Adventures of a Minivan Mom

Happy 6th Birthday Davis

2012-01-02T14:44:00.000-05:00

I can't believe my baby is 6! Really? 6? Wasn't it just yesterday that he was a newborn?

Or getting ready to turn one?

Maybe it was just yesterday he was turning 2?

Or even 3?

Could have been just yesterday that he was turning 4?

Or possibly 5?

So he can't possibly already be 6!

But he is! My baby boy is 6 years old today!

(His painted rock outside of the school greeted him this morning! And then an hour later the nurse calls to say he's not feeling well and I need to come get him)...

He is celebrating his birthday by being at home "sick"!

Which actually, he is outside playing in his new sandbox.

And loving every minute of being at home with Daddy! I think Daddy is enjoying spending the day playing with Davis too.

Happy Birthday to our little man!

We love you so much!

Momma and Daddy

Happy New Year

2012-01-02T14:21:00.002-05:00

I have the hardest time getting out my Christmas Cards on time and this year was no different. Since I wasn't able to get cards out, I decided to do a New Year's letter instead. Here is our New Year's letter that I am sending out... (minus the pictures - they didn't copy over for some reason)!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Family & Friends,

I do believe that in order to get Christmas cards sent out on time, I’m going to have to get them ready and printed in August! I had such great intentions of sending them out early this year, but it seems that time just got away from me. Oh well, instead of wishing you a Merry Christmas, which I’m hoping that you all had, I will wish you a Happy New Year!

Here is a brief recap of what’s been going on around here...

Sidney is 10 1/2 now and is growing into a sweet, loving, beautiful young lady. She is in the 5th grade now and at their school, that is considered Middle school. It’s been quite the adjustment going from one teacher all day to switching classes and having 6 different teachers but she has adjusted wonderfully. She continues to amaze us with her ability to figure out anything technological (definitely her daddy’s girl there). She began her 5th year of dance this year and performed in her 4th Nutcracker last month. She is working extremely hard toward her goal of getting pointe shoes. She is becoming such a beautiful dancer.

Madison is 9 and in the 4th grade! She is also growing into a sweet, loving, and beautiful young lady. She has had a great start to the school year and has done extremely well adjusting to 4th grade and all the homework and responsibility is has brought. I can’t say that she loves school, because she would much rather be dancing, but she does very well. She has turned out to be quite the social butterfly. We are seeing that she tries very hard to be friends with everyone. Madison is in her 6th year of dance and performed in her 5th Nutcracker last month. She too is working very hard toward getting her pointe shoes. We are amazed at Madison’s passion and dedication to dance and how hard she is working.

Both the girls have added a second ballet class to their schedules. That now puts the total at 2 ballet classes, one modern class, one jazz class and one pre pointe class. They spend 5 hours a week at the ballet studio and love it! As they progress with their dancing, their classes will increase as will their time. I have to say, as much running back and forth to ballet as I have to do for them, I really don’t mind it. We are so proud of how they have progressed with their dancing and it really is a joy to watch them on stage. As I said above, the girls performed in the Nutcracker again this year and both did wonderfully. They actually had the same part this year and were able to dance together.

Davis is 6! In fact, today (1/2/12) is his birthday! He is celebrating by spending the day home “sick”. He started Kindergarten this year and loves it. He has two great teachers and he has had a great start to the school year. He is definitely all boy! Loves anything with wheels and can pretty much drive anything. He got a go cart this summer and has already mastered that. Soon, he’ll be driving the tractor and mowing the lawn. His newest obsession is radio controlled cars. He and Todd really enjoy playing with them together. He also enjoys playing football and riding his bike. He loves to be outside and would stay out there all day and night if we let him. Davis is a sweet and loving little boy!

Todd is staying busy at work. Even with the economic downturn, business has remained steady and thankfully has even started to pick up again. He too enjoys being outside playing with the RC cars. Our garage has been transformed into a RC workshop where Todd will take apart cars and put them back together. He has also coached Davis’ flag football team the last 3 seasons. He has thoroughly enjoyed doing all the fun boy stuff with Davis.

I am busier than ever, even with all 3 in school all day! I opted not to go back to work at the preschool this year. I figured that with Davis in Kindergarten, I was kind of done with the whole preschool thing. I still go and help out on occasion and have picked up a few other “jobs” to keep me busy. I am working part time doing office work at my friends new Pilates studio. And not only am I working in the office some, I’m also working out and loving it. I’ve also picked up another part time “job” doing some bookkeeping for another friend of mine who owns her own business. The nice thing about both these “jobs” is that I can be flexible and work according to my schedule. I also spend a good amount of time volunteering at the kids school, which I thoroughly enjoy. And although I’m finding myself busier than ever, it’s doing the things that I truly enjoy doing. I still spend more time than most in my van running here, there, and everywhere, but I am happy to do it.

So that’s what’s been going on around our house. We are looking forward to 2012 and all the adventures it will bring. We hope that 2012 brings you many blessings!

From our home to yours.... Happy New Year!

Todd and Susan

Sidney, Madison & Davis

Blogging Break

2011-12-02T21:14:00.001-05:00

As you can plainly tell, I have been on a little bit of a blogging break. Definitely not for lack of things going on, in fact, just the opposite. I've been thoroughly enjoying being busier than ever. I've been spending lots of time doing things that I've wanted to do for awhile, but just never could quite do it. I think I'm going to stay on my blogging break for just a bit longer and maybe (hopefully) begin again once the kids get out of school for their Christmas break. And then I hope to be back to blogging more regularly after that.

Madison's Big Weekend

2011-09-20T22:55:00.000-04:00

Madison is now 9!

She turned 9 on Friday...

I surprised her with lunch from Chick Fil A

Cupcakes to share with her class and a balloon

As I've done every years since Kindergarten, I painted the rock outside of school for her. She was very surprised that I was able to do it this year since I told her that I didn't reserve it in time. I wanted her to be surprised. I think it came out pretty good. It seems to have gotten better over the past few years.

Madison had ballet after school on Friday and since Sidney skipped out on dance due to being exhausted after a 3 day 2 night field trip for school, I treated Madison (and myself) to Japanese food for dinner. It was just the two of us. After our yummy dinner, we came home to open gifts and sing Happy Birthday! Oddly enough, we had 9 cupcakes left so we put 1 candle in each...

On Saturday, she auditioned for the Nutcracker again. This will be her 5th year dancing in the Nutcracker. She got her part tonight during ballet class. Both she and Sidney will be "Ginger Children" this year. She's so excited! After ballet on Saturday, we celebrated her birthday again with some friends.

On Sunday, Madison took the next step after asking Jesus into her heart. She was baptized.

Madison made her decision to follow Jesus back in the summer. It really is a sweet story...

A very good friend, who is now 12 years old, was diagnosed at the end of May with an inoperable brain. Madison took it extremely hard for many reasons. One being that we are very close to Josh and his family and another reason being that it brought up lots of questions about what Madison went through when she was 3. Although Madison's situation turned out much differently, it still was very hard for her. Anyway, during one of those first few days after finding out about Josh's diagnosis, Madison was having a very hard time falling asleep. She had already been down twice complaining of her stomach hurting and when I went up the third time, she finally told me what was bothering her. After talking for a few minutes, she told me that she wanted to pray and that she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart. She said that if she prayed for Jesus to come into her heart that He would surely hear her prayers for Josh. She was very sure of her decision and of course, we couldn't have been happier. We also shared the news with Josh and his family and they were thrilled for her as well. (On a side note, Josh is doing great now. The tumor is still there and inoperable because of the location, but it has shrunk by 3/4 of it's original size - the doctors are amazed with his results and have said they are the best they've ever seen with this type of tumor - God is so good! I plan to write more about Josh in another post. )

So here is Madison on the morning of her baptism...

September 18, 2011

She said she felt like a little angel in the robe

with our youth pastor

Me and Madison before the service

Waiting for service to start

Romans 4:6 "We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of life."

I said it when Sidney was baptized earlier this year... of all the milestones that our kids reach, none is sweeter than hearing and seeing your child accept Jesus as their Savior. Once again, knowing that Madison has Jesus in her heart makes this Momma's heart happy!

So as you can see, we had quite a bit to celebrate this past weekend. And what a great weekend it was!

Madison,

Happy 9th Birthday Baby Girl! We are so proud of the young lady you have become. We are so excited to be able to celebrate not only your 9th birthday but to celebrate your decision to follow Jesus. Follow Him always and He will lead you and never leave you.

We Love You So Much!

9-11

2011-09-11T19:04:00.002-04:00

I wasn't sure that I was going to post something about September 11th today. My blog has always been basically my journal of what's going on in my family. And although I know that everyone was affected by the events of September 11, 2001, I wasn't sure that it was something that belonged here. BUT, the more I got to thinking about it, the more I realized that it does belong here. If for nothing else than to say that I do remember that day and it did impact my life.

Ten years ago today, it was a beautiful Carolina day. The sky was so blue and the weather was gorgeous. I was on my way to my very first ever Women's Bible Study at our church. My almost 3 month old baby girl was in her car seat in the backseat. I was listening to the radio, when the announcer came on that a plane hit one of the Twin Towers. Once I made it to the church, I called Todd and asked him if he had heard. He said that they thought it was just a terrible accident with a commuter plane. I went on in to bible study not really thinking anymore about it. I was nervous enough going into bible study not knowing anyone. It wasn't until some of the other ladies coming in later than me with news that a second plane hit the other tower. I think that's when everyone knew that something terrible was happening. We continued on with our bible study and as soon as we were done and I got back in the car, I called Todd. It was then that he told me what was going on. I went straight home and turned on the TV. Like everyone else, I was in shock. I couldn't believe the images I was seeing... like this one...

or this one...

And so many others!

And now, 10 years later, these sights still give me chills that run through my entire body. And now, I have the job of explaining to my children what happened and why. It's hard to believe that this sweet little thing is now 10 years old and very much interested in what took place on that September day.

Sidney at 3 months

(Forgive the quality - we didn't have a digital camera when she was a baby)

September 11th is a day that no one will forget. It is a day that is marked in history and in our hearts. We hear of horrible events like this from other parts of the world, but not here at home, in America. I think of all the people who died, those who willingly gave their lives to try to save others and to those who have had to go on living without the ones they love.

And as we celebrated our local heroes in church this morning, I just want to say Thank you to ALL the people out there who put themselves in harms way daily for me and my family. You have my utmost admiration and respect!

God bless our country and the men and women serving!

We've Made It to

2011-08-05T00:00:00.062-04:00

Sixteen Years

Not that there was ever any doubt.

There was never any option that we wouldn't make it.

But, we have made it 16 years...

Over the past 16 years, we've gone through some highs and some lows,

but always together and always stronger than before.

We compliment each other so well.

Where I am weak, you show strength.

God created you just for me.

And He created me just for you!

There was never any doubt that we would spend the rest of our lives together.

And while it's been 16 years (which seems like a long time),

I look forward to many more years together.

The best is yet to come!

"In all the world, you'll never find, a love as true, as mine!!!"

Happy Anniversary, Todd!

Even after 16 years, I'm still very proud to be your wife.

I love you more today, than I ever thought possible.

***Wonderful photos by Bobbie Brown Photography***

And We're Back To School

2011-07-27T09:33:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that I'm writing a "Back To School" entry before I've even written anything about our summer vacation! We had a great 7 weeks of summer vacation. Movies, pool, family vacation to Georgia, sleeping in late and time spent with their grandparents. And I will eventually get around to documenting the Summer of 2011, but right now, I want to document the first day of another school year.

Our 5th grader....

Our 4th grader

And our BIG Kindergartener

First day of school 2011

Everyone is back into full school mode! Making lunches, packing backpacks, getting up early and carpools. As hard as it is to get up at 5:45 or 6:00, everyone was ready to start back to school. There were no tears (from any of us) as we begin another year with lots of changes. Davis did really well on his first day of Kindergarten and Sidney did great on her first day of middle school. This year for Madison is just "business as usual". No big changes for her. I'm thrilled with the teachers that Madison and Davis have this year and the 5th grade team seems to be a great group of teachers. It's sure to be an interesting year, but I we are off to a great start.

Now what to do with myself during the school day! I've had a child with me pretty much non stop for 10 years. I'm sure that I'll find things to occupy my time, but for right now, it sure is quiet.

Double Digits

2011-06-16T10:24:00.001-04:00

We celebrated Sidney's 10th birthday with a trip to Carowinds. She's been asking to go for over a year now and we decided that her 10th birthday was a great time to take her. Davis spent the day with Todd's parents, Todd got off of work early and we got to the park around lunchtime.

It was a beautiful day. Not too hot and there was hardly anyone there. We didn't have to wait long for anything. Sidney was super excited to be able to ride the roller coasters and got off to a great start. Madison has finally reached the height of being able to ride, but because she's still so small, she gets tossed around a bit on the roller coasters and wasn't too excited about getting on them. Todd and I took turns waiting with her, although, I think that I rode more than he did. We spent some time riding some of the rides and then headed over to the waterpark where the girls seemed to have the most fun (especially Madison). Got a bite to eat and then attempted some more rides. By that time, I think Sidney had enough and bailed on me on the Carolina Cobra. She got strapped in and then I could tell that she was about ready to break down. The attendant let her out and she waited with Todd and Madison for me to ride. It wasn't long after that we decided it was time to head home.

The girls thought it was so cool that half the park was in North Carolina and half the park was in South Carolina. So of course, we had to have a picture taken under the sign. (Pictures isn't the best, but it was with my phone under a grey sky).

After we got home, Sidney was ready to open a few gifts. She was ready for bed too, but couldn't let her birthday pass without opening her presents.

She also received some money from her grandparents and bought an iPod Touch with it. Something else she's been wanting for a while now. All in all, I think she had a great 10th birthday.

Happy 10th Birthday Sweet Sidney,

I can't believe that you are 10 years old now. These past 10 years have flown by so fast and you have been a joy and a blessing since the day you were born. Daddy and I are so very proud of the young lady you are turning into. We couldn't love you more!

Love,

Momma and Daddy

"Follow the Yellow Brick Road"

2011-06-09T14:43:00.023-04:00

This year, the girls ballet recital was a production of "The Wizard of Oz"! And once again, it was a wonderful recital. A little longer than normal this year (well, okay, a lot longer than normal...3 hours), but it was still great. The girls were in the "pre show" where they did their modern dance and of course it was wonderful. And then they were in the second act of the production as "Oz Children"...

Backstage getting ready for recital....

with our friend Emma...

we have a picture like this from every year that the girls have danced in the same performance

On stage (during dress rehearsal)

My beautiful ballerinas with their flowers after recital...

Madison also received her trophy for 5 years of dancing. Can't believe she's been dancing for 5 years!

Me and My ballerinas

Davis and his "sissy's"

Daddy and his girls

I am so very proud of both the girls and of all their hard work and dedication to ballet. I love watching them dance. God has blessed them each with so many unique gifts, but I am so thankful that He blessed them both with the gift of dance. I love watching them on stage together!

Middle School, Here We Come

2011-06-02T14:37:00.036-04:00

Well, my big girl is now officially a middle schooler. Although she's going into 5th grade, at their school, that's considered middle school. On June 2nd, Sidney had her Bridging Ceremony where she "bridged" from 4th grade to 5th. Leaving the lower school and crossing over to the upper school. There was a slide show of pictures that the parents sent in of all the 4th graders over the years. It was so neat to see how much these kids have changed over the last 5 years. There were student speeches and the principal and headmaster both spoke. Each student was called up individually and given a certificate and then they crossed over the bridge to meet the upper school principal. Bridging is a huge deal to the 4th graders and Sidney was so excited.

Here are a few pictures from after we got home:

my rising middle schooler (ugh...can that really be true?)

Sisters...

My mom and dad came all the way from Florida for Sidney's bridging ceremony. 12 hours just to see the back of her head cross over the bridge at the front of the gym, but they wouldn't have missed it for anything.

Me and my babies

and me and my 5th grader!

And as I write this (almost a month after I actually started it), I just received the girls report cards, EOG results and Sidney's class schedule. Yes, a schedule! She will be changing classes this year. 7 different classes each day - She is so excited about moving on to 5th grade and all the changes that will surely come with it. I am not so sure that I'm ready! But, ready or not, in less than a month, ~~she~~ we will begin ~~her~~ our middle school adventure!

My Little Graduate

2011-05-24T14:31:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe that my baby has graduated from preschool... he is now officially a kindergartener! It seems like just yesterday he was being toted around in his carrier as I was taking Sidney to kindergarten.

Last night, Davis' preschool class had their little graduation program.

The night was started off with a DVD made by Davis' teacher of pictures of the kids throughout the year. It was so neat to see how much they have changed since they started the year. And of course, the pictures were set to music. I, unfortunately, was distracted by something else and didn't get to enjoy the video as much as I would have liked, but am hoping to watch it again soon. Then the kids all came "galloping" down the aisle one at a time on hobby horses. They sang some songs such as "Alice the Camel", "She'll be Comin' 'Round the Mountain", and "This Little Light of Mine" (and that's only a few of the ones they sang). After their program, they were each presented with a diploma and bible. I tried to get a picture of Davis with his diploma and bible, but he was too fast for my camera and it came out as a blur...

But here is my little graduate after the program was over....

And here is Davis with his two wonderful teachers, Ms. Ginger and Ms. Libby. They are so great with all the kids and did such a wonderful job.

Me and my graduate (he really didn't want to get his picture taken with me, but didn't have much of a choice)

And here's a picture of Davis with "Flat Davis"... Each of the kids were traced and then painted and then cut out. Now I will forever have Davis as a 5 year old (just in paper form)...

