Long lost Journal Goddess....

Hi! My name is Missy! I don’t know if you remember me or not…Geesh! It has been a long time! Sorry about that! Thanks to those of you who emailed me to see if I was alright! I didn’t fall of the face of the earth….it has just been really busy lately at work and home! And adding a third kid to the mix doesn’t give you a lot of free time at home…or maybe I should say NO free time! But I wouldn’t trade Gracie for the world….now Faith Anne, maybe! Just kidding! But she is truly a DIVA in every sense of the word, bless her heart!

So, yeah…a lot going on at work lately. Last weekend was the Home & Garden Show, which is usually my busiest week of the year anyways. Well, since I was out on maternity leave, they also planned a meeting last week – a BIG meeting. And I am also in charge of all the details for those….so last week was like a whirlwind! I didn’t know if I was coming or going! And this week has been playing catch-up and getting ready for 2 big meetings next week! I think they are punishing me for being out on leave. Not really, but it has just been one big thing after another! I wonder what they did without me! Just kidding! But it has been crazy! Things with Stinky Pete are pretty much the same – no changes. He does “walk on egg shells” around me – for lack of a better description. I feel like he goes out of his way to not make me mad or to keep me happy. The only problem with that is…I still have to work with him! If I didn’t have to work with him, that would make me very happy! But oh well. It is kinda funny to watch. I really don’t deal with him that much on a day-to-day basis, so I am tolerating it. He currently works 2 floors away from me…but will be moving to my floor in a month! That will make it harder to tolerate! But anyways…that is about all I am going to say about work! Work is work!

The family is doing good! Right now everyone is healthy….but that can change on a dime! Scott is doing good at work still…and he still likes it real well. His buddy Jason – who we went to the Lodge with – is going to start working with him again. So, that is cool! I call him Scott’s girlfriend because they talk on the phone all the time. Oh, we went to a basketball game the other night (Scott and I…he won tickets from work) and I got to meet his boss and his big boss…and a couple of the guys he works with. This one guy told me that he hated to tell me this in front of Scott….but that I have a good guy! That was funny. It was neat to see him interact with his co-workers. The really funny thing was that they were grown men (which I guess Scott is too….but I still struggle with the whole “feeling like an adult thing”….and they were goofing off and being silly. I guess men do that no matter how old they are!

Isaac is growing up so fast! We have had some funny conversations lately. The one that I like the most was when he and I were driving somewhere and I was asking him if he had any girlfriends. He told me no….and he said that if a girl likes you and you don’t like her…to just be mean to her and she won’t like you anymore. I asked him about all the girls at school (that I could think of) and then all the girls at church….and when I asked him about Madison (Scrapbook Queen’s oldest), he said that he had given up on her because she had given up on him. I about died laughing. He said that she was too old for him….or that he was too young for her…..he wasn’t sure which. Too funny….he has also been having a great time playing with the neighbor kids. Our next door neighbors have a son named Branson who is also 5 – but in pre-school. He and Isaac have become good buddies – except when the older neighbor kids are around….then Isaac wants to play with them. But he goes over to Branson’s house a lot or Branson comes to our house. It is neat to see that. The cool part is….Branson’s uncle and Scott were good friends like that when they were kids. It is a small, small world! School is going good…I am so proud of him for his behavior. He hasn’t gotten off of “green behavior” for a very long time! And he is learning so much! It is neat to see him start to read! He read a book to me last night….I think it is called “Hop on Pop” by Dr. Seuss. He read most of it by himself…I had to help with a few of the words. But he is doing great! I just can’t believe how fast he is growing up! Right before my eyes!!!

Faith Anne is a DIVA – as I said before. She is such a drama queen…and so stubborn….and ornery….and rotten….and so stinking adorable! It is hard to stay mad at her for long. Uhh….potty training is pretty much not happening. My aunt does get her to pee on the potty occasionally – but that is about it. She still tells you when you need to change her diaper. So, whatever! Honestly, she is so stubborn that I just don’t think it is going to happen until she makes up her mind to do it. Here is an example of what I mean about being stubborn….we were at my parent’s house last week and she was swinging a toy and hit my mom’s hand. I told her to tell my mom she was sorry…she didn’t do it. So, I took her out of the room and talked to her and told her to go tell Mimi she was sorry…we went back to my mom and she went to her and just started crying, but didn’t say she was sorry. So, I took her out of the room again and spanked her and told her to tell Mimi she was sorry…she said she would….so back to my Mom and again, went up to her and just cried – but wouldn’t say she was sorry. This went on about 5 or 6 times before she FINALLY told my mom she was sorry! My dad just couldn’t get over how stubborn she was about it! And there are DAILY examples like this…DAILY! This is just the one I remember the most. I don’t want to break her spirit, but man! Hopefully this just means that when she is older she will be the leader – and follow what she believes in. I just have to keep telling myself that! We moved her bed into the Gracie’s room – so we now have the Girl’s room and Isaac’s room. She loves it, so far! And so does Isaac – although he gets a bit lonely! He has a full-size bed in his room – so he looks like King Isaac! And Faith Anne and Gracie look a bit cramped with a twin bed and the crib in their room. It will be better when we can make the beds bunk again and get rid of the crib. But, it does look very nice and girly! I can’t wait to buy them matching girly quilts and really make that room fit for two Divas!

Gracie is the chubbiest baby….so cute! She is like one big roll…her thighs are so adorable! Why is that so cute on babies but not on us? LOL I just wish she would sleep through the night! She keeps waking up in the middle of the night wide awake! Last night was miserable for me….I am just so tired and wanting to sleep….but she just wants to play! So, I hold her and get her back to sleep…..then put her back in her crib and she wakes right back up. ARGH! That is very annoying! I think we need to start feeding her cereal with a spoon before bed…maybe that will help. At this point, I will try just about anything! Scott feeds her at like midnight before he comes to bed….so she shouldn’t need to eat in the middle of the night at 5 months old! Hopefully this phase passes soon! She still spits up quite a bit…and she is no where near rolling over – mostly because she HATES being on her belly. But she is doing good at sitting up with help and she loves to be in her walker or bouncer (like a mega-saucer). She is a very happy baby and really only cries when she is hungry or really tired. I bought her and Faith Anne some matching outfits and Faithy loves to match her sister! I got their Easter dresses - they are so stinking cute! And I got Isaac a shirt that is the same colors…so they are going to be adorable! I still need to get the girls shoes. I should probably do that soon because most places sell out of those things so fast at Easter time!

It is so wonderful to have my parents here! I see them just about every day! In fact, I think there has only been one day since they got here that I haven’t seen them. I am sure that will change, but for now it is nice! They are watching the girls for the first time today….my Aunt has had them a lot while Mom and Dad are getting settled. And I am grateful for that. I really don’t want them to watch them so much that they get burnt out. So, it is working out pretty good so far. They did come and get Isaac the other day to take him for a ride in the convertible. He loved that. Dad’s back is starting to hurt him a little bit…so I think he is going to take it easy for a few days….at least I hope he is! They have just been moving at full-speed trying to get moved into the new house and out of the old one here….and he has probably over-done it. But the new house looks so nice and is such a nice house! I am jealous of all the space and storage space they have! They have also been to our church for the past 2 weeks! I guess actually it has been 3 weeks since they came for Gracie’s dedication too. I told them that my feelers wouldn’t be hurt if they didn’t come to Bethany because I know they don’t like the contemporary music…but I think right now it is just easier than trying to find their own church. And of course the kids are a good excuse too! I told them they could go to the Heritage service – which does hymns….and Scott helps lead in that a few times a month…so we will see. It has been nice to have them there, though! Kerry asked Dad to help with a service project at Camp – so I think he will do that. It is the camp that I went to as a kid…and we might send Isaac there this summer! Scott said they have a day-camp for his age and that they can spend the night if a parent stays with them. That would be a fun thing for the two of them to do together. I need to look into that. Pardon me… I am thinking out loud here!!!

I do have a pretty big prayer request. Please pray for Scott’s family and also for my attitude. I will be the first to admit that I need an attitude adjustment with his family. However, (I didn’t want to say but….) they also need prayer! Things have gone from bad to worse with his mother. She moved her boyfriend in last weekend – totally. And it isn’t really that….but it feels like she is severing ties with us and with the kids. I don’t know how to really put it into words. But here is an example….Scott had asked her to watch the kids for us on Tuesday night. He was supposed to go to a basketball game with a guy from church and I was supposed to go to Zumba class. So, it would have only been for about an hour and a half. She hadn’t seen the kids in over a week (she wasn’t at church on Sunday), so he also thought she would appreciate seeing them. So, she said she would watch them. Well, then he won tickets to the luxury suite at the same basketball game and really wanted me to go…to meet his boss, etc. So, he asked her if she could watch them a bit longer and she said no. She said it was too long and too late. So, he was upset but just said “fine” and left it at that. So, we called my parents and they were okay to watch them. Well, Laura must’ve felt guilty because she called back and said she could do it. So, that actually worked out because my parents got a dinner invitation and I want them to do that kind of stuff – that is why they retired! Not to watch my kids all the time! SO! She gets there to watch the kids and she acts like we are really putting her out. She tells us that the kids will be in bed by 8:00 because she wants to watch AI. Scott showed her how to work the DVR in case she missed some of it….but she was adamant that the kids would not get in the way of her watching AI. Whatever. So, we get home from the game (at the exact time we told her we would) and she pretty much leaves right away….says she was so tired…it has been a long week…Scott pointed out it was only Tuesday and she said she was tired because she moved Rob in over the weekend…she just had to get that in there! Scott just ignored it and told her thanks…we both did…about a million times. You wouldn’t think she was their Grandma or anything. So, she leaves and I cannot even begin to tell you how messy she left the house. Now, I know that I have OCD issues…but seriously. There is not a single doubt in my mind that she did it on purpose. She let the kids play with play-do and then just left everything (all the play-do and all the “tools”) out on the counter. There was play-do on the floor and everywhere. There was ice cream on the bar and on the stools and on the floor. There was some kind of sticky stuff on the floor. There were too many dishes to have in the sink…so they were piled on the counter….it was horrible. Now, she is usually pretty messy when she watches the kids and I usually defend her to Scott because she isn’t there to clean our house, she is there to watch the kids. But we got home at 10:00….2 hours after the time the kids were in bed….and she couldn’t even put the play-do toys away? It was ridiculous. I told Scott that I think she did it on purpose to prove a point…or to make sure we don’t ask her to watch the kids again anytime soon! So…I think what I am going to do is that I am going to invite his family – over for dinner soon. Like on a Saturday afternoon or a Sunday after church – just invite them over and try to make things somewhat normal. It will be a stretch for them…but normal would be so nice. The drama is driving me crazy. So, please just remember this situation in your prayers….and like I said, I know my attitude towards them stinks, so I know that needs to be my prayer.

