Do you remember me?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

God-Moments

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hola Ladies!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love you all!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love and Hugs to all!

Happy New Year!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love you all! Happy New Year!!!

Where did the time go?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Exciting Times!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TGIF!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love ya all!

Halloween Pictures!!!

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

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

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

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

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

Love you all!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy Halloween!!!!

Ramblings....

I am really getting bad at updating this blog! I still check everyone else’s journals every day – not commenting often, but reading daily. But I just don’t seem to get the time to get around and update! Oh well. I am here now, right? That is what matters…LOL

Well, little miss Gracie turned one since I last posted! Isn’t that hard to believe?!? The year has really flown by. She is doing better with sleeping (some nights) and she is finally holding her own bottle – well, sometimes! Seriously, the first time she held her own bottle for me was on the day of her first birthday party. We got home from church and I was rushing around doing stuff to get ready for the party and trying to get her to take a nap. Well, she needed a bottle but I didn’t have time to sit and feed her a bottle. So, I laid her in her crib and gave her the bottle and walked out of the room. When I came back, she was asleep and the bottle was empty! So, she either drank it or spilled it all over the bed. LOL So, since then…that is pretty much how we have been putting her down for naps and bed. Not the right thing to do, but it is working…so whatever! She isn’t walking yet, but I don’t think it will be long before she is! She is starting to get braver and letting go. The other day, she let go of the table and stood by herself for a few seconds. And when I went to pick her up from the nursery on Sunday Night, Chelsea told me that she took 3 steps by herself! Of course she did! Not sure that I am really ready for her to be walking….but ready or not, she is gonna do it soon! Her first birthday party was fun. I made the mistake (lol) of sending Scott to get the little cake for her and he came home with a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. So, she was a mess! I will have to download the pictures and post one on here. It was very fun! We also celebrated my Grandma’s birthday on the same day because Gracie was born on my Grandma’s birthday! That was nice….I know my Grandma loved it because she always calls Gracie her “Birthday Baby”. Anyways…there were some “argh” moments at the party, but it went well and she got a lot of nice gifts. Of course her Aunt YaYa bought her her very first Vera Bradley purse. Gotta start them young!

Faith Anne seems to be having fun at Preschool. Every day when I ask her what she learned she always says the same thing….how to cut. I hope they are learning more than that, but it is cute to hear her tell me the same thing over and over. We went to the Open House at her school this past weekend and her teacher actually said she is well-behaved and follows instructions. WOW! I was amazed at that! Funny thing….she said that we need to work on cutting with her at home! Faith Anne goes back and forth between her left and her right hand, so neither of them are very strong. I guess we need to pick a hand and try to make her stick with it. Poor girl….she has just grown so fast that we didn’t have any clothes that fit her! So, we went out last week and bought her quite a few things at Kohls (thanks for the tip on their good sale, Dawn!). We got her some good stuff.. Anyways, she is doing good. Just as ornery as ever! Her new thing lately has been to tell Daddy how handsome he is and me how pretty I am….so sweet. Then she says that Isaac and all of his friends at school are handsome and that Gracie is pretty and on and on and on. She is a trip. I seriously do not know what we are going to do with her on Halloween because she is just so scared of everything. We were at one of Isaac’s football games and there were kids (like 5th/6th graders) dressed up as a Firebird (eagle) and a Wildcat and she totally freaked out. I mean, they even took their heads off so she could see it was a kid with a costume on and she absolutely flipped out. There was no consoling her and she was tearing at me to get up on my lap and hide. So….I may end up at home with her on Halloween if she doesn’t get any better! She is going to be Little Red Riding Hood….we have this cape that my mom made for us when we were little. She is going to wear that and just a red dress under it. Pretty cheap costume! Good thing, she might be in the van or at home that night anyways! LOL

Isaac is going to be a “Bengal’s Clown” for Halloween. My mom made us a clown costume when we were younger and our school colors were orange and black, so that is what color the costume is. So, Isaac decided that it is a Bengal’s clown outfit! It is a bit long on him, but looks very cute. So, he is going to wear that and we are going to paint his face orange and black and then I bought him a big black afro wig that I am going to paint half orange and he will wear that. He will be very cute. So, another cheap costume. And Gracie is going to be a pumpkin – what Faith Anne wore last year. We were cheap this year!

