Triplets are a Joy

Happy Valentine's Day 2012

2012-02-14T22:18:00.000-06:00

The two girls who received their pillows LOVED them. I even saw one of them carry it to church with her. Only one is pictured as the other doesn't want pictures of her daughter on the Internet, so I will respect that. Even though I did get a cute picture of her with it.

Last night I made a YUMMY dinner that I found on Pinterest.

Crescent Chicken Casserole

Wow- Oh so good. You can find the recipe here.

I used Mexican shredded cheese since that is what I had on hand.

And Greg brought home a Valentine's gift for all of us last night.

Gigi's cupcakes. Don't they look divine?

Thank you Greg they are delicious!

So when everyone went to bed, I made fortune cookies. I was excited to see that the prep time was only 5 minutes and cook time was only 8-12 minutes. So I got to work around midnight. Well guess what? The cook time is for TWO at a time. Really? I started out doing that but then got lazy. I do think they would have turned out better if I would have taken the time to do them 2 at a time, but I really didn't have 96 minutes to spare.

The recipe I used I found here.

I think if I make them again I'll leave out the nutmeg. I guess I just don't like that flavor.

The hardest part for me was trying to come up with the fortunes. I did come up with some pretty funny ones. Here is my list:

Do not pick onyour brother today!

It’s the personon your left’s lucky day!

Your Mom ate yourcupcake! (This one was followed up with a note in the cupcake box that said Made you look!)

You will get an Aon your next test if you study hard.

You will findsomething you lost today once you clean your room.

You have theprettiest, best, most loving, creative, happy, special, sweetest Mom in theworld!

Today is the dayfor love! Love thy brother as thy love yourself.

You are prettysplendid!

You need ahaircut!

Kiki ate yourreal fortune. You can try to get it back but I’m afraid she’ll bite you.

Izzy hid yourfortune.

You will findhappiness in the next fortune cookie.

Here are the ones I created for myself. They make me laugh!

You will get muchneeded rest when kids are out of the house!

You don’t need acookie to tell you, you are super!

You get the Momof the year award!

Youdeserve a hug for making these fortune cookies.

I did make some special ones for my sweetheart, but those I'm keeping private.

Ashley was the first to open hers. She is the only one I got pictures of with one, since the boys sleep in their underwear and were not dressed when they opened their cookies. The fortunes in pink are the ones Ashley got. I do think it is funny she picked the 2 that were about being nice to your brothers.

Mason had the BEST reaction to his fortunes by far! I wish I would have filmed him. He laughed and was stunned at the audacity of some that he got! It just makes me laugh thinking about it. His fortunes are in blue. He did wonder how I knew he would pick the cupcake one, but that's when I told him to look in the box to see that it was still there.

Aussie was up last. The first cookie he opened said, You need a haircut! He rolled his eyes and didn't want to open any of the other ones. I coaxed him into it. And I laughed at every one he read out loud. His are in green.

Here is the card I created for Greg. Simple but hopefully cute.

We went to Chick Fil A tonight. Ashley wore the shirt I made her.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Creating and all that stuff!

2012-02-10T01:35:00.001-06:00

I feel like today was a crazy, whirlwind day.

I found this theater curtain that I made for the kids several years ago. I was disappointed that they hadn't used it a lot after all the work I put into it.

So I got it out today and put it up. The kids LOVE it! They didn't remember ever having it.

Aussie asked if they could make puppets for school.

Sure! As long as you get everything else done I have planned for today.

So they started out with paper bag puppets.

Here are Ashley's:

Mason's actually turned out the best:

He colored front and back and sides!

I have NO idea where Aussie's puppets are. They are probably in between the couch cushions. That's where I find his homework sometimes.

Remember the pillow I made yesterday. Well Ashley was jealous and wanted me to make her one. She wanted these weird human-like Pokemon characters. I searched the web for decent enough pictures and still ended up editing them in Photoshop. They are not so bad in this picture:

So I spent quite a bit of time gathering the materials to attempt to make this pillow for her. After I had nearly everything, she started saying, "I wish I had a Valentine's present for my best friend, Abby. Can you make her a pillow?" Seriously??? I told her I could make one or the other today. So she told me Abby really likes Angry Birds. And of course it needed to be done before tomorrow, when they see their friends at tutorial. So I created this:

But not only was I creating this and meeting the demands of all my children I was also baking brownies and blueberry muffins for Greg's play AND Ashley wanted to learn how to make felt puppets.

SO...I taught Ashley how to use my sewing machine.

We created a simple hand puppet and then decorated it using fabric glue. I thought that would be a lot easier than trying to sew on all those little pieces.

And what puppets did she create? Can you guess?

I ended up helping her a lot, I felt so overwhelmed with everything that I was doing. I enjoyed making the pillow for the most part. It was a little hard when I had to sew up the side after it was stuffed. Of course I finished it after she went to bed. I'm sure that is when I really started to enjoy creating it.

Mason wanted to create some felt puppets too, but I told him not tonight. Thankfully he was understanding.

My toe has been numb on and off today. I see the chiropractor again tomorrow and I'm going to ask him his advice whether I should see and orthopedic or not. I really need to see him tomorrow. From limping my hips and back have been really hurting me.

I also had my friend Steena come over today for a piece of caramel pie. I'm glad she came today. She was able to take some of the treats that I made today to the play tonight. That's one good thing, that I didn't have to get out and travel all the way to Lipscomb and back just to drop them off. So it was really super nice that she was going anyway and could take them.

I hate that it is so late! I'm tired tonight and need to go to bed, especially since I need to get up early in the morning. But I don't feel like I have had any time to myself. And I so desperately need that.

I'm behind in my Bible reading. I'm in Leviticus and I'm struggling with it. On one hand I think I really need to pay attention that it must be important for me to know. And on the other hand I fight myself not to do ANYTHING else while I'm listening to it. So far I haven't picked up my phone and played Angry Birds while listening to the Bible but I'm so very tempted to do so. I have however put things around me away. Grab some water in between chapters, etc.

I'm also a little behind in my housework. My broken toe slowed me down quite a bit and then the last two days I have been sewing (which I tend to make a big mess when I'm crafting.) That and I neglect the housework that I'm supposed to be doing.

As for my menu planning... Wow I've done a great job planning it. Now if I would look at BEFORE dinner time it would be oh so helpful. It would also be very helpful if I actually bought the food that I was planning to make for this week. I WILL do better next week. I did look at the menu for tomorrow. Yay me! Except that it is a crockpot recipe and of course I don't have the food. Urg! Now what shall I make? It needs to be simple.

Alright that's good for tonight! Have a good one!

February Project Completed

2012-02-08T23:44:00.000-06:00

February project finished!

I saw this on someone else's blog. She had bought hers from Pottery Barn Kids. I looked them up and they retail I believe for $18 each maybe it was $24 each. Funny they were on their website yesterday and they are no longer there today. Anyway it cost me WAY less than that to make 4 of them. I made one for Aussie to give his girlfriend as well.

Here is a close up of Ashley's. The boys are in red.

They hang on the back of chairs and you can open them up and put valentines in them.

I love how they turned out!

Aussie never got his girlfriend a Christmas present and he has been fretting over it. So I finally made something for him to give her. She loves Snoopy. I absolutely love how this turned out. Ashley is jealous and wants me to make her a pillow.

Ashley's won't be as cute because she wants some weird character on it. Oh well, if I feel up to it and have the materials I'll make it for her.

I re-injured my toe today. It was numb for most of the day but it is no longer numb. When I took the boys to the doctor this afternoon, their doctor suggest I see an orthopedic. But since the numbness has gone away I'll continue to just have it taped to another toe.

2 Dreams and a Broken Toe

2012-02-06T02:22:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, before all the festivities I absolutely HAD to take a nap! In that short amount of time I had 2 bad dreams.

The first one:

I sent Ashley out to sell candy. When she came back all happy about how much she sold she mentioned that she charged $3. In which this sick feeling came all over me. It was supposed to be $4 and she forgot. I came to a huge realization that I had to pay the extra $1 for each candy that she sold.

The second one:

I had to pee REALLY bad. I proceeded to go to the bathroom, which happened to be a toilet in the middle of the Living Room. When I started to pee I heard voices in the other room. That's when I realized my Dad brought home company and it was any minute that they were going to come around the corner and see me peeing. And I just kept peeing and peeing and peeing and it seemed like it would never end. Thankfully I didn't get caught. :)

What does all this mean? Probably the 2 dreams were just putting pictures to my stress. I've been keeping the house clean. {{{Trying}}} really hard to keep it clean. And I broke my toe Thursday night. For two days I didn't do much and it seems as though the house went to pot. I knew my friend, Doris was coming over and she has been reading my blog and knew that I was keeping my house clean. I felt a lot of pressure to get it under control again and the time was ticking down. That and the fact that I broke my toe has caused a lot of stress. I can't do anything easily. You never know how much you use something until you hurt it.

I don't think I mentioned here how I did it. It was Thursday night and I walked into the Family Room and accidentally kicked a doll bed in the middle of the floor. OUCH! Even though it wasn't Ashley's fault she felt terribly guilty. I could barely walk and wondered if I had broke it. I suspected that I might have. This is very interesting information. Most times a sprain will bruise up and look like it is the worst thing that has ever happened to you. A few months ago Greg sprained his toe and it was horrendous looking, but it healed in a few days. And many times a break doesn't look very bad at all. That would be the case with my toe. You can barely tell I did anything to it. Anyway, I had a chiropractor appointment the next day and he took a look at it. He didn't take x-rays but he could tell by feeling it that it was broken and he wrapped it up (taped it to the toe next to it.)

I can get around better today. It still hurts. It is still hard to go up the stairs. And today I accidentally kicked my friend's foot under the table. She didn't even feel it, but it sure hurt me. I feel like a baby and I over explain, hence this blog post. I mean it SHOULD look terrible or something and it doesn't. Makes me feel like I look like a liar.

I feel like I could ramble and ramble on! I so wish I could sleep well on the couch! It is so comfortable. Some days it gets so late that all I want to do is lay down on it and fall asleep. But I usually am awakened abruptly by not breathing. OK 4 blog posts in a day is probably more than you ever wanted to read. So I'll say goodnight for now.

It's Super Cup Day!

2012-02-05T21:50:00.001-06:00

So my Mom sent me a really cute picture of some Valentine's Day nails:

So I attempted to recreate them. I shouldn't even put them in the same post, because theirs is so much cuter than mine. I just used the colors I had. I tried to put the heart and the second color of lines, but it didn't turn out so well so I just left it at this:

Today is Super Bowl Sunday! Many people get together and watch the game. But my friend Doris just wanted to get together for the food. So she and her son came over. She and I made enough food to feed a whole party of people but it was just us.

We had 4 kinds of dip:

Chicken Rotel

(Don't know why it's called this since it doesn't have Rotel in it)

Sausage Dip (Since sausage hurts my stomach she made some with regular hamburger)

Creamy Mexican Queso

Then we had the MOST wonderful Potato Skins that she made. OH WOW! My favorite by far!

And then we had FOUR desserts! (Well three since the angel food cake didn't make it here)

Key Lime pie

Unfortunately, I put this on top of the oven and it melted. And it never refroze properly, but it still tasted pretty good.

And Caramel Pie

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

And the kids had Super Bowl Cupcakes.

And our favorite line of the day:

Aussie: Dad, can you make me hot chocolate tonight? Because it is, after all, the Super Cup. Uh... Super BOWL? (we laugh at him) I don't know sports, leave me alone.

Oh Yah I'm THAT Cheap!

2012-02-05T21:09:00.001-06:00

In this month's edition of Oh Yah I'm THAT Cheap:

OK, so I'm trying to be thrifty and I thought this was a pretty thrifty idea. It all started with ~~2 bags~~ ahem 1 1/2 bags of Christmas M&M's that I got for $1.something after Christmas.

Then I separated the colors. Isn't that pretty?