Well, if you have made it this far, you must be bored! LOL I am sorry for such a lengthy entry, but it has been a coon’s age since I posted! I will try to not make it so long next time, but I make no promises! Yeah that Sister is coming in town this weekend! I wish it was going to be beautiful weather like it was earlier this week….but that isn’t that important! You all have a great day and I have been lurking…so I apologize! I don’t always have time to comment, but I do keep up with you all! Love ya!!!!

P.S. I am still losing weight slowly on WW...I am up to about 14 pounds lost. So, it is moving in the right direction, I just wish it would move FASTER!!! But I am having fun doing Zumba! If you haven't tried it, you should! I guarantee you will have a good time and laugh a lot! That is burning calories too!!!!

Last Day of Work - FOREVER!!!!

Today is my Daddy's last day of work - FOREVER! He is retiring today! Well, Jodi and I told him that now he can work for us - on our Daddy-Do lists! But today is his official last day at Ford! (LOL...did you think I was talking about myself in the title! I wish!!!) So, Happy Retirement Dad!!! Please keep him and my mom in your prayers as they have SO much on their plates right now! Today is his last day....they are packing up their Kentucky house today...they close on the sale of that tomorrow....they close on the house they are buying in Ohio on Friday...they move in this weekend - and the weather is not looking good for that! So, just pray for peace for them. I know my Dad hasn't slept in weeks!

And also, please pray for Jodi! Just as I am excited that Mom and Dad are moving up here, I am sure she is going to miss having them so close! This is going to be a big change for everyone! I was telling Kelli the other day that I haven't lived this close to my parents for my whole adult life! So....it is going to be an adjustment! So, just keep Jodi and Jim in your prayers too! Love you Sister!!!!

So...not much to update really. Faith Anne really made me mad last night....the stinker! She was acting like she needed to poop (hiding in the corner), so Scott put her on the toilet and she sat there screaming for me. So, I went in and sat down on the tub and talked to her while she was on the potty. I asked her if she wanted to wear big-girl panties and she said that she did. So, I went and got them and let her pick out what pair she wanted to wear. I put them on her and she strutted around the entire house - showing everyone her panties - even Gracie who just laughed at her! So, I made her sit on a towel because I didn't want pee on the furniture! We ate dinner and she sat on her towel and was so proud of her panties. After dinner, Scott and I were talking in our room with Gracie and next thing I know, Faith Anne comes in and tells me her sock is wet. Well, hello...what about the panties you have on that are wet?!?! That is why the sock is wet, silly Girl! So, I made her clean up the floor where she pee'd...reminds me of a puppy....then I put her in the shower and hosed her down. That little stinker. So, I told her we were giving her big girl panties to her friend Madison. At first she cried, so I thought....great! We will try again. But then she went and got all of her big girl panties and put them by the front door for Madison. Yep, she is going to be wearing diapers in Kindergarten!!!!!!!!

We did some "Spring Cleaning" last night! I worked in the main living area (that is what I am going to call it....because it is one big area..kitchen, living room, dining room, sitting area....) cleaning and taking down all of my snowman stuff. I told Scott that winter is no longer welcome here....Jodi made me a wreath that says "Winter Welcome" with a snowman on it....so I took that down. Scott and Isaac worked in Isaac's room - cleaning, organizing and getting rid of two buckets of toys! Now we have to do the girl's room! That is going to be a chore! But I like having all the clutter cleaned up!

Well, that is really about all I have for today! I just wanted to post about my parents really - and the joys of potty-training. I think I am about to just give up on her until she is ready - because she is obvioulsy not ready right now.

Have a great Hump Day! Love and hugs to all!

Do you still remember me?

WOW! It has been a while for me! I am sorry that I haven’t been a better blogger – that was for you Sara!!!! I actually had an entry that I started last week – but I never finished it. So, I erased it and am starting over, because I doubt anyone cares enough about my life to want to ready two weeks worth of updates!

So, let’s see…I don’t even know where to begin? Not that my life is that exciting, but because it has just been so long! We have had some sickness at our house, so that has been exciting! All three of the kids came down with fevers last weekend….I even stayed home from work last Monday with them. After the fevers broke, they all just had colds. Well, this past Friday, Gracie turned worse…she started having a fever again. I was picking them up at my Mom’s house and I saw some wax in her ear and went to get it out…she started screaming. So, we got her into the doctor on Saturday morning and she has an ear infection. The doctor actually said it looked like her ear drum had ruptured because there was so much liquidly wax in there….but after she cleaned that out, she said she just had an infection. So, she is on an anti-biotic and doing much, much better! That stuff works fast. However, she still has the cold - runny nose and cough. Which is actually what RSV is….so we have to keep an eye on her and if her breathing gets more labored or she stops eating/drinking, we will have to take her in again. I think she is going to be fine. Basically RSV means that they have a cold and they can’t break the mucous up when they are that little, so it can cause more problems. So, anyways….she is doing better, so I think we will be alright! I just hate to hear her cough….poor thing!

Good news about Isaac! We didn’t get to have our conference with his teacher because it was cancelled due to bad weather. But I spoke to his teacher on the phone last week and she told me that she was not going to suggest that we hold him back. She was actually going to tell us that he is doing much better – there are still a few areas we need to work on with him, but he is “holding his own”. Then, I didn’t get to go to his last party of the year – his Valentine’s Party – that is a long story – but Scott did and he got the paperwork from her and he is really doing much, much better. We are still thinking about getting him a tutor for the summer – just to make sure he is ready for 1st grade. One of the 1st grade teachers at his school goes to our church, so we might ask her or his current kindergarten teacher. Although, Jodi called and offered Jimmie to be Isaac’s tutor…for free….but I don’t know about that! He is so silly! (Jimmie, I mean) So, PRAISE THE LORD for all of that! I was so relieved! Although, what this whole thing has taught me is that I cannot expect Isaac (or the girls for that matter) to be straight A students and honor’s students just because I was and because it came naturally to me. This whole parenting thing is hard!!! I am sure we will make lots of mistakes with Isaac…he is like our “practice kid”. LOL

Umm…Faith Anne still has no intention of becoming potty trained. She is so stubborn. I really don’t know what we are going to do with her. Someone had the idea of putting her in the bathtub to change her own poopy diaper. Now, I don’t know if my OCD can handle all of that….but something has got to work?!?!? She had her first sleep-over at her friend Madison’s house…and Madison is one month older than her… she was trying to show her how to go potty. Too cute….they are so cute together. I can’t believe that she slept-over at her friends house already at 2…but Tera (her mom) asked and she said it was actually easier having Faith Anne there! She has a 3 month old baby boy, too. Anyways….Faith Anne is as cute…and as rotten… as always! Her new thing is to tell us that we are mean. She says: “You mean”. It is very funny. She definitely has her own little unique personality! I can tell she is going to be our challenge!

There is really so much going on….but who has time to tell you all about it? I will say that Scott and I went to the Chris Tomlin/ Matt Redman concert on Saturday night. We went with Lori and Chad from church….and met Mandy and Steve there. It was an awesome concert!!! We have seen Chris Tomlin a few other times….but this was the best, I think. It was just like a worship service – an awesome worship service. I just wish it wasn’t so hot in the place….but oh well! It was great!

BUT…we did start World War 3 with Scott’s family Saturday night. The drama drives me nuts….my family is SOOOOOO not like them. But I will say, I was so proud of Scott and how he handled himself. Let me remind you that a few weeks ago, we found out that Laura (mil) was having her boyfriend (Rob) spend the night with her on weekends. At that point, Scott told her that we would not allow the kids to spend the night with her if Rob was also staying the night. We just don’t agree with it and don’t feel like we should put our kids in the middle of that situation. So, fast forward to Saturday – the night of the concert. She was watching the kids for us, but Tera was coming to her house to pick up Faith Anne for her sleep-over with Madison. Well, of course Isaac felt left out that he wasn’t getting to spend the night anywhere. So, he asked Laura (in front of us) if he could spend the night with her. She said yes. We asked her…”You don’t have plans with Rob tonight?” And she said, no…they had gone out on Friday night, so she had no plans. Fine. So, we go to the concert and at the intermission, Scott calls to check on the kids. She tells him that Rob is there. Fine. Again, we don’t care if he is there with the kids, but spending the night is different. So, Scott asks her if Rob is spending the night and she says yes. So, Scott calmly says, well then, Isaac can’t stay there. She starts to yell at him on the phone and he says – again, calmly, “Mom, I don’t want to get into this right now. You know how we feel. He cannot spend the night.” So, now my evening is ruined. I can’t stop thinking about it…I know that this is going to create a problem, but I also think we are making the right decision. Everyone who was at the concert with us agreed that we were making the right decision – not the easy one – but the right one. So, after the treacherous (icy) drive home, we had decided that Scott would go into his mom’s house to get the kids and would just say that since the roads were bad, we didn’t know if Mimi would be able to get Isaac to Sunday School, so we wanted him to come home with us. Well, I didn’t go inside, but Scott said that is all he said (mainly because he didn’t want to get into it all in front of Isaac)….Rob came outside to shovel, so he wasn’t in the house….apparently Laura started yelling at Scott and got into his face with her finger and told him that he shouldn’t be treating her like this and Scott said that he didn’t want to get into it now. He said that she knows how we feel and she raised him to feel that way and that Isaac was not spending the night. Isaac was crying (of course) and Laura was yelling….I guess that Scott did yell back after she got in his face. Well, I was oblivious to the whole thing because I was in the van. So, Scott gets the kids in the van…Isaac had stopped crying because I was showing him the video of “Indescribable” that I took on my phone from the concert (that is his favorite song). Well, Scott and I couldn’t talk about what happened because I didn’t want to talk about it in front of Isaac. We had already called my parents and asked them if Isaac could come sleep at their house….we didn’t want to punish him for what happened….but we also didn’t mention it in front of Laura because that would’ve only made matters worse. So, Scott dropped me and Gracie off and then took Isaac to my parent’s house. When he got home, he was on his cell phone with Stacey….who was YELLING at him. I could hear her through his phone. She was yelling at him for treating her Mom like that and making her cry. I was so proud of Scott because he didn’t yell once….he was calm and just maintained that we are the parents and have to make the best decisions for our kids, as we see them, and it was our decision. That is it. Well, she hung up on him….then he called to talk to his mom….Rob answered. He talked to Rob for a while and it went very well…. Scott told him that this wasn’t about Rob…it was about the decision that Laura has made and if it was any other guy, we would feel exactly the same way. The funny thing was that Rob told Scott that he didn’t want him yelling at his mom….I told Scott later that he should’ve told Rob that he needs to find a different family then, because the whole family yells…….that is how they have always been! Anyways, so he talked to his mom and she was crying so hard he couldn’t understand her….so really, nothing was resolved. He apologized for yelling, but not for our decision. So, then…he calls Stacey and she hung up on him a few times, but she finally talked to him and come to find out, she tells him that his whole family doesn’t like us (basically…she didn’t say those words, but she might as well have) because we act like we are better than them and we don’t have time for them and my family is better than them and blah, blah, blah. So, we talk about that for a while….she finally says that she is blowing things out of proportion and she is sorry….blah, blah, blah….and then the truth comes out. She was crying and saying that basically we are teaching Isaac that she is a bad person because obviously she lived with/had sex with someone she wasn’t married to and that is where Brayden came from. So, at that point, I told Scott to give me the phone ( I have heard all of this because she is so loud on his cell phone)….I quickly told her that we will make sure that all of our kids know how proud we are of her….she has made the toughest decisions of her life in the past year and she has done what is best for her and for Brayden by getting away from Jon. So, we got everything worked out with her….we both were crying by the end of that conversation….she and Scott told each other that they loved each other by the end. But…Sunday morning was interesting! See, it was Baby Dedication Sunday….so Steve and Patty (FIL and step-MIL) and Rob and Laura (Boyfriend and MIL) were ALL at church on Sunday! Rob and Laura didn’t say one word to us at church….Scott did hand Gracie back to them for a while….we didn’t want to look like we were only letting my parents hold her….but other than that, not a word. So, after church, we all go out to eat (not my parents). It was fine….they just acted like nothing had happened. We were the first to leave, so I am sure we were talked about after we left.