Football is almost over for Isaac. His last regular season game was this past Saturday. Tournaments start this weekend, but they are single elimination, so I think we will only have one game – which is fine by me! Actually, the team they are playing hasn’t won a game this year, so we might win! I am ready for the break! We were going to get him in basketball or wrestling for the winter, but I am just ready for a break! So, I think we are going to do that instead! He has really had fun with football – and so have we! Two Fridays ago, we went with some of the families from his team to Tom’s Corn Maze. That was a blast! I have never done anything like that….basically go into a cornfield maze and find clues to find your way back out. We left the girls with my parents and just Scott and I went with Isaac. We had so much fun. It was a little freaky at times….but very fun. Then we had a bonfire in the woods afterwards and roasted marshmallows and had fun with the kids. I really spent a lot of time talking to one of the single moms on the team and it was very eye-opening to me. I respect her so much. I mean, we all have to sacrifice for our kids, but this woman has sacrificed so much. It was a great time and I just wish we had done stuff like that earlier in the season because I got to know some of the moms so much better!

School is going great for Isaac! I went to the parent/teacher conference two weeks ago and I was pretty nervous. If you remember, last year at his conference the teacher basically told me that he was struggling and we should start thinking about holding him back. So, I was nervous, but based on the stuff he brings home, it looked like he was doing well. Mrs. Codispoti (his teacher), just spoke so highly of him! She said that he is doing great! He does tend to sound out every word when he should just read some of them (lightening words), but she said that he is amazing at sounding words out and it really helps some of the other kids in the class. I think he gets that from Mrs. Stuve at church…she works so well with them in Sunday School. But anyways, we have to work on just reading the words he knows instead of sounding them all out – and part of that, I think, is boosting his confidence. When we started talking about his writing, she got really excited and told me that she was so excited to share with me his journal because he has the best handwriting in the class! She said that he does such a great job of keeping his writing neat and even when he is writing words that he doesn’t know how to spell correctly, he does such a good job of spelling them phonetically that you know what he is saying – more so than the others in the class! Get this….here was his journal entry that she shared with me (tell me who it sounds like)…”I like the Bengals, but they are not going to win a game. I wish they would. I like their Quarterback Carson Palmer and I like Chad Johnson.” Now, the words weren’t all spelled correctly, but you could absolutely understand what he was trying to say. Too cute. So, anyways…she said he is doing great and he is right where he should be. I hope that continues! I don’t want him to struggle in school!

Umm…everything else is just plugging right along. I have started my Christmas Shopping – actually have three people DONE. I probably have more than that done when I pull out all the Vera stuff I bought at the Trunk Show. But I actually have 3 people’s presents bought and wrapped already (the Vera store wrapped them for me)! And I was in Lane Bryant last night and they were playing Christmas music. Now, that is a bit extreme. I think I would DIE if I had to listen to it at work all the time already. I do listen to our Christmas cantata at work occasionally, but that is a bit different. Anyways, so hard to believe that it is almost that time of the year again. Scott said he was at a customer’s house last week and she already had her tree up and presents underneath it. What? Now, even I am not ready to do that yet!!! At least wait until after Halloween, if not Thanksgiving. Wait, I usually don’t wait until after Thanksgiving! LOL I am going to try really hard to this year, though.

We had a great time at our Women’s Retreat this past weekend. I had to leave early on Saturday – just when the speaker was really getting started, but we had so much fun goofing off on Friday night! We sat around the campfire and sang for about 2 hours! It was just fun and very up-lifting! I have another Girl’s Weekend coming up soon! My 3 close friends at work and I are going to go to Louisville for a short trip. We go away every year for a weekend in the fall – for like the past 3 or 4 years. I am looking forward to that fun time away. Hopefully my parents will be able to help watch the kids – I haven’t asked them yet because they are on a cruise this week! They called from Puerto Rico the other night….they are really enjoying retirement! I am so happy for them!!!

