night and LOVED hearing his songs. I haven’t bought the cd yet…but I will! If for no other reason….to hear “Get in the Game” again! We were just laughing about that at the Women’s Retreat….how it sticks in your head!

Love ya all!

Halloween Pictures!!!

2007-10-31T08:21:00.000-04:00

Oh My Gosh! We had so much fun last night! I am exhausted today, but it was a ton of fun! The kids had fun at Trunk-or-Treat and then we walked for what felt like miles around our neighborhood with Isaac, Faith Anne, Stacey and Brayden (he rode in a wagon). So we had fun, fun, fun! The kids had never done the door-to-door Trick-or-Treating so they thought it was so cool how much candy they got and they LOVED IT! Faith Anne was so cute the way she would kinda sing "Trick-or-Treat" and she would say Thank You too! Once, she must've forgotten to say thank you because she was coming back to me and then said "Mommy, I have to tell them thank you!" and ran all the way back up to their door to tell them thank you. So stinking cute!

Gracie stayed at the church with Daddy and Mimi....she enjoyed sitting in her stroller and watching everyone. Next year, she will be a terror, I am sure. And Faith Anne was only scared of the people with full masks on, and we didn't see that many of them. She did great.

We had to have our van jumped afterwards....it died. We are taking it back (AGAIN) to the place that charged us $1800 for a new transmission....the check engine light has been on and it has been having trouble starting every since they "fixed" it. This will be the 3rd time we have taken it back to them. I am going to be writing a nasty letter to the owner. He banks with us and because of what I do....I have seen many a nasty letter from him to us, so I am going to re-pay the favor! LOL

Anyways...it was a very fun night! The kids loved it...we have a ton of candy to get rid of because it will not be in my house for too long! Isaac has his party today, so I am leaving at 11:30 to go do that!

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween! Those that I saw last night were adorable!
(The pictures...if they all show up...are of my three kids, my nephew Brayden, Faith Anne, Faith Anne and Mandy's Abbey this past weekend and Gracie and Brayden - Kissing Cousins at her 1st Birthday Party - talk about bribery photos!!!)

Love you all!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

2007-10-30T08:48:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone! Can you believe it is almost November?!? This year has really flown by! I can’t believe that we are on the edge of the Holiday season once again! Yikers! I guess that time really does go by faster as you get older – at least it seems that way to me!

Did I ever tell you guys about my hospital experience? Just a funny story…if I told you before, I am sorry. But when I was really sick a few weeks ago and ended up having some sort of infection in my stomach – when we were in the ER, I looked down at my bracelet that they gave me and I told Scott that they had made a mistake on my age on it. He asked me what it said and I told him 31….and he reminded me that I am, indeed, 31. WOW! When did that happen? I am not sure that I like being “in” my 30’s….but I guess it beats the alternative! LOL

So, we are still in Football Season! Isaac had his last regular season game two weeks ago and then this past Saturday was their first tournament game. Now, I am a bad Mommy because I was secretly hoping they would lose. It is a “one and done” tournament…so if they lose, it is over…if they win, they keep playing until they lose. So, the game was really good and a nail-biter. I hope they don’t have any more like that! But we scored first…then they scored….then we scored and it looked like we were going to win. With 5 seconds left in the game, they scored again to tie it up. So, since it was a tournament game, we went into overtime. In OT, both teams get a chance to score. So, we went first and we scored! Then it was their turn and they almost scored, but we held them back! I am telling you…when the game was over, I was wore out! You would’ve thought that I played the game! When I saw Isaac afterwards he just gave me a big hug and you could tell he was fighting back tears. It was very exciting! Their entire team played well together…we were very excited!!! So, he plays again this Saturday. Again, I am being a bad Mommy and hoping that they lose. I am just ready for the season to be over with! Plus, if they win they play the following weekend and I am supposed to be going down to Louisville for my annual “Girls’ Weekend” with my girlfriends from work. If they win and play on that day….I am either going to miss the whole weekend or have to drive down by myself to hook up with them later in the day. So…..we will see! It was pretty exciting to see them win, though. But that means that we have something going on again every night this week….oh well! I am not complaining! The joy of having kids!

Side-note….Abbey (Mandy’s Abbey) came to the game on Saturday with my Uncle. She and Faith Anne had so much fun playing together. I got a very cute picture of them hugging – I will have to post it. I have a ton of pictures I need to get off my camera! Faith Anne pitched a fit when Abbey had to leave…it was very cute.

The big news at our house….Gracie is walking!!!! Now, she isn’t walking a marathon yet – and she doesn’t do it when you want her to…but she is walking without holding onto anything occasionally! She usually does it when we aren’t really watching for her to do it. I haven’t been successful at catching it on video yet…like I said, she doesn’t do it when you want her to do it. It is so cute because Isaac and Faith Anne get so excited when they see her doing it. They startle her with their cheers and she almost always falls down….but it is very cute! She has certainly developed a little attitude and a temper! If you take something away from her, she gets very mad and she lets you know about it! She has actually hit Faith Anne a few times when she takes toys away from her! I wonder where she learned that?!?!? LOL She is so stinking adorable! I can’t wait to see her in her pumpkin costume tonight. I will really try to post pictures of all three of them in their costumes. Dawn’s were so stinking cute!

I am stressing out about tonight and tomorrow….it is times like this when I hate being a working mom! It just seems like there is too much to do and not enough time to do it in. Last night I was scurrying around trying to get as much done for tonight as I could and trying to get Faith Anne’s costume all ready for Scott to put on her this morning – her Preschool party is today. And then getting a change of clothes in her bag for the afternoon at my Aunt’s house. And then getting Isaac’s wig painted….and getting his homework done and everything in his school bag for today….and then getting Faith Anne’s preschool bill paid….and then getting the clothes out of the dryer and put away and getting Gracie’s outfit ready for today and then getting the candy ready for tonight and getting the kids “bags” ready to collect their loot tonight and then blah, blah, blah. I feel like Scott has so much to handle in the morning that I try to get as much done in the evening to help his mornings go smoothly – but I am POOPED by the time that I get everything done! The kicker is…here I sit at work and there is like nothing going on here. It is painful for me because there is so much that needs to get gone at home, but I am stuck here! So…all of that to say, it is times like this that I hate being a working mom! Oh well! It will all get done and the kids will enjoy it even if everything isn’t “perfect”.

Well, I guess that is about it for today! You all have a great day and a fun Trick-or-Treat night! We are going to be at the Trunk-or-Treat but I am also going to walk the kids around our neighborhood….as long as Faith Anne doesn’t freak out on me too much tonight. We might end up back home for the evening if she gets too scared!

Happy Halloween!!!!