Again…the drama in his family KILLS ME! I wish we could move far, far away from them! I shouldn’t say that….but this kind of stuff DRIVES ME CRAZY! So, do you guys think we did the right thing or should we have just sucked it up just to make everyone happy?

Oh…and Jason and Tera visited our church on Sunday too…right in the middle of all this fun stuff! It was an interesting day, to say the least! After lunch, we went home and I literally crashed! I was so exhausted from the emotions of it all…I slept for a few hours!

So, that is what is going on with that! My Dad’s last day of work is Wednesday. I can’t believe he is retiring!!! They close on their Kentucky home on Thursday and their Ohio home on Friday! So, we are going to help them move on Friday & Saturday. I am hoping that MIL can help watch the kids so that I can really help too. Otherwise, it will be Scott helping without me!

Umm….work is crazy right now. I have a lot of stuff going on….which is really why I haven’t posted! I have so much to do right now, that I shouldn’t be doing this now, either. But oh well! I needed to get this stuff off my chest!

Well, I guess I will let you all go for now. I will try to not let it be so long next time! Please just keep us in your prayers with this whole thing with Scott’s family. I know that it is wearing on Scott too….especially with some of the hurtful things that Stacey said to him. I know that a lot of it was just her speaking out of emotions, but she said some hurtful things to him about us….and it is hard to just think she didn’t mean them.

Love you all….and praying for the Journal Goddesses!!!!

P.S. I meet with the Lasik Surgeon on 3/20! I am excited about that!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Well, it sure has been an interesting few days! That much is for sure! I guess we can’t really complain, because we have still had a mild winter. But I am ready for Spring!

Let me back-up for a minute though and tell you about my weekend!!!

Friday…I worked until 1:00 (oh, a girl I work with is making the cutest purses! So, I got two of them from her on Friday) and then I met my mom at the Doctor’s office for Gracie’s 4 month check-up! First of all, I can’t believe it has been 4 months already! Well, she weighs 16.75 pounds (97%tile) and is 25 inches long (75%tile)…and her head is like in the 95%tile too. So, she is very healthy! J AKA very chubby! The nurse and doctor kept commenting on how cute she was and the nurse didn’t want to give her the shots because Gracie was so smiley and happy! But, she still had to get 4 shots! She was a trooper…..she cried, but got over it quickly. My mom took Gracie and Faith Anne and I headed home to get our boys! We got the boys and the van all packed and headed down the highway! We met Jason, Tera and Madison at Outback for dinner…YUM! We were all very good on our diets (except Scott LOL) at dinner. Then we headed to the hotel! We got checked into the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason and found our room. Everything was so nice…clean…cool and just really, really nice! We quickly got changed into our swimming stuff and headed to the Water Park! The guys immediately took off (with Isaac) to the slides and the girls and I headed to the kids slides and wave pool. We had a great time….Faith Anne was scared of just about everything…but we pushed her down a few slides anyways! We are bad parents….she had fun, but she would say she didn’t want to do it again! So…the boys came back and Tera and I went down the biggest slide of all…it is like a roller coaster! You ride this raft thing and it shoots you up little hills and stuff….very, very fun! We were both a little scared as we waited in line…but it was fun! So, then we had the girls again and the boys went off to do whatever….we hung out in the wave pool and the lazy river…and then decided to take the girls and get their PJs on for a bed-time story – read by the wolf – by the fireplace! That really wasn’t as much fun as it sounds. Faith Anne was scared of the wolf (imagine that… are you sensing a theme?) and you couldn’t really hear the story…so we went into the gift shop…then we went down to the bakery where they had the best looking desserts in the world. I am not kidding….we both are “dieting”, but decided we really needed something since we were on vacation. We couldn’t decide what we wanted. So, we checked that out and said we would come back with money! We went up to the room and waited for the guys…they came back within minutes of being in the room. Tera and I get along really great….so we had such a good time just talking and stuff. So, the guys got changed and then we all headed downstairs. The boys headed to the Arcade – like Chuck-e-Cheese – with the kids and Tera and I checked out the desserts again…still didn’t buy anything. So, we went to see what they were all up to….they were doing fine…so we went up to the restaurant/bar and sat and enjoyed ourselves there for a while. We saw two lesbians…and an older weird guy who was with his wife – but they didn’t look like they belonged together – and he was staring at Tera. We got a good laugh at that. We went back downstairs and took the kids from the boys so they could play games….and we went back to the bakery. At this point, it was about to close…so we finally decided what we wanted….and was it ever HEAVENLY! So, we headed back up to the room and got the kids in bed. Madison and Faith Anne wanted to sleep together…and that was so cute to see. Tera took some pictures of them. Isaac had a big bed all to himself, but I think he would have rather been with the girls! After we got them in bed, we played cards (euchre…not that I know how to spell that) and just talked. We had a really great time!

So, Saturday morning, we all got up and got ready. My kids were the first ones up….no surprise there! We got all of our stuff out of the room and checked out and then had the most wonderful breakfast at the hotel – they had a buffet and the waffles (which I am really not a big fan of) were to die for! They were like little pieces of heaven! J So, after our big breakfast, we went to the waterpark! This time, Scott and I kept all the kids so that Jason and Tera could ride some slides….then they took all the kids and we did the same. That was fun! Scott and I were over the weight limit on one of them, so our butts dragged a little, but it was still very, very fun! So, that was pretty much how the day went…I volunteered to sacrifice (lol) and keep the girls a lot….I am not that into water slides, and I had so much fun in the wave pool and the lazy river, that I didn’t mind one little bit! So, the kids were getting tired and we were getting hungry, so we got dressed and went to have lunch at the restaurant/bar before we headed home. We really had a wonderful time! I am ready to go back again!!! Seriously, the kids were both asleep in the van before we even got to the interstate…and it isn’t that far off the highway! We got home and Mom and Dad brought Gracie home and told us about the house they found and put an offer on. I wish we could’ve visited with them more, but they were tired and we were tired and Isaac was pestering them to spend the night….so, we pretty much cleaned house and did laundry on Saturday night. I spend a lot of time holding Gracie! I missed that little girl! I am glad we didn’t take her…we would see babies there and miss our babies, but not enough to have brought them and had to worry with them the whole time. That wouldn’t have been much fun.

So, that was our little get-away! Sunday…we got up and went to church. We decided to just come home after church…I went and got my nails done and then Hubby went grocery shopping…and then he went to Men’s Group and I enjoyed a nice quiet evening with Gracie (the other two were already in bed!). Oh…I wanted to say that our Sunday School class is really great! We have such a diverse group….the discussions are great and it is just really nice to have the all women’s class!!!! Ok….that is all I wanted to say about that!

So, Monday was work and that was fairly uneventful! I had to leave at 1:00 to get Isaac from school, instead of 2. They had an early dismissal. We got home and I worked and he played. I don’t really remember what we did on Monday evening…..nothing, I guess. OH! Now I remember….I took Isaac to the eye doctor with me and had a HORRIBLE experience there. My appointment was at 5:30. So, I got there at about 5:15 because I had never been there before and figured there would be paperwork. The girl was rude to me for being early. So, I did the paperwork…and waited…and waited…and waited. It was 5:50 and I was about to go tell them I was leaving when they came and got me. They took me back for my “pre-doctor screening”. Then they put me back in the lobby to wait. It was about 6:00 now. So….6:26 rolls around and I am still waiting. I went up to the receptionist (who was really nice) and told her I was leaving – this is ridiculous. She tells me that my doctor’s appointment wasn’t until 6:00, but he was running late. I told her no, my appointment was at 5:30…she says that is for the pre-work (that took 10 minutes)…I wasn’t to see the doctor until 6:00 – what a dumb way to run your appointments! Whatever. I left and I am not going back…just try to make me pay for that appointment! That was horrible!!!!! So, Isaac and I went home and had dinner and then Scott took him and Faith Anne to the store to get Valentines. I had bought him some, but he was writing his name in the wrong place…in the “To” spot instead of the “From” spot….he started crying when I pointed it out to him….so I told him we would get new ones. They found Scooby Dooby ones, so that made him very happy.