What a wonderful night for my little man. I can't believe he's off to kindergarten in a little over a month. My babies are no longer babies....

Oh and ....

Watch out UA, here comes Davis!!!

She's Got Character

2011-05-09T14:07:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe that I am so far behind in my blogging... things have just gotten crazy around here. But, I'm going to attempt to catch up the best I can (well, at least the important things)...

This post should have been done back in April

On April 15th, Madison was awarded the Character Award at school for

Trustworthiness...

This is the second time that Madison has won a character award at school and both times it has been for Trustworthiness!

Here is just a sampling of what her fellow classmates said about Madison and why she was chosen to receive the Trustworthiness award

She is always there when a friend needs her
She can be trusted to keep a secret
She can always be trusted to do her work and follow directions
We can count on her to be a trustworthy friend

And once again, she was so excited to win! She had no idea that she had been chosen and when her name was called she came running up to us where we had been hiding behind the curtain. What a joy for me to see her be recognized by her friends and teacher for such a wonderful character trait.

Keep up the good work Madison! We are so proud of you!

Easter 2011

2011-05-06T16:23:00.002-04:00

We spent Easter weekend at the "farm" with Todd's parent's this year. The last two years, the kids and I have been in Florida. I just couldn't leave Todd for another year for Easter. We were so hoping for a nice weekend to play and fish, but it rained almost all day Friday and Saturday. It was pretty hard to keep the kids entertained while stuck inside. Unfortunately (or fortunately, however you want to look at it), Sidney had plenty to do. She had to finish her North Carolina Project for school that was due on Thursday. This was the final part of her project and not only did she have to write at least a one page report on her topic, but she also had to do a visual presentation. Thankfully, my father in law is awesome at power point projects, so he helped Sidney create a simple, yet effective Power Point presentation. So poor Sidney's entire weekend was spent finishing this project. (It actually turned into a family affair as we all pitched in somehow).

Todd and I did get to go out on a "date" on Friday night. We went and got a quick bite to eat and then headed to the movies to see "The Lincoln Lawyer". It was a really good movie. (And really, anything with Matthew McCononaughey....) It was also kind of nice to actually go to a theater to see a movie with Todd. It's been so long since we've done that. Actually, it may have been while we were on fall break at the farm and his parents watched the kids. Anyway, it was still nice!

It started to clear up on Saturday evening, but everything was still so wet. Easter Sunday was a beautiful day. We were supposed to go to church with Todd's grandparents but they decided that they weren't up to going. And since were supposed to be having lunch with them at noon, there were no local churches that we knew of that would be out before then. Can't say I was really happy about not going to church on Easter Sunday. But anyway, we went and had lunch with Todd's grandparents whom we don't see very often and they are not in the greatest of health so they no longer travel. I know that they were happy that we were all there and they love to see the kids. After lunch, we went back to the farm to play for a little bit. The fish weren't biting and the field was still to wet to play in or ride the 4 wheeler, so we packed up and headed back home.

I did make the kids wear their Easter outfits though....

(I really wish Davis had been looking at the camera)

It wasn't the weekend that I was hoping for, but Sidney did finish her report and we did spend time together as a family, and that was the most important thing.

What I've Been Up To

2011-04-20T16:06:00.001-04:00

Well, the answer to that is not much and too much. It seems that as we've rolled into the Spring that things have gotten extremely busy. But all the busy stuff isn't all that exciting. I know that it's been almost a month since my last post, and I don't think I can go back and recap the last 4 weeks in detail, but here's what I've been up to the last 4 weeks....

The week after my last post (March 28th - April 1st) was my girls Spring Break from school. Notice I said, my girls break, mine and Davis' Spring Break is actually this week. So since they were out of school, I decided to take the week off from work. Madison had to have a bone scan xray, so we did that first thing Monday morning, then I took the kids to the movies to see Gnomeo and Juliet. It was a really cute movie. Not really crazy about seeing it in 3D and definitely not crazy about paying $39.50 for tickets. Really, really ridiculous...and I won't even mention how much I spent in popcorn and drinks. BUT, the kids really enjoyed it, and it was their Spring Break. They've worked hard this year and deserved a little treat. On Tuesday, my in-laws took all three kids to the farm for a few days. So I spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday doing nothing. I went shopping on Tuesday and Thursday and did nothing on Wednesday but watch a movie and caught up on some DVR'd NCIS:Los Angeles. Todd and I went out to dinner both nights and it was so nice to hang out and talk (and eat) without the kids. I missed them, but I did enjoy the time with my hubby. And on their last day of Spring Break, we didn't do much of anything either. We just hung around the house. So that was Spring Break, Part1!!!

The next week was "Back to Reality".... unfortunately, my week started off with taking Sidney to Urgent Care. She had been suffering through her entire break with her allergies and by Sunday night her allergy eyes turned into Pink Eye. So her first day back after break, and she was home sick. Well, she was holed up in a room at preschool while I worked. She went back to school on Tuesday only for them to call me to come get her in the afternoon because her other eye was now pink. UGH....

You may recall in my last post, I mentioned wanting to get some non studio pictures done. Well, I had originally scheduled for us to have them done the Thursday evening that the kids were on break, but it rained pretty much that whole week and was supposed to rain that night, so we rescheduled for the following Wednesday. With Sidney's pink eye, I wasn't sure that we'd be able to make our photo shoot. Thankfully, her eyes cleared up and she felt well enough for us to do our shoot. It was great! Bobbie Brown did our pictures and she is wonderful. She did such a great job and is great to work with. I know that we'll be calling her again and again and again. I don't think we'll ever do another studio picture again. I have over 400 pictures to choose from and it's so hard to choose. I will eventually do a post just with those pictures, but here's just one of the great pics from that night.

Like I said, this is just one of the pictures. Another post with more to come soon! I can't wait to get them printed and hung on my walls!

And the rest of that week was nothing exciting. Sidney went on an all day field trip to Raleigh and Todd went with her. She loved it. I'm not sure if she loved going to Raleigh or having Todd all to herself. My guess is the latter! Davis' flag football game, the school's Community Carnival and the fish fry at our church filled up our Saturday. Sunday morning turned out to be rather exciting. Sidney started having problems with her eyes again on Saturday night, so we made the decision to stay home from church on Sunday and she wasn't allowed to leave the house. She had to spend the entire day resting. Todd went to church because it's his month to greet at the door before Sunday School and before Worship. So the kids and I stayed home and were waiting for him to come home to have a big breakfast. About 5 minutes after he walked in the door, Davis and I were off to Urgent Care.

As you can see, Davis busted his chin open! He was running from his sisters while carrying his pillow and he slipped and hit the hardwood floors. We wait at Urgent Care for about an hour and then finally get to the back. The split was too big and deep for DermaBond, so my big boy had to have 5 stitches. He did so well. Only cried with the first injection of the local anesthesia. Once that first pinch was over, and the anesthesia started to numb the area, he was fine. In fact, he was very chatty! I on the other hand wasn't doing so good. I had to hold his arms down by his side so I got a really good view of how they were using the needle. I wasn't really bothered by it, or so I thought. But after a few minutes, I started to feel very nauseous and lightheaded. I had to sit back in the chair and almost passed out. The Dr. kept working on Davis' chin while another nurse came in to take care of me... When all was said and done, the Dr. came to the conclusion that my blood sugar dropped causing me to feel light headed. It came from not having anything to eat (it was 12:30pm by this time). I didn't think watching the stitches go in would bother me, but I didn't account for my adrenaline to be kicking like it was. I guess my heart rate went up when he was so upset and then when it started coming down, that's when I started feeling bad. Needless to say, as soon as we were done (and the Dr. let me leave) we went straight to get some "Big Donalds (McDonald's in Davis speak) and then headed home. By the time I got home, I was BEAT! It was definitely and emotional morning.

He got his stitches out last Friday and it is healing up nicely. He will most definitely have a scar. Funny thing is that Todd has a scar in the same exact place, you just can't see it. Honestly, I'm shocked that it's taken almost 10 years for our first set of stitches. I think I'm good for another 10!!!

Last week was more of the same. School, work, lots of running around. Doctor's appointments, dentist appointments, football practice, ballet. You get the point! Just another busy week, but nothing exciting to write home about. Same with this week... although Davis and I are on Spring Break, we're still up early to take the girls to school and back in the afternoons to pick them up. Two doctor's appointments this week for me (our insurance is changing on May 1st, so we're getting in all our doctor visits and prescriptions filled before then... that's a whole other story!)

And now it's Wednesday... I've spent today setting up my new Etsy shop where I'm hoping to sell some things that I'm making. I started crocheting last fall and have enjoyed it so much. However, my projects are starting to pile up, so I figured I'd try to sell some and see what happens.

Just one of the hats I've made.

So that's been pretty much the last 4 weeks! Now to look forward to the long Easter weekend. We are planning to go to the farm for the weekend. I think we all need some time just to relax and do nothing.

Everything Changes

2011-03-22T13:45:00.001-04:00

I've been thinking a lot about how things have changed over the years and after a discussion with my girls this morning about computers, music, phones and the like it got me to really think about how things are always changing. I mean, can you imagine having to type a book report on a typewriter? No spell check, no auto correct (which sometimes does more harm than good). Having to actually use a dictionary or encyclopedia to find something, instead of just "Googling something". Music - break out those tape cassettes or even records. Portable music, got ya covered... a boom box (haha), walkman, discman (it may have been portable, but you still had to carry around the music). Cell phones - I got my first cell phone when I was 18 and even then it was like a brick. Computers - were huge!!! Now we can walk around with things like this...

Macbook Air

this computer weighs 3 pounds (it's really cool... Todd's got one)

and the iPad... (it's really cool too.... I love mine).

And we're always connected. Instant messaging, Facebook, video chats....Always plugged in.

Now don't get me wrong, I love technology and I'm right in the middle of all that. (I've got an iPhone and iPad). I love it! It's great... I guess my whole point to all this is that EVERYTHING changes. Nothing stays the same.

Nothing but God's love for us, that is!

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8

And besides the conversation with the girls this morning, pictures is what got me thinking about it. I have been wanting to do some fun pictures of the kids for awhile and have been "researching" photographers in the area because I don't want plain old studio pictures....

When my kids were younger, I did a really good job of getting their pictures taken every few months. I took them each for their 6 weeks, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, 12 month and even 18 month. I got the girls pictures made in their baptism dress. And I've gotten pictures done of them each year since. And that doesn't include the times we went for family pictures and wound up getting individuals of them. Not to mention the last 5 years worth of Nutcracker and Recital pictures. So I think I did really well over the last 10 years with pictures.

BUT....

Now, when I see all these "lifestyle" pictures, I think to myself, "Now, why didn't I do that with my kids?" I keep telling myself that those type of pictures weren't the "in" thing at the time, and when Sidney was born, it wasn't. That was in the early days of digital photography (that would never take off, ha!) and when pictures were developed from film (what's film, right?) And even with Madison, we didn't get our first digital camera until she was 2 months old. So these type of pictures would have been almost next to impossible to do because of the amount of film it would take and the cost of processing and printing. Each picture would have to be at minimum processed regardless of if it was the best shot ever taken or the worst. I absolutely treasure every studio picture, film picture and digital picture ever taken of each of my kids, (and I have some wonderful pictures)

(really, could they be any cuter???)

I just feel like I missed out on capturing them as they were when they were little. And it may just be that I feel this way because majority of the pictures capturing them as they were/are, are snapshots that are tucked away in photo albums and scrapbooks and from 2008 to present only in digital form on my computer/iPad/iPhone. I could be feeling this way because I'm looking at my kids now and thinking, "When did they grow up?" and am missing those early years. However, after getting the girls school pictures back this year (that cost me $94), and they were awful, I think I'm going to leave the world of studio photos behind. I am hoping very soon to have some "lifestyle" pictures of my kids. I may be a few years late getting in on the trend, but I'm jumping on board now!

And it's not only the pictures! When my girls were little, they never had monogrammed shirts or big flowery hair bows or cute sock monkey crocheted hats... those things weren't common 10 years ago. I'm sure they were out there, but not near as accessible or affordable as they are today. With eBay and Etsy and even Facebook, you can find a hat, tutu, monogrammed diaper cover and any other thing you want monogrammed in minutes. And it's great....I just hate that I missed out on that with my girls especially. Because now that they are in the "tween" stage, those type of things are apparently not cool. Again, I loved many of the outfits that my girls wore, (I know I keep talking about the girls, and kind of am leaving Davis out, but can't do much with khaki shorts and t-shirts, and really, well, except for those super cute shirts that my friend Jenny makes for her boys) and they had big hair bows to match most thing (not near as big as I've seen recently). And again, all these feelings may be because they are beyond that stage. They don't want big hair bows, they want trendy headbands. They don't want sweet pillowcase dresses, they want "skinny jeans". I think that most of my feelings are all coming from the fact that my babies are growing up. And while I'm so thankful that I get to watch them grow up, I still miss when they were little.

It just goes to show you that everything changes in some way, shape or form. Think about how baby gear changed from one year to the next. Even though my girls are only 15 months apart, there were things that weren't out when Sidney was born, but were when Madison was born. And when Davis came along, everything changed. And now.... we'll, I am in awe of some of the new stuff they have come up with for babies. Some of this cool new baby gear almost makes me want to have another one... Well..... maybe not!!!!

And it's just like everything....

from the way we take pictures, to the clothes we wear, to the way we decorate our home...to our children

nothing stays the same....things are always changing! And they are always changing fast!

And all these things that change comes from the God who never changes....

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" James 1:17

Showcased Artist

2011-03-18T16:08:00.000-04:00

One of Madison's pieces of artwork was selected by her art teacher to be part of our local City Council's Student Art Showcase. There were maybe 20 pieces of art selected from the schools that are within the city limits and Madison's was one of them. We got a letter from her art teacher asking for permission for her art to be displayed in City Hall for one year. How cool is that?

Madison (along with her family) was invited to attend a City Hall meeting where she would be recognized as one of the student artists whose artwork would be hanging in City Hall. She was so excited! Her sister is the one who really loves art, so it is pretty neat that Madison was the one chosen. Out of all the students in her school (grades K-12), she was one of the very few chosen. (I think there were 6 or 7 from her school total).... We all went to the meeting with her and she got to meet some of the City Councilmen and the Mayor. She also was introduced and got to share about her artwork. It was very neat. Her art was matted and framed and will hang in City Hall until January 2012.

Here is Madison standing under her artwork!

We are so proud and so excited for her!

Great job, Madison!

A New Believer

2011-03-01T12:24:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago during church, we had a few baptisms taking place. The girls always enjoy watching the baptism and every time there is a baptism, I always ask the girls if they are ready to be baptized. And the answer that I get is either a "No" or "I'm not sure" or "Not yet". I ask them that question in order to begin a discussion with them about why we are baptized and when it is time to be baptized. We've told them both multiple times that (in our church) you just can't get baptized without having asked Jesus into our hearts. We have talked about it quite a bit and have made it clear to the girls that we would have to be sure that their reasons for wanting to be baptized are not based on seeing friends do it. We want to make sure that there is a true understanding of what being baptized means. So imagine my surprise on that Sunday morning, when I asked Sidney that question and she looked at me with the most honest expression and said "Yes Mommy, I am". Tears came to my eyes. I told her that we would talk about it at lunch and told Todd what she had said. When we got home from church, and sat down for lunch, we started asking Sidney questions about her desire to be baptized. We asked her if she had asked Jesus to come into her heart and if she prayed for His saving grace. She looked at us and said, "Oh, yeah, I did that a while back during revival" (which was in October). She told us that she knows that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that we cannot save ourselves. That the only way we can go to heaven is by believing in Jesus and following Him. She got it! All our discussions about Jesus and His love and what He did for us... She understood!

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

So two weeks ago, during the alter call, Sidney and her daddy walked up to the front of the church and told our pastor that Sidney has accepted Jesus as her Savior. I cried! I couldn't keep the tears from falling. I couldn't have been more excited for her. I'd like to say proud of her, but I know that it was Jesus who revealed Himself to Sidney and that He was the one who brought her to Him at the time that it was supposed to happen. Yes we talked about it and taught her about Jesus, but ultimately, it was Him who did it.

Sidney met with our Youth pastor last Thursday and on Sunday, along with 5 other people, Sidney was baptized.

Here she is getting ready ....

(she was so nervous and when she gets nervous, she get even more chatty than normal)

with our Youth Pastor, Larry

and waiting for worship to start...

She was the first of the 6 baptized

Romans 4:6 - "We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of life.

Our kids reach so many milestones throughout their lives, first steps, first words, first day of school, etc., but I don't think there is any other milestone that is sweeter than knowing that your child has accepted Jesus as their Savior. It makes this Momma's heart happy!

We are so happy for you Sidney, that you have accepted Jesus as your Savior at an early age. He will be with you throughout your life and will guide you as long as you follow him.

We love you so much!

My New "Swagger Wagon"

2011-02-27T14:21:00.000-05:00

Todd played this commercial for me and I thought it was hilarious.

On Tuesday, my hubby surprised me with a new 2011 Toyota Sienna...