Then I made Valentine's cookies with the red M&M's. The green ones I'll save for St. Patrick's Day. (At least that is the plan)

Oh yes I could have put them into cute heart shapes, but I said I'm thrifty not Martha Stewart.

First Saturday of the Month

2012-02-05T20:53:00.000-06:00

Curse you first Saturday of the month! My daughter will not forget that this is the day Home Depot has their kids workshop. Oh yah, the project looks cute. But I don't like being woken up early in the morning, especially on a Saturday,begging to go! It *might* be ok if she waited until 10:30 to wake me up, but she doesn't. And it's ALL I HEAR until we go out the door.

I'd like to say this how she looks until we go out the door, but in actuality she was trying a lemon.

Today's project was a Valentine's box.
Both Ashley and Mason built the box. Ashley painted hers.

Mason didn't want to paint his there because he thinks it is too messy.

He also wanted to give it to me, so I asked him if I could paint it.

And that concludes my Saturday at Home Depot trip.

Pacific Overtures and an Update on my goals

2012-02-02T02:46:00.001-06:00

Last night I went to see the dress rehearsal of Pacific Overtures. This is the play Greg is producing and directing at Lipscomb. Opening night is Friday.

I really wanted to take pictures and I did, but I didn't know they were having professional photographers there. So I pretty much stayed in one spot and tried not to get in their way. Unfortunately, many of my pictures have the backs of chairs in them. Anyway, here are a few pictures that I took.

I was very impressed with the set. The panels they printed are gorgeous. I didn't get pictures of them. And I was also very impressed with the choreography.

I put all of that first in case someone is searching the web for Pacific Overtures. First of all, if this does describe you welcome. Please note that my blog is solely for personal use, mainly to keep the family members who live far away up to date on whats going on. So then, the rest of this has nothing to do with PO. Thank you for stopping by.

I have to say I am so proud of myself. I cannot even believe that I have kept the downstairs clean for an entire month. I'm also proud that we pretty much stuck to the menu I created for last month with a few exceptions. I just finished a menu for this month, printed it out and it is now on my refrigerator. This month I am trying several new recipes, mostly things I've found on Pinterest.

Last month, I also cleaned out my walk in closet. It was packed full of stuff that we couldn't even step in the door. We practically wore clothes from laundry baskets. But now everything is hanging up. I got my bedroom floor picked up and I even vacuumed it today. I know this seems simple to many of you, but if you knew/know how messy we have been you would be quite impressed with how far I've come. I still need to declutter the tops of the dresser and tables. I still have a long way to go on the upstairs, but I am gradually getting things done. Everyday, I work on putting more things away into their correct places.

I've also decided to get back into couponing. I bought 2 papers on Sunday. Luckily, Greg needed the papers for an article so he bought me 4 more. We really need to save money. Groceries, clothing, etc. have gotten so expensive and it is hard to live on what we make. Don't feel sorry for us or anything. There are plenty of places we can tighten our budget. We have just become so comfortable living like kings (so to speak). So now it's time to cut back.

Oh as of my goals for reading the Bible everyday, I am happy to report I am right on schedule. I've been enjoying listening to Max McLean read it to me. However, it has caused me to think up all kinds of questions. Usually, Greg can answer them for me. Right now as I'm reading through Leviticus, I'm wondering why oh why do I need to know how they sacrificed animals? I do not like hearing about it AT ALL!

Greg is taking the day off tomorrow, so he will be home for part of the day. I'm not sure how that will affect our schooling. I still need to create our schedule for tomorrow. Who knows when the boys will wake up. They stayed up to see their Daddy and they didn't go to sleep until after one. Yes, that makes for a hard day the next day! I will be glad when PO is over and we can get back to a normal schedule. The boys have been on an ADD medicine for about 2 weeks now. They can tell it is helping them. I can tell as well. I think Mason is on the level he needs to be, but I think Aussie could use a little more. I'm not fighting with them as much to get their work done and Math is not taking all day anymore. One of the side effects is that it suppresses their appetite. I'm not worried about Aussie, he eats like a horse. So for it to suppress it some is mighty fine. However, Mason needs to eat. I need to make sure he eats a good breakfast before he takes his pill.

Alright, yet again it is nearly 3AM and I still have several things I need to do before going to bed. I really wanted to mop the kitchen floor, but I'll probably wait on that. The school schedule needs to be created before I do anything else.

Zoooooooo!

2012-02-01T00:35:00.002-06:00

I need to make this quick. Today we went to the zoo. It was absolutely a beautiful day. I told the kids they needed to do a one page report on any animal at the zoo. So each kid picked an animal. We headed to the zoo after lunch. I thought I remembered the zoo closing at 6:00, but when we got there they closed at 4:00. So we had 2 hours to RUSH through the zoo and have time for the kids to play on the playground as well.

An Eland

A Lynx- this is the first time I've seen a lynx up and pacing the cage. It's much prettier than I remembered.

Ashley of course picked the tiger.

Aussie picked the zebra. The zebra was actually the first animal picked that we came upon. I told Aussie to read the sign and take some notes. After waiting SEVERAL minutes I finally asked, "Aussie what are you doing? Are you writing your entire report?" He answered, "Yes!" So I told him he didn't need to write it all now, that he could write it when we got home. He said, "I wish I had known that! Why didn't you tell me?" I told him I didn't think I needed to. Good grief! The child is smart, but he really doesn't have much common sense.

The meerkat- for some reason every kids favorite.

The gibbons monkey. Yes, I acted like a monkey. This one actually stopped swinging and payed attention to me. He didn't talk back to me like the monkeys at the Cincinnati zoo.

The macaw. Absolutely gorgeous! This one seemed to be smiling at me.

Mason chose the elephant.

The kids played on the playground for maybe 45 minutes. That is their favorite thing to do at this zoo. Aussie came up with an obstacle course and all three of them took turns running it. His shoes were hurting him so I gave him my socks. And after walking the zoo, by the time we left my feet were killing me.

Mason wanted to take a picture of EVERY animal. He said he is doing a report on all of them. While he took some pictures in the petting zoo, I rested on the bench with my zoom lens.

The newest addition to the zoo is the Flamingo Lagoon.

I was really surprised, they are really beautiful. The color was splendid!

I let them play on the playground before seeing the elephants and giraffes. We had 10 minutes to run and see them. We saw the elephants in plenty of time, but by the time we got to the giraffes they were just putting them away.

After the zoo, we went to Chick Fil A and then to see a dress rehearsal of Pacific Overtures. We just got home a few minutes ago. I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed. I need a shower but it will have to wait until the morning.

January Craft 2012

2012-01-28T00:04:00.000-06:00

I'm cutting it close on my January craft. Remember my goal for this year is to create something once a month. I know I created tons of things last month, but none of those crossed over into January. So I made something tonight. It doesn't look as cute as the original which you can see here, but Ashley likes it anyway. It's a bit bulky, but she said she will wear it for Valentine's day.

Then here she is with this little balloon she is giving to Greg and me.

just a bit of nothin'

2012-01-27T18:56:00.000-06:00

I've been wanting to do this for a long time and I finally got out my Cricut and did it. Thankfully, serving the Lord doesn't mean I have to have it perfectly straight or spaced correctly.

Technology! The kids get home from co-op and jump onto the computers. Unfortunately, that means they take over my computer. URG!

I'm also dying to take pictures, but I haven't had a reason to do it. I've got to figure something out so I can play with these new actions I have on my Photoshop.

Bad storms and Photoshop Actions

2012-01-24T01:20:00.001-06:00

Oh my I'm tired!

I didn't get my to do list done today. And I just don't think I can stay up to finish it.

Last night we had bad storms here. Actually the storms were not too bad except that 2 storms were coming from different directions and crossed near us, which made it severe. So at 1:30 in the morning Greg and I brought the kids downstairs to our safe place. Ashley was pretty much conked out and she laid down on the cushions in the hallway. The boys wanted to lay down but there was no room to lay down. Aussie got nervous and started to cry. I gave him my phone so he could play games or watch a YouTube video. Mason was mad. He didn't want anyone to touch him. But that was nearly impossible in the little tiny space where we have to be. I could hear the wind outside. Nothing major happened. Some places near us did lose power though.

Today, I had to get everyone up early for dentist appointments. That was not fun. VERY LITTLE SLEEP!

I found something REALLY exciting today. I found some FREE Photoshop actions to use to edit pictures. MOM...you would LOVE this! Go here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2010/03/actions-update-2/

Here are just a few pictures that I played around with. The first four pictures are of actors in Greg's upcoming play Pacific Overtures.

I really like the burned edges look!

The next one is the 70's look.

These are pictures the "professional" photographer took for school. You would not believe how much trouble we have had with this guy. And the pictures were TERRIBLE. None of them were edited. The color was off. Here are just a few that I edited.

I do like this one of the kids in the leaves.

And here is one I antiqued of Mason in Miracle on 34th Street.

Crud! I didn't do tomorrow's lesson plan. I better do that really quick. Good night!

Skylander's Tournament

2012-01-22T01:42:00.001-06:00

I am having such a time trying to move my pictures around tonight on my blog. I might just have to leave them as is. Anyway, today was a busy day! First of all the effects from the medicine on the boys have lessened some today. It was still a bit of an emotional roller coaster but it was better.

Aussie went to Chinese today. They were celebrating Chinese New Year. Typically, all of us go on this day but we had too many other things going on. Aussie came home early and we headed out to The Theater Bug's audition for Idol. Each kid sang a song and was filmed. I was so afraid Aussie was going to mess up and start crying. I did warn Cori ahead of time that he started a new medicine and that it was causing him to be emotional. I would like to say they did a good job, but they all messed up. It was OK though. Everybody gets in, this is just to help Cori figure out what their singing range is and to help her figure out parts for them.

Then we headed out to the first Skylander tournament. It was held at one of Greg's workmate's house.

This is a video game that is SUPER popular right now that LOTS and LOTS of people got for Christmas including us. The concept is really cool. You buy these little statue figures (see above picture) and you train them. Then you battle with each other. The ones pictured above were prizes for the competition.

Ashley wasn't the only girl but she was the only girl playing. Here she is in battle mode. I'll tell you what she held her own and came in 3rd place.

Two kids play at a time. They each pick one of their characters to battle with someone else's character.

The kids really got into it. There was some really fierce competition and some of the battles were so close we didn't know who won until it told us.

Here is Mason in battle mode. He came to the tournament thinking he was going to be the winner.

And he was doing pretty doggone good because he came in 2nd place.

As much as I really wanted my kids to win, I was embarrassed that they were in the lead. ALL of them in the lead. Then after we left it was brought to my attention that my kids were the oldest of the kids playing. That made me feel even worse. But something cool did happen.

The last game played was for the first and second prize winners. Which ta da da da....was Mason against Aussie. Aussie didn't think he had a chance. He was quite surprised when he won and even beat his brother.

Unfortunately his brother was a bit of a sore loser. He is hamming it up more for the picture though.

That means my kids got 1st, 2nd and 3rd place! Aussie got to choose his prize first, but here is where the cool thing happened. He said he wanted to pick last. So Mason picked the one he wanted. Ashley picked the one she wanted. And he let the 4th place winner pick what he wanted. THEN...he picked the one left that he thought the host's kid would like and gave it to him. It was really a sweet moment.

But the best part of the day for me was not that any of my kids won, but the hostess is a photographer. I showed her a flash that I bought on Clearance that attaches to my camera and asked her how to use it. I love it. So the last few pictures were taken with that on and I think it made a big difference. She also told me I can get a cord that can allow me to take it off and have a light source come from a different direction. I don't know how much that costs. I can't imagine it would be too much. So that is the next thing I want to get. The only thing I don't like about it when attached directly to the camera is that I need to make my pictures horizontal, when most of the time I make my pictures vertical. That's where that cord will come in handy!