Well, I guess that you are probably bored now and I should really get to work! Speaking of work, it has been crazy the past few weeks and this week is boring – go figure. It is really either feast or famine. I have never heard about the Audit position that I interviewed for. Crazy! They were supposed to let me know last week and I haven’t heard the first thing. I am sick of calling them. At this point, I am sure that I didn’t get it…and even if I did, I would probably not accept it because of the way they have handled it. But it would still be nice to have some closure to it. Oh well….must not have been meant to be!

Take care!!!! Love you all!

Umm...Hello?

Hi! Don’t know if you all remember me or not, but I just thought I would stop by and give a quick update! Life has happened to us and I have been lurking daily, mostly waiting to see if Josy is EVER going to have that little baby….so I have kept up with those of you that post regularly….but just haven’t done a good job of commenting or posting myself! Oh well! So goes life!

I really should be working right now, but there is too much to do that I don’t even know where to start….so I decided to not start! LOL How is that for procrastination?!?! Let me start with work….so, there is still no word on the Audit position that I applied for. I heard from the hiring manager yesterday and they are looking at October 15th before there will be any decisions made. They have really made this a long-drawn-out process. Part of the problem is that there have been a lot of vacations, but also they are doing their budget planning for 2008 and so that has taken top priority. So, whatever. I will continue to wait. I am not feeling really confident about the job, but I still would like some closure to the issue. Time will tell. In the meantime, my job has been busy lately. Just a lot of stuff going on as we enter the 4th Quarter. My boss is the same – nothing has changed there. Oh well, eventually he will get moved out of here.

I was very sick last week – for a week! It was horrible. I thought I just had the stomach bug that Scott had….but it kept lingering and I was in a ton of pain. So, I finally went to the ER and they treated me as if I had e coli. I am not sure if that is what I had or if I had a stomach virus that sat so long in my stomach that it turned into an infection, but either way….after morphine, vicodine and then two doses of the anti-biotics, I finally started to feel better! It was really bad. Not a lot of vomiting or the other stuff, but just immense pain in my abdomen. It was seriously worse than labor pain! And it would not go away for a week. But, I am all better now and so far, none of the kids have gotten it! That is the most important thing!!! But, it did kick-start my losing weight…I lost 14.5 pounds in a week! Not eating will do that to you. Problem is…my appetite is back with a vengeance this week!!! But I have been going to the gym. I am really struggling with this…..depressing. But, you all have heard this before, so why bore you? LOL

Let me give you an update on the kiddos:
Isaac is doing really great. He seems to be doing great in first grade….we have the first Parent/Teacher conference next week. All of his work that he brings home have been all E’s with one S. His spelling tests are all E’s…his math tests are too. So, he just seems to be doing great in school. Football is still going strong. They have only won one game, but he just has a good time with it. This past weekend, my sister Janice and her whole family came to his game. That was a shocker! We go to a lot of my nephew’s games, but they had never been to one of Isaac’s. We had a really good time and it was nice to be able to talk to my sister some. We actually got to talk a lot at my nephew’s game on Saturday night…so I saw a lot of them this weekend. Anyways, back to Isaac….he is such a good little Team Player – always cheering his team on and staying up-beat even when they aren’t winning. He has said that football is a lot more work then he thought it was going to be, but he still seems to enjoy it. Scott has started helping out with coaching at the practices and on the sidelines at the game. He does really good with the kids.

Faith Anne is well, Faith Anne! She has such a strong spirit – a nice way of saying she is a stubborn brat! LOL I guess that preschool is going well. I never pick her up or drop her off, so I haven’t heard any problems. My mom said that she is rarely sitting down like all the other kids are when she picks her up, so I am sure we will be hearing from Mrs. Baker soon. She really seems to like going to school two days a week. She keeps us in stitches at home because you just never know what that little girl is going to say or do. She marches to the beat of her own drum. Yesterday, she wanted to talk while Isaac was talking, so she took the bowl that she had just eaten her snack out of and whopped him on the face with it. She can just be mean as a pistol – but also sweet as candy when she wants to be. So, she is going to be a challenge!!!