Well, we have an appointment with his teacher on Thursday night. I think they are going to tell us that he needs to re-do Kindergarten. There are just some things he is not getting…so I am preparing myself for that. I am sure I will cry with the teacher, but oh well! That is who I am and I can’t help it. Isaac will be very disappointed, but I would rather have him re-do Kindergarten than to have him struggle in school. We will see. Scott is pretty upset and doesn’t want to hold him back, but I am going to trust the teacher. We knew this was a possibility when we sent him at 4. So, say a little prayer for us tomorrow night.

So, anyways….Tuesday….well, I got up and saw all the snow outside and saw that Isaac’s school was cancelled. I got ready for work anyways…and then ended up just working from home. I was on the phone most of the morning and then worked like crazy in the afternoon because we ended up closing our branches early…so all that work falls on me. It was quite interesting! Scott stayed home…who can sell cable door-to-door when there is 5 – 6 inches of snow and 2 – 3 inches of ice on the ground…and still falling? So, he did a good job of keeping the kids from bothering me too much. It was nice to be able to work from home for the whole day! I loved being able to hug and kiss the kids occasionally! We had chili for dinner and just stayed in all day and night! It was nice!

This morning…got up and got ready for work and then got on-line for work at 5:51 and the morning was crazy! I sat in the same spot and talked on the phone, sat on conference calls, sent emails, etc. until 9:00! By that point, the kids were driving me crazy and I decided to go to work. LOL I guess yesterday they weren’t stir crazy yet, so they were good. Not this morning! So, I braved the bad roads (they haven’t plowed my street at all!!!) and made my way into work! There is hardly anyone here…and things have died down now. Our branches opened late today…so that is what my entire day has been consumed with! There is so much “behind the scenes” to deal with – no one thinks about that!!!

So, that is about it! Everyone is doing fine….Mom and Dad have sold their Kentucky house and are buying another house in my town….it is bigger than what they have now. So, next they will be selling their house here! Things have gone so smoothly for them so far, so please pray that that continues.

Well, I guess I have rambled enough for one day! I hope you all have a Happy Valentines Day! Love ya!!!

See my real post below this one....

But I just had to pop in to say that I lost 3.2 pounds this week!!! I was SHOCKED at WW because I just knew I had gained...so YAHOO!! I am down 11.2 since starting!

Let it Snow!!!!

Brrr….I am writing from cold and snowy Ohio! Actually, it is much warmer today (8 degrees with a high of 16 today) than it has been! ***singing “we’re having a heat wave….a tropical heat wave…*** end singing. But the snow is so pretty! I guess we got about 5 inches or so. Just enough to cause problems on the roads…but also enough for my Dad to play with the kids in the snow today! They are going sledding and Isaac is so excited! I don’t know if they will take Faith Anne or not…I am sure she will want to go. I wish I could watch them – notice I didn’t say that I wanted to do it with them – I like to be warm! But I am sure they will have fun!

So, really not a lot going on…I am just bored here at work, so I thought I would post! How’s that for honesty? I am also in a very goofy mood (in case you hadn’t already noticed). And I am dreading going to Weight Watcher’s today. I KNOW that I have gained this week. It has been TOM – my first one since I had Gracie – and I just can’t stop eating. Now, mind you, the things I am choosing to eat are not “bad” for me…and they are low in points….but 10 snacks at 2 points each add up, ya know? LOL I might be exaggerating a bit…but seriously, I could eat all day long! So, anyways…I am not looking forward to weighing in today, but I am going to make myself go and suck it up. Maybe that will help me get back on track! I just am not motivated to do what it takes to lose the weight. I want to do it…but I am really struggling!!! Maybe I need to challenge someone again…that helped me last time! Which is also weird, because I am really not that competitive of a person…at least I don’t see myself that way… again, weird mood…rambling!

SO! Isaac hasn’t had school all week due to the cold and snow. He has missed his friends! Oh, I have to tell you about this….last Friday when my mom picked him up from school, he told her that he wanted to go sledding with his friend Christopher. Well….first of all, there wasn’t enough snow and secondly, my mom had the girls and it just wasn’t going to work. Well, Christopher’s mom called me on Saturday – the boys had swapped numbers at school – to see if they could get together to play (how weird is it that my son is old enough for that!). Well, it was already Saturday evening and Scott was at PT practice, so I said no…and they couldn’t do it on Sunday because we had church, Grand Court and then the SB party at church. So, I said “maybe another time”. Well, fast forward to Monday….I am at work and making calls for Isaac’s Valentine’s Party next week (remember…I am the home-room Mom, so I have to line up people to bring snacks, etc.). Well, I call Christopher’s house….his sister answered and I asked for her mom….she said that she was on her other phone but hold on. Well, she must’ve taken the phone to where her mom was and put it down. I heard her tell her mom that someone was on the phone. Well, the mom continues to talk on her cell phone….and I can hear the entire conversation….I heard her tell whomever she was talking to that she had a felony conviction. I was mortified….I almost hung up, but before I had a chance to, the mom got on the phone and she was mortified that I had been sitting there. She must’ve given her daughter the evil eye…she said that she didn’t know I was holding and she was having a very private conversation on the other line….I just told her that I was at work, so I wasn’t really paying attention anyways. What could I say? So, needless to say…..Isaac will not be going to their house anytime soon! I guess I should beat them to it and ask him to come over to our house, that way I don’t have to say no to their house….very interesting! Hopefully you were able to follow that….it was quite comical!

So, anyways….my parents have signed an offer on their house in Kentucky! Praise the Lord! I know that is a huge burden off their shoulders! They will probably close and need to be out by the first part of March! So, they are trying to find a bigger house here to buy so that they can just move once. I don’t know if that will work or not…but they are looking! They called me yesterday to tell me they were here looking at houses….I didn’t know they were coming up! It was nice because since we got the snow, it gave Dad a reason to be here and go sledding with the kids! And I was starting to worry about Mom trying to drive up here in the snow….or not coming at all. So, they picked the kiddos up from my Aunt’s house and then we went over later and had dinner at their house….then Scott and I took Gracie home and the other two spent the night with them. That was nice! Scott and I don’t get much time to just talk – without a million interruptions – so that was a nice quiet evening for us! Gracie is the easy one right now.

I am so excited….Jodi, Mandy, Chelle (Mandy’s sister) and Jeanna (our skinny cousin) are all going to Women of Faith in April!!! I am going to miss the Women’s Retreat at church….but I know that we will have a great weekend – both spiritually and emotionally! Some good cousin-bonding time! Man, I am so blessed to have such great family. Thanks to Mandy for the idea!!! I bought our tickets today…and now we just need to find a hotel! All of them that are within walking distance are sold-out….so might have to get a cab again! Jodi is a pro at flagging down cabs, so that shouldn’t be a problem….LOL!

Ummm…what else? See, I didn’t have much to say….but I am bored! We are going to the Great Wolf Lodge on Friday….I am starting to get excited about that! I just have a lot to do before we go! I don’t think that Faith Anne has a swim-suit that fits her….I don’t know where Isaac’s is….and I think that Scott needs a new pair of trunks! So, I have to do that tonight. I am leaving work a bit early on Friday, taking Gracie to her 4 month appointment and then we are heading out! I think we are going to do an early dinner before we start all the swimming and stuff at the Lodge. Lord knows the kids won’t want to get out once we get started, so we might as well eat before. I will let you all know how it is…I have heard really good things about it. I bet it will be busy since it is so cold outside!

I want to vent for a minute about my MIL. I am so frustrated with her because she really does nothing to help us. I mean, I know it isn’t her responsibility, but it would be nice if she offered to help, or even just helped when we ask her. We really don’t ask her at all anymore. It has just gotten to the point that she is never able to help us, so why bother? I mean, she keeps telling us that she doesn’t get to spend time with the kids…blah, blah, blah…and then when we ask her to watch them, she has a million reasons why she can’t! Case in point, this weekend…we asked her to watch Gracie and she still doesn’t know if she can or not…she says because of her work (she is working a second job right now). But…we asked her about 3 or 4 weeks ago…and she is telling Scott that she doesn’t know her schedule for the weekend…what? That doesn’t make any kind of sense. And….she when the schools are closed (like they have been all week) she doesn’t have to work either…..and Scott talked to her all three days…and not once did she offer to watch the kids. Not once! Now, we were able to take them to my Aunt’s….but it would’ve been nice for her to offer so we didn’t have to spend all that money. We have tickets to a concert later this month on a Saturday night….I am thinking about asking an older lady at church to watch the kids for us. I am tired of always asking my parents…and I know that Laura (MIL) will probably not be able to or want to help us….so I am just going to ask someone else and pay them, I think. It is just frustrating that we can’t count on her. Okay….sorry to vent….but sometimes we just need to do that!!!!

Well, I think that is all I can find to ramble about today! I hope you are all staying warm! I wish some of you would post more often to give me something to read while I am at work! LOL

Love you all!!!!

P.S. Please keep our worship leader and his wife in your prayers....she just had a miscarriage - their first. Many of you know how she is feeling....and they could both certainly use our prayers!

Snow Day...but No Snow?!?!

So is it bad that I was upset that Isaac didn’t have school today? For some reason, all the schools in the area closed…I guess because it is so cold. I wish work would close because it is too cold! I work in a big Tower – and they are dumb and turn the heat off on the weekend (to save money) and so it has still not warmed up in here! I have a little space-heater, but it is still FREEZING in here! Anyways…since Isaac didn’t have school, I had no excuse to leave here early and work from home! I look forward to that now! So, I was a little bummed by that!!! Oh well!!!!

Enough of my whining…I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I did – but it just went by so stinking fast! We didn’t do anything too exciting….but I will re-cap it for you anyways!

Friday night…Scott went and got Chipotle for dinner (yum!) and then he and Isaac went to a basketball game. The Girls and I went to the Mall. I didn’t really want to go anywhere…but Faith Anne wanted to go! So, we went to the Mall and she was very upset because she just assumed that Mandy & Abbey would be there (that is where we met once a week while I was on maternity leave). So, I got to shop a little bit at Parisian (got 2 shirts for $14!!!) and then she played….and then we shared a pretzel…and then we left! Gracie slept the entire time, but woke up mad and hungry on the way home! So, when we got home, I fed her and then soon after, Scott and Isaac got home. We got all the kids to bed and then we went to bed. I was so exhausted!