Overall it was a pretty good day.

bedtime

2012-01-21T02:53:00.000-06:00

My children are about to drive me to drink that Dr. Pepper 10 in my refrigerator. Seriously, I have one emotional boy who is not typically emotional, one talkative boy who is not typically this talkative and one little girl who is not being nice to her siblings. She has a friend over and she seems to be much more witchy, I guess to impress her friend. But I am absolutely going insane!

OK SEVERAL hours later and a Xanax...

I'm tired. It's 2:36 AM and yes I should be in bed, but I am craving some me time. Greg was out much later than usual. And the kids stayed up until 1:00AM. Mason was still energetic. Aussie was tired and ready to go to sleep. And Ashley surprisingly didn't cry herself to sleep. When she gets too tired she starts to cry.

I still need to do the dishes and sweep the floor.

I know we should have done this several years ago, but last week I said it was time for the kids to bathe themselves. They have always taken showers on their own, but then we would shampoo their hair. Well I said they need to learn. So tonight all of them bathed on their own and it went well!

I'm excited about breakfast tomorrow. Well actually since it is nearly 3AM we may have to call it lunch. I found this recipe on Pinterest for a Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast cake. Mmmmmm! You can click on the recipe name and it will take you to the recipe.

Wowzers! I need to go to bed! Tomorrow we have a super busy day. I'll try to take pictures! OK I can take a hint, I nearly fell out of my chair falling asleep. Good night friends.

Tidbits

2012-01-18T17:38:00.000-06:00

I took the boys to the doctor today. I know some won't be as excited as I am, but the boys will start on an ADD medicine tomorrow. Whooo! Hoooo! I am expecting great things! I wonder how long it takes to get into the system.

Speaking of trying new things, I tried Dr. Pepper 10 today hoping for it to be wonderful and well it was disappointing! It just tastes like flat Dr. Pepper. Bleh!

I was tickled to find a good sale on the fabric softener I like. They are closing out that size which is the biggest size. So it was actually cheaper than the smallest size on sale. I got all they had which was only 4 of them.

The kids were with me and unfortunately they saw a good sale too. But the problem is I had already bought what they were wanting to buy themselves. So I gave them their Valentine's Day present early today. I got Mason and Ashley mini pillowpets. And I got Aussie an Angry Bird stuffed animal. I also picked up an extra Pillowpet for an upcoming birthday for a friend. Ooooh! Maybe I should get one for my nephew. I think I need to go back and get one.

Dinner tonight is supposed to be spaghetti, but I'm not feelin' it!

TN Blizzard- My Snowmen

2012-01-13T23:25:00.001-06:00

Well today didn't go as planned, but it was still a pretty good day.

We had a snow day. Which basically means we may have gotten an inch the night before but sure to melt by noon the next day and everyone in Tennessee goes insane and they shut down schools. Of course school ALWAYS gets closed on a Friday which happens to be the ONLY day my children attend a school other than homeschool.

Today I planned for crafts and cooking something new and fun. But instead we decided to play out in the snow. Here is my first snowgirl.

And since we had SO MUCH snow I decided to make two. Except the snowgirl had to have a little liposuction in order to make the snowman because there wasn't quite enough on the ground.

I had the kids work on cleaning their rooms. I don't know how much they actually got cleaned as I fell asleep.

Then when I came downstairs I looked at my phone which told me the kids had a church event to go to tonight that I promptly forgot about as soon as I put it into my phone.

Anyway, we had to leave the house immediately to make it on time.

We headed out. I'm so glad there is a GPS on my cell phone. It was FAR FAR away. It took us an hour and a half to get there in rush hour traffic.

Over halfway through the time my kids were playing I remembered that I brought my camera and it was in the car. So I went out to get it to capture just a little bit of what they were doing. Anyway it was at a place that had rock climbing, pool tables, an art room, huge climbing tree house,

and one of my kids favorite, along with several others, was the toddler area where there was a village in which they played restaurant.

I got one picture of each of my kids and well they are lacking in the photography area!

Aussie took my order. I just asked for a hamburger and french fries. And much to my surprise he delivered my order exactly in toy foods. I didn't even know what they had.

Ashley was at the grocery store.

Then Mason was at the cash register. I have no idea what Edie is doing in this picture but she, Mason and Ashley have become pretty good friends. They all enjoy playing with Pokemon. Ashley brought a bagful hoping that Edie would be there tonight.

And this is from a couple of days ago. Yes those are all HER Build A Bear animals! Does this picture remind you of ET at all?

Long day!

2012-01-12T19:40:00.002-06:00

It's been a very long day! I was correct about last night. Greg had fallen asleep in Ashley's bed and the boys were in my bed. I tried to sleep on the couch but did not sleep well at all. Greg woke me up in the 6AM hour because Ashley was hurting again and we needed some medication.

I was too tired to function this morning. So Greg took Ashley to the first doctor's appointment. Yet again the stone was gone when she got there. The dentist was double booked but managed to fit Ashley in at 2:00 today. They could tell there was something going on, but sent her to a specialist. We went to the endodontist next where they took more x-rays to determine whether she needed a root canal. Turns out it's ify. The x-rays show that the tooth is still growing yet possibly has an infection. So Ashley is now on an antibiotic and we will go back in 2 weeks to see what it looks like at that point. :We finally got home at 6:45 PM.

It began to snow today. The ground is actually covered lightly.

Right now I'm struggling with whether to take a short nap or not. I'm afraid if I do I'll be up half the night.

Pray for Ashley

2012-01-12T02:02:00.002-06:00

Just a quick post before I go to bed. Ashley is in a lot of pain. She is finally asleep now after having Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Benadryl and a warm compress on her cheek. Her cheek has been hurting now again for a few days. I assumed the stone in her salivary gland was back. I looked and can even see the white spot. But today it turned severe. I called the ENT and set up another appointment for tomorrow. The last time we went in it had disappeared even though I had seen it just the night before. It was not there. So I didn't call the pediatrician I just went directly to the ENT. I need to know what is causing this. Well tonight the location of the pain has changed. Now it seems as though the pain is surrounding a tooth. All this to say please pray. We need answers and we need to know how to fix this.

It's nearly 2AM and I've finished cleaning the Kitchen. I didn't plan a huge a school day since we will be out most of the day. I have a feeling when I go upstairs in the next few minutes that Greg will be asleep in Ashley's bed with her and the boys will be asleep in my bed. Everyone was awake at 1AM tonight because of how bad Ashley was hurting. I'm not sure what I will do. I can't move the boys on my own. I suppose I'll bring my CPAP downstairs if this is the case.

Today I made some yummy yummy white chocolate, cranberry scones. They were really easy to make and they turned out so well. For some reason I had it in my mind that they were hard to make. I would like to try to make some blueberry ones next.

I'm keeping my house clean. (Well downstairs) I haven't gotten to the upstairs yet. I feel like it is a full time job and quite frankly I don't like doing it.! I'm not sure how I can keep this up and continue to homeschool. Sometimes I feel as though it is one or the other. I am following this neat plan though. It tells me everything I need to do for the day. For example today: Change dishcloth/towel, Change hand towels in bathrooms, Dust children's rooms, clip children's nails, clean computer screen and mouse and spend time working on storage area. Those are the special things to do for today. There is a daily list as well. It's nice for someone else to break everything down into small sections. And I know that eventually everything will get clean. I do like the system. I just don't like doing the work. :(

Alright, I better go to bed. I need to get up early in the morning.

Ashley and Julie

2012-01-09T01:42:00.001-06:00

Wow! I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. So I'll make this quick.

Today Ashley wore the outfit I made for her to match her. doll. I got a BUNCH of compliments at church. I sure am proud!

When we came home Ashley wanted to make her Home Depot project. I'm surprised I didn't take an after picture. It is really adorable. I'll need to do that for my next post.

OK seriously nodding off now.

I was just crying over something I read in the Bible tonight. I was reading the story about Abraham taking his son to sacrifice him. That just disturbs me that God would even ask that of him. But what disturbs me even more is what if God asked me to do it. Could I? I think I would have to answer no. I don't think I could do it. This story has a happy ending where God stopped Abraham before killing Isaac. I just don't think I am that strong of a person. I would like to say yes I would do anything God asked me to do. But I just don't think I could possibly do it.

OK I'm certain I've fallen asleep 3x now writing this-so off to bed I go. Good night!

This is whats been going on this week.

2012-01-07T20:25:00.000-06:00

I really like having a clean downstairs. But I'm really getting tired of keeping it up. It's hard work. Staying up 'til 2 or 3AM every night is beginning to take its toll on me. I think tonight will be much earlier.

Today has been kind of a rough day from the start. When Ashley has something on her mind she will hound you forever. So my morning started off with her waking me up to tell me it was the first Saturday of the month and she wanted to go to Home Depot for the kids workshop. Of course the boys had no interest whatsoever to leave the house. I had planned to take Ashley to Build A Bear because they had a sale on these 2 animals when purchased together.

She had enough Christmas and Birthday money that she wanted to get them. Anyway, Aussie announced he needed to be home at 2:00 to play in some tournament online. So I decided we would leave right away and try and get back by 2:00. To get the boys out I promised McDonald's for lunch.

So instead of staying to work on the project we picked up the little kit at Home Depot. Ashley came inside with me and I asked for one kit and the lady gave me two. I looked at her funny. And she said don't you usually come with 2 kids? I was just surprised that she recognized us.

Then we headed out to Build A Bear. Since she knew what she wanted it didn't take long. She named the girl Skittle and the boy PJ.

Another thing that has had me busy this week is trying to find this little character- Skylander's Chop Chop.

This is an interesting game that Mason got for Christmas. You get this little platform with the game. You can purchase additional characters to put on this platform. You can put 2 characters on it and battle each other or team up to battle the computer. (I think) Anyway, ever since Christmas Aussie has been begging for this character and ALL the characters EVERYWHERE have been sold out. So for the past 2 weeks I have been seriously calling or going to at least 10 stores every single day to see if they got a shipment in. I knew Toys R Us was getting a shipment in yesterday. I called and they said they just put them out. I went and they had tons and tons of them- but no Chop Chop. So I had a very disappointed little boy yesterday.

So forward to today. We went to Build A Bear and I said Aussie since we are out this way do you want to try this Toys R Us? At first he said no because he really wanted to be back by 2:00 and he didn't think we had time. But it didn't take too long and we had a 1/2 hour to spare, so I suggested we quickly stop by on our way home. They had it!

I'm pretty tired of doing all the time for my kids. I think I need a little Mommy time. But I don't think I'll get it anytime soon.

I'm peering over my computer at the mess on the table and all I want to do is...uyy78iou. (That's my head hitting the computer.) I'm discouraged and physically drained.

The kids have been fighting tonight. One was sent to their room TWICE.

On a brighter note earlier this week I saw Izzy hop into this basket and then started chasing her tail. She is a hoot! She is so playful.

Some things I have been doing for myself is playing a few online games. I like to play Word With Friends,

which is just like Scrabble but a little better. I can guess at words and it will tell me if it is a word or not. If we played in person I probably wouldn't win. I also like playing with people I know on our own time scale. I am also enjoying Angry Birds on my phone.

I resisted for at least a year. But I'm having fun with it now! And I'm a bit addicted to it. I'm currently on level 13-15.

And guess what? The kids are fighting again. I think it is time for clean up, showers and bedtime.

Listening to the Bible

2012-01-03T10:57:00.000-06:00

I forgot to mention yesterday that one of my goals this year is to read the Bible all the way through. I would like to say that I will read and have quiet time everyday. But I know life happens and there will be some days that I don't. I just hope those few days don't become weeks or months. Anyway, I started reading yesterday. Since my Bible wasn't handy I just looked up the Bible online. That's when I noticed it had a listen button.

I pushed it and began to listen. Max McLean is the person who is reading, at least in the version I am listening to. I like reading the NIV. I am getting so tickled with how he reads it. He is really making it interesting and I'm picking up on things I have never picked up on before. I'm finding that I would like to listen to more than what is on my schedule.