I had taken my Odyssey in for service on Tuesday (80,000 mile service, oil change, brakes, etc) and was supposed to have it back before I had to be at school for Girl Scouts. Well, turned out that it was going to take longer than expected. I had Todd's truck all day and he told me just to take the truck to school and he'd go pick up the van. Apparently, when he went to pick up the van, he was very unhappy with the service department. He had also tried to make a deal on a new 2011 Odyssey, but the sales guy wasn't really interested in even trying to sell him a new van. Offered him some ridiculous price for my van and wouldn't come off the new Odyssey at all. He got the keys back, paid for the service and drove directly to the Toyota dealership where he bought his truck. They offered him a great trade in value for my van and took about $7,000 of the price of the Sienna. All this was done while I was at home with the kids. I had no idea any of this was going on. I was supposed to be going to a friends house for a Pampered Chef party and was getting quite frustrated that he wasn't home yet. The only thing he said to me when he texted me was "I'm going to be a little late tonight"... It wasn't until about 7:00pm that he sent me a text with a picture of the van and with the question "So, do you want white?"

My new "Swagger Wagon"

I was perfectly happy with my Odyssey. I hadn't even been asking for anything new. Todd said that as much time as I spend in my van, he wanted me to enjoy it. I was blown away by his surprise and am loving my new ride!

We are now a Toyota family...

Nothing To Say

2011-02-17T08:35:00.000-05:00

I don't think I've gone this long without having something to write about, but I've just not had anything to write about. Life is just as busy and things are going on, but just nothing exciting. I know that I should be recording some more of our everyday life and not just the "exciting" things. And I really need to start taking more pictures. I think it's time to keep the camera with me all the time and snap away. I know that in a few years, I'm going to regret not having pictures to look back at.

Hopefully I'll be back to writing soon.

Intent To Enroll

2011-01-25T21:05:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year again! Time to fill out the Intent to Re-Enroll the girls at UA. A few weeks ago we got our Intent to enroll forms for the next school year. (Hard to believe we're even thinking about the NEXT school year. We need to get through this one first.) Anyway, over the past few years, it has been just another form to fill out, however, this year was much different. Why is this year any different from years past? Well, because this year, instead of filling out just two names on the Intent form, I added one more name to that form. Yes, on this year's Intent to Re-Enroll form, I filled out the section marked Intent to Enroll Sibling....

My baby will be heading off to kindergarten at the end of July! I have often thought about 2011 as being the year that Davis would start school, but now that it's here, I can hardly believe it. In 6 months (yes, only 6 months), all my babies will be in school. I will no longer be a mom to a preschooler. I will be graduating to being a mom to school aged children and a tween (soooo not ready for that one). This is going to be quite an emotional year. With Davis "graduating" from Preschool in May, Sidney "Bridging" from 4th grade to 5th grade (which is middle school at UA) and Madison starting her last year in lower school....I'm going to be a wreck!

And we're one step closer to being an official Kindergartener... Yesterday, Davis had his 5 year check up and with that came his shots that he needs to enter kindergarten. And although he cried, and he cried loud, about getting those shots, he now tells everyone that he got shots so he could "go to Kindergarten at SidneyMadison's school" (yes, "SidneyMadison" is all one word when it comes to things or places that they go together).

So....

Intent to enroll form - Check

Kindergarten Health Assessment form - Check

5 year old shots - Check

Emotional Mommy - Check

I know that he's going to love Kindergarten and that he's ready to go, but I'm not sure I'm ready. For the last 9 years, I've had someone with me at all times (for the most part) and for the last 4 years, it's been just me and Davis...oh, how I'm going to miss our days together. I keep asking myself, "what am I going to do with myself next year?" Should prove to be interesting!

Snow Days

2011-01-13T21:48:00.000-05:00

Yes, even here in the south we get snow. It's not often and not usually a lot, but we've got quite a bit in a short amount of time. We missed the first round of snow which came the day after Christmas. We were in warm and sunny (for the first few days) and then cold and windy Florida. We came home to lots of pretty snow on the ground, but nothing to play in at that point. Then on Sunday there was expectations of an accumulation of snow beginning on Monday in the early hours of the morning. We got the call before the kids headed off to bed that there was no school on Monday. Everyone was excited about not having school. I was excited that I would get to sleep in. Even Todd had planned to stay home. We woke up to about 3 or 4 inches of beautiful, white, fluffy snow and it was still coming down. Since then snow was supposed to stop and freezing rain begin mid afternoon, Todd decided to get all the kids bundled and outside to play in the snow while it was still the fun kind of snow. Now we aren't really prepared for snow around here and because snow doesn't come that often, I wasn't going to invest in snow gear. All the kids had warm coats and rain boots (which I found out, don't do much in the keeping the feet warm. They may stay dry, but the feet get awfully cold). Everyone had hats, scarves and gloves (well, the gloves were the knit type, so we had 6 frozen hands). BUT, everyone ventured out.

Madison preparing to make a snowball.

4 wheeler riding in the snow is fun...if you can get past the snow in your face and the wind biting at your cheeks.

Our "crazy" dog LOVES the snow. (Can't stand rain, cold or wind, but loves the snow).

"Hurry up Mom and take the picture...It's COLD"

A look down our street... It was so pretty!

Todd & our neighbor suited up for some 4 wheel fun.

This is how you ride a 4 wheeler in the snow!

Todd was the only one who had snow garb. He bought this camo suit in January of last year in preparation for some snow and then dug out some of his old ski gear. He lasted the longest outside. Madison was first to jump ship and Sidney followed not to long afterwards. Davis gave it a real good try, but I think the cold hit him all at once. He cried and said he never wanted to go out in the snow again. Poor thing was frozen. I'm guessing I may need to start looking for some snow gear for the kids.

It proceeded to snow most of the day Monday and then the freezing rain began late Monday afternoon and through the night. School was once again cancelled for Tuesday and we woke up to all that beautiful, fluffy white snow layered under a sheet of ice. When Todd went out to his truck, he brought in a quarter inch thick piece of ice from the top of his truck bed cover. Yeah, we weren't going anywhere! It was another day inside, but wasn't too bad. We watched movies, played the Kinect and the girls finished school work that they had to do. Although the sun did come out on Tuesday and began to melt some of the ice, it was going to refreeze again on Tuesday night since the temps were going to drop into the teens again. School was once again cancelled for Wednesday!

Wednesday was a VERY LONG DAY!!! By mid morning, the roads were clear enough for Todd to go to work. The kids (and I) were starting to go a little stir crazy, but I wasn't going to venture out. I did get my house cleaned on Wednesday, which is a plus. The negative is that the girls were starting to get on each other's nerves and they were pushing all of Davis' buttons. I think everyone was done being stuck inside. Thankfully, school would be open and on a normal schedule for Thursday. Parents were given the option of keeping their children home and it be considered an excused absence. I "opted" for them to go today. (Which, the first thing out of Sidney's mouth at carpool pick up was "Today was an optional day. We didn't really have to come." To which I replied "Yes, you really did have to go".)

As nice as the snow is (for a very short period of time), I'm glad my kids are back to their normal routine. They complain about having to go and all that, but they like the structure even if they don't admit it. I'm hoping that this is the end to our "Winter Weather" for this school year, but I'm afraid that there's going to be more to come!

And Now He's 5!!!

2011-01-04T20:39:00.000-05:00

FIVE.... My baby boy is now FIVE...

On Sunday, Davis turned 5! And at 10:15 am, while sitting in worship at church, tears came to my eyes as I remembered that day, 5 years ago, when I met the other most important man in my life. At 10:15 am on Sunday morning, while sitting in worship at church, I thanked God for my sweet boy. I am so thankful that God knew that Davis was meant for our family and even though we hadn't planned on having more children, God had a different plan for us, and I am so glad.

Anderson Davis,

Happy 5th Birthday Sweet Boy! You are growing up so fast and we have so enjoyed these last 5 years being your Momma and Daddy. You are so much fun and you have taught me so much about all things boy. Legos, cars, monster trucks, Batman and Iron Man are all part of my everyday conversations. Thanks you for being the sweet boy that you are (most of the time). We are so excited to see what the next year holds for you.

We Love You so much!

Momma and Daddy

Happy New Year 2011

2010-12-31T23:55:00.000-05:00

May 2011 bring you many more memories with those you love...

Happy New Year!

A Christmas Story - Part 2

2010-12-31T12:02:00.001-05:00

After opening gifts and having a wonderful breakfast, the kids all played with their toys and I took a nap.

Here are a few pictures of the kids playing with their gifts on Christmas day. (I'm not sure how long the kids stayed in the jammies...)

Not exactly sure here what they are doing, but they both had paper and pencils and their laptops open. It almost looked like they were doing research or something.

And here's my little "minion" working hard on his Legos

(Yes, those are Minion glass from the movie "Despicable Me"

And his work is done...

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out and preparing for our big Christmas dinner. My mom always makes Prime Rib on Christmas and it's always so good. And this year was no exception! My brother and his family came over for dinner and we got to open more presents with them. It was fun to watch my niece Emily open up her gifts. It was her second Christmas but last year she was only 2 months old, so she really had no clue about what was going on. And I can't believe I don't have any pictures of Emily to share. Going to have to get some from my sister in law to add to our album.

Our plan was to head back home on Sunday morning, but due to the snow that had fallen (and was still falling on Sunday) all along our route home, we decided to stay until Monday morning. Which actually worked out well for me since I was able to get all our laundry done, everything packed up and even got to get to the Outlet Mall to exchange one of my jeans that didn't fit. Mom and I headed up to the Outlet Mall on Sunday and what.a.zoo! It was PACKED!!! I drove around for 20 minutes looking for a parking place only to have to park as far out as you could possibly get. And even though we were in Florida, it was frigidly cold and windy. I guess whatever front was causing the snow at home was bringing the cold wind to "Sunny Florida". One of the stores we wanted to go in was the Coach outlet. Well, I guess since there were so many people, the Coach store was only allowing so many people into the store at a time. There was a line of people waiting to get in. And with an extra 30% off, people waited. My mom being one of them. I went and did my exchange while she stood in line. I think she was in line for 45 minutes. Once we got in, the store itself was also a zoo. However, the prices were great. Most of the merchandise was marked down 30 - 60 %. And on top of their regular markdowns, there were quite a few things marked an additional 50% off. Plus the 30% off of the entire purchase. No wonder people were waiting in line. I was able to get a purse and wallet that would have normally cost $226 for only $70. I'd say that's a pretty good savings! After hiking back to our car, we headed back to my moms. We had dinner, finished packing the car and then Todd went to bed early.

Monday morning, at 4:30 am, we were up and getting ready to leave. By the time we got dressed, put the few remaining things in the car, and packed up the kids, it was 5:15. And a long drive was ahead of us. We had no idea what the road conditions would be like as we drove further north, so we wanted to try to get ahead of whatever traffic would be on the road. The kids fell right back to sleep and slept for another 4 hours or so. And thankfully, the roads were fine and traffic was minimal. It made for a little less stressful trip home. Unfortunately, Todd was not feeling very well which made the trip seem like forever for him.

We made it back to town, picked up the dog from the kennel and pulled in the driveway at 3:45. And once we finished unloading the car we headed upstairs where "Santa" had left a few more things for the kids that he couldn't bring with him to Florida.

Here are the kids ~~patiently~~ waiting to see what Santa left

Santa left Davis a whole Lego city (with I think 900 pieces) and each of the girls got a storage wardrobe for their American Girl clothes. (And no, not the actual American Girl wardrobe... they got the MUCH cheaper one from Target). And Santa also left for all of us a XBox Kinect. Which, I must say, is really cool. We've all been playing every day this week. The girls are loving the dance game and the Kinectimals game. Davis loves the demo of Sonic and I love sports game and the adventure game. But mostly, I love the fact that we can all play together. (And there's no controller that could accidentally be thrown through my TV). I think we'll get a lot of use out of the Kinect. (Especially when I get my fitness game. Debating on "The Biggest Loser" or "Zumba"... any suggestions?)

So that was our Christmas 2010 ~ I think it was wonderful. I so enjoyed being with my whole family this year. Glad to be home enjoying my husband and kids and looking forward to the new year. Only a few more days of break before we're back at school and all activities start once again. It's been a nice break . . . but I think we are all ready for routine once again.

A Christmas Story - Part 1

2010-12-29T21:33:00.004-05:00

This post was originally titled "Getting Ready For Christmas". As you can see, Christmas has come and gone for another year, so I'm having to re vamp this post to recap the past few weeks.

Let's begin....
This year has blown by at warp speed, especially the last almost 4 months. I just spent the last few hours taking down all my Christmas decorations. I still have to take down the tree and the few decorations I put up outside. I so enjoyed my decorations this year. Last year I waited so long to decorate my house and my tree that I feel like I didn't get to enjoy it. It felt as if I put it up and then took it down the next day. (I didn't really, just felt that way). So this year, we started decorating the Saturday after Thanksgiving. All three kids helped decorate the tree this year instead of just the girls. Davis enjoyed getting to put his few ornaments on the tree. Wonder if they'll be as excited to help me take all the ornaments off the tree as they were putting them on? Hmmm... doubt it!

Our pretty tree....

I was very behind this year with my Christmas shopping. I just couldn't seem to find that one day where everything I wanted was found. It took forever to get it all completed. In fact, even 4 days after Christmas, I still feel like I've forgotten something. Shopping this year was extremely hard, especially with Davis in tow. He's at that age now where he shares information that he's supposed to keep secret. Thankfully, this year, I think he forgot the things that I had bought that were actually from "Santa" and didn't ruin anyone's surprise. Next year should be a bit easier with him being in school. And my trip to Florida was throwing a real kink into getting ready for Christmas.

We weren't planning to be in Florida for Christmas. In fact, we decided after Sidney's first Christmas in Florida that we would not travel around Christmas until the kids were older, and "Santa" wasn't an issue. It's such an ordeal to try to pack up their "Santa" gifts and drag them 12 hours to Florida just to drag them all back. We joke each year that Santa doesn't go to Florida, but I guess he made an exception this year....

What was supposed to be a trip down for a few days for my niece Emily's baptism on December 18th, turned into spending Christmas in Florida. The kids and I had plans to leave after school got out on the 17th, drive halfway, spend the night in Georgia and then drive the rest of the way on Saturday just in time to make it for Emily's baptism. My brother and sister in law asked me to be Emily's Godmother, and of course I was honored, so I had to be there. The kids and I were planning to drive home on the 23rd so that we'd be home with Todd for Christmas. However, because I married a wonderful man, he decided that he didn't want me driving alone the day before Christmas so he planned to fly down on Wednesday so he could drive us home on Thursday. It was then that he decided that if he was going to go through all that, that we may as well just stay. To say that he gave my mom the greatest gift this year is an understatement. She's been asking us for years to come "home" for Christmas and each year we say no. She was so happy to have us all there this year. (It may be another 9 years before we do it again, so I really hope she enjoyed it...Ha). We decided not to tell the kids that Todd was coming to Florida and that we would be staying for Christmas. On Wednesday morning, I told them I had to go pick up a gift I had ordered, and when I came back to the house with Todd, they were so excited. So that's how we wound up in Florida for Christmas. And again, a big THANKS to my hubby. It meant so much to my parents, and to me... I Love You!

So Christmas morning, the kids were up at 5:00 am... how we managed to hold them off for 45 minutes, I still don't know. They were so excited to see that Santa found them at Meme and Poppa's house.

Davis was very easy to buy for this year. Legos and Iron Man where the theme of his "wish list" this year. He was thrilled to see that Santa left pretty much the entire set of Hero Factory Legos Christmas morning. He is still missing a few of the bad guys, but he was so happy to see all the Heroes set up.

Meme and Poppa took care of the other things on his "wish list".... Iron Man 2. I think he now has every product on the market except, however, for the one thing he asked Santa for. (The reviews on it were horrible.) Last thing we wanted was a gift that didn't work on Christmas morning.

" I am Iron Man"

The girls on the other hand were extremely difficult to buy for. Their Christmas list looked like an ad for Best Buy.

1. Laptop Computer

2. iPod Touch

3. Cell Phone

and on Madison's list, she added

4. iPad

Guess she figures if she asks big, she'll get the least of her wishes. Smart Girl!!!

At 8 and 9, I think I was still asking for baby doll stuff and Barbies and an Easy Bake Oven (which we have and after Christmas morning last year, the novelty was over - anyone need and Easy Bake Oven?) The only doll stuff they are into are American Girls and really, how many American Girl Dolls does one need? Oh, and don't forget the clothes and accessories for the dolls. Sidney has also requested things such as a hair dryer and flat iron, winter dresses and warm fuzzy boots "like Uggs, but not Uggs" (seriously, that's how she had it on her Christmas list). So what do we get for them? Laptops, naturally. Now this was something that we wouldn't have normally done, but Todd found on Ebay Apple MacBooks for $175. They aren't new by any means. They are refurbs, but have WiFi built in, plenty of memory in pretty good shape and did I mention they were $175 AND free shipping.

They were shocked and thrilled. They now have limited web access (all sites have to be approved by me first), email (all incoming and outgoing email has to be approved by me), and ability to create documents. Now there will no longer be any fights about who has been on the computer longer or who's turn it is. We have complete control over their computer usage. The parental controls on the Apple are great. We can limit their time and we can even see what they are doing in real time via screen sharing. (It's really cool, but can really freak you out if you don't know what's going on.) They can both manage their own iTunes library too (but don't have access to the iTunes store). All in all, I think a very good purchase. I am sure they would agree!

So that's the first part of our 2010 Christmas story... more to share, but that's going to have to wait until tomorrow. Well, hopefully tomorrow!