Gracie slept from like 11:30ish to 9:00!!!! It was so WONDERFUL! I got up at 6:00 and had to change Isaac’s sheets – he had an accident (too much water!). But I went right back to sleep and didn’t actually get out of bed until almost 11:00! Seriously! Now, I wasn’t sleeping that whole time….playing with the kids and what-not, but that was heavenly! It has been a long time since I got to do that! Have I mentioned how much I love our king bed??? So, I got up and got moving and Isaac and I headed out to a birthday party for Kelli’s (KK’s) son – Logan! It was at a bowling alley. We had fun! I stayed to help her with all the 5 and 6 year olds. Isaac was the only one there that doesn’t go to school with them…so I was a little concerned that he wouldn’t have fun… but he had a blast! He just fit right in. We went home after that and pretty much just hung out at the house the rest of the night. Scott made a really good dinner and then he went to PT practice…the kids were pretty well-behaved.

Sunday…was a very busy day! We got to church and had a good Sunday School class…I cried…big surprise there….and service was good. Then we came home and had a quick bite and I got busy making White Chili. Then we rushed off to Grand Court (a nursing home). Our Small Group has decided to do that once or month or something like that…I am not sure of how often. But we got there and Scott and I lead music. It was such a pleasure to sing those old hymns and see the faces of those attending just light up with the words. Kerry did the message….and the kids – all the kids – were so well-behaved! They were all (the Pranaitis 4 and our 3) sitting with Grandma Pat and another lady…and Kaylen and they were so quiet and well behaved. It was very surprising and nice! Anyways, Kerry’s message was so sweet and he was telling them that they should remember no matter how old they are, God can use them right where they are. He said that they are such a blessing to us and he got choked up and it was just so sweet. He is such a sincere person….it was nice. So, we left there and headed home for a quick minute. I threw together a dessert to take to church and then we were off to church for the Super Bowl party. I won for “most original chili”….because mine was the only white chili. It was pretty good, if I do say so myself! We had a good time at church. It is always fun to hang out with everyone. I feel like I ran around the whole time keeping a tab on the kids, but they were pretty good for the most part. At one point, Isaac got locked in a room by some older kids, but Scott scared them (Lol) so it was alright. Actually, he just told them to keep in mind how big Isaac is and paybacks would not be fun! LOL But other that that, it was fun. I don’t know if anyone ended up going to Women’s Group last night or not….I didn’t. I was just too tired! We got home and I straightened up the house and then lay down with Gracie. She and I both feel asleep pretty quickly. I didn’t even wake up when Scott came and got her to feed her before bed.

At some point, Faith Anne got into bed with Scott and I last night. I woke up to him getting up to go to the bathroom and felt beside me….and she was there! So, who knows? Gracie woke up at 5:00 to eat….I guess her sleeping schedule isn’t real defined yet. She went right back to sleep after I fed her, though. We haven’t swaddled her for the last two nights….she has done alright with it. I always hate to give that up because I think it helps them to sleep…but she wasn’t staying swaddled, so I worried about her getting smothered under her blanket. She is so cute…and really such a good baby!

So, that was my weekend in review…LOL. This is going to be another busy week…but we are going to The Great Wolf Lodge on Friday, so I am looking forward to that. I don’t know the plans yet, but my mom is going to keep Gracie for us. She might be taking her back to Kentucky with her. Kelli and I are going to our Zumba class on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday this week. Maybe we will finally get it down! I doubt it….but it is certainly worth a good laugh!

I hope you all have a great week…I will talk to you soon!!! Love ya!

Ramblings....and Deep Thoughts!

Hey everybody! I hope everyone is having a great day! I am so glad that it is Thursday! All week I have been thinking it is Thursday….but now that it is, it doesn’t feel like Thursday! Does that make sense? And I really don’t know what is so special about Thursday….other than that it is close to Friday!!! Yeah, I know I am rambling about stupid stuff. But that is the kind of mood I am in!

Before I forget….I lost 1.2 pounds this week on WW. I am not doing so good on that….and it is frustrating! I just can’t seem to get-with-it! However, I did go to Zumba with Kelli on Monday & Tuesday (btw…I am not going to use nicknames anymore, that is driving me crazy!). I really think that that helps a lot – the activity! We have so much fun! I would’ve gone last night, but I helped out at church last night. But it is a ton of fun…we laugh a lot, which is also a good way to burn calories! But anyways….still, I thought I was going to gain weight (because I ate so much at the Women’s thing on Saturday…that was delicious, but not good in points)….so I was pretty happy with a loss yesterday!

Okay…different topic! That one is no fun!

The kids are all doing good – everyone is healthy (knock on wood) and doing good! It is certainly interesting having a family with 3 kids! Things aren’t as easy as they used to be. I really can’t explain it, but it is interesting! I feel like we are busy all the time – and that is only going to get worse!

Isaac is doing okay in school. He got his report card for the 2nd nine weeks and there are some areas that he is doing great in and other areas that he needs to improve in. It is so weird to be the mommy when it comes to this school stuff. I was always an A+ kid and always in honor classes and all that….it just came very easily to me. So, to be the parent and to be worried about how my kid is doing in school…that is all so new to me! I know that we started him early, so that is a big part of why he is struggling. But the teacher says he gives up easily…or he will just ask for help instead of trying to do it himself. So, we have to figure out how to work on that. The biggest thing is that we need to be working with him more at home….which is so much easier said than done! Especially having a very demanding 2 year old and a baby! And I think his other problem is that he enjoys the social aspect of school so much that he doesn’t realize that that is not the only reason he is at school! He gets that from both of his parents, I think! But anyways…I can’t believe that I have a kid old enough to be bringing home a report card! Man, time flies by so fast!!!

Faith Anne is well, Faith Anne! She did poop on the potty once this week at my Aunt’s house. Barbara is so good at working with her…we are too lazy about it at home. Plus I get frustrated because she shows no interest. Isaac was so easy…this is a whole new ballgame! So, anyways….once she pooped on the potty! Baby steps are better than no steps, I guess. She has been very sweet this week. One minute I am ready to strangle her because she doesn’t listen or whatever…then the next minute she is hugging and kissing you and telling you how much she loves you. Yeah, she knows how to play us! She has been waking up nearly every night and trying to come and get into bed with us. Luckily, she is pretty easy to take back to her own bed. I don’t know why that is happening so much lately, though. She is VERY excited about going to Abbey’s birthday party tonight! When I was on maternity leave, we would meet with Mandy and Abbey every Thursday and she is DEFINITELY missing those two! She calls them Mandy-Abbey….like all in one word. Very cute. And on Sunday, the other Abbi (well, one of 3 that we know, actually!) but Dawn’s Abbi asked me where Faith Anne’s cousin is? Dawn and I just looked at each other…but I think that Abbi has heard us talk about our cousin Abbey…so she asked about her! How cute. Kids are such little sponges….so “Be careful little mouths what you say!”

And Gracie….she is so stinking cute! I swear that I hold her and look at her and think how uncanny it is how much she resembles Faith Anne at that age – just not as much hair! She is so chubby! She is not sleeping as well as we would like her to. Scott tries to feed her once more before he goes to bed (11 or later) and she still wakes up sometime between 4:50 and 6:30 to eat again. I know that isn’t bad….but it could be better! The other night is was 3:30! I think we need to start feeding her cereal in the evening…that would probably help. She still spits up so much, I am a little leery to add too much into her diet. Maybe that will help, though. Anyways….when she wakes us up so early (well, I get up at 5:15 anyways…but you know what I mean), I want to be mad at her….but she just laughs and smiles at you…and you can’t be mad at her for depriving you of sleep! So, she knows how to play us too! We got her 3 month pictures back and they are very cute. I will have to scan them…but I still don’t remember how to post pictures on here, so it might not do us any good. Anyways….she is doing good. She is really starting to get active – grabbing things and laughing and kicking her feet a lot. It is so fun to see her interact with Isaac and Faith Anne. They just love her so much!

Everything else at our house is going pretty good too. God has just blessed us so much. Scott’s job is going well. We did our taxes (thanks to Turbo Tax) and we are getting back a lot of money! I kinda thought it would be more than what it is….but it is still $2,000 more than last year….so I guess that is pretty good! Our plan is that I am going to get Lasik eye surgery done (YAHOO!!!) and we are going to buy a new shed. We’ll see. Like someone else said (I think it was Sara)…it seems like something always happens and you have to spend the money on something else. But…I am going to a doctor on Monday to talk about the surgery. Scott’s insurance gives us a discount on the procedure (it doesn’t cover it), but you have to see a doctor first who then refers you to a surgeon. So, who knows how long this whole process will take. I am so excited!!! It is a lot of money, but we are going to put some down and then take advantage of their interest-free financing for a year. It will be so worth it in the long run. I mean, seriously. Even with insurance, last year when I went to get my glasses, it still cost me a couple of hundred dollars. And it only covers every other year. And I wear my glasses all the time…so they won’t last me two years! So, that will be very exciting!!!

My parents are up here…both of them! I saw my Dad yesterday for the first time since New Years….you can really tell that the anxieties of everything going on with them right now (retirement, selling their house, etc.) is really worrying him. He just didn’t seem like himself. I can only imagine what they must be going through. As exciting as it is for him to be able to retire….it is also just as scary! My kids were so ecstatic to see my dad! I got teary just watching Faith Anne with him. She just sat on his lap and looked up at him with sheer adoration. I was on my way to work this morning thinking about that…and remembering when I was a kid and sitting on my Dad’s lap. I used to love to come downstairs in the wee hours of the morning and sit on his lap with my head on his chest and listen to him talk. I remember that as if it were yesterday….from the smell of the coffee to the warmth of our old kitchen. Anyways (tearing up again!), I drive past Hospice every morning and I always say a prayer for the people coming and going from there….and I just started crying today. I guess seeing my parents enter this new stage of their lives has just got my head spinning on the realization that they are not immortal. I have always thought of them as invincible and all that….but there will come a day that I will have to wake up in the morning without them….and man, that hit me like a ton of bricks today – not just with them, but with all the people in my life. It made me think of how I take advantage of every morning…of every minute…of every phone call…of every “I love you”…and I need to stop running from this thing to the next and really take the time to make sure that the people in my life know how much I love them. So, talk about deep thoughts this morning! I know that God is nudging at my heart….in more ways than one! Take the time today to tell someone you love them…and then say a prayer for that person!