On a different note, the dentist called me extremely early today because they had to reschedule. As hard as I tried to go back to sleep I couldn't and now I have a stinky headache.

After I blogged last night I stayed up even later (past 3AM) and worked on the Kitchen. The downstairs is looking pretty good. I still have to do those darn dishes, but it's getting there.

Tomorrow we start back to school- I suppose I need to prepare for that as well.

Hope you all have a good day!!!

All the Stockings Were Hung...NOT!

2012-01-03T01:53:00.000-06:00

All the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...NOT!

I think this is the first time ever I've gotten all of my Christmas stuff down in the first week of January.

And well...ahem...I thought it was high time to take down the snowman display that had been up for 395+ days. Yes, I'm not kidding. But now it is replaced with Build a Bears. I'm fine with them there at least they are off the floor.

I was HUGELY productive today!

Not only did I get the Christmas stuff put away, but I went through each of the Christmas boxes, cleaned them out and marked them in order of importance. So next year my box #1 will get in first. If I feel like more decorating I'll move on to #2 etc. I'm also tickled that I was able to take the Christmas tree down and keep the lights on them. I tried to wrap them around so I could do that this year. It was super easy peasy to take apart! Maybe I'll never have to worry about putting them on again! Let's all do the No burned out bulbs! No burned out bulbs dance.

I've been a cleaning machine today too! Boy I wish I felt like this everyday. I've got my last load of laundry running now. I've been keeping it going all day. Foyer, Family Room, Living Room and toilets are all cleaned as well. The Kitchen still has a lot of work. BUT...I'm looking at and working on a clean table. I'm running my 3rd load of dishes. Can you tell I hate to do them? I still have handwashing to do which is the worst! I won't be doing that tonight.

Tonight's dinner was delicious. However, I knew the kids wouldn't like it so I tried to make one thing each would like at least as a side dish. I made them taste everything on their plate. Ashley actually liked the spicy mesquite chicken. YAY! The boys not so much, but for them I made macaroni and cheese to compensate. You would have thought I was the meanest Mom in the world when I made Aussie taste the applesauce. He said that teensy eensy little taste ruined his whole appetite. He said he wished Dad was home. I told him if Dad was home he would still have to taste it. He asked is it going to be like this every night? I said, "YEP!"

Tomorrow I go to the dentist. Booooo! I broke my tooth about 3 weeks ago. We have been waiting until the new year to have enough money to fix it. Our FSA is fully funded again. I'm not looking forward to going, but I know I need to.

I know I've been blogging a lot lately. I'm sure that will die down soon. But I wanted to say that I am making it a goal this year to blog weekly. So if I have something to say or want to share something I will probably blog more, but I'm going to try to do it at least once a week.

I also have a goal of creating something once a month. I know just what I'm going to create next month. It's something for Valentine's Day and it is on my Pinterest board.

What's Pinterest? Where have you been? That's the latest and greatest thing since sliced bread. You can see my boards here... http://pinterest.com/chellegreene/

Whoa! I'm actually Prepared!

2012-01-02T00:35:00.000-06:00

Well I'm feeling pretty good right now. Menus have always been so daunting to me. But I created one for January, at least for dinners.

Lunches still stress me out. I can't believe my kids don't like sandwiches of any kind. I just found a printable calendar online and put in some easy meals that some of us like and I'm going with it.

I told Greg to give the boys a pep talk at cuddle time tonight. I am making ONE dinner-what is on the list. If they don't like it, they can eat a little bit of it and then fix themselves something else. But they have to make it and also have to clean up after themselves. Wish me luck!

So after I created the menu I went grocery shopping. Spent a kajillion dollars. I seriously need to get back to couponing. Anyway, I got lots of sandwich meat, croissants, sundried tomato wraps and Italian wraps. I made LOTS and I mean LOTS of sandwiches for Greg and myself. Some will go in the refrigerator and the rest will go into the freezer. Wow do I feel prepared to begin this crazy January!

Greg starts his rehearsals for Pacific Overtures tomorrow. He will be out the whole month. He will still be in town, but I'll be pretty much handling everything around here on my own. I know that both of us could use your prayers.

Happy New Year!!!

2012-01-01T01:43:00.001-06:00

Clink! Clink! Happy New Year!!

I let the kids stay up to ring in the New Year. Not everyone likes sparkling grape juice so we have one milk and one water represented.

Not a very good picture of Aussie, but the only one I got.

And this is how we started the New Year... with a batch of Nana's recipe chocolate chip cookies and a few without chocolate chips for Ashley.

WooooHooo!!!! Celebrate the New Year!

An excited boy with his tired dad.

Mason was tired but very hyper!

Ashley's dolls took a nap earlier on in the day so they could stay up too.

Here's to new beginnings! Hope this year is better than last.

American Girl Hospital

2012-01-01T01:34:00.000-06:00

Well Ashley's first American Girl doll Samantha's leg was about to fall off. So we decided to send her to the American Girl Hospital. We packed her up and tried to mail her on Monday, but realized that the postal services were closed that day for Christmas. All day Tuesday I meant to mail it and finally remembered to on our way to Chick Fil A. It was pretty late in the day but I was happy to see the UPS store was open.

I was SUPER surprised when I checked my bank account the next day and the charge had already been taken out. Thankfully, I didn't bounce any checks. It certainly came close. The website said to allow 2 to 3 weeks for your doll to be returned. But guess what she was on our doorstep today. That was mighty fast!

When the doll comes back fixed she is sent in a hospital gown with an id bracelet.

They also clean up her skin and fix her hair. Ashley wants you to see the back of Samantha's hair.

I've got one very tickled girl to have her doll back!

Crafty Mode

2012-01-01T01:25:00.001-06:00

I have been in a crafty mood! I've posted these to Facebook but thought i would also blog about them really quick. The crafty mood came right before Christmas. And I showed you the things I made for Christmas (the Pokemon animals and cat toys). But the crafting didn't stop there. I got a gorgeous hat for Christmas, so I decided to make a scarf to match.

The I made this cute little bag the next day.

Then I thought I would attempt to make mittens. I was going over to a friend's house and that seemed like a craft project I could take with me. I found online instructions and began. My friend Doris was telling me all along that it was going to be too big, but I said I had to follow the directions and then I would adapt when I make them for real. Well this little mitten took SO long and it was the size of an Amazon woman that I decided I wasn't going to make another one. But what was I going to do with this one? I ended up taking the thumb off and Ashley wants them as socks. I have yet to make another one but I probably will make this week.

Next project was requested by Ashley. She drew a picture of a dress she wanted for her doll. She brought me the fabric from all the fabric remnants that I have and I got right to work. I do like how this turned out.

Then I got really ambitious! I decided to make the outfit that Ashley's doll Julie came in for Ashley. I really like how they turned out. I have a friend who is going to crochet the hat and I need to find the shirt that goes underneath. I found a short sleeve one that was actually the same fabric at TJMaxx, but it really needs to be a long sleeve shirt.

Yesterday I put on Facebook that I was going to miss all this crafting once school started back again. But I'll tell you what- Today I was pooped. I was ready to lay down all my crafting and somewhat relax.

Christmas Morning

2011-12-25T15:35:00.001-06:00

Ahhhh...we made it to Christmas morning! I went to bed at 2:30AM. And the kids started waking us up around 5:00AM. We didn't get up until 6:30AM though.

Ashley is BEYOND excited about getting the American Girl doll Julie for Christmas!

I would say that the kids are SUPER happy with what they got! And it has been a very successful Christmas morning.

I got the hat I wanted! YAY! I LOVE IT! I even got it in green which is the color I really wanted!

Last night I teased a friend of mine on Facebook. She asked WHEN would her daughter go to sleep? I said, NEVER and then she would fall asleep in church in the morning. Well the jokes on me! My boys fell asleep in church this morning.

We had Christmas lunch at church. I'm so thankful some families stepped up to host it this year. I would really miss it if we hadn't had it. And of course we made our annual birthday present to Jesus. This year is is cupcakes.

I wanted to get some pictures of the kids. The lights were off in the auditorium. I did plug in the tree. I couldn't see what I was getting, but I was snapping pictures anyway.

Merry Christmas everyone!!! We feel very blessed this Christmas and we hope that you are blessed as well!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-25T15:15:00.000-06:00

It's Christmas Eve and that means my kids get to open their presents from their grandparents. We Skyped with both sets as they opened their presents.

Ashley got this tiger scarf/hat/mitten thing. I knew she would love it. Ashley LOVES tigers! But when it came it wasn't a tiger. It was a leopard. A very cute leopard, but um that's not what Gramma ordered. So the company told us to keep the leopard and they sent out the tiger right away. YAY! That's awesome customer service!

Aussie got a DSi game that he really wanted, Pict Cross 3D and this book "How to be a Genius".

In which he promptly handed over to his Dad and said, "Here catch up!"

Mason was SUPER excited to get this Nintendo Monopoly game! We played a game before bedtime.

They also got several giftcards and they are super excited about having some money for extra things.

Thank you so much Gramma, Grampa, Nana and Papa!!

And when the kids FINALLY went to bed...Santa came to visit.

Shhh...don't tell I borrowed the Santa picture. It's only for my use I'm not selling it or anything.

Friday, Dec. 23

2011-12-25T15:01:00.000-06:00

And Friday I insisted on taking some family pictures. It is like pulling teeth around here to get a good picture. I tried.

Friday- I also decided to create some of the kids favorite Pokemon into pillow animals. I worked nearly all day on them. And in the meantime my house that I have been desperately trying to get/keep clean went to pot. I have to admit I was pretty disappointed in that. It's the one thing I ask for Christmas every year and never get.

This is Liepard- the Pokemon Aussie likes.

This is Reuniclus- for Mason.

I don't know why Ashley's picture didn't load but here it is on the right. It's called Simipour.

And because I didn't have anything better to do-HA! I made cat toys. The cats kept coming around as I made them, but now that they are readily available they could care less about them. Ashley likes them though.

Thursday, Dec. 22

2011-12-25T14:52:00.002-06:00

Thursday Doris came over and we had a little gift exchange with the kids.

I found this towel and knew I had to get it for her son! He likes anything with teeth!

Before I gave it to him I got a little nervous because it wasn't a toy. But my fears were relieved when he started crawling across the floor.

Because I am SO MEAN! I made the kids pose for a picture before exchanging gifts. Are you kidding? I would never be able to get the picture without a little leverage.

I suspect there will be a follow up picture.

Not like my kids who were fighting it, G. loved every minute of it. Yeah- that's what we do to our guest when you come over. :)

It all worked out!

2011-12-15T02:16:00.001-06:00

Well several days ago I was FUMING MAD. Did you see the smoke and wonder where it was coming from? Well now you know.

You see the day before Thanksgiving I went to Sam's Club and purchased a computer. I saw an ad that was 24 months same as cash financing. That was the ONLY way I could afford this computer. When I checked out I asked the clerk, how do I get this 24 months same as cash deal? She said, "Oh you just put it on your Sam's credit card and you will get it." "Really?", I asked. " Oh yes that's all you have to do.", she said. I checked out. Halfway home I realized she didn't ask me if I wanted the extended warranty. Well with my track record with computers I definitely wanted it. So I returned. This time I was talking to the manager. Since I was hesitant about the financing deal I decided to ask her. Again the MANAGER assured me that all you had to do was put it on your card. OK so I purchased my warranty and was on my way. It just didn't set right with me. So several days later I get an email from Sams saying to take advantage of their 18 month financing. I looked at it closely and it said that the barcode had to be scanned.

So I called Sam's credit card company and asked if I got the 24 month same as cash deal.

GUESS WHAT?

I didn't! I asked them what I could do. The first person was no help at all. I said, "so you are saying if I can't pay for this computer this month that I should return it?" His answer was, "YES". Can you believe it? I've already purchased Microsoft Office and put Photoshop on here and transferred hundreds of pictures. I asked to talk to his supervisor. She was nicer and offered the solution of me getting the 18 month same as cash, but in order to do that I would need to return the computer and purchase it again.