Tis' the "Nutcracker" Season

2010-12-07T13:49:00.000-05:00

What would the Christmas season be without the Nutcracker? (A lot less stressful, that's for sure, but it would feel like something was missing!) Three more days until the first 2010 performance. The girls have worked very hard this year preparing for the Nutcracker. The girls had their first dress rehearsal last night. I didn't get good pictures last night like I did last year, but I'm hoping to on Wednesday when they have their last dress rehearsal. Here's a sneak peek at my "Dream Angel" and "Intermediate Party Girl"

And this is "the dress" that I spent so much time working on. It looks BEAUTIFUL on Madison. Definitely is one of a kind!

And here is the Official Nutcracker picture. The picture that will go in the program book. I am so happy with how it came out. I can't wait to get them back and this year, I'm going to immediately put them in a frame and hang them up.

And looking at this picture makes me wonder, where in the world my babies went?

These babies... I can't believe how fast they grew into little ladies!

Christmas 2004

To our Ballerinas

Congratulations on another wonderful Nutcracker season. You have both worked so hard and shown so much dedication to both your dancing and keeping on top of your school work. We are so proud of you both and so enjoy watching you dance. You both are beautiful ballerinas and beautiful little ladies and you continue to bring us so much joy year after year! Enjoy the last few days of Nutcracker season!

We Love You Both So Much!

Momma and Daddy

Looking forward to another wonderful Nutcracker performance!

A Night At the Race

2010-11-20T15:58:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago (well, more like a month), Todd got some tickets to the Friday night race here in Charlotte. We decided it would be fun to take the kids and make a night of it.

No race would be complete without walking through all the race trailers. So many trailers, with so much merchandise. We didn't buy anything....

We did however,

Check out "Thrasher" the Monster Truck that was there...

Played a little Corn Hole

My pretty girl!

Speaking of Sidney... at one of the Pennzoil booths they were giving away free hats to anyone who got up and did the Hula Hoop - Davis tried, but the hoop was just too big.

Sidney however, probably could have kept going....

and going,

but we finally made her stop!

Too bad she couldn't Hula Hoop to win that car that's sitting up there behind her . HA!

We also spent a little time...

"Tailgating".... are you laughing yet. We brought no food, only a cooler of drinks. Figured that there'd be plenty of food to choose from at the track. Which there was. (We did buy a bag of cheese popcorn from a Boy Scout who was selling them in the parking lot - it didn't last long. The ~~kids~~ Davis inhaled it!

View from our seats - (the first set of seats)

Just right of the Start/Finish Line - GREAT seats! Todd was given these tickets from a friend of his and he only had 4 seats. Before the race, Todd went to the ticket counter and asked if he could trade those tickets in and then buy an extra child's ticket for Davis. The lady at the ticket counter said to just use the tickets to get in and buy another child's ticket. (Which he paid $1 for! Yes, one dollar!!!) Then just find 5 seats together and sit there. And there were plenty of seats to choose from. We sat in the good seats for just a few minutes, but they were pretty much in the middle of the row. Having 3 kids with us, I knew that it was probably best to move. At any given point, one would be hungry, thirsty or have to use the bathroom - and not all would happen at once. I didn't want to have to cross over people multiple times throughout the night. So we gathered up our stuff, and went of in search of food and new seats....

Hanging out at his first race...

The seats were a bit easier to find than food that everyone wanted. We moved down into the 4th turn seats where there was NO ONE! This section is considered the "Family Friendly" section where there isn't supposed to be any alcohol or smoking, so that could have something to do with why it was so empty, but it was perfect for us. We were able to sit exactly where we wanted and not have to worry about disturbing anyone with getting up and down. In fact, there was no one in the rows in front of us or behind us and the closest people were at the other end of the row. We could prop our feet up and move around all we wanted! That's my kind of seats!

Here are a few shots from our new seats....

Getting ready to take the "Green Flag"

I was trying to get a picture of Davis and I together - didn't work so well. He kept looking at the screen instead of in the lens...oh well, it's still cute!

We had a great time! It was a bit cool and it had been a LONG day. The kids were beat. Sidney was so tired that she fell asleep... seriously, she fell asleep at the race in my lap.

Here's proof!!!

I'm so glad that we decided to go. All through the day, I kept trying to figure a way out of going especially since I had such a bad headache, I didn't think the race track was a place to go with a headache. Headache went away with a little help from some Tylenol and had lots of fun with the help of my family! So glad we could enjoy that time together, just the 5 of us! Looking forward to doing it again - maybe next October!

Looking Back - November 4, 2005

2010-11-04T09:00:00.003-04:00

It's hard to believe that 5 years has passed already, but here we are, 5 years later and the memory of that week in November 2005 is just as fresh in my mind and heart as it was when it was happening.

Madison had just turned three....

What I had thought was just a stomach virus turned into 6 days in the hospital and major surgery to remove a mass on her right ovary. After a week of being sick and one visit to see the doctor already, we were sent to the hospital for a CT scan of Madison's belly. There was a big ordeal with getting her to drink the contrast needed for the scan (she wouldn't) and then having to insert a NG tube (which she pulled out once) and then pushing the contrast that was mixed with Sprite in through the NG tube (which she hated). Once that was done, the scan could be done. I was 8 months pregnant with Davis, so I couldn't be in the room when she had the scan done. Her daddy was with her. After the scan, we were told to go home and wait for the results. Yeah, right! I was not going home for the weekend with her in so much pain. We went back to the pediatrician's office and sat there until they got the results of the scan. It was at that time that the doctor came in, examined her and asked us "Has she ever had surgery before?" My thought was "Before what?" He then proceeded to explain to us that the scan showed a mass on her ovary and they wouldn't and couldn't know what it was until it was removed. Surgeons would be contacted and a room would be waiting for us when we got back to the hospital. Todd said "You mean now?" and the doctor's response was "Yes, I want you to take her back right now. They should have never let you leave." I was unable to have the total breakdown that I probably should have had at that time. Did I mention I was 8 months pregnant??? Todd left me with Madison to wait on the hospital paperwork and he went to find charger for his phone. Seems like an inappropriate time to do something like that, but Todd didn't want to breakdown in front of Madison and scare her. He also knew that we'd be at the hospital for quite a while before he would be able to get home and we had lots of phone calls to make.

She was admitted to the hospital on November 4, 2005. After waiting all night, we finally met with one surgeon. It was decided that we would wait to meet with another surgeon that would be coming in on Saturday morning. And knowing that the surgeon we had met with on Friday night had been on call for 36 hours we were happy to wait for another surgeon. Thankfully we had a great team of pediatricians and nurses the entire time we were there. (They made sure that not only was Madison taken care of but that Todd and I were taken care of as well.) One of the nurses even said that it was best to wait until the morning when the "A Team" arrived. And boy was she right! The surgeon that came in is the best pediatric surgeon in Charlotte. He was wonderful with Madison and with us. Even taking the time to show Todd the CT scan, explain in plain English, not medical jargon, what he thought the mass was and what he was planning to do. He explained to Todd that the remaining ovary would pick up the functions of the one they would have to remove. He even went so far as to tell Todd that he believed everything would be fine, that he knew Madison's maker. It was so comforting to know that the surgeon that would be operating on our three year old was a Christian man that prayed over his patients before surgery. And it was also comforting to know that as they would be doing Madison's surgery, on Sunday, November 6, 2005, our church family would be meeting for worship and would be lifting Madison up in prayer. That's not to say that we weren't a complete mess when they took her back to the operating room. They had given her some medication to relax her, so she had no idea where she was or what was going on at that time.

Madison had a 4 inch incision in her belly (almost like a c-section). They removed her right ovary and fallopian tube. She was on some pretty powerful pain medication while in the hospital and even had an epidural to in which to localize the pain meds. What a trooper she was! She had to stay in the hospital for 6 days. And of course, I stayed with her every night, except the night before her surgery. Todd made me go home to sleep in our bed and get a good nights sleep. I did mention I was 8 months pregnant, right? The rest of the time, I slept on the couch in her room.
All these pictures were taken a few days after her surgery...

A cookie on a stick from the Cookie Bouquet my parents sent

Hooked up to all kinds of monitors and IV's...

She hurt at this point. You can see it in her face!

Feeling a little bit better and enjoying a Lunchable!

Thank God that the mass on her ovary turned out to be benign. Apparently, her ovary was twisted, cutting off the blood supply to it and over time it turned into a mass. Ovarian torsion is the technical name. It is very rare and even more rare to find in a three year old.

We were and still are very thankful that it wasn't something much worse. We know that it could have gone in a whole different direction. I still thank God that it wasn't anything other than what it was. I believe that God's hand was holding her throughout that entire ordeal and the He was holding Todd and I up as we sat by, knowing that the only thing we could do was pray. God was so good to us during that time, as He is all the time. And although I would prefer to never have to see any of my children go through anything like that again, I know that God is always with them. We were blessed beyond words during that time by family and friends who stepped in to help in all areas. Sidney was taken care of the day Madison was admitted by a dear friend and within 30 minutes of knowing that Madison was going to have to be admitted to the hospital, my mother had already made her flight reservations for the next morning.

As I said, 5 years has passed and to Madison, there is just a slight memory of that week in the hospital. For me, and I'm sure for Todd, it is still very vivid. Most times I still cry when telling the story but although it was a scary time for me, it is a good reminder that my God is in control and that He takes cares of us. And even 5 years later, I thank God for watching over Madison, for comforting us during that time (especially an already emotional 8 month pregnant me), and blessing us with people all around us that met every conceivable need at that time. And even though there are days that Madison can push every button I have, I am truly thankful that she is healthy enough to do that!

Celebrating 40

2010-11-01T15:25:00.005-04:00

Two weeks ago, Todd celebrated his 40th Birthday!

Over the years, we've never done anything big for our birthday's, only the kids. Well, I thought that 40 deserved something special. So I wanted to plan a party to celebrate. I had so many great ideas for Todd's 40th, and so many good intentions of making it super special...well, plans didn't come together as I would have liked and the next thing I knew, his birthday was two weeks away. With the help of some friends, his party was just what it was supposed to be. Todd didn't want anything huge, just some friends, food and the GA football game... I was able to deliver all three (GA football game courtesy of Pay Per View...ha)! We had some great friends over and Todd's parents as well, lots of yummy food including Frog-more Stew (or if you prefer, Low Country Boil). It was a great night... the day was crazy though. Because of our church's revival, Davis' flag football game was pushed to 3:30pm and Sidney had ballet rehearsal that afternoon too. So after a lot of running around, I was able to get home and decorate and get ready for the party. Unfortunately, I also had woken up Saturday morning with a cold, so by party time, I felt horrible. I was able to suffer through and had a good time. (And I wouldn't have been able to do it without my mother in law, who came over right after Davis' football game and helped me with all the prep work and then she cleaned up everything afterwards so that I could enjoy my guests).

I didn't do the "Look who's 40" stuff or the "Over the hill" stuff... But I, of course, had to throw in some of the 40 decorations... Here's a picture of Todd's birthday cake -

Considering that the Georgia Bulldogs are one of Todd's favorite things, I tried to incorporate that into the party.

Getting ready to blow out the candles...

I was kind and didn't put 40 candles on the cake!

All in all, it was a great night with friends. I think at last count, there were 26 adults and 11 children. Everyone seemed to have a fun time. We stayed up way too late and ate way too much. It was kind of hard to get caught back up and considering that my cold was much worse on Sunday, I pretty much spent the whole day in bed.

And considering that 40 is a pretty significant birthday, I thought that 40 deserved a big gift....

Happy Birthday to Todd....

His new 2011 Toyota Tundra! I think he had a pretty good 40th birthday! He has 4 years to plan for my 40th! Okay, so since he got a new truck for his 40th, wonder what I'll get????

But in all seriousness - even though this post is a couple weeks late...

Happy 40th Birthday to my wonderful husband,

Hope you had a wonderful and memorable day.

I Love You!

Play By Play

2010-10-28T10:55:00.001-04:00

Well, this Saturday marks the end of Davis' first Upward Flag Football season.

Oh what fun it's been to see how much he enjoys being out on the field and how far he has come from the first game. I am so proud of him! Some pictures of his first game...

On the bench waiting to go in....

Waiting to snap the ball...

well, hand it off really, can't snap the ball between their legs in this age group.

Instructions from the Coach

Speaking of the Coach - my good lookin' hubby...

Todd had a great time coaching this year. I was so happy to see him out there with the boys and enjoying himself. He even went early or stayed late for the other game to help referee. I'm thinking that this has been what he's been waiting to do since Davis was born. I have a feeling that Todd will be deeply involved in all the sports that Davis plays. I know that if Davis plays football in any capacity, Todd will be on the sidelines (or during flag football, on the field).

"Set....Hike...."

Not really sure what this face is, I just thought it was funny!

More instructions from Coach Daddy

Ready for the next play

End of the game "huddle"... this is where the boys get their "Stars" for exhibiting different qualities throughout the game (i.e. sportsmanship, teamwork, Christ-likeness, and others like offense and defense , etc. )

Davis and "Coach Daddy"

I am so glad that this was such a positive experience for both Davis and Todd. And I think we'll all look forward to the next season of Flag Football.

A Week of Nothing

2010-10-14T11:56:00.000-04:00

That's what we did over the girls Fall Break from school! NOTHING! And it was wonderful. The girls had a week off from school so Todd and I both took the week off and we all went to the farm. We spent most of our time fishing, riding the 4 wheelers, playing, sleeping (well, that was just me) and doing nothing. It was so wonderful and restful and just what we all needed. No schedules to keep, no carpools to run, no anything except hanging out and enjoying each other. WONDERFUL!

I wish I would have remembered my camera, but sadly, I left it sitting at home on my desk. So I have no pictures to share from our week away.

We went up on Sunday even though the girls got out of school early on Friday. But the girls both had Nutcracker rehearsal and Davis had a football game on Saturday morning, and with Todd coaching, he really needs to be there. So we spent Saturday at football and ballet and then had dinner with our friends/neighbors. Then we got up on Sunday morning, got all our stuff together and headed to the farm. Todd's parents joined us on Sunday and kept the kids for us so Todd and I could go out on a date. It was a tough decision whether to go to dinner or a movie. We decided on a movie since that is something we rarely get to do anymore. We saw The Social Network. It was pretty good! No award winner or anything, but entertaining, interesting and it was really neat to see how Facebook came to be. And how funny that it is such a part of many people's everyday lives (I'm guilty as well). We both enjoyed just spending that time together. We got to the theater pretty early, so we just sat and talked for awhile. It's funny how when Todd and I have time alone we realize just how much we miss talking to each other about other stuff and not just "what the kids did" or "how work was that day"! I really enjoy talking to my husband!

On Monday, Todd and his dad took a load of trash to the landfill and Davis got to tag along. He thought that was the neatest thing. Going to the dump is exceptionally exciting for a 4 year old. Can't say it would be on my top 100 things I'd want to do, but for Davis, it couldn't have been a better trip. His parents left on Tuesday morning, so it was just the 5 of us for the rest of the week. We came back home late afternoon on Friday since the girls had Nutcracker rehearsal again and Davis had another football game on Saturday morning. And by coming home on Friday, we still had the whole weekend ahead of us. It helped when having to get ready to head back to school and work this week. We did (well, except for Todd) have this Monday off for Columbus Day. We didn't do much that day either. One last day to sleep in late before having to get back to our normal routine.

It was a very restful break. I think our time together was enjoyed by everyone. I know I enjoyed it. Now only two months until Christmas break...

Finding the Pretty

2010-10-01T18:47:00.002-04:00

in something that started out as ~~ugly~~, not so pretty!

A few weeks ago, the girls had their audition for the 2010 Nutcracker. This will be Madison's 4th Nutcracker season and Sidney's 3rd. Both the girls were very excited to audition and couldn't wait to get their parts. And once they were given their parts, they (and I) couldn't be happier. Sidney got the part of a Dream Angel ~ she will be on stage 3 times throughout the show. Once at the beginning of Act I, in the middle of Act II and at the end. She is thrilled! Madison got the part of an Intermediate Party Girl (the part that Sidney had last year). For many of the same reasons that Sidney was excited last year about the Party Girl part, longer time on stage, lots of dancing for that age group and of course, the pretty party girl costume. Here's a pic of Sidney in her costume last year so you can see why she was excited about the costume....

So you can see why she was so excited about the costume. So pretty, frilly, lacy, etc.

Her first year as a Cherub - all the same costumes

her second year as a Little Party Girl - all the same costumes

her third year as a Little Mouse - all the same costumes.

This is the first year that the costumes for the part aren't exactly the same. They are all basically the same style, but different colors, with different laces and such.

So last Friday night, we go to the studio for costume fitting and her first rehearsal. She couldn't wait to see what color dress she would get. The excitement of all the girls was so sweet! They were all giggling and discussing the pretty colors and which ones they wanted, etc, etc.... Well, it was time to try on the dresses. The girls were lined up shortest to tallest. Can you guess where Madison fell in this line up? Yep, the shortest! It wasn't that big of a deal until it was discovered that there wasn't a dress small enough for Madison. Well, there was one dress that was the smallest of the bunch, but it definitely wasn't the prettiest or even close to pretty. Not like the ones that all the other girls had on. My sweet baby girl ~ when they handed her the dress her face fell. The disappointment on her face made this Momma's heart break! But I was also very proud at the same time. She didn't say one negative thing. Didn't complain, cry, pitch a fit or anything. Just stood there while we all tried to decide what to do. At first it was discussed to make her a new dress, which would have been wonderful, but I was expected to be the one to make a new dress. (Side note - I had no idea that us moms were responsible for alterations of the costumes - never had an issue before, and I just assumed that since the costumes were property of the Youth Ballet, that they would do the alterations - Wrong-o!!!) I made it very clear that I had no idea how to make a dress. The extent of my sewing abilities was reattaching a button or sewing a straight stitch. Then it was discussed that we'd make adjustments and alterations to the dress that Madison was trying on. Well, I think at this point, I stopped listening and started thinking about how I was going to get my girl a pretty new dress or how I was going to lose it right there or how I was going to pull both the girls out of the show and ballet and move on. My mind was swirling! It was at this point that Madison went on into rehearsal and I took the ~~ugly~~ dress and said that I'd figure something out. Here a picture of the ~~ugly~~ dress...