On another topic, I am not sure if I have shared this here yet or not….but my MIL and her boyfriend are getting pretty serious. He is basically living with her on the weekends…and has his house on the market. She says that he isn’t moving in with her until they are engaged. Whatever. Anyways, yesterday she sent me an email about something else and I responded…but then I really feel like God laid it on my heart to say something else to her. So, I put in the email that I just wanted her to know that I was praying for her and her relationship with Rob. I told her that I was praying that God would bless their relationship and that it would continue to grow. I told her that I know that it would be so much easier on both of them – financially – to just have one house payment and upkeep – but that I hoped she was careful and sure that he was the one she wants to spend the rest of her life with first. I also told her to make sure that Rob cares for her as much as she cares for him and to guard her heart. I told her that she is so loving and giving and I just don’t want to see her get hurt. I also told her that kids only want what is best for their parents…and that is all that Scott and I want for her. I also said that I wasn’t putting Rob down….we would scrutinize anyone she is with….but that we love her and just want her to be happy. Well, I haven’t heard back from her since that. So, I am assuming she took it the wrong way. I mentioned it to Scott last night…just in case she says something to him. I really didn’t want to offend her…I just – at the spur of the moment – felt compelled to say something about it. Scott has said stuff to her…and bless his heart, he doesn’t always say the right thing….or if he does, his delivery sometimes comes off as being judgmental instead of being concerned….so I just felt like I needed to say something. So, it might back-fire on me. Please keep her in your prayers. I really do worry about her….there are quite a few of her family members who don’t like Rob…and Scott and I definitely have our reservations about him….so you do begin to wonder if there is a good reason for that. In my heart of hearts, I think she is just settling. I think she could so much better….but I think she has just settled on him. And I really can’t blame her….but it makes me worry about her!

Okay…I have rambled just about long enough! If you are still with me….thanks! I forgot to mention that I am typing this on my ultra-cool new laptop! I just got I yesterday and I LOVE it!!!!

Have a great Thursday…and a great Super Bowl Weekend!

Love you all!!!

Has it really been that long?

Hello Everyone! And Happy Birthday to Booty! I am sure that all of you, like me, have been praying for (and will continue to pray for) HBM and Elvis as they welcome their new addition into the world today! On my way to work, I was praying for them and thinking about how awesome this miracle is! Some of you might remember sitting in a cabin at Butler Springs – just a little over a year ago – laying hands on and praying with HBM that God would open her womb for a precious baby. Isn’t HE amazing? It might not have happened in OUR timing…but it happened in HIS perfect timing. So, I can’t wait to hear the great news!!!!

So! What is going on with Mac-N-Cheese? Well, it has been one crazy week – both at work and home! I am so very glad that today is Friday! I am looking forward to the Women’s Retreat tomorrow….but I wish it started a bit later! Oh well! I miss being able to sleep in….that is one thing I really miss about being off! Not so much sleeping in, because kids don’t do that well….but being able to take naps! I wish they would institute a “nap policy” at work! LOL

Let’ see….I had two big meetings at work this week. They were both on Wednesday – back to back. So, that was a very long and stressful day! And Monday and Tuesday were stressful – getting ready for the meeting! Yesterday was much better – but just trying to get caught up from being behind because of the meeting. Oh, and my computer at work- crashed! I knew it was on its last leg, so I had already ordered my new one (it isn’t in yet). But on Wednesday, the day of the meeting…when my computer was the only one with all the presentations loaded on it….my computer crashed! It went into a perpetual “starting up mode” and wouldn’t power on. That made the morning interesting! I was working fast and furious to create new PowerPoints at the last minute! So, I have a loaner computer now…until my new one comes in! I am very excited about getting a new laptop!!! Yippee!

So, anyways…work is work. Stinky Pete is the same. I am not as frustrated with him as I used to be (before leave)….but it is building! The time off definitely helped…my frame of mind…but it won’t take long. It’s funny how the new girl was so smitten with him a few weeks ago….but she is already starting to see his true colors. It didn’t take long! She is nice….and I think we will work together just fine. But, she is very vulgar…..I mean, she has a potty mouth and cusses like in every sentence. That gets annoying. But other than that….she and I get along fine. It is just hard working with her when I feel like I have to be so guarded about how frustrated I am with SP because I don’t know if I can trust her…..if that makes sense. Although, maybe it is good that I can’t vent with her as much…..maybe it will help me. I am rambling….

So, at home….Monday night, I spent the entire evening cleaning our bedroom. I don’t know why in the world that room gets so stinking dusty…but it is annoying! It looked like I hadn’t dusted in ions, but I just did last week! Well, since we were getting our new king size bed on Wednesday, we had to move things around. So, that took me forever! We had to un-hook the computer and all that stuff to move it….move the bed….blah, blah, blah. So we got that done! Tuesday night…Hubby took the two older kids to a basketball game and I took Petunia to the gym with me. I left her in the nursery and KK and I went to a zumba class. Let me tell you….that was a trip! Basically, zumba is dance aerobics….like the salsa and the rumba and stuff like that. Well, we decided to do it….so we picked our spots in the very back of the class. We figured that we should really be close to the instructor so we could follow her, but we didn’t want to distract everyone else by making fools of ourselves, so we got in the back. Well, we started and for the first few songs, we were laughing so hard at times that we couldn’t even do it! It was very funny!!! Then, this lady joined the class late…and she stood behind us. I told her that that wasn’t going to work, but she didn’t believe me. Turns out, she was an instructor too who just wanted to take the class. Yeah….so after about 2 songs, she moved in front of us. I guess we were making her look bad….lol. It helped having her in front of us….but there ain’t no way I could ever look as good as she did. I am definitely a white girl with no rhythm! Well, KK and I both are! We had a great time, but we sure looked like fools! If you haven’t tried it, you really should! It is a great workout – but more fun then the treadmill! So, that was Tuesday night… then on Wednesday, I didn’t get home from work until nearly 7:00. Hubby and I-Man had church and MIL had the two girls….so I had a little bit of time alone! I ate a quick bite and then had to run out to buy some new blankets for our new bed! I had bought new sheets….but didn’t think about blankets! Luckily, I had been buying king-size quilts, so we had that. I LOVE our new bed! I honestly do not know why we waited so long to get a king size bed! (well, actually I do…money!) It fits great in our room….doesn’t crowd it at all…and we have both slept heavenly in it! LOVE!!!!

So, not much else going on. I feel like I am just rambling all over the board here. I keep getting interrupted, so this isn’t a very good journal entry!

Ummm……the kids are all doing great. Petunia has a bit of a runny nose and I think she might be starting to cut teeth already. She constantly chews on her hands or her pacifier. She is just so pretty….and cute! She laughs all the time and is just a good baby. She is starting to reach for things and really interact with everyone – especially her brother and sister! FAB is as ornery as ever…but also as cute! Yesterday, my mom tried to get her to poop in the potty….well, soon after she got off the pot, she pooped in her diaper. I guess she walked out to where my mom was and put her hands on her hips and told my mom that she needed to change her diaper. She has such a little attitude! I just love to hear her talk…it is so cute! She is kinda hard to understand, but she has a lot to say! Hubby played with her and I-Man in the snow on Sunday….it was her first time to do that! They had a good time and Hubby let them bury him in the snow. Well, I went back inside (I was video-taping it from the porch) and Hubby started to bury I-Man in the snow….FAB didn’t like that! She was crying because she thought he was hurting I-Man. She can be sweet when she wants to be! I-Man has had fun playing in the snow nearly every day. He still loves school – we are supposed to get his report card today. I am anxious to see how he is doing and if he will be able to move onto 1st grade next year or if we need to hold him back. I am open to whatever his teachers feel is best, but he will be disappointed if he has to take Kindergarten again. But I would rather him be disappointed now, then down the road. So, we will see.

Hubby didn’t win the trip to Cancun! Bummer! But seriously, I am so proud of him for being in the running! He actually ended the year as the #3 salesperson! The funny thing is….to win the trip you had to sell a bunch of extra stuff (like HBO and NFL stuff)…well, he didn’t even focus on that and he still almost won it! So, now that he knows...there is always next year! But anyways….work is good for him. It is just a really cold time for knocking on doors every day!

We are going to the Great Wolf Lodge the weekend after next. I had been wanting to go…but then we had dinner with some friends and they suggested it, so we are going to go with them! It is funny how Hubby told me it was too expensive, but when they wanted to go too, it was alright! LOL They have a daughter the same age as FAB – so they will do well together. We are trying to get MIL or someone to keep Petunia over-night so we don’t have to take her. It wouldn’t be much fun for her…and it would be easier to just have the older two. So, we are looking forward to that!

And then also in February…we are going to a Chris Tomlin concert with King and Queen! There are two other people too…I think one is Jeremy Camp and the other is that Giglio guy who is a great speaker. I am really looking forward to that! Hopefully we can find someone to watch all the kids for that night! I just thought of that!!!!

So, like I said…things have been busy! It seems that I am busier now than I was before. I guess because when I was pregnant, we didn’t do much in the evenings – and I really didn’t do much around the house. So, since I am now working full-time and not pregnant, my evenings are busy again – with the kids and the house-work! I swear we do laundry every night! How is that possible?!?!?

Well, I have rambled long enough! I better get back to work! You all have a great day and see some of you this weekend!

Love ya!

Weekend Update!

Hello Ladies! I hope you all had a nice weekend…mine was a long one, since we were closed yesterday. I wish every weekend was a three-day weekend! Wouldn’t that be nice? Something about that extra day just makes me happy! Oh well!!!

So, let’s see….I did go and get my new phone. The guy at work was laughing at me because I was so indecisive about the whole thing…shocker! One minute, I told him I was getting it….and then the next minute, I told him I wasn’t. But I did. FAB and I went out on Friday night and got it. She is so cute…I wish I could bottle her up and keep her at this sweet stage forever. Now, don’t get my wrong…she has her very rotten moments….but lately there have been more sweet and loving moments then rotten ones. Anyways…she had fun at Circuit City with me while we were waiting for my phone.