I cried!

I can afford $40/month but this brought it up to $65/month. That $15 makes a big difference when you are already on a tight budget.

I couldn't do anything about it for several days- I was just too angry!

Fast forward to today. I decided to get the 18 month financing so I went in to the store, but first I tried to make one more plea to the manager there. I told her how I was angry with 2 of her employees and told her the story. She apologized up and down and told me she would hold a meeting to make sure everyone knew the proper procedure. She said that if the credit card company wouldn't budge then there would be no way she could get the 24 month deal. She did say we could do the 18 month deal and she helped me return it and repurchase it. Actually, several things happened and it was not a smooth transaction but it all worked out.

Turns out the computer was on sale today for $150 less than I paid for it. And I was able to return it at the old price and get the new price.

I did the math.

Turns out it will be $40/month for the 18 month financing.

Oh dear- Greg told me I should go to bed before it got too late and now it's TOO LATE. The internet has been down and I was just able to get on. I better go to bed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-27T00:06:00.001-06:00

I wasn't going to do anything special for today. I always get a little depressed without family around on Thanksgiving. But last minute Wednesday night, I went to Walmart and got some food.

With a little ham, mashed potatoes, corn pudding, green beans, corn bread AND...

German chocolate pie we celebrated Thanksgiving.

The kids told us what they were thankful for.

Aussie went first: 1. Family members and future family members

2. Food 3. Everybody that was born

Mason next:

1. Mom, Dad and Family 2. Jesus, God and Holy Spirit 3. Food 4. Kiki, Izzy, Tika, Sally

Then Ashley (much to her dismay being last):

1. Family 2. A pretty Mommy 3. Christmas tree and decorations 4. God 5. Every holiday

She BEGGED and BEGGED and BEGGED some more for Greg to get the Christmas trees out of the garage. So he did and I put one of them up in the family room. The kids decorated it and I have yet to take a picture. There are NO ornaments at the top of the tree because they couldn't reach up there.

Mason plays this game with Greg. He calls it the imitator. And it freaks Greg out!

At 7:00 I headed out to go shopping. My night started with a big bang- literally. I rear ended a person. I'm not even sure what happened. I thought they were moving and when I realized they weren't I put on the breaks and slid into her. I barely hit it. She was a drama queen! I scuffed up her bumper. I'm pretty sure it wasn't anything more than that. But she was saying OH THIS is gonna have to be fixed. Do you have your insurance on you. Oh this is terrible. Blah blah blah! We exchanged phone numbers and I told her I would call her the next day. But Greg said to wait until she calls me. No call so far. Hopefully, she won't call.

Anyway, it put a damper on the rest of the night. I couldn't find what I was looking for at Walmart. I'm pretty sure I asked every single employee, manager, etc. there. I finally found one person who knew where the item was. He got it and put it behind the desk. Then at 10:00PM when the sale started, he pulled it out and handed it to me. Then I rushed to Target to stand in line until they opened at midnight. I met one of my friend's there so it was nice hanging out in line with someone I knew. I was able to get everything I wanted there as well. Then I came home and couldn't fall asleep until 4:30AM.

Needless to say Friday was a blur!

Ashley had a playdate. I took her to Abby's house. Then I went to Target because I thought I got charged wrong. Turns out what I bought was in the wrong spot, but they honored the sale since others were there. Then I got some batteries at Staples and some toilet paper at Walgreens. After I picked up Ashley at 9PM. Greg and I watched a movie. It was ok. I think it was called Super 8.

Oh one of the evenings that I took the kids to play practice, I sat in the car and watched a movie. I watched Captain America. I really liked it. That would be one I would recommend, Super 8- not so much.

Then on to today.

Today was full of getting my computer set up the way I want it. It was quite frustrating. After doing a lot of work I messed it up. But I think I have Outlook the way I want it now. I had to do some research online to figure out how to combine my emails and to import contacts and such. But I did it! ON MY OWN!

I've transferred all of my pictures over to this computer and a few of my important documents. I still need to find the disk that has my recipe program. I'm not sure where that is, but I certainly need it! I have a lot of recipes in that program on my old computer.

The kids have had too much unstructured time and they are getting on each others nerves. Ashley has another playdate scheduled for Monday, but hopefully we can get some schooling in before she goes to her friend's house.

Alright, Greg is telling me it is late and we need to get up and go to church in the morning. So I'm off for now.

More Catchin' up- with a new laptop

2011-11-26T23:45:00.001-06:00

Seriously? Nearly a week without blogging?
I wonder if I can even remember what happened.

Monday- Ashley had a friend over, Eve. They played so well together. Eve is a delight. I know Mason got upset because Ashley wouldn't play with him. But she really needed the girl time. That evening they had play practice.

Tuesday- I think I spent most of the day planning where I was going to go on Black Friday. Then all of my plans changed in an instant when I found a sale on something. It used to be so nice to be able to say anything on my blog and Facebook, but now I have readers who read my blog and look over my shoulder. So I can't tell what I got. My laptop continued to get worse. It kept shutting down on me. When the kids came back from play practice they found that the screen on THEIR laptop is now broken. I have the worst luck with computers!

Wednesday- I remember this day well! I got up early and went to Sam's Club. Sam's Club has a deal right now that on one item over a certain amount you can get 24 months same as cash financing. SO...
I bought this. Merry Christmas to me!

One of my favorite things about this that I didn't know it had when I purchased it, is the fingerprint login. It scans your fingerprint to log you in. How cool is that? Of course you can login with a password if you need to. Anyway, I like it. I really do. However, with every new thing there is a bit of a learning curve. I'm not used to Microsoft Office 2010. It is quite a bit different. So I've been slowly learning.

Also on Wednesday, my friend Doris and her son came over to visit. I played a bit on my computer and then scrapbook. I made hamburgers and french fries for lunch. And for dinner I made chicken salad croissants. And for the kids I made Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. Man there is nothing like it! I still love it after all these years.

The kids mainly played video games all day. They played some hide and go seek, Legos and I think created a craft, and jumped on the trampoline.

Doris' son is super friendly, but he can't remember names for anything. He has called my kids the triplets forever. But today he was calling for Austin upstairs. I said, Austin is in the family room. He said, "No, the other one." Doris and I get a kick out of it.

Id-10T

2011-11-21T01:57:00.001-06:00

Hallelujah!

I had a friend give me LOTS of hand me down clothes for my kids. 14 pairs of pants that will fit Aussie! I am so tickled. I don't know why, actually I probably do know why, Ashley and I always sit at the bottom of the stairs and go through each piece of clothing when clothes are given to us. We get tickled by everything we pull out of a bag. The boys like to have clothes that fit, but they could care less about looking at them beforehand. Anyway, we probably sit at the bottom of the stairs because that is the first place we set the clothes down when we come in the front door. Tonight when the boys helped bring in the bags they took them to the kitchen. But Ashley put her bags at the bottom of the stairs.

This is only a small pile of what we got. These are the clothes that can be worn now. There's a load in the washer that tea got spilled on it. And we have 3 more piles: Clothes for Ashley to wear in Summer/Spring, Spring Clothes for the boys and then a little pile of things that won't fit and we will pass on to someone else. We also got a pair of black shoes for the boys.

I give credit to God. He knew we couldn't afford to buy a whole new wardrobe. And he provided!

YAY!

My computer! I'm sure you all know what symbols mean when put together like this: $#@*$! My computer gave me so much trouble today.

But it turns out to be an Id-10T or a PICNIC. I literally spent at least 2 hours trying to fix this stupid thing. I turned it off 4 times and turned it back on. When I finally saw a bunch of 000000000000000's going across any typing error, I nearly popped the 0 keys off of my computer to try to get them to stop. Then I realized that I had an Id-10T error. (Ahem...idiot error) or a PICNIC error (Problem in chair not in computer error). See even though I am typing now from my laptop, I also have an exterior cordless keyboard attached. And something was on top of the THAT keyboard pressing down the 0 button. Duh! Well at least I know what the problem is now. I am hoping to get me a laptop for Christmas. I need one this computer has been such a lemon!

Well thank you Steve and Gayle for sending me the picture of Greg to compare with Mason. Even though it is the picture that I wanted, it's not really what I thought I remembered. In actuality when I looked at it again I figured out who it actually is that he looks like here. It is my brother John. There is a specific picture in my head but I could never no where to find it. And it is only this picture that reminds me of him. I don't really think he looks like him otherwise. Oh well. Here are the pictures I originally wanted to compare:

Wow I can barely think any longer. I'm exhausted. Ashley is having a friend over tomorrow. I plan to clean and plan my plan of attack for shopping on Black Friday.

Goodnight!

Scrapbooking

2011-11-20T14:53:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was a great day for me! I had so much fun scrapbooking with Doris. We don't get to do this often enough, but when we do it is so much fun.

I was tickled the other day I saw some scrapbooking supplies on clearance at Kroger. I got that tape runner for $1.00 and 2 packs of 8x8 paper for a quarter each.

One thing I never count on but always seems to happen is when I scrapbook with Doris I get her leftovers or products that she has duplicates of. And her leftovers are AWESOME! With all of the mess there you can hardly see it, but there is a stack of 12x12 patterned paper there that she gave me. And I always make it a challenge to use it as she gives it to me. It's loads of fun.

When we get together, we are always armed with diet Coke or Coke for her. And I bring my popcorn maker and popcorn. Yesterday when I walked in the door. Her son didn't even say hello. He said, "Did you bring it?" It cracked me up.

I am so thankful for Doris and that she will scrapbook with me!

Hard day but a cute plate!

2011-11-18T21:54:00.001-06:00

I LOVE how my plate turned out!

It's been kind of a hard day today.

My daughter has a hard time making friends. She only has

one or two friends at a time and they are moving in different directions-not physically, but just making more friends. Which in itself is fine, except that Ashley is left behind and that breaks my heart for her.

We got word back from the company Greg has been interviewing with and the outlook is not so good. There is a slim possibility it can turn around, but I'm not going to hold my breath. You know a few weeks ago I had a sense of peace, knowing that he may not get the job. But more and more things happened where it was really looking like he might actually get it. Then I started to plan in my head all the different things that could take place if he got the job and I worked myself up. And now I'm disappointed.

It's hard to be thankful about anything when you are kind of depressed. But here goes:

First, I am seriously thankful my plate turned out so well. I was nervous and excited. It was like opening a present when I went to pick it up this morning.

Second, I am thankful God is taking care of us. We have a wonderful house to live in, food on the table, clothes to wear (well up until today) and we have toys and pets and more than we need.

I guess I should explain the clothes thing. This morning I posted this on Facebook:

What's that noise? Oh it's just my head pounding against the door. Aussie was in size 8 for

literally 1 week, size 10 for 4 1/2 months, pants are way too tight today. I think a friend of

mine gave me a couple size 12's. I guess I'll have to get them down out of the closet.

Meanwhile Mason would still be in a size 7 if they weren't too short.

Then what I didn't post, merely 5 minutes after I wrote that, Mason couldn't fit into his

shoes. !Ay Caramba!

pictures galore

2011-11-18T00:17:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I was all I am WOMAN hear me ROAR! Today...well ...meow.

Yah yesterday remember how I said how is it some days are so productive and others are not? That latter would be my day today. You know those 2 pages of Math I wanted my kids to do yesterday? Well that would be the ONLY school work we got done today. Granted today we had to be somewhere at noon.

Today was another picture day for our co-op yearbook. It has been insane! We have had to cancel 3 days because of rain. But today was a pretty day, thank goodness, and we had a lot of business. Today was my day to be there to check people in. After everyone who was signed up today came, I went out and took some pictures with my camera. Enjoy!

Ashley took this picture of me.

Aussie is happy that he got to choose his clothes today.

Mason is cold!

Ashley is a good sport but cold too!

Alright it seems too much trouble to put these in some type of order so I'll just leave them as they are.