And this is with the first of the few modifications made. I wish I would have taken a true before picture. Of what it looked like straight off the rack. First off, it's a brownish, reddish color. Not at all pretty like the pink, purple, green, teal, or blue ones the other party girls are wearing. If you look at the lace around the collar, yes, it's peach and it was a lot bigger, double the size that it is in this picture and then add the lace you see around the sleeves at the bottom of the peach lace collar. Then take that same peach lace and the trim lace and put that at the bottom of the dress, adding another 6 inches of lace! That's what we started with! It was hideous and still too big for her. Can you see now why she was upset?

So we bring home this dress and Madison goes straight to her room. I threaten Sidney not to say a word about the dress or else (don't know what "or else" would have been, but still...). Explain everything to Todd, who once I finish explaining is ready to flip and pull them out of ballet altogether (which also comes from some other issues that started at the beginning of the year, but we won't go into that now). Then as I am doing something downstairs, he comes in to me and says that Madison is crying. Not so much about what the dress looks like, but the fact that she doesn't want me to put so much time into it. She doesn't want me to have to work hard to fix the dress. Her other comment to him was "Mommy said she'd make me a dress even though she doesn't know how to sew". Not sure exactly what she was feeling at that moment, but I'm thinking she must have been thinking to herself "Mommy can't sew, this dress is going to look horrible". But the way she phrased it, she made it sound like I was making some big sacrifice for her. Okay so anyway, I told her again that I would figure something out and no matter what, she would be beautiful and have a beautiful dress - One way or another - even if I had to pay someone to make her the best dress out there!!!!

On Saturday, we had to go back to the studio for Sidney's fitting and rehearsal. No problems with her fitting. While Sidney was in rehearsal, I took the dress in to Ms. Barbara (she the one who makes most of the costumes, and also the studio owners mother), and asked her to show me where to cut it and could I do what I wanted to the dress to make it work for Madison, if I didn't make her a new dress. That's when the first modifications were made (the ones in the above picture). We also made a trip to Hobby Lobby to find coordinating fabric for a waist band and for a possible dress for Madison's American Girl. Because one thing I forgot to mention above is that the girls dance with an American Girl doll with a dress that matches the one they are wearing. Yeah, there is no dress for a doll to match this dress. I spent 5 hours on Saturday night ripping seams, fixing lace, trimming lace, removing the lace from the sleeves and reattaching them. Here is a picture from what I got done on Saturday night....

Better? Yes, but still not pink, purple, green, teal or blue. But better!!! Monday afternoon the girls had regular ballet classes. During their class, I went in again to talk with Ms. Barbara about the dress. Told her what I had already done, but told her that I needed more lace in order to make it look similar to the other dresses. She gave me a roll of lace (and when I say a roll, I mean one of those long bolt rolls of lace). Then, as I was showing my friend Beth what the other girls were wearing and we were talking about making Madison a dress, Ms. Barbara told me that they actually needed 3 more dresses and that someone had volunteered to make the 3 that were needed plus one more for Madison. They pulled her out of class to measure her and everything. She told me not to do anymore work on the dress and that I could bring the lace back in, which I did. Well, that plan didn't last long. She caught me in the parking lot and asked me to finish the dress. Something about we may need the dress or the person who volunteered couldn't make them now or I don't know. I got so confused! I just went back in and got the lace and put it back in the car. Again, I came home on Monday night and began working on the dress again. I worked on it again until around 10pm on Monday night and was just about done. I wanted it to be finished and back at the studio by Thursday, that way if by some chance it wasn't what they wanted or whatever, there would be plenty of time to make another dress. Here is the finished dress....

Honestly, it turned out so much better than I could have ever imagined when I first saw it. Madison even said that she thought it was pretty now and was excited to wear it. Not sure if she is really excited or if she was just trying not to hurt my feelings seeing as how I put so much time and effort into it.

We took it with us to the studio on Thursday and I had her try it on with the petticoat and pantaloons (that I also had to do work on) and it really looked adorable on her. But then again, she would be adorable in a feed sack. I'm still a little concerned about the fact that she won't be wearing the same colors as the other girls, but on the other hand, she will really stand out!

I will say this one last thing, there will be no other dress on that stage that has more love stitched into it than the one my girl will be wearing!!!!

So Far Behind

2010-09-28T21:58:00.000-04:00

That's where I've been lately! And I'm trying very hard not to let the busyness of my life stress me. I am coming to grips with the fact that this is just the stage of life I am in now. And while there are days that I'm ready to not do anything other than the necessities, I'm not sure what I would do with myself if I didn't have a full calendar. As much as I think I would like for life to be a slower pace, it's just not me. I've always been better when I'm busy. Working better under pressure. It's not always ideal, but it works for me. At least right now!

I am so far behind in my blogging, my blog reading, house cleaning, DVR'd TV, projects that I wanted to get done, and even a few I've started. But it's okay, because it'll all be there when I finally get around to it. Well, except the DVR'd shows if I let the DVR fill up (but that won't happen). However, the one thing I'm not behind in (yet) is my Bible Study. I've been able to complete my lessons each week so far. I'm so happy about that because I so want to do it right. The only way to get the most out of BSF is to complete the lessons each week. My prayer this year is to do just that. What I'd really love to do is make the time each day to work on it instead of doing 3 days worth in one day. I keep praying that God will help me to carve out that time in my day.

We've been on the go since the beginning of September. Between school and work, throw in Bible Study for me and Davis on Tuesday's, ballet for the girls on Monday and Thursday's AND now Nutcracker rehearsals on Friday's and/or Saturday's, flag football practice for Davis on Thursday's and games on Saturday mornings, Girl Scouts every other Tuesday, church on Sunday's and Children's Choir on Sunday nights, we stay busy! And if all that weren't enough, I have been going to the gym 3-4 days a week to work out.

The girls begin their Fall Break from school on Friday afternoon and we are all so ready for a little time off. Both Todd and I are taking the week off of work and we are going to the farm for the week to do nothing. Fish, ride 4 wheelers, play and relax. I'm looking forward to not having to be anywhere or do anything and to not have homework for a week. (Which I know the girls are looking forward to as well). Todd and Davis are going to go on ahead of us, after Davis' football game, and the girls and I will follow after Nutcracker rehearsals are over. We'll stay all week, but will need to be back on Friday afternoon. Since Todd is coaching, he has to be at the game on Saturday. It's a much needed break for all of us. So maybe I'll be able to finish a few of the 5 posts I have sitting in draft.

Well, I'm off to get some sleep, since that is definitely one area that I do not want to be behind in!

Eight Years Old

2010-09-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

Happy 8th Birthday to my Baby Girl!

I'm pretty sure I say this about each one of my babies on every birthday, but, I can't believe that Madison is EIGHT! Really? When did that happen? It seems like not that long ago that I was blown away when the pregnancy test was positive only 6 months after Sidney was born. It seems like not that long ago that we went for the ultrasound to find out that we would welcome another sweet baby girl into our family. And it seems like just yesterday that Madison came into our lives!

Happy 1st Birthday

Happy 2nd Birthday

Happy 3rd Birthday

Happy (day before) 4th Birthday

Happy 5th Birthday

Happy 6th Birthday

Happy 7th Birthday

Happy 8th Birthday (a few day early)

Sweet, Sweet Madison ~

just looking at how you've grown and changed over these last years makes me smile. You've gone from a sweet baby to a sweet little lady. God blessed us when He gave us you. He chose us to be your parents and He chose you to be our daughter! You have brought so much joy and happiness to our lives. You are a great Little Sister to Sidney and a great Big Sister to Davis. You have the best of both worlds as a sister being in the middle. You are truly a special gift and we are so grateful to have you in our lives. We couldn't be prouder of the young lady you are becoming. Continue to be who God made you to be and continue to seek Him for all things in your life. We are so proud of the little lady you are becoming and have enjoyed watching you grow these past 8 years. We can't wait to see where you go from here, but we are looking forward to watching you continue to grow! We hope that your 8th birthday is as wonderful and as special as you are!

We Love You So Very Much,

Momma & Daddy

And Madison's birthday wouldn't be complete without the "painted rock" at school! It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself! Nothing like painting a rock outside in 92˚ heat! Thankfully, whoever had the rock before us painted it pink, so I just matched up the color and spray painted over the name, then went over the writing that was already there with black and added Madison's name and the swirls. Took a lot less time than if I had to try to cover the whole rock. (And I'm so glad I didn't because in my rush to get it done, I broke the nozzle off one can of spray paint, so I only had one - and it takes at least 2 cans to cover the whole rock).

Front

Back

I hope Madison enjoys seeing her Birthday message tomorrow morning when I drop her off at school.

4 Year Old Preschool

2010-09-15T21:56:00.003-04:00

Davis and I started back to preschool last Wednesday! In the craziness that I call my life, I didn't post a picture of his first day of school in the 4 year old class. And being in the 4 year old class is a big deal. So many things are different (or so I'm told) about being in the 4 year old class versus being in the 3 year old class. One of those things being that he gets a book that he will use to learn how to write his numbers and letters. This by far has been the most exciting thing about starting back to school for him.

So, here's my boy on the first day of preschool....

(If his eye looks a bit swollen, that's because it is. He was stung by a wasp the night before, right above his eyebrow and when he woke up the next morning, he looked like he had been in a fight).

Here's to a great preschool year (for us both)!

Big Night Uptown

2010-09-15T18:28:00.000-04:00

On Mother's Day this year, my wonderful husband gave me tickets to the Broadway Musical, Mary Poppins, that was coming to Charlotte in August. I wrote about it here. We made all the necessary arrangements. Tickets purchased and printed off and babysitters (a.k.a. Granny & Pap) lined up. Well, after months of having to wait, and our tickets hanging on the bulletin board right next to my computer, the day was finally here. Aside from the basic arrangements, Todd made reservations for a wonderful dinner and a night at an Uptown hotel. Since we celebrated our 15th Anniversary earlier in the month and my birthday that Monday, he decided to make our night out a Big Night Out!

After dropping the girls off at school on Friday morning (Davis was already with my in-laws), and a trip to the gym, I treated myself to a manicure and pedicure and then got to do a little shopping. (I was really trying to find a pair of shoes to go with my dress, but no luck. Thankfully, my friend Lindsey had a pair I was able to wear and matched my dress wonderfully. Thanks Lindsey!!!).

I packed an overnight bag, Todd met me at home and we headed Uptown where we were able to check into our hotel and get ready for the night out. We were able to park in the hotel parking lot and walk to each of our destinations. Which in Uptown Charlotte, is a huge plus!

We started off with dinner at The Capital Grille -

We enjoyed a wonderful meal

Lobster and Crab Cake Appetizers

Lobster Bisque

Delicious Steaks

Fresh Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce

Parmesan Truffle Fries

and

Creme' Bruelee

After a wonderful meal with a conversation that wasn't interrupted a zillion times, we walked across the street to the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center.

We had great seats and the show was beyond wonderful. Todd enjoyed it, but I was blown away. I can't even put into words how great it was. A little long for most people, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the three hour show.

View from our seats

And the only picture we took that night together since I forgot my camera at home. Picture courtesy of Todd's iPhone (it's too bad he didn't have the iPhone 4 that night, or the picture would have been better).

And then after the performance, we walked the two blocks to the Omni Hotel where we were spending the night.

Our room (well, it's not the exact room we stayed in, but this is what it looked like).

Todd upgraded us to the "Romance Package", which included two small bottles of Champagne (which was on ice in our room when we got back from the show), turn down service with a rose on the bed, and two breakfast certificates with Mimosas the next morning.

Bank of America building

This was the view from our room on the 22nd floor.

It was a wonderful night! A great way to celebrate our Anniversary and my birthday!

The Next Brett Farve?

2010-09-07T21:31:00.001-04:00

A soccer mom, I'm not, but as of last Thursday, I am officially a football mom! Davis began his first season with Upward Football. And I am sure that this is just the first of many sports that he will play. He had his very first practice last Thursday and will have his very first game this Saturday. He could not be more excited about getting to play football. (It's flag football, but to him, it's the real thing!) And to add even more excitement, his Daddy is his coach! What could be better than getting to hang out with Daddy and play football? Apparently, nothing!

Getting ready to leave for practice

After getting his very first jersey....

Ready to play!

His very first football number.... #4 ~ wouldn't it be nice if the #4 is as lucky for him as it is/was for Brett Farve? Then he can take care of his Momma =)

Getting Adjusted

2010-08-24T13:13:00.000-04:00

Well, the girls have started their 4th full week of school and it's been a real adjustment for all of us. The girls have adjusted well to early bedtimes and getting up and moving early in the mornings. It's hard to believe that we are almost halfway through the first quarter of this school year. The traditional public schools around this area start back tomorrow. Can I say how much I love year round school? There are pros and cons to year round school, I know, but I love the fact that we are well into our school routine before any "extras" are added in. It's great for my girls to get a good routine established with homework and what is expected of them before we add in Ballet and Girl Scouts and whatever else may come up. And I love the fact that we will have a break coming up in about 6 weeks. One of the major cons of year round school is that the girls don't get to enjoy the pool for the whole month of August. It's hard to go after school because of homework and they get pretty bummed that Davis and I have gotten to go while they are in school. But, I also can say that by the time school started last month, both of my girls were ready to go back. They may not have said it out loud, but I could tell that they were looking forward to the routine and structure that the school year creates for them. (The definitely were not looking forward to the work load though).

Speaking of work load...I can't believe the amount of homework that comes home for 4th grade. And the kind of work they are doing. Sidney is doing really well with the amount of work that she has to do at home. Thankfully, she's the type of kid who comes home and gets to work right away so that she can get finished sooner. Every day Sidney had Spelling, Geography, Math and Reading. And then sprinkle in Social Studies, Science, Vocabulary and studying for tests and quizzes...well, it can be a little overwhelming. Sidney has a great teacher this year, again. Her teacher is definitely a no nonsense type of teacher, but with that tender side. She tells the kids like it is, no sugar coating it, but she does it in such a way that the kids know that she is only wanting the best for them. But like I said, there is a lot of work. They are learning how to take notes and study from their books and the notes they take in class. They are being held accountable for turing in assignments completed and on time. The do have more tests/quizzes than I had anticipated (or like, for that matter). This week alone, Sidney has a test or quiz every day except for yesterday (Monday). That's a lot!

As for Madison...I knew what to expect from 3rd grade, seeing as how we just went through it last year. But even though I know what to expect, it is still a very different experience going through it with Madison. Unlike her sister, Madison doesn't want to come home and do her homework right away. She whines and lolly-gags when she should be getting it done. I'm hoping that she will learn by the end of this year that whining and waiting isn't going to help her next year when she has the work load that Sidney has this year. She is doing well adjusting to 3rd grade though. One of the big things this year for Madison is book reports. Her first one is due tomorrow and no, she isn't even close to being finished. But it's one of those things that she needs to learn. I have reminded her over the last few weeks about this book report but she has chosen to wait until the last minute. So she will have to spend most of her afternoon and evening working to finish her book report. Hopefully she will get the picture that the sooner she gets it done the sooner she doesn't have to worry about it. (But then again, isn't that a lesson we all need to learn? I mean, I need to clean my bathroom and keep putting it off. If I would just go ahead and get it done, then it wouldn't be looming over my head. Oh well!)

So our year is off to a good start! I'm excited to see how the year progresses. Hopefully we'll all make it out of 3rd and 4th grade without losing our minds. Well, I'm sure they will. Not really sure about me!

A Year of "Anniversaries"

2010-08-17T14:33:00.000-04:00

This has been one of those years that seems to have some type of "anniversary" of sorts associated with most months. You know the kind "1 year ago today. 5 years ago this month. 10 years ago." etc. And with each passing month I have wanted to make a list of those dates and memories. And with September approaching fast, being one of those months that is a significant "anniversary", I wanted to try to get this written before it came and went.

Twenty Ten is a significant year because most of the following happened 5, 10 or 15 years ago. Although some of the months have passed, I'm still going to include them. (I have had this list written out since January).

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO
August 5, 1995 - Yes, you already know... Todd and I were married.

Many of you know of our journey to become parents and some of you may not. One day I hope to write about that journey because it is truly something I want all three of my children to read one day. I want them to know without a doubt that they were wanted very much and that God's timing is perfect. Which is where this list really begins...

TEN YEARS AGO
March 11, 2000
After months (and months, and months) and tests, (and more tests and even more tests), I met with my Doctor to go over the most recent test results. Todd was working, my parents were visiting and went with me to the Doctor's appointment. While my dad waited in the waiting room and my mom joined me in the Doctor's office, I was told what, in that moment, was the worst thing anyone could ever have said to me. My doctor went over the test results and told me that it would be unlikely that I would ever get pregnant on my own and that my only option to become pregnant would be IVF.

October 9, 2000
I had come to grips with the reality of what the Doctor had told me months prior. After some time, Todd and I had made the decision to adopt. We had done all the initial paperwork and had completed 2 of the 3 home studies required. A few days before October 9th, we were to have our final home study interview which would then place us on the "actively waiting" list. Our social worker had called to cancel our interview due to a family emergency and she had no idea when she would return to complete our final interview. On October 9th, for no other reason than I had one last pregnancy test under the bathroom counter and "AF" hadn't shown in few months (which incidentally was normal for me), I took the test. In my mind, I had already prepared myself for another negative and had almost not even looked at the test. But on October 9, 2000 - after 3 years, I finally saw a positive result.