Gracie – she is going to be one next week! I cannot believe it! This year has just flown by! She is just a sweet little baby who is into absolutely everything at our house! She did sleep through the night for the past two nights…so we will see! We moved Faith Anne out of their room and put her in with Isaac until Gracie learns to sleep better. That has just meant that Faith Anne ends up in our bed. So, not sure how this is all going to end up! But Gracie is doing better with sleeping lately. It won’t be long until she is walking. She walks around stuff while holding on and will occasionally let go and just stand by herself. So, I am sure she will be walking soon. I don’t know that I am really ready for that, but what can you do? She makes all kinds of noises and definitely her first word has been Mama…which is great because the other two said Dada first. She is just such a cutie batootie! We are having her party on Sunday and I am anxious to see how she will do. She doesn’t seem to really like crowds very much. At Isaac’s party she was fussy until everyone left and then she perked right up! I can’t wait to see her dive into her cake! This is FOR SURE the last time I am planning a one-year old’s party!!! FOR SURE!!!

Scott is doing well. He is still a leader at work and liking his job. Every company has things that irk you, but he is doing really well. His job has been such a blessing to our family. Obviously the money is great….but more than that the flexibility that he has…it has just made our lives so much easier. I still feel like every day is a marathon….but it is so much easier since he can be around to help so much. I get aggravated at him sometimes (don’t we all get that way with our hubbies?), but he does so much with the house and the kids. He was just wonderful when I was so sick. Between him and my parents, I couldn’t have made it without them!

So, that is the quick and dirty (well, not really) on what has been going on with us. I know there are so many things that have happened…it’s been so long, but it would take forever to recap all of it! Hopefully Josy will have that little baby girl soon! Take care and love you all!!!

Weekly Update...

Hello Journal Pals! Jeesh – it’s been a crazy week! Has it only been a week?!? It feels like it has been a month! Who knows how long it has been….but it has been crazy! That much, I do know for sure!!!

Let me recap with the highlights:

Thursday (last week)
The best part about last Thursday is that we had a wonderful cool front come through and I had the pleasure of taking Isaac to football practice. I say “pleasure” because my parents kept the girls, so I was able to just sit and watch Isaac…and the weather was perfect football weather! It was such a nice night! I am ready for that weather!!!!

Friday
After work, the whole family decided to go to the high school football game. Let me just sum it up by saying….Scott’s Dad is a complete and utter jerk. I know that….I know that….I know that. However, he never ceases to amaze me!!! He was there and started pouting because my kids don’t like him. Not my fault…..he snipped at Faith Anne about something…I just let it go. When the girls were DONE, I told Scott that I was just going to take them to the van and we would wait for him. He told me to go ahead and go home and that his Dad would bring him and Isaac home. At that point, I am not sure what happened, but his Dad just FLIPPED out and started a fight with Scott. Basically, his Dad just went on and on about how horrible I am and how I run Scott’s life and blah, blah, blah. They talked it out – whatever that means. I really despise that man. I really, really, really despise that man. The night ended with Scott and I having an argument about it, but then I realized that by doing that….we are letting Steve win! So, I am not going to fight with Scott about it anymore. Well, I am going to try not to. Bottom line is…we both know that his dad is a jerk and stupid. So, that being said, we will go through the motions of having him in our lives, but that is it. Anybody want a father-in-law? LOL