Even though Aussie is looking down I like this picture. It shows his natural character as being distracted constantly!

All of them LOVE the jackets Nana & Papa gave them for Christmas from the store Under Armur where Aunt Kristen works! They look pretty sharp in them as well!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture of Mason! It is SO hard to get a real smile out of him for pictures. It is NOT hard to make him smile, but for some reason he gives weird fake smiles for pictures.

And he had to pose in the trough.

I don't even think they look anything alike. Do you? I can't even see a family resemblance between the 2 brothers. Aussie looks more like my side of the family and Mason looks more like Greg's family.

This picture of Mason reminds me SO much Greg when he was younger. This is the first time I have really seen Greg in one of our kids! I would like to get that picture of Greg when he was a toy soldier when he was younger and compare them side by side.

Goofball! It's a little hard to tell in these pictures, but Mason was so cold his nose turned red. I started calling him Rudolph.

The kids were really freaked out by this scarecrow. None of them would get close to it nor get their picture taken with it. I love the background.

And this last picture tells it like it is. Yah, hurry up Mom. I'm cold. This is boring. Get it over with, etc.

I am so very thankful it didn't rain today! After 3 days of cancellations we needed a good day for pictures. I'm also really thankful for my Canon Rebel. I love it! I still need to learn a lot more, but I'm having fun with it!

Goodnight! I can't believe it's nearly 1AM. Friday is a super busy day!

Yes! It's more about Socks- Get over it!

2011-11-17T23:51:00.001-06:00

There will be 2 posts tonight. Yes, more about socks. I can't help it, this is a big deal to me!

This is my sock basket...after folding at least 30 pairs of socks.

First I separate them by colors (darks, whites, tans and other) As you can see in the picture below the 'others' get folded pretty quickly as they are easy to match. The tans just happened to be what I folded last.

I ended up folding 96 pairs of socks. Check out the picture below:

There are 23 different styles of black socks and 27 different styles of white socks. REALLY?

Then there were 46 socks that didn't have a match! Seriously 46? Who has 46 different socks that don't match? Apparently I do because I counted them.

Anyway, I decided to donate several of my matched up white socks.

My Mom made a comment yesterday to put a colored dot on the bottom of the socks. Well I did that with my white socks, but the black mark has faded so much that it is no longer seen. It was on there with a Sharpie, should I have used something else. But my question to you is how do you mark the dark socks? Hmmmm....maybe nail polish.

OK off the sock subject and onto something much more exciting. Look what I got yesterday.

If you think we could never eat this much popcorn in a year, you would be mistaken. This 25 pound bag of unpopped popcorn will last us maybe 6 months. It usually goes faster in the Summer because my dear friend Doris and her son beg me to bring it to their house each and every time we come over. And because of school schedules and such we mainly only see each other during the Summer. But I am excited I will get to scrap with her on Saturday. YAY. And yes I'll be bringing a jar full of popcorn with me.

She tells me I have the best popcorn and she would be right. I don't know why but this organic popcorn is awesome!

Now get ready for a post full of beautiful pictures of my kids. That's coming up next.

By the way I also changed a light bulb yesterday that had been burned out for a LONG time. This was no easy feat that's for sure! When I tried to get the glass cover off I ended up pulling the entire fixture down out of the ceiling including the asbestos or insulation. Thankfully I was able to get it all back up into the ceiling. But I am WOMAN hear me ROAR!

Socks-I'm thankful for them! (I think)

2011-11-16T22:40:00.001-06:00

Do you hate to fold socks?

I do! Especially white ones!

What makes it worse is that I wait until no one has any socks left in their drawers and for a few days/weeks we pull from the basket and then I will finally go to fold them. Then I have a big basket just full of socks. I have a little secret. I've been known to just go buy some more so I don't have to fold them. Now that the boys are a little older, and wearing practically the same size sock as Greg and me, I feel like I should just throw/donate all of these socks and get new ones that are all the same. Oh it drives me insane- this one has gray botttoms, this one has green Hanes, these are plain white but the tops are different, these are ankle socks, etc. If they were all the same I wouldn't have that problem. I'm tempted. I am so very tempted!

As much I hate to fold socks, I am thankful for them. I just wish that I can get my sons to wear them all the time. Holy Smokes! I haven't smelled anything so bad in my life as an active boy's feet after a long day of sweating in their tennis shoes without socks.

I've had a very productive day. I wonder what makes some days so productive and other days not so much? Today, I've done all the laundry at least 4 loads, folded all but the socks and got it all put away (Thanks Greg and kids). I also am just about ready to run my 3rd load of dishes. I made a pretty darn good dinner- Chicken Parmesan. And I got the important things done for school. I wish I had made them finish their Math, but I was quite busy cleaning. I ran an errand to Green Hills and went to the grocery store. Ran to a couple more stores and showered the kids. Oh and I also got all the Spring/Summer boys clothes folded and put away. All in all- a pretty successful day. And now I best be getting back to the folding the dreaded socks.

But first a picture from yesterday, my daughter still celebrating my birthday.

Catchin' up 14th & 15th

2011-11-16T00:49:00.001-06:00

I'm behind! Ugh!- Sorry no pictures.

November 14- We didn't do school. We could have, but I decided to take the day off.

Aussie has been working hard on his blog. He wants to delete all the posts that I made him do for school. Bah humbug! He cracks me up, he told me he is now following my blog. I guess I better watch what I say. He also said, that Gramma is only following Mason's blog and not his or Ashley's. So Gramma you might want to do something about that.

Yesterday, I got to sit in and watch the kids practice for A Miracle on 24th Street. It is coming along nicely and everyone is doing a great job. Ashley is a little upset that she doesn't have much to do in the play. But they needed boys and Ashley just got to be in it. All of these musicals are really getting me wanting to try out for something myself. I've never really been in a play, but I think I would enjoy it. Especially if it was a musical. Maybe the next time auditions are held for some musical I'll audition. One that would have children in it as well so all of us could go together.

Today, I am thankful that I can be flexible with homeschooling. Even though it is not my favorite thing to do, it still has quite a few perks. Plus, this year is going so much better. The kids are more independent and can actually do several things by themselves.

November 15- Today was a pretty good day. We did do school. Ashley must have been under the weather today, because she was really difficult today, but we still seemed to get quite a bit done.

I just thought wow I'm kinda tired and I looked at the time and see that it is 1AM. I suppose I should go to bed. I am downstairs and Greg is rocking the house with his snoring. I think he has a mild case of sleep apnea, but he refuses to believe it.

I got a GORGEOUS birthday card from my Mom today. I need to work it into my November Daily book somehow.

I put on Facebook that if anyone liked Christmas decorating and would want to help me let me know. I got 2 people saying they would like to help. I'm stoked! I'm always the one to do EVERYTHING at Christmas time around here. It should be a lot more fun having a friend or two to help out.

Today I am thankful for Ghiradelli chocolate chips. Mmmmmm! OK that had nothing do with today, so here's one that can somewhat relate. I am thankful for MY CPAP machine. It helps me get a good night's sleep. I sure wish the person who sleeps next to me would get one, then I would get an even better night's sleep!

Celebrating 39! (again)

2011-11-13T20:34:00.001-06:00

Today was Harvest Sunday at church. It is one of my favorite Sundays. Our church collects over 650 bags of groceries packed with specific foods that make up a Thanksgiving dinner. Our family brought 5 bags, one for each person to carry to the the front. These bags are then distributed out to those in need.

After church, my in-laws took me out to eat to one of my favorite restaurants, Logans for my birthday.

Mmmmmm.....I got a delicious Filet Mignon!

Ashley made me a sign that said, Happy Mommy Day!

Leftovers!

The kids

had play practice today and then Greg took them to Lipscomb Middle school open house. Ashley and Mason are excited about the fact that they may be going there next year. Aussie is not happy about it at all. He wants to be able to pick his own classes. I didn't get to go with them because I was absolutely exhausted and had to take a nap. After the play last night I came home cuddled with the kids and then went out to get groceries for Harvest Sunday. On my way out Greg called and said some of them were going out to eat. So I joined them. Well I still needed to get groceries so I went to the store at 1:15AM. I got home a little after 2AM. Since my in-laws are in town and are sleeping on the couch bed in the living room I was trying to be super quiet. But wouldn't you know I accidentally pressed the car alarm button. In the morning they said they didn't even hear it. Greg did though from upstairs. Needless to say, I didn't get very much sleep last night.

After dinner we celebrated with an ice cream birthday cake. Mason wrote Happy on this one and Ashley wrote Mommy on another one.

Delicious!

Today I am thankful for having good in-laws.

The Big Day- MYTH reading

2011-11-13T20:13:00.001-06:00

So Saturday was THE BIG DAY!

Greg had his first public reading of his original musical- Myth.

What that basically means is that instead of it being a full production of the play it is read from scripts. The cast had 6 days to prepare. The story is completely written, the lyrics to the songs are completely written, but the songs themselves are only about half done.

This is Greg and Wes Driver (his writing partner) and Michael Slayton their music composer.

I took lots of pictures. Here are just a few:

There were 29 actors and they doubled up on some parts.

Ben Van Diepen played the Greek god, Apollo and he was AMAZING! Jamie Farmer played Tressa and she was pretty good too.

Joanna Hackman played Acacia and Rick Seay played the Greek god, Zeus.

Ross Bolen and Mike Baum played brothers Kakisto and Kallisto

Brad Forrister played Oinophilus.

Caleb Pritchett played Neomoros the ignorant fool.

Wesley Payne played the goddess Hera.

Patrick Kramer played the Greek god, Hermes.

The reading was very successful. From what I could tell most/if not all people could follow along.

The music was fabulous! Ben had his songs memorized and he performed them beautifully.

I think I already said that I am thankful for my husband, so this time I will say I am thankful for his creative talent. This musical is amazing and I hope someone out there will fund it!

2011-11-12T14:16:00.001-06:00

Today was my birthday.

I was a little bummed at first. Greg had rehearsal. I had plans to go out with some girls but they cancelled. The Greene's offered for me to go out with them. They were taking the kids to see Puss and Boots and going to Chick Fil A. But I just didn't want to celebrate my birthday that way.

So I went out by myself.

On the way out I called a friend who has moved away to tell her I was feeling kind of sorry for myself. She made my night! She texted me something that can't be repeated here. I laughed so hard I was almost crying. But I did a 180o turn around, and the rest of the night was tons of fun.

I treated myself to Rafferty's. I got a french dip sandwich which was pretty yummy.

Then I went to Brushfire and painted a plate. If you have never painted pottery it's a little weird. First of all it is fun! I love it. But it's also just a little nerve wracking. When you paint the colors are very flat and you are never quite sure what it will really look like after it gets glazed and out of the kiln.

Here is what I painted. I think it will look nice. I only wish now that I would have painted the string to Santa's bag brown instead of black. Looking at this photo it sticks out like a sore thumb to me.

Now it is the waiting game. I pick it up next Friday. and I'll make sure to take a picture so you can see the finished product.

After painting, I then treated myself to The Cheesecake Factory. I got a piece of chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Mmmmm! It was divine!

Today I am very thankful for my dear friend Dana, who can make me laugh even from miles away!

Nana and Papa are here

2011-11-10T19:52:00.001-06:00

Nana and Papa made it here safely. They brought Meggie with them. Izzy is scared of her, but she keeps getting closer and closer and she has swatted her paw a couple of times.

Nana and Papa brought Christmas presents. Aunt Kristen works at the Under Armour so they bought each of the kids a hoodie jacket. Ashley LOVES it and put it right on.

While we were at the Sam Davis home today, one of Ashley's friends came to get her picture taken and they both put one of the bonnets on from the gift shop..

I am thankful for cars and paved highways. Without them we would still be riding horses or in buggys. A trip from Florida here certainly would take much longer than a day.