FIVE YEARS AGO
May 3, 2005

We had no intentions of having another baby. Todd was pretty adamant about two being enough. (I really wanted another baby - BTW). I was beginning some new medication and while at dinner with Todd and the girls I told him that just to be safe, even though I knew that it would be negative, I probably needed to take a pregnancy test. I went to Walmart, bought a test, went home and took it - and once again, I saw (what would be my last) positive pregnancy test.

November 4, 2005

Well, it actually all started on October 31, 2005 through that whole week, but it was on November 4th that was one of the most difficult and scary and emotional weeks of our lives as parents. I've never posted about this and the only place I have this written down is in one of my (incomplete) journals. Even to this day, just the thought of this event brings up many emotions, and tears, as if it had happened yesterday. I will, one day, (probably on November 4th) do an entire post on this because it is something that I want Madison to read one day. While for us, everything turned out great, we know that it could have been much worse and that there are parents out there who aren't/haven't been/weren't as fortunate as we were. So all that to say that on November 4th, after dealing with what we thought was a stomach bug, after two visits to the Doctor in one week and after a trip to the hospital for a CT scan, we were told that our 3 year old had a mass on one of her ovaries and that they wouldn't/couldn't know what it was until they removed it. It was on November 4th that we took our 3 year old to the hospital, where she was admitted and we waited to meet with a surgeon. And then on November 6th, 2005, we watched as they wheeled our 3 year old into surgery. I know it's probably not fair to leave this hanging like this, but I really want to dedicate and entire post on this, since it was one of the most significant weeks of my life as a mom. I promise to come back to it soon!

December 11, 2005

And if the previous month hadn't been enough for an 8 1/2 month pregnant woman to deal with, we were back in the hospital with Madison with a strange ear infection that the Doctors thought was much worse than it actually was. (I'll add the details of this when I write about the above. They both kind of go together, in a way.)

December 31, 2005
With everyone home and healthy, we eagerly anticipated the arrival of our last child, our only son, who would join our family on January 2, 2006 !

So, as you can see, Twenty Ten has given me many occasions to reflect on the blessing in my life. Many occasions to Thank God for His timing, for His plan, for His mercies. Twenty Ten is a year to look back through my life and remember that "God is good all the time and all the time God is good"!

Weekend Recap

2010-08-16T11:07:00.000-04:00

After spending the weekend before at the farm, we decided to keep this past weekend somewhat low key. Not to say there wasn't any excitement though. We met Todd on Friday night and had dinner at Chili's before having to pick up the dog at the vet. And that was pretty much our Friday night.

On Saturday, we headed up to Concord Mills Mall for the day. Our original plan was to go to Monster Jam at the race track, but they were calling for rain, so we went with Plan B. So we took the kids to see "Despicable Me". A movie and a popcorn lunch, what could be better? We all really enjoyed the movie and I was so glad that we could all go together to see it. Most times, I am the one who takes the kids to the movies and Todd misses out on going with us. So it was great that he got to go with us. After the movie, we did some shopping while we were at the mall. This is the part that the kids don't enjoy that much (well, unless they are getting something).

While I was doing some shopping for me, Todd took the kids to Bass Pro Shop. They got to see a fishing demonstration and enjoyed watching the fish in the huge tank. When I finally joined them, they were still hanging out by the tank. Todd was finishing up his shopping and as we were making our way toward the exit, we stopped to watch another fishing demonstration. We only watched for a minute and then began walking toward the exit. It was then that I turned around and Davis was gone. I can't tell you the level of panic I felt at that moment. Todd and I split and went looking for him. It was only a couple of minutes, but those couple of minutes were the longest minutes I've experienced. When I finally spotted him, he started to cry. He kept saying "I couldn't find you Mommy". It was obvious that he was scared - so was I! Bass Pro Shop on a Saturday is not the place you want to lose track of your kid. That place is CRAZY! I do think that he learned a lesson though. I don't think he'll be walking off again anytime soon. So after that little bit of exciting adventure, we decided to leave and Todd treated us to Olive Garden for dinner. (Which is definitely a treat because there isn't one convenient to us...yet. But rumor has it that we will be getting an Olive Garden right across the street from Target soon!)

Sunday, we headed to church and spent the rest of the day doing nothing. Todd had been feeling bad for the last week with what we kept thinking was sinus issues, but he wasn't getting any better. So we took yesterday to rest! And today, he's gone to the Doctor to find out what's going on. Hopefully, he'll get some relief soon.

The girls have a half day of school today, so not much time do do anything this morning. I'll be heading out to go pick them up in a few minutes and then we're supposed to meet friends at the pool. Although, the weather isn't looking very nice to hang out at the pool. The girls also have their first day of Ballet camp today. Regular ballet season begins on August 30th. This will give me a good idea of how things will run this year once ballet starts again.

So that's our exciting weekend! And now it's Monday and time to do it all over again. Nothing too exciting this week, but I'm sure that homework will prove to bring a little excitement each night.
Here's to a great week!

"To Have and To Hold"

2010-08-05T00:01:00.006-04:00

"For Better or For Worse, For Richer or For Poorer,

In Sickness and In Health, To Love, Honor and Cherish,

Til' Death Do Us Part"

Fifteen years ago today,

on a beautiful (hot) August day,

at 4:00 in the afternoon, in High Point, NC

I said those words....

Fifteen years ago today,

in front of family and friends,

I said "I Do"

Fifteen years ago today,

I married my best friend....

And Fifteen years later....

"I Still Do"

(and would do it all over again)

To my Best Friend and Love of my Life,

God blessed me the day He brought you into my life.

I would never have imagined that taking a job closer to my house while going to college in a new town where I knew no one and nothing would bring me one of the greatest blessings of my life. I knew on our first lunch date (at Applebees the day of SportsTown's Grand Opening) that I was going to marry you.

And here we are, fifteen years and three kids later.... I couldn't imagine going through this life without you by my side.

I am looking forward to the next 15 (and beyond).

I love you more today than ever!

"Goodbye" to Summer

2010-07-29T10:01:00.000-04:00

and "Hello" to a new school year!

Our summer is officially over. The girls started back to school yesterday. Monday, we had their open house and met their teachers. Once again, the girls have been blessed with great teachers. Madison has the same teacher that Sidney had last year and Sidney's teacher is the one that I had hoped she would get.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday's first day of a new school year....

Looking so grown up...

I can't believe Sidney is in the 4th grade now!

Ready to start another year together...

and Madison...so excited to begin 3rd grade.

Me and my ~~baby~~ big girls...

(They'll always be my baby girls)

Daddy and his girls...

(Todd went in late yesterday morning to see the girls off on their first day. I think the girls were really happy that he was here to kiss them goodbye.)

And my sweet little man. He was feeling kind of left out of all the fuss of packing lunch boxes and backpacks. He didn't (and still doesn't) understand why the girls have to go back to school and he doesn't. Kind of hard to explain the year round thing to a 4 year old.

Daddy and Davis...

And what's even harder to think about is, next year at this time, ALL my babies will be in school. Can it be possible that Davis will be starting Kindergarten in a year? Oh My! Thankfully, I have this last year at home with him to get used to the idea of that....

To our Sweet Girls....

Daddy and I are very proud of you both and can't wait to see what you learn this year. Work hard, try your best and remember that God is with you even in the small stuff (like math)! We hope you girls have a wonderful school year this year!

and to our Little Man...

Your time is coming! Soon enough you'll be heading off to school with your sisters. Let's enjoy this last year before you become a big Kindergartener.

We love you all, very much!

Momma and Daddy

Here's to another great school year!

Friday Flashback

2010-07-23T00:01:00.001-04:00

So, it's been awhile since I've done a Friday Flashback and since I'm waiting for the washer to finish so I can put the clothes in the dryer, I thought, this is as good a time as any to do a blog post.... And even though I'm VERY tired...it will keep me up long enough to switch the laundry....

Anyway.... these pictures were taken about a year ago when we were having some trees cut down in our yard. And just like in the previous post of Davis watching the tractor clear the lot next door, Davis wanted to watch the "tree guy" take down the trees. Oh to get excited about these little things! Wouldn't life be so much more enjoyable if we (adults) could take a cue from our kids to see the little things around us as exciting.

So Davis decided that he would pull up a stool to the window in our laundry room to watch all the action. He was enthralled by the bucket truck that took the "tree guy" to the top of the trees, and then by the chipper, that chopped up parts of the tree into mulch.... oh the sheer joy on his face of watching such fun stuff, and right in his own yard.

"Come watch with me Mommy!"

"How cool is this?"

"It's cool, but very loud!"

(hence the plugging of the ears)

"Okay, I think I've had enough from the outside, I'll go back and watch from my window!"

I'm telling you - all these big, loud, cool machines are every little boys dream. And fortunately for Davis, he will get to watch it all over again in a few days. Unfortunately for us (and our checkbook), we have a few trees that have become diseased and need to come down before they kill all the other trees around them.

Another day in Little Boy Heaven on Earth....

(I am still learning so many things about little boys.... and relishing every minute of it)

Little Boys

2010-07-17T11:30:00.000-04:00

It's the little things in life for a 4 year old that are the most exciting....

The lot next door to us was cleared this week to make room for a new house and Davis just thought that was the greatest thing in the whole world. As you can see, he took his chair into the yard and made sure he had a good seat to watch all the action!

This morning, Todd took Davis out to fish on the "new" boat. (The boat was new in 1986, but it's new to us). What could be better than a morning on the lake fishing?

Fishing with Daddy....

Todd loves his girls more than words can express. But he has been waiting for Davis to get to the age to do this kind of stuff with. I know that Davis is loving being with his Daddy today, but I know that Todd is loving it just as much!!!

Vacation Week

2010-07-12T09:38:00.001-04:00

The family and I were in Florida last week visiting my parents. The week didn't start off very well though. We got there on the Friday before the 4th around lunch time and then it rained for the next 3 days. And when I say rain, I mean LOTS of rain! We were all starting to go a bit stir crazy at the house. The kids couldn't swim and there wasn't much else to do. But finally on Tuesday, the weather cleared up, the kids swam all day and Todd and I left for a few days away alone.

We weren't planning to go anywhere alone this year since we were only spending one week there this year, but there is no way that Todd could sit around the house any longer without going crazy! In year's past we've always gone out to the beach and stayed, but this year, we decided to venture somewhere different. We found a really wonderful resort/spa in St. Pete, Safety Harbor Resort and Spa. It looked great online, but we were thrilled when we arrived to find out how great it was. It was like going to Jekyll Island (where we went on our honeymoon) only cheaper, but really just as nice. We spent two days doing nothing but hanging out by the pool. We had two wonderful dinners and just really enjoyed spending some time alone together. We came back to mom and dad's on Thursday and then on Friday, Todd and my dad played golf and the my mom and I took the kids out to the beach.

I think overall, everyone had a nice week. It was great to spend some time with my mom and dad and my brother, sister in law and niece. The kids really enjoyed being with Emily. She's at that age where she loves to watch the kids and smiles and "talks" to them. Here are a few pictures of the kids with Emily...

Sidney was especially taken with her. She wanted to help and feed and play with her. I remember being exactly Sidney's age when one of my cousins was born and I was the same way. It's really sweet.

Sidney got to go and spend the night at my brother's house and got some one on one time with Emily. While she was there, Madison and Davis stayed with my mom and dad and apparently played together very nicely (read: no fighting). I especially like this picture of the two of them that my mom took!

And of course, once the weather cleared up, the kids spent hours upon hours in the pool. Todd and I got in with them a few times too.

And this is now Davis' new pose for pictures! At least he's looking at the camera and not scowling or making a funny face!

We got home on Saturday so we could have a day to recover before Todd had to go back to work.

The week went by pretty fast, and as much as I was ready to be back home, it's always hard to say goodbye to my parents. I really wish that they lived closer to us and we could see them more often without having to drive so far. We were all able to escaped the horrible case of pink eye that my niece had, then my sister in law had and then my mom had too. And there was concern about Davis passing on his case of mono (which you'd never even know that he had been sick - he's back to 100% and hasn't slowed down one bit!)

I am a bit overwhelmed by all that I have and want to get done in the next few weeks. It's hard to believe that school starts for the girls in 2 1/2 weeks. Besides uniform and school supply shopping, there's quite a bit of stuff that I want to do with them. And of course, we want to spend some more time at the pool. I will have a month before preschool starts to get my "projects" at home done, and believe me, my project list just keeps getting longer!!!!

So now that vacation is over, it's back to our normal, daily routines. Todd left for work this morning at his usual early time. I was rudely awakened by the sounds of tractor beeps from the lot next to us being cleared. AT 7 AM!!! I was so not happy about that! But it looks like I'm going to get to listen to the sounds of a house being built for the next few months. Good for our neighborhood that another lot will have a house on it, but bad for me and trying to sleep in for the next few weeks. Oh well, as Todd says "It is what it is!"

Another Week Goes By....

2010-06-30T16:17:00.000-04:00

and it looks like I've got some catching up to do. I can't say that we've done anything super exciting over the last week and a half, but we've stayed pretty busy nonetheless.

Last week was Vacation Bible School! It was a lot of fun for everyone. The kids had a great time and I enjoyed helping too. I wasn't so sure I wanted to "work" VBS since it would have been so nice to just drop all 3 off and have a few hours to myself all week, but I'm glad my friend signed us up. (Of course she did ask me first - in fact, we were both looking forward to dropping off our kids and hanging out all week, but she was asked to help and told those running VBS that she'd help only if I'd agree to it AND we had to be a team). Anyway, so we worked. I wouldn't agree to teaching/"crowd control" since I do that all year with my 3 year olds. I helped in the kitchen making and serving snacks. Not a bad gig! The girls really enjoyed it. They made some new friends, or I should say Madison made some new friends. Poor Sidney was stuck in a classroom full of boys - she was the only girl in her class. She handled it pretty well, but you could tell she was struggling a bit not having a girl to hang out with. Davis had fun too, once he got into class. Everyday he cried because he didn't want to leave me, but as soon as I was out of sight, he stopped crying. It's funny how we didn't have separation anxiety issues with him at 18 months or at 2 yrs old. His separation anxiety began at 3 1/2... I know that most of it is a show for me, but I do hate to see him cry like that!

VBS took up the mornings all last week so we tried to do some fun things in the afternoon. On Monday afternoon we had to take Davis back to the ENT to get his ears rechecked and to get the green light to swim. Thankfully, his ears were totally clear and the doctor gave us the okay to let him swim. We do have to put ear drops in his ears after he swims though. He's not so crazy about the ear drops, but he knows that if he wants to swim, he has to have them. Since we had to wait 2 weeks to go to the pool while Davis' ear healed, we decided to go to the pool after his appointment. Todd was done with work for the day since he went with me to the appointment, just in case we had to hold him down for one reason or another. After the doctor, I came home and grabbed our swimsuits and towels and met Todd at the pool. The kids were so excited to get in the water.

After VBS on Tuesday, we headed back to the pool with our friends for the afternoon. We ate lunch at the pool and then I don't think the kids stopped until it was time to leave. And boy do they sleep well after a day of swimming. I am so thankful that Davis' ear is better. I can't imagine having to keep him out of the water this summer. Especially as hot as it's been lately. I think I heard that yesterday was either day 18 or 19 of 90+ degree days. It has been brutal! It's supposed to be cooler tomorrow. Low to mid 80's and of course, it cools off just as we will be heading to Florida for the week. And I'm sure that it won't be any cooler there. I mean, it is Florida!

The rest of the week was about the same. VBS in the mornings and home on Wednesday and Thursday and pool on Friday. I'm really enjoying going back to the pool this year. We didn't go last year because we were gone 3 weeks of the summer. It just didn't seem worth it. But this year, I really think we'll get our money out of the pool.

The weekend was okay! Todd had an all day Concealed Carry class, so I was home with the kids all day. It was too hot to be outside and I really didn't feel like fighting the Saturday crowd at the pool, so we just stayed in. We watched a movie before Todd got home and then another one after he got home.

It turned out to be a pretty good day.

That brings us to Sunday! After church, we went out for lunch with our friends and then home for a really nice, long nap. The weekend didn't end up as well as I would have liked it to. Davis was very cranky and tired at lunch and wanted to come home to take a nap. He never wants to take a nap, so I knew something wasn't right. After our nap, Davis woke up with a 104.8 fever. I was a little concerned only because Todd removed a tick from his head on Saturday night, so all I could think about was that the fever had something to do with that tick. We decided to wait and see how he did through the afternoon and through the night. He didn't want to play or eat or do anything. Even after his nap, he went to the couch and started to fall asleep again. The fever went away with tylenol, but he then started complaining about his tummy hurting. He went to bed with no problems but woke up at 5am Monday morning with his tummy hurting. He had a fever again and sat on the potty for about 10 minutes. When we all got up for the day, I called the doctor and of course, they wanted me to bring him in. I don't think I would have even called the doctor if it hadn't been for the tick. After a very traumatic doctor's visit (throat swab, finger prick for blood work), it was determined that he has mono. Seriously, my 4 year old has mono!!!! I was shocked. I didn't realize that a kid his age could get it, but apparently, (according to the doctor) most people get it before we hit our teenage years and never know it. It's misdiagnosed for the flu, strep, just a virus. She also told me that now that he's had it, he'll carry the virus forever even though he may never have another bout with it. And of course, he was only contagious during the time he had the fever. And of course, we didn't know he had it while he had the fever, so we've all been exposed to it. So far, no one else has come down with it. Mono generally has a long recovery time. Months even. But by Tuesday morning, you would never know that he was sick at all. He's pretty much back to his usual self. The only difference I see is that he gets tired earlier than normal and sleeps later than normal. But everything else is just as it has always been. We even went to the pool yesterday and he didn't slow down once. (For all my friends who were at the pool yesterday - don't worry, I called and checked with the doctor before we went and was assured that it was okay for him to be around people. As long as he didn't have a fever, which he didn't and as precaution, not to let anyone eat or drink after him. I would never have taken him anywhere if I knew he was contagious.)