So…that is what we did Friday night. Oh, Hubby and I bought a movie-on-demand. We watched “The Break-Up”. That was a cute movie….but the ending was really dumb. So then…Saturday morning, the kiddos (the older 2) got up early…but that was fine because MIL was coming to get them early. So, she picked them up and then Hubby and I got ready and took Petunia to have her 3 month pictures done. It was kinda nice to just be the three of us. She doesn’t get a lot of one-on-one time with us. So….she was fine for her pictures. Gotta love the cheap prices at Wal-Mart! I have to laugh because when I-Man was a baby, we would take him to the expensive places for pictures…but not now Buddy! LOL So, anyways…after that, we grabbed some Chipotle and headed home. I left Hubby and Petunia to go and get my nails done. I went to the new nail salon – called The Venetian – at the Greene. Man, is that place nice!?!? I want to go back there and get a pedicure. It is just so beautiful in there….they really pamper you! It only cost a little bit more than where I was going….and it was so worth it! So, then I went home and Hubby and Petunia were still alone…no louder, older kids! LOL When MIL dropped them off, I laid down with FAB and I-Man for a nap…that was so nice! We got up and got dinner and then Hubby left for PT practice. The kids played really well together. They were cracking me up because they were pretending that the couch was a boat and there were sharks in the water. Well, FAB’s “girl” (one of her dolls that she calls her “girl”) got eaten by the shark….and FAB started to cry. They have such vivid imaginations. So….they played for a long time and just had fun pretending! So, Hubby came home and I left! KK picked me up and we went to the Greene. We were seeing a late movie, but had some time to kill….so we walked around for a bit. Then we went and saw “We Are Marshall”. It was a very good movie….and it didn’t hurt that Matthew as in it! Very good movie.

Then on Sunday….Hubby was helping with the early service….so it was me getting the three kiddos ready for church. I was pooped by the time I got there! I know that Hubby does it every day…but it is a little different since he doesn’t have to curl his hair or put on make-up or anything. But it wasn’t that bad. We were a little late…but the service ran late, so it worked out! Sunday School was really good – there were so many women there! I was in a teary mood (shocker!!!), so I teared up a few times…but it was good! The sermon was good too…It was a great Sunday of Worship! After church we went to lunch at Tumbleweed with SIL and Little B. We had THE BEST service we have ever had there…I actually sent an email to their corporate about it….we usually have HORRIBLE service, but we were shocked this time! After that, I dropped Hubby and the kids off and went and picked up Detergent. She and I went to the mall for the afternoon. We were going to go to the Outlet malls…but it was such a nasty, rainy day…we decided to just go to the regular mall. We had fun. She cracks me up…everything we looked at, that she liked…she would say how “beautiful” it was. You can tell she is into knitting and stuff….because she would really notice the textures of things. Anyways….we had fun and we didn’t spend too much money! I dropped her off and went home and cleaned drawers and closets and stuff like that. The kids had fun “helping” me. Hubby went to Men’s Group and the kids went to bed….it was a nice quiet evening with Petunia.

Yesterday, Hubby slept all morning! He wasn’t feeling well. So, we had a lazy morning around the house. The kids played all morning while we took it easy. When Hubby finally got moving, we decided to go buy a new bed! We have been talking about it for a while….and our mattress is getting uncomfortable…and I have been wanting a king size bed for soooooo long! Well, Hubby finally gave in! So, we went to Morris and bought a king size bed! They are delivering it next week….and I cannot wait! I am so excited to have a big bed! Hubby is a major bed-hog! And the kids love to get in bed with us on the weekends…now they will be able to more often! I don’t mean to sleep….just to lay with us and wrestle and stuff. They rarely sleep with us…very rarely! After we bought the new bed…I ran to the Vera Bradley store and ran in and got a purse I have been wanting for a long time. I left Hubby and the kids in the van and just ran in to get it. I was going into withdrawal because I hadn’t bought a new purse in more than 6 months!!!! So, I bought it! I really do have a problem. For all you Vera lovers, I bought her new micro-fiber hipster. Her new spring colors are out and I really don’t like them very much. There is one that I like, but not so much with the others. Anyways, we came home and then Hubby and I-Man went back out to the grocery…. The rest of the day wasn’t very exciting.

So, that is about it for our weekend. Not a lot to report…but it was a nice weekend, even if the weather was stinky! I hate all this rain! I would rather it be snow…that would be prettier!

Well…I guess that is about it for today! I better get to work! You all have a great week and I will talk to you soon! Love ya!!!!

Phones, WW and more!!!

Hello Ladies! I hope you are all doing well. Can you all believe that it is already January 11? Where does the time go? I guess that time really does go by much faster as you get older!

So…not really a lot to update you on, but I just felt like posting! So, we will see where this post takes us! I never know where I am going to ramble to next!

First week of Weight Watchers...lost 5 pounds!!!! I was excited about that! Now only a lot more to go!

Let’s see…work…well, is work. Quite frankly it stinks! I hate that I am not working with KK anymore….I hate having to see Stinky Pete…or even just talk to him. It has gotten to the point where I just don’t like him, so no matter what he does it gets on my nerves. That isn’t fair to him…or really to me either…but that is the way it is! I keep whining to Hubby that I want to go part-time….but so far, he hasn’t given in! He did say the other night that if they get back a sales program that they used to have (it was called debt-forgive and basically if you had had cable before and not paid for it…they would “forgive” that debt and let you start over). Anyways, he said that if they got that back, maybe then I could go part-time (that drastically increases the number of sales). So, that was the first time he even made it sound like a possibility! But honestly, Monday and Tuesday of this week, I worked in the office until 2:00 and then left to get I-man from school and then went home and worked from home until 5:00. It was SOOOOO nice to be home by 2:30! I don’t technically work again until 3:00, so I was able to get I-Man a snack and settled in on a project and tidy up the house, get dinner “ready” (thawed out, etc.) and it was just so nice! I was in a much better mood the entire evening then when I have had a long day at work and rush to get the kids and rush to get home and get dinner. It would be so nice to do that all the time! But, as I was telling Hair-Dye yesterday, that is in the perfect world and we don’t live in the perfect world, unfortunately! So, anyways….that is work! Aren’t you glad you asked…oh, wait…you didn’t ask! LOL

Hubby and I both got new cell phones on Saturday….but he has already taken his back to get a new one and I am going to take mine back tomorrow or Saturday! Well, what happened was….we actually got out of there with our 2 phones for FREE….we had to pay $50 up front that will be reimbursed (rebate) and then a $24 activation fee. Well, Hubby decided (after a few days) that the “bare-bones phone” he wanted wasn’t fun enough…so he wanted something nicer. So, he went there today and got a new phone (again for free) and it is very cool….well, anyways, he talked to the lady and apparently my phone that I LOVE is last year’s model and I can get the new (and improved) model for free too! The girl who helped us on Saturday was new and didn't know what she was doing! So, I am going to get the new one! AND…we found out that she shouldn’t have charged us the activation fee! So, we will both have these new phones that do way more than we really know what to do with them. This guy at work has been showing me all the cool things I can do with mine and it is pretty neat! Anyways....I am amused easily! He (the tech guy at work) told me “welcome to the new age” because I am so not technologically advanced!

Funny story about my phone…I can record things and last night I was recording FAB singing. Well, I did it once and then played it for her…she was so excited. So, we did it again and then she said “Put dat girl on Mommy!” I tried to explain to her that she was “dat girl”. So funny! I just love that little Girl… even though she is as stubborn as all get out!

Umm…I-Man was so happy to be back at school this week! He missed all of his friends and teachers. I realize why I am not a teacher though…he was trying to write something last night and kept asking me questions and I was ready to scream! I just don’t have the patience…after 20 times of telling him the same thing! But he was so cute, he wrote his teacher a thank you note…not sure for what…..and then he got an envelope and then he tore a little piece of paper and drew snowflakes on it and then got the glue and glued it right where the stamp would go. He tried to put it in the mailbox and I told him that he couldn’t mail it because it didn’t have a stamp on it…..he told me it did have a stamp on it….he had made it! So cute.

Well, I have shared stories about the oldest two….I need a story for Little G! She hasn’t said anything cute yet (lol), but she is just so stinking cute with her smiling and laughing and just starting to really be aware of everything. Her eyes light up every time she sees her brother or sister. I just love that. And when I pick her up in the afternoon she just smiles at me. So cute. She has been waking up at 4:45 or 5:00 the last few mornings for me to feed her….not so cute! I have to get up at 5:15ish anyways….but those last few minutes of sleep are nice! Oh well. At least I get to start my day with her!

God has blessed us so much! I realize that so much more every day. I was talking to this guy Paul that I work with. He used to sit in the office next to mine, but has since moved to a branch. Well, we got along so well and I just love him to death. He has a daughter from a girlfriend (when he was really young) and then he is married and they are trying to get pregnant. His wife is a kindergarten teacher and wants to have a child of her own so badly. She adores his daughter and is a great step-mom, but wants to do the whole baby thing. Well, she has a lot of health problems….and they weren’t getting pregnant, so they did invetro (not sure how to spell that). Well, he called me back in the summer and told me they were pregnant…..I was SO excited for them. Then he called me a few weeks later to tell me that she had lost the baby. She (and he) took that so hard. Well, I went out on maternity leave. When I got back, I called him to see how he was doing….well, listen to this! They did invetro again and right after that, his wife was hospitalized. It took them more than a week to figure out what was wrong with her. She had some kind of a viral infection the size of a softball in her lower abdomen (again…she has a lot of health problems). She was in the hospital for a month recovering. Well, they found out that the invetro worked again….but they lost the baby because of all the meds and stuff that she was on. So, needless to say, when I talked to him, my heart just went out to them! BUT through all of that, his faith has GROWN! He is catholic….but before all of this stuff, he never went to church and blah, blah, blah. Now, he and his wife are faithfully attending church and he listens to K-love every day and has just made some tremendous changes in his life. So, that song “Praise You in this Storm” comes to mind….when this could’ve driven them farther from the Lord, it actually drew them closer.

I told you I would be all over the board with this post. What is next? Umm… so I have Monday off! I am so excited! I just wish that Women’s Group would’ve been this week instead of last week! Oh well! I am going to try to go see a movie or something with KK on Saturday night after Hubby gets home from PT practice. I am looking forward to the day off…even though I just started back to work!

Hubby should find out tomorrow or next week about if he won the Sales Trip or not! He did find out that it isn’t a cruise….but instead it is a 5 day/4 night all expenses paid to a really nice resort in Cancun! It would be so wonderful if he won that….but I told him that even if he didn’t win it, I am still so stinking proud of him for being in the running for it! I am really proud of how well he is doing. It is especially neat to see how his self-esteem has been boosted! For the first time since we have been together, he made more money than me last year….and that is a big deal to him….probably for most men. So, that has really boosted his self-esteem and he is so much happier at this job! So, again, God has blessed us!