Oops I for today's gratitude entry

2011-11-09T16:46:00.001-06:00

Today I am thankful for the Internet including blogs and Facebook and smart phones. It's tough when family lives so far away, but it is really nice that we can share pictures and talk to people within minutes. It's so much easier to stay in touch these days! And I love Facebook where you feel like you really get to know people better.

What a day! :(

2011-11-09T15:23:00.003-06:00

Wow! Just Wow!

That pretty much sums up my day so far. I've been "taught" when you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all. But um...I live under the policy, if you don't have anything nice to say come sit next to me. :)

Today has been rough with a roller coaster of emotions. We had family pictures taken today (in the rain). I certainly hope they are better than what I got today.

I do think this picture of Ashley taking a picture with my big camera is cute. She is quite the little photographer.

By the time we got to the place to get our pictures taken both Ashley and my hair was frizzy because of the weather.

Aussie was not happy with what I chose for him to wear. He wanted to know why he couldn't pick it out. I told him he picks out his clothes every other day and I get to choose on picture day. He would be in black from head to toe if he picked it out himself.

I'm pretty much drained, but I have a ton of things to do today. See you tomorrow.

2011-11-09T00:25:00.000-06:00

Today has been an extremely busy day. And even though it was busy I really don't have much to say. Today has been filled with school, running errands, cleaning, taking the boys to play practice and calling people to remind them they have their yearbook pictures taken tomorrow.

This is not my cat. This is the stray cat that hangs out at the theater. He/She is extremely friendly as you can tell. It jumped up in my lap as I was sitting down waiting for play practice to start. All the kids love it. NO I'm not bringing him home! NO NO NO I refuse.

Tomorrow we are supposed to be getting yearbook pictures taken and yet again it is supposed to rain in the morning. And even though I don't like the idea of having to reschedule ANOTHER day and getting everyone to sign up, I'm secretly wishing our time slot is cancelled. I just have too much to do to take out that much time in the day to get pictures.

My in-laws are coming on Thursday. They will be here for the reading of Greg's BIG musical on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to hearing what people think of this show. I really like it and I sure hope a lot more people like it too. I'm really proud of Greg and Wes and Mike (for the music). It has changed A LOT since Greg first had the idea, but this is the first story he told me when we were dating. So this idea and script writing has been around for a very long time. Pray that it goes well .

I am thankful for my very talented husband.

2011-11-07T20:52:00.002-06:00

Busy, busy, busy! That would explain our life right now. I have felt tired all day. I can't believe that one little hour change can mess me up so much!

I took Izzy to the vet today to get fixed. I couldn't help my eyes filling up with tears as I dropped her off. I had to explain why. I was scared. I had to regain my composure before walking in the door so the kids wouldn't see me upset and ask why. I didn't want them to worry, so I didn't tell them. The doctor called from the vet around 11:00 to tell me Izzy was doing well. She said that we could probably come pick her up today and to call at 3:00. So we did. We picked her up. They shaved her tummy so she looks a little funny. She seemed mad at me for bringing her. They told me that each cat is different and it could take a few hours or a week for the cat to feel back to normal. When we got home she ate a little food and then she was as spunky as ever. Trying to get her to slow down and not play is impossible.

Tonight the boys had play practice and Ashley did not. That ruined my plans of going home and watching a movie. What to do with a little girl with little money? Well I took her to Sonic to get a cherry slush. I let her sit up in the front seat while we were there and she felt like she was in heaven.

She dreamed about Photoshopping this picture to look like it was day and we were driving. She wanted to tease Daddy that she was sitting up front without a carseat or a seat belt on.

The boys didn't have to be a play practice for very long tonight so after Sonic we just hung out at the theater. Ashley had to go to the bathroom really bad, but the women's restroom was closed and blocked off. So we decided to let her go in the Men's room.

No one was in there, but she came out and said none of the doors locked. I walked down to the girl's bathroom to see if there was a note on the door telling us of another restroom in the building, but it did not. So I said, "Come on Ashley, I will stand outside and not let anyone in." In that short amount of time someone went in there. And she would not go.

So on the way home as she is rocking and whining, she said, "Mom I really have to go I don't think I can make it until we get home." OK I said, we will stop at the next gas station.

Wouldn't you know it-BOTH bathrooms were out of order!

Thankfully she made it home!

I am so thankful for indoor plumbing!

And I am really thankful that Izzy is doing well and is at home.

Saved by the Cat

2011-11-06T21:23:00.000-06:00

You may have noticed that this is titled Saved by the Cat. That would be because up until an hour ago the best picture I got today was of Greg's toe. He thinks he may have broken his little toe getting out of the shower this morning. It looks terrible! It is all swollen and purple.

Then for the gratitude journal I was going to write: I am thankful it is not MY toe! Of course I would have written JUST KIDDING really big beside it.

But you are in luck because something much cuter happened that was picture worthy.

My little Izzy cat is like a puppy. She runs from one room to the next so fast. She climbs the backs of chairs that we started calling her an acrocat! At night when the kids go to bed that is when she becomes lovey. She will let you hold her and pet her. If you try during the day she wants to get down and play. We have to put her up at night because she likes to pounce on us in the early morning hours. And if you moved in your bed, you would be sure that she would attack your toes. But she also likes to play fetch. Many times I see her bring stuffed animals from upstairs downstairs. Many times they are twice her size.

Today she is bringing this Build-A-Bear cat down the steps and I caught her in action.

I am thankful for our furry friends. They are certain to bring us a smile.

Please pray for Izzy tomorrow. We are taking her in to get fixed and to get her shots. Pray for us too. I haven't told the kids yet. See the last time we took a kitten in to get fixed she died there. I am nervous! We are obviously taking her somewhere else. She will need to stay overnight.

On a brighter note- I loved the songs we sang in church today. At the end of service we sang my very favorite church song, This is how we Overcome. In the chorus it says, You've turned my mourning into dancing, you've turned my sorrow into joy. I picture Greg and myself dancing in the mornings (& evenings) with our triplets when they were babies. I so desperately wanted kids and God answered my prayer right down to the little detail of having a girl first.

I am so thankful God gave me my heart's desire!

Saturday Fun

2011-11-05T16:02:00.002-05:00

It's the first Saturday of the month and that means a new project at Home Depot. When I remember I take Ashley and Mason there, while Aussie is at Chinese class.
Today they were making picture frames.

Then we went to pick up Aussie. I thought this tree was pretty outside of his school.

Aussie was in a Chinese Art class. Everyone had different characters to draw. He was given the word, six.

Oh I forgot to do the gratitude part of Thursday and Friday.

Thursdays: I am thankful that Pizza Hut has a reading program that allows kids to earn a free individual pizza a month and I'm thankful they allow homeschoolers to participate.

Friday: I'm thankful that I don't have to teach Science at home!

Saturday: I'm thankful for FREE Home Depot projects. I'm thankful that we got Aussie into Chinese at a young age. He loves it and he excels at it.

and an extra one for Wednesday: I'm thankful we have nice police officers who serve and protect us.

November 3 and 4, 2011

2011-11-05T15:47:00.000-05:00

Thursday, Nov. 3 was a very busy day and the main thing of the day was even cancelled. I am somewhat in charge of yearbook/school pictures. So I was supposed to work our first day of school pictures. But it rained so we had to reschedule since all of our pictures are being taken outside. Since it rained I decided to take the kids to Pizza Hut. They had earned a reading coupon, so they could get a free individual pizza.

We took our History homework with us and did it while we were at the restaurant. It was much longer than usual and all of us were exhausted by the time we got finished with it.

That evening I got to go to Jenni Bowlin's packing party. It is once a month and I enjoy it so much. We help her pack up the scrapbooking kits she sells and in return we get to keep one of the kits. It's just a really fun girl's night out.

Friday, November 4

This little stinker tried to get out of touching a dissection. Luckily, he didn't have to touch it. But I was talking to his Science teacher and she told me what he said and it absolutely cracked me up!

He said, "Miss Tammy, I need to talk to you. Um..My Mom is allergic to fish so I don't think we should touch it!"

Apparently, all of my kids have an aversion to dissection. I guess they get it honestly, because I didn't like it myself. I remember getting physically sick when we had to dissect a worm. Luckily, I had a partner who didn't mind doing the cutting when we did the frog.

Wed. Nov. 2 continued

2011-11-05T14:44:00.001-05:00

Wednesday, the Girl Scouts visited the Smyrna Police station. It was REALLY interesting!

Here they are in a jail cell.

I think most of them look a little too happy to be in there.

Officer Gibbons gave us the tour. He was showing the kids the wand that they scan over your body to see if anyone has a weapon. He showed how it beeped when it went over his gun on his hip. Then he went down his leg and it beeped again, he said and that is where my knife is, and then he scanned his other leg and said, and I have another gun here. It was silent and Ashley broke the silence and said, "Now THAT's disturbing!" Everyone had a big laugh. He said that was the right answer and that what she said was the best thing he heard all day.

November Daily

2011-11-05T09:59:00.001-05:00

Well it is the 5th of November and I have decided to do a November Daily. Most scrapbookers know what a December Daily is. If you don't know, it is when you document or scrapbook each day of that month. Scrapbookers usually do December because we have so many events going on that month. Well that is just the reason I don't want to do December. I don't know many people who have actually finished their December Daily book. So I've decided I will do November. And maybe I'll make it a gratitude November Daily.

I need to go back a few days. The only picture I took on November 1st was a picture of some clothes to ask my Mom if they matched. We were going to have family pictures taken this week, but we were rained out and we have to re-schedule. I will have to remember what else we did on that day, since I really don't want to start off my scrapbook with a pile of clothes. Oh, Oh Oh- I remember what happened on Tuesday. Early Tuesday morning (night time) Mason came into our room crying. His ear was hurting. Mason is not usually the first one to get sick, but he is typically the child who would get an ear infection. So Tuesday I took him to Greg's work clinic. He indeed has an ear infection. Poor little fella! Tuesday night was our typical Chick Fil A night. We were over-charged. I have yet to see the charge come off my bank account yet. Gee! Maybe I should start with the clothes picture. HA!

Let's see, I am thankful for Doctors and antibiotics that can make it so an ear infection is rather a minor problem. I'm thankful for technology that when I don't have a girl friend around I can just snap a picture and send it to my Mom. And I'm thankful for my Mom who can still be the girl friend that I need even though she's far away.

November 2, was a fun filled busy day.

Ashley piled up a bunch of leaves that had fallen on the trampoline and she came in and said MOM-get your camera.

And the boys had to join in the fun too!

This picture to the left makes me smile!

I sure wish I had gotten out earlier this year to take Fall pictures. There was one tree that I passed by everyday that was absolutely gorgeous. But now it has rained and gotten colder and the tree is looking fairly bare instead of full of color. I'm glad Ashley got me to take these fun pictures.

I am thankful for the beautiful colors of Fall!

More to come...I need to take my kids to Home Depot.

Best of the Best of Nashville -2011

2011-10-05T22:21:00.002-05:00

Maybe I should write a blog post since I'm feeling chatty.

Tonight we went to a big party put on by the Nashville Scene (a local newspaper). Greg was invited because his company, Blackbird got named in this year's Best of the Best of Nashville edition. Before we got there we didn't know what the award was for. The paper hits the news stands tomorrow, but we got a sneak peak. Blackbird got named for the Best Ensemble for Arcadia. Yay! Way to go!

It was really nice to be there, but it was hot and crowded. I have to say I don't think I'm cut out to party like that anymore. There were probably 20+ restaurants with some of their best foods represented there as the best of the best restaurants of Nashville.

I enjoyed listening to the bands. I got tickled listening to some of the 80's songs that were played. If we weren't engaged in a conversation at the moment I think I might have broken out in Hey Mickey

Oh Mickey what a pity, you don't understand
You take me by the heart when I take you by the hand...It's guys like you Mickey.

Well anyway, I am very tired tonight. I've stayed up until 2 AM or later most nights this week and it is taking a toll on me.

I think I'll actually go to bed by 11 tonight.

Good night.