Today has been a day at home. I've been working on getting the laundry done and getting the house cleaned. I even mopped all the floors today... I hate to mop!!!! But we will be leaving for Florida tomorrow afternoon and I really want to come home to a clean house and since there is no magic cleaning fairy that will do it while I'm gone, I have to get it done before we leave. And speaking of laundry... it's time to go fold another load!

"Dancing On Air"

2010-06-21T22:27:00.000-04:00

That was the theme of this year's ballet recital!

"Dancing On Air" A tribute to Movie and Television

And as always, a wonderful production. Ms. Bonita always does such a wonderful job of putting together the recital and the dances are always so beautiful! This year's was no exception!

And as always, my girls were beautiful and did such an amazing job. I was so proud of both of them! They were in two dances this year! Their modern dance (which I don't have any pictures of) was to

"I Dream of Jeanie "

Their ballet dance was to

"Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast!

Here are a few pictures from that dance....

The pictures aren't very close up since these were actually take during the recital. However, they are incredibly clear considering we didn't use a flash. I love my camera!!!!

After the recital the girls were given flowers by my mother in law who was able to attend. Sidney received her 3rd year trophy this year as well!

(And if looks like the girls were crying in the pictures, they weren't, the sun was so bright, it was hurting their eyes)

Me and my Ballerinas

Daddy and his girls

Pretty Ballerinas

Sidney

Madison

This year's costumes were by far my favorite! They were so beautiful ~ and they were absolutely stunning on stage!

It was another wonderful recital and a wonderful end to the ballet season! We now have a few weeks off before the girls start one month of summer classes!

Ah, the life of a ballerina (and a ballet mom) and I wouldn't have it any other way!

9 Years Old

2010-06-15T08:15:00.002-04:00

I'm having a hard time believing that my baby girl is 9 years old today! It really does seem like yesterday that I was anxiously awaiting her arrival. What a joy and blessing she has been to our lives!

From the day she was born.....

June 15, 2001

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

...she still continues to be one of the best gifts God has ever blessed me with. She is the child that I prayed so desperately for and it becomes even more clear to me daily that she is the child that God intended for us to have. From the day she was born, she was such a happy baby and continues to be such a happy girl. Her smile continues to light up her face and the entire room. I couldn't be more proud of the sweet, compassionate, loving young lady Sidney is turning out to be!

NINE

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Thank you for 9 wonderful years of being your Mommy & Daddy! We are so blessed and so proud that God chose us to be your parents! You have brought so much fun and joy to our lives! You are a great big sister to Madison and Davis. We are enjoying every minute of watching you grow into a wonderful young lady. Continue to be the sweet, compassionate girl you are and continue to seek the Lord.

Hope your your birthday is as special and wonderful as you are!

We Love you!

Mommy and Daddy

Summer Break is Here

2010-06-07T09:39:00.000-04:00

Day 1 of summer break has started out wonderfully!!! It is a bit after 9:00 am and all is still very quite. Davis was up around 7:30 and came into bed with me and the girls are still sleeping! I hope that this is going to be the "norm" of the summer. Oh, wait....I spoke too soon!

We have 7 weeks of summer vacation and I plan on enjoying those 7 weeks with the kids. Aside from catching up on household stuff, we plan to spend some time at the pool, go to the movies (the free ones), Vacation Bible School, a week in Florida, weekend trips to the "farm", and maybe a trip to Carowinds and/or Discovery Place. My goal this summer is to really enjoy the kids and make some great memories with them. I do not want to just sit around the house and do nothing. So, we aren't going to!

Unfortunately, our week has to start off with a trip to the ENT with Davis. So no pool until we get his ear taken care of. Last Thursday, he woke up with a fever and his ear hurting pretty bad. This was him on the way to the doctor. (Can't see it too well with the shadow, but you get the point)

It didn't take long for them to take us back to the exam room (it was 4:45 pm), and the nurse came in and took his temperature, which was 101.5. So she gave him some Motrin and we waited for the doctor. While we were waiting, this is what he did....

and this isn't just a little asleep. He was OUT!!! I had to wake him when the doctor came in. His ear was hurting so much that you couldn't even touch it. His ear canal was so inflamed and there was so much fluid, the doctor couldn't see his ear drum. Because of his history with ear issues, the doctor had us go see the ENT the next day and we were pretty much told the same thing, except he gave him Predinsone and wanted us to come back today to try to clean out his ear. That didn't work so well the last time. Which resulted in us having to take him to be sedated in order to clean out his ear. I'd really like for him to not go through that again. Todd is going with us this afternoon to the ENT just in case we need to hold him down to clean out his ear. It's not going to be a fun experience. However, the girls will get to have fun on their first day of break. They are going to "the farm" for the night with my mother in law. Then hopefully tomorrow, we can hit the pool!

The girls last week of school was a busy one. We had ballet rehearsal Tuesday night, and Field Day was on Wednesday, and then I had to be at the school on Thursday to help with the 4th Grade Bridging Ceremony (which next year, my baby will be doing) and then only a half day on Friday and dress rehearsal for recital of Friday night. Mix in a few doctor appointments and on Saturday afternoon after recital, I was dead on my feet. So I am really looking forward to slowing down some this summer.

I'm off to get ready for the day! Maybe start a load of laundry and vacuum my floors.... be back soon!!

Here's to a great summer!!!

Mother's Day - A Little Late

2010-05-25T11:34:00.000-04:00

I'm enjoying a day at home with Davis today. Something we haven't done in quite awhile. Between preschool, Bible Study, taking the girls back and forth to ballet, we are never home. Davis is enjoying playing with his toys and watching a little TV. I am catching up on laundry (although, it seems as though I just finished laundry and it's needing to be done again), and blogging. I know that I should be doing other things, like cleaning or planning dinner for tonight or even take a shower. But instead, I am sitting here catching up on my blog reading!

And while I was doing that, it occurred to me that I never elaborated on my wonderful Mother's Day. (And no, I have no pictures, why? I have no idea.)

My sweet, sweet children all made me cards for Mother's Day. Sidney made me a bookmark. Her fingerprints make up the petals of the flower and her picture is the center. I love it and keep it in my Bible. Madison gave me a travel cup with an insert that she colored and wrote on. It's adorable! And my Davis made me a card with his feet making a heart! I got lots of hugs and kisses and "I Love You's"!

Todd's gift to me was very thoughtful! There was a card on my bathroom vanity along with a gift. Now I need to explain my Mother's Day card. Todd always has wonderful intentions when it comes to giving me cards. He buys them, then forgets to sign them...(hey, it happens to me too!) Anyway, when I opened my Mother's Day card, it was actually a Christmas card. Todd had crossed things out and added things to the card to make it appropriate for Mother's Day. It was perfect! I laughed and it will definitely be one Mother's Day card I will never forget. I bet I was the only Mother around who got two cards in one!!! So with my unique card, there was also a gift. When I opened the gift, I was a bit confused in that my gift was a copy of the Mary Poppins DVD. What's more, is that we already own the DVD, this DVD was open and then I realized that it was actually THE one we owned. Seeing my confusion, Todd then explained that my gift actually was tickets to:

I was so shocked! I had mentioned to Todd when I first heard it was coming to town that I wanted to go and he really didn't seem interested at all. It is truly an act of love for him to take me to this show. Since the show isn't until August, and only a few days after my birthday, we are going to eat dinner Uptown and stay in a hotel Uptown too. I can't wait! I have the best husband ever!!!!

After church, Todd took us all out to lunch. Unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea of going to this one particular restaurant. And we actually thought that it would be empty because of how early we get out of church. We were wrong! It was beyond packed. In fact, we had to be seated downstairs in the bar. Nice, huh? And to make matters worse, there was no regular menu. It was buffet only and that was so not what we were wanting to eat. Todd felt so bad that lunch wasn't what we had hoped, but he made it up to me with allowing me an extra long nap...

My Mother's Day was wonderful! I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband and 3 wonderful children, without whom I wouldn't be able to celebrate Mother's Day.

EOG's Are Over....

2010-05-25T10:58:00.000-04:00

She We made it through EOG week...

I am so proud of Sidney for working so hard this year to prep for the EOG's.

It was definitely a stressful time leading up to last week and quite nerve wracking for her (and me) last week as she took the tests. But on Friday, she was finished. She said she felt very good about the test and thought she did well. And now it's over (until we have to do it again next year with BOTH the girls)....

Our plans for doing something special Friday night to celebrate the end of EOG's was rained out, so instead, Sidney chose Ice Cream with chocolate syrup and cherries as a treat.

(Sidney looks exhausted)!

I wasn't sure when results of the tests would be back, but I knew it had to be soon since retesting would be on Thursday of this week. I spoke to a few of my friends who have kids in 3rd grade, both at our school and at other school's in the area. No one really knew for sure how and when we would find out if our child passed or would have to retest. My stomach was in knots! I talked at length with a friend of mine who seemed to have some good information. Apparently, if your child did not pass the EOG's, the principal would be calling the parents. So all morning yesterday, I kept calling and checking my messages at home hoping to hear "You have no new messages" from my voicemail. But I still wanted someone to say "she passed or she has to retest". Seriously, is that too much to ask? Why couldn't they let ALL the parents know the results of the test? I mean if they have them, what's the big deal? Anyway, I had to go by the school to drop off some food for the "Luau" and decided to stop in to see Sidney. I knew the test results were back, but kind of played like I didn't know, so I asked her assistant teacher when the results would be back. She said, "we have them, and Sid's good"... then Sidney's teacher came up to me and said "She passed"! I felt so much relief after hearing those 2 words.

Sidney didn't know yet. Her teacher told the class that if she didn't speak to them about the test then they passed. When I picked up the girls from school, I asked Sidney if she knew whether she passed or not. She said that Mrs. Simpson didn't talk to her, so that was a good sign. I could tell that Sidney still wasn't sure whether or not she passed. When I told her that she would be moving on to the 4th grade, she broke out into a huge smile and looked so relieved. I am so excited for her and so thankful that it's over! So, now with EOG's behind us for the year, we are going to count down the last few days of school and get ready to enjoy our summer!

SHE PASSED!!!! YEAH!!!!

EOG Week

2010-05-19T21:06:00.003-04:00

End of Grade testing for Sidney began today. Can I say just how much I have dreaded EOG's? This is her first year for EOG tests. She's taken the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) since Kindergarten so she know how to take tests, but the End of Grade tests are a whole new animal. EOG's begin in 3rd grade and are taken each year until 8th grade. (Once in high school, they begin taking EOC - end of course - tests). Third grade is considered a "Gateway Year" as is 5th and 8th. These tests could determine whether or not a child is promoted to the next grade. I was a horrible test taker, just take a look at my SAT scores...YIKES. So if she is anything like her momma....well....

Back in January, the kids took a practice EOG test. A few weeks later, I received an email from Sidney's teacher asking to meet with me and Todd about her practice tests. Sidney didn't do so well on the math portion of the practice test. (Now granted, the material that they were tested on was only what they had been taught up to that point.) Anyway, when I met with her teacher, I was given notice that Sidney could be in danger of failing the third grade if she didn't pass the EOG tests. Sidney's teacher began weekly math tutoring session for 1 hour after school each week. Sidney went to all but two session and had continued to do well on all her regular math tests and assignments.

She has worked so hard all year and has made all A's and B's and to think that she could possibly be retained all because of a test makes me nuts.... Up until this year, our school didn't put a lot of pressure on the children to perform on this test. Yes it was important to do well and to do your best, but yearly grades would also be considered for promotion to the next grade level. But new administration, along with new guidelines from the state have forced the teachers to "teach to the test". Although Sidney did well throughout the year, it was obvious that they were only really being introduced to concepts and moving on before those concepts were really grasped. How can you move on to something harder if the first concept isn't understood? I was told at the meeting that if she failed the EOG's, she wouldn't move up to 4th grade and the new Headmaster had said that there would be no exceptions. Now whether or not that is actually fact or if that was just a way to light a fire under the teachers, parents and students I'm not sure. But what I do know is that for the last 4 months, my child has worried about this test and has worked so hard to get ready for it.

Her teacher asked all the parents to write a note of encouragement to their child to read before the test. I wrote her one, her daddy wrote her one. She got emails from both sets of grandparents. Her Poppa (my dad) called her this morning and even her sister wrote her a note wishing her good luck on the test. One thing I stressed in my letter to her was to "Be confident". And "that no matter what I was very proud of her and all that she has accomplished this year". I told her that if she started to feel anxious to remember that God was with her as He always is. I also put this verse on the bottom of the note:

"I can do anything through Him who gives me strength" Phil. 4:13

So that brings us to today....

We got up and got ready as usual. Todd went into work late so that he could be here to see her off to school and to pray with her about the test. And even though she said she was not nervous, she was. She chattered all morning long until we got about 5 minutes away from school, then she clammed up and just stared out the window. When we got to drop off, I kissed her goodbye, told her she was going to do just fine and that I would be praying for her and thinking about her all day, but as she got out, I could tell that she was doing everything in her power to put on a brave face and not cry. It broke my heart!!! It brought me back to her first few days of kindergarten when she did the same thing. I wanted to snatch her back into the car and bring her home with me. It is just horrible that 8 year old have to feel so much pressure and stress. I know that in the back of her mind all these months she has been thinking about failing the test and failing the 3rd grade and about disappointing us. It just bugs me so much that she has had to feel this way. It's just not right for these kids to feel so defeated even before they start!

Anyway, today was her first day of testing. Reading!!! She said she felt like she did fine and that she wasn't nervous once she started. Tomorrow she will do day 1 of math. Calculator active. Friday, is day 2 of math, calculator inactive and the last day of EOG's. Math was where she didn't do so well on her practice test, so I know that she is a little more worried about tomorrow.

I will be so happy when this week is behind us. I am just praying that she does well so that she doesn't have to go through the stress of retaking the test during the last week of school.

Seventeen...Six...Nine...Eight....Three

2010-05-11T13:56:00.002-04:00

17....

The number of days left of this school year.

6....

The number of days before End Of GradeTesting.

9...

The number of days before EOG Testing is OVER.

8...

The number of days left of the Preschool year.

3...

The number of weeks before Ballet Recital.

As you can see, we are counting down to the end of our busyness for this school year. So that's why I've been quiet the past week or so. Trying to keep the girls focused on homework and reading for just a few more weeks. Trying to get Sidney prepared for End of Grade testing (which is stressing us both out - more about that later). So right now I am just trying to get through the next few weeks....

I will be back soon, maybe with a Mother's Day update (minus pictures, can you believe that I didn't take one single pictures with the 3 blessing that allow me to celebrate Mother's Day?)

My Little Strongman...

2010-04-30T16:47:00.001-04:00

The 3 year old preschool classes have been learning all about the Circus this month. As an end to our Circus unit, the children got to dress up for their very own circus. We had acrobats, tightrope walkers, lions, elephants, clowns a ringmaster and a Strongman.....

Isn't he just the cutest little strongman you've ever seen!!!!

He wore those "muscles" all day.

Side note - this "costume" took me all of 5 minutes to put together. Even though I've known about the circus since last week, I hadn't given ANY thought to his costume. He said he wanted to be a strongman - this is what he got and he loved it.

Blowouts!!!!

2010-04-21T00:25:00.001-04:00

I was told almost as soon as I found out that Davis was a boy that he would blow through the knees of his pants at a unfathomable rate! I just kind of stuck that little tidbit of information in the back of my mind until I needed to recall it! Well, it took 4 years, but it finally has happened!

Shortly after Davis' 4th birthday, I noticed that one pair of jeans had a hole in the knee... I really didn't think anything about it since he had been wearing those jeans for quite awhile and they were bound to wear out eventually. That little hole turned into a huge blowout!

Davis' first pair of blowout jeans!!!!

Since that first pair of jeans, Davis has managed to wear out the knees in 5 more pair of jeans!!!!

(I stopped taking pictures after the 3rd pair). They are still wearable for play, but not wearable out in public. I just bought him another 2 pairs of jeans and am hoping that we can make it to the fall with those since we'll most likely be moving into shorts for everyday wear now. (At least I'm hoping!)

(You can see the grass stains on this pair too....)

And right after I found another blowout in Davis' jeans, I found a blowout in a pair of both Madison's and Sidney's. The upside of blowouts in the girls jeans is that I can put cool patches over the holes, cover the blowouts with a pretty spring fabric or cut them off and make shorts. (All of those ideas will be used on the girls jeans soon!)

I find myself laughing a bit when I find yet another pair of blowout jeans. All those who told me that it would happen, I now say to you...."You were so right".

The Rest of Spring Break

2010-04-20T21:48:00.001-04:00

The rest of our week in Florida was pretty uneventful. The weather was beautiful and the kids got to swim almost every day. The pool was cold, and it took longer than they were willing to wait for the heater to heat it up, so they didn't stay in very long. As I said, we really didn't do much, so there's not a whole lot to tell. But here are a few cute pictures....