Saturday
Isaac had a football game at 8:00! Yes, that is in the morning! They lost, but he had fun and we had fun watching it! They now have a CD to play to announce their names at the start – so cute. It starts with that “Let’s Get Ready To Rumble” announcer guy and then since his name is first…it is adorable! Isaac “Bruiser” (insert our last name here). LOVE that!!!! We left the game and got him cleaned up and then headed to Kentucky for our family reunion! It was a very eventful trip down. First, we were barely 20 minutes down the road – Mom and Dad were in front of us with Isaac and Faith Anne – and their hazard lights come on. I tried to call Mom’s cell phone and it went straight to her voicemail….so we pulled over. Apparently, my Mom accidentally pushed the hazard button. LOL That was funny. Then, as we were heading up the big hill that you go up when you cross over into Kentucky, our van messes up. The “Check Transmission” light came on and the “OD On/Off” light kept flashing and it was shimmying a little bit. NICE!!! We pulled over for lunch anyways and talked about all the options. We got back in and drove around to a couple of places to see if someone could look at it….and it was acting fine and no lights came on. ODD….except for the fact that I had been praying non-stop since it happened – nothing had changed. So, we decided to chance it and headed on to Kentucky. We got down there and checked into our room and then headed off (me, Scott and Gracie) to see Scott’s grandparents. They live near where our family reunion is and their health is not good. Scott’s grandpa has prostate cancer. He has 3 chemo treatments left….he definitely doesn’t look the same as the last time we saw him, but I think he looked pretty good. We stayed and visited with them for a bit and then headed back to be with my family.

Sunday
Family reunion was fun, fun, fun! We didn’t have our normal “cousin game time” on Saturday night, but that was fine because the extra sleep was very, very nice! I don’t get much of that these days! Of course all the food was great…and so was the company! The music was wonderful! I could just sit and sing with my family all day long! There was one really “not-fun” moment in the day. Faith Anne decided that she did not want to use the out-house (can you blame her?) and so she sat in Gracie’s play-pen and pooped all over herself! I got her out and was doing alright with getting her cleaned up….although I was hot and mad and grossed out…I was handling it. UNTIL….a big stray dog came up and Faith Anne WIGGED out. For some reason, she is TERRIFIED of dogs. So, here she is STARK NAKED, poop on her, and now going crazy because a dog is coming near her (he was attracted to the poop, of course). At this point, I am pushed over the edge! I yelled for Jodi to get someone to help me because I was FRAZZLED!!! Because I freaked out, I had a cast of thousands offering their help! That girl, I am telling you….she is going to be the death of me! So, besides that….it was a great day! We had a lot of fun and the kids had a ton of fun and it was nice to be with my family! We left there and drove home. We usually stay the night again, but we needed to get home….it was actually nice! There was no traffic…the kids slept the whole way home….and then we got to sleep in our own beds!

Monday – Labor Day
We got up early because Isaac had to be at the parade location at 8:30. So, Scott took him and dropped him off and then came back and got me and the girls. We got to the parade spot and it was packed! We had put our chairs out the night before (on our way home from KY) and wondered why most of the chairs were on one side of the street….well, we found out! We had put our chairs on the side that was facing the sun! Luckily, Kelli and her family had set up on the right side of the street and there was enough room for us to squeeze in with them in the shade! That was more fun for me anyways because I got to hang out with her! Isaac did great in the parade, but he was one hot and tired pup when it was over. We DVR’d it on the TV at home and he was excited to see himself on TV! When we got home, we didn’t do much the rest of the day…which was very nice! We did go out to dinner and use some gift certificates we had to Outback Steakhouse. That was yummy!!!

Tuesday
Back to school for Isaac and off to Preschool Orientation for Faith Anne! We got Isaac off to school and then I finished getting ready and then headed off with the girls to Faith Anne’s Preschool Orientation! She loved it and didn’t want to leave! I had to bribe her when it was time to go. We had to go to Walmart and get her a back-pack. I didn’t think she really needed one for Preschool, but she did. So, we got that and a few other things and then went home. I was supposed to be off work, but ended up working from home all day because of a fire-drill thing that came up. We picked up Isaac from school and then the girls both took naps. Scott took Isaac to football, so I had a nice evening home with the girls. Again, I worked pretty much all evening too!