Ummm…I don’t think I ever put this in my journal before (and for those that have already heard this, I am sorry!)…but one time at Women’s Group, we were talking about how we fold our washcloths and towels….and we were actually using napkins to explain it. Well, I was telling them that I am so anal about it that I will always just re-fold it when Hubby has folded the washcloths because they are folded wrong. Finally, I just told him how I wanted it done, instead of getting mad at him when he didn’t know the way I wanted it. Well, soon thereafter, we watched Detergent’s kids and she came to pick them up. Well, I didn’t know this at the time, but she went into my bathroom and unfolded all of my washcloths and re-folded them the wrong way and then rolled them and put them back in my basket. That night, I noticed it (of course!!!)….but didn’t mention anything to Hubby. The next day, I asked him if he did it and he said no. So, I thought that maybe Detergent’s older daughter had done it or something. I kinda liked the way they looked rolled, so I left it alone. Well…a few days later, I noticed that not only were they rolled, but they were all folded wrong and then rolled. So, I yelled at Hubby about it….but he kept insisting he didn’t do it! I figured he did it as a joke and didn’t want to confess to it. Then, that Sunday at church, Detergent told me what she had done and we laughed and laughed about it. She thought it was so funny because I am so anal about that. We still laugh about that!

I just thought of another I-Man story real quick....on the way home from school the other day, he asked me if it was almost time for "that king's birthday". I had no idea what he was talking about. So I asked him what he was talking about and he said..."you know, that King...that King that did a lot of stuff for us so we get to have a day off school?" OH! Martin Luther King, Jr. Kids...he obviously didn't understand that his name is King. So funny!

Okay…since I am totally rambling…I will go ahead and go! You all have a good day!!! Love ya!

I survived....

my first week back to work! It wasn't easy...and it got off to a very rocky start...but I survived! So...my first day...I FULLY expected (and really deserved) for Stinky Pete to set aside time for me and him to talk about how things went down with KK and how he was changing and all that jazz. Well, he did come down to my desk when he got in and welcomed me back....then he asked me to come up to his office at 9:00 am. So, I thought... Great! He is going to talk to me about it then. Well, 9:00 rolls around and I go up to his office and he calls in the new girl (who replaced KK) and me. So, OBVIOUSLY he wanted to just talk business-as-usual and did not address KK's leaving. I left his office without talking to him about flex-time or anything. I went out to the new girl's desk and then went right back into his office to at least talk about my flex-time. I thought he would say yes right away.... he didn't. Instead, he was very wishy-washy...but he did say that he wanted to meet with me on Wednesday to talk about KK's leaving and etc. So, I walked out of his office and went back down to my desk and was on the VERGE of tears....I came around the corner to my office and there was a HUGE and GORGEOUS basket of daisies on my desk. I opened the card....not really knowing who they were from...and they were from KK. Isn't she the greatest!?!? And the card said "Remember that His mercies are new every morning...even if we need a 30 minute day!" I just love her. What am I going to do without her? So, I called her and cried to her and then just sucked it up and enjoyed catching up with all my co-workers and jumping back into the parts of my job that I love.

So, that was Tuesday. I left work and went to my mom and got the kiddos and we had a nice family evening. We went out to dinner and just enjoyed each other.....it was very nice. I really do make a better Mommy when I am working....I know that some of you don't understand that, but that is just how God made me. And I am fine with that. I am not going to feel bad about that anymore....sometimes I feel guilty about it....but I am not going to do that to myself anymore, at least I am going to try not to do that to myself anymore.

SO, on Wednesday, I went up to SP's office and he talked for like 30 minutes....just a bunch of nonsense, because I know all the real reasons that KK left and I know all that happened between them while I was out.....and then he asked me if I wanted to set up a time to come back and talk to him about this all....after I had a chance to get my thoughts together....and I pulled out my notepad and told him that I was ready then. I was really proud of myself. I was EXTREMELY honest and bold with him...as much as I can be. I started out by telling him that my parents raised me to be extremely respectful....almost to a fault because I don't stick up for myself as much as I should....I told him that I was ready to quit on Tuesday and that I went back to my desk in tears because he already frustrated me so much. I told him that he disappointed me and that I do not respect him as a leader.....I was very honest. So, we will see what happens from here. He said all the right things....but actions speak louder than words. We will see if anything changes. On the flex-time, he basically said he was going to talk to a few other people that I work with to see what they think and then if they agree, we will try it for 3 months and see how it goes. If he told me no, I was going to tell him that I was going to have to go part-time then, either with this job or somewhere else in the bank. I didn't want to threaten him, but I was prepared to say that if need be. So, we will see. I am going to do my flex-time this week on Monday and Tuesday....so hopefully it goes well.

So, the rest of the week was pretty much back to normal. It was nice to see everyone and get caught up on all that happened while I was out. I still don't feel 100% back " in the loop", but it will take a while! I mean, I was gone for a while, so it will take a while to feel normal again!

SO! On the homefront, everyone is doing fine. The kids enjoyed my mom this week. I am so blessed that she is willing to do this for us! I-Man goes back to school this week...so it will be interesting to get everyone into that schedule. Poor Hubby....he definitely gets the short end of the stick - having to get everyone ready in the morning by himself! I don't envy him that! I-Man is ready to go back to school. He has missed it tremendously! The girls are going to my Aunt's on Monday - Wednesday this week...so that should be fun!

Umm..we got new cell phones yesterday! We got two phones (really nice ones) for $24! Don't know how that worked out exactly...cuz my phone had a price of $159 on it and Hubby's had a price of $89....so that is cool! I have to learn how to use mine, it opens up and has a whole little keyboard in it..for text messages. I do that a lot now at work....so that is cool! Hubby just got a regular phone....he doesn't need much more cuz he barely uses the extras on his phone!

I did join WW last week....so I will let you all know how I do on my first week! So far, I think I am doing good. A girl that I work with and I are going together. The accountability will be good for me.

I guess that is about it for now. I just wanted to let you all know how work was this week. Love you all and talk to you soon!!!!

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!! Can you believe that it is 2007? Where, oh where does the time go? I always thought my parents were weird when they would talk about how fast the time goes by as you get older…but they were right! It just seems like yesterday that I was graduating from high school, moving into my college dorm, meeting Hubby and dating, getting married, buying our first house, having our first child…then our second…and now our third! Man! Time flies…but more importantly, WOW! How God has blessed me! Words cannot describe how blessed I am. We serve an amazing God who meets our needs and loves us with the type of love that our human brains cannot even begin to comprehend. WOW! Hallelujah that He has allowed me to ring in another new year!!!! Maybe this will be the year that He returns!

SO…..things are going along just fine here! This is my last day of leave! Tomorrow, reality settles in and I return to work after being off for 16 weeks! I have had some emotional moments over the last few days. I am really going to miss being home with my kiddos…especially FAB. Yes, she drives me crazy sometimes with her “diva-like” ways, but I have really enjoyed the one-on-one time I have had with her. And of course, Petunia is just starting to develop a personality and smiling and laughing…so I will miss her. And hopefully, I will still be able to pick up I-Man from school a few days a week. We will see after I have a chance to talk to Stinky Pete tomorrow. I am assuming that he will either take me to lunch or have a time for us to just talk sometime tomorrow. So, please pray for me. Pray that I am able to be as bold and as blunt as I need to be, but also with some grace so that maybe he will understand how I really feel and see that there are some things he really needs to work on changing. I was talking to my Mom about it this morning and I am just really not a blunt person when it comes to people of authority…because of the way my parents raised me – to be courteous and respectful. But I need to be bold with Stinky Pete. So….please keep me in your prayers tomorrow! I am hoping he will allow me to do the “flex-time” thing where I can work from home 2 – 3 days a week in the afternoon. Pray…pray…pray!

Well, we have had a very nice week this past week. Christmas was nice…we had a game night on Tuesday night and that was fun…I had dinner with my girlfriends from work…I saw Dream Girls (good musical, but kinda long)…did some shopping….had a fun last lunch with Queen and Princess…and had a great New Year’s Eve Party! We had a lot of fun with my family and SIL and Little B. Everything went really well…and although we missed JJ and Buford at midnight, it was nice to have everyone together again for New Years! My house isn’t nearly as big as my parent’s party house in Kentucky…but it worked out just fine and I think everyone had fun. The last guests didn’t leave until almost 4:00 this morning! We were having fun playing games! Sister bought me the DVD game of the $100,000 Pyramid and I LOVE that game! It was very interesting at 3:00 in the morning! We had some good laughs (BUOY!!!).

So, anyways…we had a great Holiday Season. I am always sad to see it go…but half the fun is the anticipation for next year! I am going to vow (as I always do) to start my shopping earlier and do it throughout the year. We’ll see if that actually happens (doubt it!).

So, the other thing is….I am going to join Weight Watchers on Wednesday! There is a meeting in my building at lunch on Wednesdays. So, there is absolutely NO REASON that I cannot do that. I have got to lose this weight…if nothing else; I have to lose the baby weight! I would like to lose more then that…but I need to lose at least that much! I am just not happy with myself right now. I am not motivated to lose it…or go to the gym…but I have to get back at it! I am not going to start the gym this week – maybe next week. It is going to be hard enough to get up and go to work, let alone get up even earlier and go to the gym! I have gotten very used to staying up late and sleeping in after we get I-Man off to school! So, I will probably be dragging this week!

Uh…oh, I got my hair chopped off again. I figured that I needed an easy hair-do now – who knows what my mornings will look like! If Petunia wakes up to eat while I am getting ready, I would love to be able to feed her so that I can spend some time with her before I leave. Anyways, so my hair is pretty short, but I like it. It will grow out again, I’m sure.

OH, yesterday at church, Detergent asked me if I noticed anything odd in my bathroom after she was here last time. I said…as a matter of fact, I did and I had been blaming Hubby for it for weeks! At the last Women’s Group, I shared how anal I am about my washcloths being folded a particular way. Well, Detergent went into my bathroom and messed up my washcloths! So, when I found it (later that night, of course), I blamed Hubby. He swore that he didn’t do it, but I didn’t believe him. Come to find out, it was Detergent. She thinks she is so funny!!!!

And we found out that the youth girl that SQ mentioned is the one that TP’d our house. She admitted to it on Sunday. I am glad that I-Man knows now, he feels better about it. So, sorry to Beef and Minnie’s Hubby for our blaming them. It seemed so odd that Minnie’s Hubby would’ve called us at the exact time it happened. But, at least we know who did it. We are thinking of getting her back with a different prank…but Detergent said we shouldn’t because then she will just get us back again. I would love to get her at her own game!!!

Well, I guess that is about it for now. Hubby is accusing me of writing a book. I hope you all had a Happy New Year and I will talk to you soon!

Love ya!