Davis slept with me all week. He generally started out in bed with me, but would move to the mattress on the floor. This is how he slept one night. I couldn't pass up taking a picture as it was just too sweet.

On Thursday, the kids and I headed to the Brandon Mall to do some shopping. The mall is about 45 minutes away and the kids and I spent most of the afternoon walking and shopping. Sidney said to me as we left the mall, "I thought going shopping was going to be boring, but it was lots of fun". Well of course it was, we spent the whole time shopping for them.

On Friday, after getting everything ready to head back home the next morning, we packed up and headed out to the beach, at 5pm on Friday evening. Not really sure what we were thinking, but I had to take the kids to the beach. They loved it! It didn't matter what time it was or that it was windy and cool. They still had a blast playing in the sand and even venturing into the water (that was WAY too cold).

Here are a few pictures of our afternoon at the beach....

After our short stay on the beach, we met my brother, sister in law and niece for dinner. (After I ask my sister in law for permission, I will post some pictures of my sweet niece Emily).

After the week in Florida, I was ready to get home to my hubby. I wasn't however, looking forward to the LONG drive back home. I prayed that the trip back to NC was better than the trip down to Florida. And it was! I got up at 3:45am, finished packing the car, loaded the kids and pulled out around 5am. Traffic was smooth and the kids slept for the first 3 (almost 4) hours of the trip home. We made it home in 11 hours and I was so happy to pull into my driveway!

Another Spring Break over and back to reality! It has taken me a week and a half to get back to my normal routine. In fact, I just finished laundry from last week. Just in time to start again. Now to focus on the next 6 1/2 weeks - then school is out! I think we are all ready for summer vacation.

Easter Sunday 2010

2010-04-08T09:10:00.007-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, the kids and I are in Florida for Spring Break, which also means that we were here for Easter Sunday. This is the second year in a row that the kids and I have spent Easter here with my parents. And as much as I love being with my parents and the kids love being with Meme and Poppa, I really missed being with my husband on Easter Sunday!

The Easter bunny did show up at Meme and Poppa's house.

Yeah, these are pretty weak Easter Baskets this year. But with having to tote everything down to Florida, I didn't the Easter Bunny didn't bring much candy.

We did have a very nice Easter though. After our LONG drive on Friday and a very late night on Saturday, everyone slept in pretty late on Sunday morning. Luckily, my parents' church had quite a few services, so we ended up taking our time getting ready and going to the last Mass at 12:15pm. It was a very nice Mass, just very different from what the kids and I are used to. (Well, since I grew up Catholic, it's not foreign to me, but just different from the worship services we now go to).

As most did on Easter Sunday, I attempted to get some pictures of my babies dressed in their Easter clothes. The girls did great and looked beautiful. At 8 and 7 years old, they finally will stand still and smile for the camera. Davis on the other hand was not so cooperative.
So here are a few pictures of my Easter Babies:

This was about the best picture I could get of Davis....

My pretty, pretty girls

Poppa and his girls

And with Davis - hey, I tried! Little turkey wouldn't smile!

Me and My Daddy

My Momma and I

My Momma and Daddy

I didn't manage to get a picture of me with my kids because as soon as we walked in the door from church, they were in their swimsuits and in the pool. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to try again next year.

Spring Break 2010 - The Drive Down

2010-04-06T11:08:00.001-04:00

Once again, the kids and I made the LONG trip to Florida for Spring Break. It was one of the worst drives I've had in a very long time. The plan was to leave early on Friday morning and just take our time getting here, since my parents weren't home yet anyway (they were on their own long drive from NJ where they had been dealing with my great aunt's house, but that's another story for another day).

We got off to a late start on Friday morning, not leaving home until 8:45am... after a stop at the bank, we finally got on the road. The trip started out on the wrong foot with one of the kids asking "Are we in Georgia yet"? We hadn't been on the road for 45 minutes yet! This was not a good sign. We made one more stop to top off the gas tank and get some donuts and milk for breakfast before getting on I-77. Finally, this trip was really underway. Traffic was moving really well until we got on I-95. After our first potty break, we encountered some stop and go traffic. The cause was an SUV that was pulling a big camper had flipped onto it's side in the Northbound lane and of course it slowed up traffic going south so everyone could see what was going on. Shortly after that, we stopped for lunch at a rest stop about 60 miles from the Georgia line. After lunch we got moving again, thinking that we were making pretty good time and would be at my parents house by 8:30 pm.... yeah, that's what I get for thinking. All of a sudden, traffic slowed and for I couldn't tell you how long, we were moving at 7mph! And then traffic stopped. We were sitting still on I-95. After sitting there for about 10 minutes, people started getting out of their cars and walking around. That's a pretty weird thing to see on I-95. So of course, I had to see what was going on. Another truck pulling a camper had flipped over in the Northbound lane. Now this was much worse than the one we encountered earlier. The truck itself was upside down in the middle of the median, impaled by the wire guardrail that runs down the center to keep cars from crossing into oncoming traffic. That's what slowed traffic down going south, but what stopped traffic altogether going south was the helicopter that landed in the middle of the southbound lane. That's just something you don't see everyday. The helicopter was a Life Flight helicopter, so you know that it was pretty bad. (Turns out the driver was killed and his wife was taken by helicopter to the hospital.) Once we got moving again, and actually passing the wreck, my heart felt like it was in my throat. What was an inconvenience for me was a tragedy for some other family and my heart just hurt for those people.

Okay, so after that - more driving, more traffic and thankfully, no more accidents. There were a few places that traffic slowed but that was to be expected as we got closer to 5pm. We got about 3 1/2 hours from my parents and we probably should have found a hotel and stopped. But I kept driving and debating, "Do I keep going or do I stop?" I did stop at one hotel and they didn't have a room with 2 beds, so I just decided to keep going and finally made it to my brother's house around 10pm. Even though my mom only lives 15 minutes further south than my brother, we stayed the night at his house. Since my parents weren't home, I would have had to come in and make beds and then in the morning they would have probably woken me up early to go swimming. (Well, they wound up waking me up early anyway, but we stayed at my brother's for the day until my parents go home).

So our normal 11 hour trip took us almost 14 hours.... 14 VERY LONG HOURS! And many, many "Are we there yet?", and "Why Florida is far away, Mommy?" and so many other questions, statements, arguments, etc... We've had other rough trips, but the only other really bad one that come to mind is the drive down for Spring Break 2007....

That year, a friend and her son rode with us (her parents live here in the winter/early spring) After deciding that we would leave around 10pm and drive through the night (so the kids would sleep most of the way), she informs me around midnight that "I don't drive so well in the dark." Seriously, ya could have mentioned that before we set out on this middle of the night adventure! So I drove the entire way, all 12 hours on no sleep and having been up for 24 hours...AND on that same trip, about 2 hours from my parents house, Madison proceeds to throw up all over herself and her car seat.....NICE! (She subsequently vomited for the next 48 hours). Oh and did I mention on that trip, I had an almost 4 month old too?

Yeah, so I'm not sure which one was worse! But I do know that I was so excited to finally get out of that van at my brother's on Friday night. And I've asked myself (and Todd) multiple times "Who's brilliant idea was it to drive down Easter weekend and on the Friday before Easter no less?" Yeah, that would be me!

Best Mom Ever

2010-03-31T16:15:00.001-04:00

What got me the title "Best Mom Ever"?

Soaking the kids with the hose while washing the car!!!!

It was a beautiful, warm spring day last Wednesday and my van was in desperate need of a washing. So while the kids played outside I got out the bucket and hose and worked on getting the months of winter weather off my van! The kids thought it was fun to stand next to the van and try to get wet! So when they were least expecting it, I turned the hose on each one of them. And I SOAKED them.... head to toe and through and through.

Hamming it up for the camera!!!!

Three wet rats!!!

It was during the spraying that I was given the title "Best Mom Ever"! I'm wondering if they felt that way when I made them come in and do their homework and clean their rooms. Hmmm? Oh well, for a few minutes I was the "Best Mom Ever", and we didn't have to do showers that night either!!!!

I am so ready for the Spring weather to stick around! The kids have really enjoyed being outside and they seem to sleep better after being outside!

Sew Fun

2010-03-22T20:25:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, the girls got to go to a really neat birthday party. One that the 3 of us had been waiting for. (I got to go and hang out too!) This fun party came after that horrible Friday afternoon (that I wrote about here). One of their little friends from Ballet was having a birthday party at a place called Sew Fun. It was a place that the girls got to sew their own Journal cover on real sewing machines. They were taught how to use them and then made their own covers. It was so much fun and the girls had a blast. If you live in the area, check them out! The ladies there are super nice and helpful and the girls just thought it was the coolest. (Not only do they do parties, but they also offer classes... my girls are ready to take a class - maybe this summer!)

Here's a few pictures from the party . . . .

Sidney sewing her seams!

"I did it" and her seams were straighter than mine are!

Madison with her Journal Cover, ready to put it on the Journal and decorate it!

Madison's finished Journal - Fringe and a pocket too!

Sidney's finished Journal

I can't tell you how proud the girls were of their Journals. They worked so hard and loved using the "real sewing machines". They've been carrying those journals everywhere the last two weeks. I've got to say, it really did my heart good to see them enjoying themselves so much and having so much fun after feeling so hurt the day before! Does a momma's heart good to see them rebound and to see them surrounded by such great friends!

Now, someone needs to teach them to really sew and then they can start making their own clothes!!! HA!

Whew!!!!

2010-03-18T11:31:00.001-04:00

Has it been two weeks almost!
In one sense, it has felt like the last two weeks have flown by but in another, it has felt like they have gone by at a snails pace.

The last two weeks has been full of so many things. Some good, some, not so good. There were days that held sickness, hurtfulness, concern, anxiety and worry, fear, anger. And then there were days that held fun, time with friends, feeling a sense of accomplishment, acceptance that this is just how it is, a poetry reading, love and lots of hugs and kisses and time with my family (which is the best). There's been a lot going on and through it all, I know that God has been there with me. Helping me through!

When I posted the last time, I was fighting a pretty bad head cold. And not only a head cold, but loss of my voice too. It took a solid week to start feeling better, but it took even longer for my voice to come back. Davis started the week by being a little under the weather. Not really sick, just not himself. So we stayed home from Bible Study on Tuesday to rest, went to Preschool on Wednesday, but then from there it went downhill, for me. By Wednesday afternoon, my voice was strained and by Thursday morning, it was completely gone! It is so hard to help with homework, call the kids down for dinner and so many other things when you have no voice. And answering the phone, well, it just doesn't happen. Thank goodness for text messaging or I would have been in a lot of trouble.

That Friday was my worst day. I was completely congested, with no voice. Davis was back to himself. I was struggling even more because I was up the whole night before. Todd had to go out of town Thursday and was gone until Friday evening, so I didn't sleep. I don't sleep well or at all, when he's not here. Thankfully, it was another teacher workday for me, so I didn't have to go in and work at preschool. The plan was that after I dropped off the girls at school (they didn't have a day off), Davis and I were going to come home and nap. Since the girls were supposed to be going to my in - laws house after school and Todd was going to pick them up when he came back into town, I wasn't going to have to leave the house again that day! It was going to be a day to rest. Yeah, things didn't go as planned. I couldn't very well expect Davis to take a nap at 8:15 in the morning, so we watched a movie (which is what got me to thinking about changing the name of my blog...but more on that later). Well, by the time the movie ended, for the second time, I was beyond ready to take a nap. Davis on the other hand was bouncing on the bed definitely not ready for a nap. I had made a comment on my Facebook page about feeling so bad and needing a nap and within minutes, my good friend (and neighbor) came to my rescue. She offered to take Davis with her to lunch and keep him until the girls came home so that I could rest. Can we say God sent? She came and got Davis, I took an extra hot shower and crawled under the covers and went to sleep. And this is where they day goes completely downhill! I am not going to go into why in this particular post for numerous reasons, one being that just catching up on the last two weeks will make this post long and that Friday afternoon probably deserves a post all its own. Let's just say, this is where the emotional part began.

And that's how the last two weeks began. Throw in ballet and work and school projects and Brownies and after school tutoring, etc., etc., etc., well, you get the idea. I'm not going to detail each and every day of the last two weeks because I'm pretty sure y'all would be bored. But here are a few things that have been keeping me busy (besides the usual.....)

Last Thursday, I got to go to a Poetry Cafe'. Sidney's class has been working on all different types of poetry and at the end of the unit, they held a Poetry Cafe' complete with hot chocolate and muffins. Each of the kids stood up and read 1 or 2 of the poems they had written. They all did such a great job with their poems. Here's Sidney reading her poem!

This past Saturday, we enjoyed some pretty nice weather. The kids spent lots of time outside and I'm not sure what got into me, but once I got out of bed, I didn't stop until I crawled into bed Saturday night. I got almost my entire house clean. It's amazing how much you can get done with some good tunes on your iPod! And if you're my friend on Facebook, you have probably already seen that statement, but it's worth repeating. I popped my earbuds in and got moving. I almost drained the battery on my iPhone from using it all day. Of course, I had a little helper cleaning with me.....

He had to have a glove (like mommy) and was insistent on helping. He cleaned all the glass on the piece that is in my foyer... well, the glass he could reach, all the glass on the wine cabinet and then he cleaned the windows to our front door and side lights...again, the ones he could reach. He so wanted to use the ladder to clean the higher windows, but that was not going to happen. It was such a nice day and I didn't want it to end with a trip to the ER....

I dusted things in my house that haven't been dusted in a long time. Got all the laundry done and put away (although, there's more to be done already). I think the only thing that didn't get done was the girls bathroom and the floors. And to top it off, Todd took us all to Cookout for dinner. I haven't been to a Cookout since I lived in Greensboro 15 years ago. And I really should be working on the floors right now, but I'm just not in a cleaning mood right now. Maybe later! Davis is at school and my friend is picking him up and he is going to her house to play for a bit.

This week has been tough only because of the time change. My body still hasn't adjusted and I am really missing my hour. On Sunday morning (early, early, early) I literally saw the time change on my clock. I was up pretty much all night. We got up and went to church Sunday morning, came home for our regular Sunday brunch and then was supposed to take Davis to a birthday party Sunday afternoon. I could hardly keep my eyes open and told Todd that I was going to lay down for an hour and to wake me when it was time to take Davis to the party. Yeah, I woke up when my friend called to see if I had just dropped Davis at the party and was still in town. Todd had taken him for me without waking me. The girls were in the garage painting magnets and I was sound asleep. What a great hubby!!!!

So I end with how I began..... WHEW!!!!

Another busy two weeks at my house. I don't anticipate it slowing down any. Maybe during Spring Break I'll get to rest some. The plan is to go to Florida for the week of Spring Break. I'm sure with the pool and the sun and a few trips to the beach, I may just relax a little!

Any Ideas?

2010-03-05T11:26:00.001-05:00

So, I have been thinking awhile about possibly changing the name of my blog. It's not that I don't like it or that it isn't true (I mean, I do spend most of my days in my minivan....which I still love), it's just that it just doesn't seem to fit my blog. And honestly, I don't know what would fit. I'm not a very creative person when it comes to making up names or titles or stuff like that. So, I'm bringing up the idea to y'all (okay Alison, is that spelled y'all or ya'll? I don't need the grammar polices' flashing lights in my rearview mirror... HA).

If you had to name my blog, what would you name it? There's no prize or even a guarantee that I'll use one of the suggestions, if anyone does make a suggestion. But where better to start getting ideas from those of you who may read my blog!

So that's the challenge!

Table Topic Tuesday

2010-03-02T09:58:00.001-05:00

I don't generally "link up" to another blog for these fun things, but Shannon over at Welcome to the Nuthouse hosts, Table Topic Tuesdays, and when I saw the topic for this week, I decided to link up. This is a post that I've had in the works for awhile and it seemed like a good time to post it and join in the fun....

"What's The Last Thing You Cried About"

Weepy!!!

That's the best word I can use to describe some of my emotions lately. It seems that tears come to my eyes very easily these days. A song, a thought, a memory, a moment; and I find myself fighting back tears. Honestly, I've always been an emotional person and have always cried pretty easily, but I've never been weepy. (And sometimes I think a good cry would be much better than being weepy all the time).

Okay, here's an example: Nutcracker - For months I had heard the music, watched the rehearsals and anticipated the performances. I sat through 2 dress rehearsals where I watched my girls, in costume, dance. Not a single tear! BUT, when Sidney came out on stage during her first performance, my eyes filled with tears. I do not know what it was about the actual performances that caused me to become weepy, but it happened each time the girls came out on stage during their performance. During the performance that Todd and I sat together and watched, I had to ask for his handkerchief because tears actually fell.

Another example is when Sidney won her Character award a few months ago... you may remember this post, and seeing the pictures of a weepy, red eyed, but very proud Mommy. It's happened each time the girls have received a Character award.

Hearing a song can also bring tears to my eyes. Just last week, I heard the song that Todd and I danced to at our wedding and the tears came. Even after 15 years, I still cannot listen to the song my Daddy and I danced to at my wedding, and for a long time right after my wedding, that song was used for a TV commercial. Watching the girls sing in the Children's Choir at church, hearing Davis sing "Jesus Loves Me" will also bring tears to my eyes.

And the thought of Davis starting Kindergarten, well, I am probably going to be a basket case! (And he still has another year before he starts). So, I guess I just need to get used to this weepiness. Embrace it as part of my emotional make up now and start carrying lots of tissues!!! (And I wonder where my daughter gets her emotional side from)