Wednesday
So, I had to lie to my work this week. I had an interview for that other position that was scheduled in Columbus (1.5 hours away) on Wednesday at 2:00. So….there was no way I could do that and be at work at the same time. So, I told them that I had sitter problems (I did, kinda) and that I was going to take the day off….especially since I didn’t get to be “off” on Tuesday. I hated that…but you gotta do what you gotta do, I guess. So, I got up on Wednesday and got Isaac off to school and got myself ready and took the girls to my Aunt’s house and then picked up Kelli and headed to Columbus. Isn’t she a great friend? She switched her days off this week so that she could go with me to the interview. We got to Columbus and had lunch at Cheeseburgers in Paradise….yummy! We prepped for my interview and then she dropped me off for that and she went shopping. The interviews went very well. I had one interview with someone who would be a colleague on the Team I am posting for and one interview with the person who would be my manager. I think they both went well and after talking to the Recruiter, he confirmed that it went well for me. Now, I just have to wait. Apparently, the next step is to do a phone interview with the next level boss. She is out of town until September 17th…so I have to wait until then! That is killing me! I just want to get this over and done with – either way it goes. So, we came home after the interview. Scott took Isaac to football again – he is going to start helping them with coaching on Tuesday & Wednesday evenings. So, the girls and I had a nice quiet evening at home, again. I got some cleaning done…which was nice!

Thursday
Back to work….boo-hiss! Oh well, the day went by really fast because I had a lot of stuff going on. I love productive days like that! Oh…I did have a rough day though because I felt like the winner of “The Worst Mommy of the Year” award. It was Faith Anne’s first day of Preschool and I was at work. But I just couldn’t justify anymore time off. Scott sent me a picture of her at school…that made me get teary. Then, when it was time for him to pick her up…I had been watching the clock all morning and waiting until it was time so I could call him and talk to her….he called me. Well, it was a few minutes before school was supposed to be out, so I just thought they got out early. NOPE! He had been pulled over for speeding on his way to get her! Yep….they “clocked him” at 57 in a 35. OUCH! He doesn’t think he was going that fast, but what good is arguing going to do? At this point, you could tell that he was waiting for me to yell at him, but instead I just started crying because I am panicking that my BABY is waiting for someone to pick her up from her first day or Preschool!!! At least the officer gave him the ticket fast so he could go get her and she wasn’t the last one there. I really think that Scott thought I was going to yell at him, but I didn’t. I speed too…..I just haven’t gotten a ticket (yes, I am knocking on wood). So, those things happen. He is mad at himself…what good does it do for me to yell at him? But, $145 later…..oh well. So, anyways…after work I dashed off to get the girls, then to after-care to get Isaac….we got home and got him ready for football and took off. The girls did very well at football….and it was much cooler than it has been this week. So, that was actually a nice evening. Scott came there before it was over so I left and got the girls home and bathed and in bed. I watched Big Brother and was very bummed that Eric and Jess were kicked out. I think it would be so hilarious if Zach ends up winning….he played them all by acting dumb! I just don’t want ED or Danielle to win! Oh well…it is just a show, afterall.

So, that brings us to today! I am looking forward to the weekend…even though I have only been at work 2 days this week! Isaac has a football game tomorrow and then we have a family picnic. Actually, we are going to be very late to the family picnic, but hopefully we can go for a bit. Michael will probably be there and I would love to see him! He sent us his testimony…I will have to post it sometime – so sweet!!!

Our van is still in the shop. We took it on Tuesday night. It is going to cost us at least $345. If it is the transmission, they said it can cost anywhere from $200 - $2000. Uh, can I have the $200 model, please? So, we will see! Not money that we have to spend right now….just like we didn’t have $145 to spend on Scott’s ticket. Oh well….this time of the year is always rough for us financially it seems. I need to figure that out and budget better! So, in the meantime, thank goodness that my parents have an extra vehicle! We started out the week with the truck – which I LOVE! But, I didn’t want to drive that to Columbus and I can’t fit it into our parking garage at work. So, I have been driving their Mustang since Tuesday night. It is fun to tool around in that….but how sporty does it look with two car-seats in the back? The other night I was driving it with the girls in the back and they were both raising their hands and dancing to the music…too cute!

So, I guess that is about it for now! Isaac is doing great in school, now Faith Anne is in school…Gracie will be 11 months old on Sunday…TIME FLIES!!!!!