Scrapbooking

2011-09-18T20:03:00.001-05:00

Guess what I got to do last night? Well I bet you figured it out pretty quickly from my blog post. I invited myself over to my friend Doris' house. I needed to get out!

Now in the scrapbooking industry if you are a designer it is a faux pas to scraplift other designer's layouts. But if you are a peon, like me, it is actually considered an honor to the designer to be scraplifted. Neither one of these layouts are my own. I shamelessly scraplifted Doris!

The first layout I did is a scraplift of this layout with a feel from this layout.

I didn't get to finish this second layout. So Doris I only need 10 minutes at your house again to sew down Ashley's name and use your punch for one more bobbin. Well I have to journal still, but I'm not sure what in the world I'm going to journal about.

Here is the layout Doris created that I scraplifted.

By the way both layouts were created using Jeni Bowlin's September kit.

I have a tremendous amount of work to do, but I really just want to scrapbook or work on a project.

I've wasted most of the day, so I suppose I better separate and start some laundry and do some stinkin' dishes. I also have to plan next week's schooling, but that won't get done until ... ahem.. get started until midnight.

4th grade

2011-08-21T17:48:00.003-05:00

I can hardly believe my babies are in 4th grade. Here are a few pictures of Ashley from today. The boys will get their picture taken tomorrow or the next day after I get their haircut. Not so sure how different they will look since they both insist on having long hair. But I insist on seeing their eyes!

Well this year I need to talk to their art teacher about changing her name. In co-op the kid's History teacher is Ms. Tammy and their Science teacher is another Ms. Tammy. And we will be starting another Science class tomorrow and her name is Ms. Tammy. I thought that was funny so I suppose I need to talk Ms. Joy into changing her name.

Last Monday we went on a "field trip". At least that is what we thought it would be. We went to the Murfreesboro historical Canonburgh. We were supposed to meet there to do some type of art museum filming. We thought they would be doing some type of art. The Canonburgh part was closed on Mondays but we were still allowed to look around a bit. I thought this building was interesting. We didn't get any history lesson since it was closed.

This duck waddled right up to me and pecked on my shoe. Thankfully I had tennis shoes on or that might have hurt.

So we waited around outside for an hour. The lady in charge came out and said, thanks for being patient, etc. etc. I asked her if I had time to run to McDonalds and get my kids drinks. She said, Oh yes that should be fine. She said if they are ready for them if it would be OK to go ahead and use them? I said sure and off I went literally across the street to get drinks. When I came back 5 minutes later the kids were walking out of the museum and were completely finished. Apparently, all they needed them to do was walk through this tiny art museum and look at the art on the walls. They filmed them and out the door they went.

Well that was a waste of our Monday!

But in the next 6 to 8 weeks the kids "may be" on TV.

They will at least be on YouTube. Oooh Aaah!

Ashley my little designer

2011-07-30T23:44:00.003-05:00

Ashley is in an upcoming play called Evertime. She is really good at staying in character. Anyway, when it was time to bring in possible costume clothing I quickly picked some things out. Her character is supposed to be in business attire black, grays or whites. They made it sound like they should kind of look like men in business attire. I picked out a solid white dress, one of the boy's suit jacket and tie. The director and costumer was pleased with how it looked, but Ashley was very uncomfortable. So they told me this and said, they really wanted her to be comfortable. So I asked Ashley what she wanted. She designed this outfit:

So being the best Mom that I could be I made it happen (overnight by the way). I made the jacket and bought the skirt and white shirt at a thrift store.

Ashley is thrilled!

She is so proud that she designed an outfit and is actually getting to wear it.

She said it didn't even look like a costume and she would like to wear it outside of the play someday.

The director and costumer think it is adorable.

I'm one proud Mama!

We had to leave the costume at the play, so I will not be able to get a picture of her in it until the first day of the play.

Birthday Cooking Day

2011-07-28T21:35:00.002-05:00

Last Thursday, the kids had another cooking class. I would like to say it went well, but the boys were really acting up. It was a difficult menu and we (Ms. Helen and I) knew it would be time intensive. We had planned to have Steena come one time. She is a special friend to both of us and we thought it would be nice to invite her. So we thought of things that she might like. So Helen picked the menu. We made a cheese souffle. I have to say it was FABULOUS! Even though the kids didn't like it at all. We also had a fruit basket. Ms. Helen already carved out the watermelon and the kids cut up the fruit.

The hardest part was the cake that Ashley picked. She liked the way it looked, but I'm pretty sure she didn't know what it had in it or she wouldn't have picked it. It was a difficult cake to make. It had a peach filling, a marzipan layer, and fondant. We started the cake the week before and when we got there this week Helen already did all the layers and all we had to do was decorate it. Unfortunately, we didn't like the taste of it.

And since it was so close to the kids birthday Helen put in candles and we sang Happy Birthday to the kids. I just love those long candles!

The kids were really hungry after this cooking day. I don't think they liked anything. Mason and Ashley liked some of the fruit, especially the watermelon. But after how they acted, I decided we are only going to do this once a month, instead of weekly. The boys were just too antsy.

Happy Birthday Kiddos!

2011-07-28T16:31:00.006-05:00

I'm on hold and I'm aggravated. It's bad enough when I call and am on hold forever, but when they call and it is not on my schedule it is super aggravating! I got a reminder call that Comcast is coming out to my house tomorrow. We made the appointment for Monday not tomorrow. I press 3 to "reschedule" my appointment and I have been on hold 15 minutes now. I'm sick of hearing, "Your call is important to us."

OK I've put the phone on speaker so that I can write this blog.

Yesterday, was my kids birthday. And they had a fun day! I made cupcakes to share at Aussie and Ashley's rehearsal.

Cori the director included Mason and had everyone sing, Happy Birthday to them.

The kids received money from Nana and Papa and they knew just what they wanted. If you know my kids you could probably guess what that might be. Hint: They've gotten one for every birthday since they were 3. Yep, we headed to Build A Bear after play practice.

Ashley got a Blizzard Ice Cream Bear. She named her Strawberry. She also got a little dog and named her Violet.

Aussie got the Champ Bear. He named her Sunny.

I love what Mason got! He got a dachshund and dressed him in a hot dog costume. And he named him Hot Dog. He also got a little dog to match and named him Chili.

It's really cute. The Build A Bear dogs have magnets in their mouths and the little dogs have a magnet on their scarves so that they can be held in the big dogs mouth.

While we were at the mall I used the bathroom there. The toilet kept flushing while I was using it- over and over and over at least 5 times and I wasn't on there for long. Anyway, even though I've never been to France, I was reminded of the "special" toilets they have there. I can't remember what they are called, but I'm sure it is similar to what I experienced. For the record, I didn't like it one bit!

After Build A Bear we went to Dairy Queen for a little cold treat.

I always say, "Mason I want to see your eyes." And this is what I get.

Greg stayed home from work yesterday to work on the kid's present from us. He worked all morning and then had to go to work for a meeting. Then when he came home I helped him finish it up. It's really a 2 person job, but he did great getting it as far as he did without any help.

And what could it be?

A trampoline.

I snapped a quick picture before we put up the net, but the trampoline does have a net. It is HUGE- much bigger than I thought it would be. It is 15'. Our neighbors must be a 12' or they have a bigger yard that makes it look smaller. I'm sure ours takes up over 1/4 of our back yard.

They love it!

I don't know why, but Ashley loves to wear long sleeves. It is stinkin' hot here! I don't know how she can stand it! But she does look pretty!

ALL of it under $1.00

2011-07-13T20:30:00.006-05:00

I have tons of pictures from our vacation, but I just don't have the time to edit them and put them on my blog right now. It will have to wait until at least Monday.

I just learned of a kid's consignment sale that I want to participate in. So I need to be getting all those things together and tagging the items. I drop them off on Sunday afternoon.

But I do have time to brag just a little.

This is 2 Target trips:

1st trip:

2 Standard Pillows $2.50- used (2) Target $2.00 coupon.

Making them $.50 each

Sharpies on sale $1.00- used Target $1.00 coupon.

Making it FREE!

2 Packages of Papermate Pens $1.02 - used (2) Target $1.00 coupon.

Making them $.02 each

2 Scotch Tapes $1.00- used (2) Target $.50 coupon and (2) MFG $1.00 coupons.

Making them FREE with a $.50 profit each!

Total- Well TN tax is outrageous but it still came to a whopping

$.23

The check out girl got tickled when I said, "I guess I won't charge this. Or maybe I should I'd save another 5%."

My second Target trip consisted of 2 pillows, and 2 Papermate pens. That total came to $.19.

So everything above cost me under $1.00 at only $.42.

You are probably asking what is she going to do with those pillows? I actually need one more. But this is what I am planning to make.

Just sew 5 pillow cases together and stuff them with cheap pillows. I think Ashley will love it. I think the boys would like it too, but I can't justify buying 15 pillows. I feel like that would be cheating the system somehow. Well actually you can only print 2 coupons from each computer. So with 3 computers I would only be able to get 6 coupons anyway.

Then today I made my Publix run.

Splenda (B1G1 sale) $2.20- used $2.00 MFG coupon= $.20

3 Scotch Scissors $1.00- (2) $1.00 MFG coupon here and (1) $1.00 MFG coupon from Publix Smart Savings booklet.

(2) Paper Mate pens $.50- used Target $1.00 coupon

Making it FREE with a $.50 profit each.

(2) Bugles Choc with PB (Mmmmmm!) B1G1= $1.30 used (2) $.50 coupon in last Sunday's paper. Doubled making them $.30 each.

(2) Combat Ant baits $4.69- Used (2) Publix $3 coupons from Yellow Advantage Buy Flyer & (2) MFG $2 coupons from here ,making it FREE with $.31 profit each.

Oh and the penny item was the box of Publix Bran Flakes.

Grand Total with our outrageous tax...

$.51!!!

Unbelievable Target AND Publix under $1.00 together!

Can you tell what the picture is below?

I did it! That is NO unread emails. I finally cleaned out my inbox over the last two days. What a good feeling it is to finally be caught up!

Summer Fun

2011-06-29T21:28:00.005-05:00

Yep three blog entries in one day. Yesterday the kids had a blast!

Mason just said, "I'm bored what can we do?"

I knew fully what we were going to do but I told him to let me think on it.

Meanwhile, Ashley and her friend went outside and filled up 2 pie plates with whipped cream.

Look at her maniacal face.

Now it's time to invite Mason outside.

Ready. Aim.

He was not an easy target. I had to hold him down.

Ashley's friend wanted in on the action. So Ashley was happy to oblige.

Then Ashley started running for her life saying, "I don't like whipped cream!"

Too Bad So Sad!

And even though there was only a little bit left she had to get me.

I handed the camera to Mason and took it like a charm.

Mason wanted to clean off so he got a cup of water. Ashley got one too, but instead of putting it on herself she threw it at Mason.

Oh man it's cold!

And then Aussie joined the fun. Smart kid put his bathing suit on.

They were soaking wet!

But they had the best time!

Outfits I made

2011-06-29T15:24:00.002-05:00

I've been creating again. I found this adorable sheet at Goodwill the other day and I decided to make my boys shorts and Ashley a shirt.

Now that I see them on them, I think I would like light blue shirts better with their shorts and jeans for Ashley. I'm a little bummed my daughter doesn't like things without sleeves. So I guess I need to learn to make sleeves. I'm making her a 4th of July dress for Sunday so I need to figure out pretty quickly how to do it. She is wearing a shirt underneath this shirt here.

And I'm so excited I get to meet my nephew for the first time next week. So I made him a matching outfit too. He will be 17 months old or close to it.

Flip Flop Fun!

2011-06-29T12:31:00.003-05:00

Everywhere I look I see people wearing the cutest flip flops. I thought I might like to have some metallic ones. Then one night I was surfing the web and found this ingenious craft for interchangeable flip flop fun.

I just had to try it.

Off to JoAnn's I went. Bought me some $1.50 flip flops, velcro and some ribbons/trim that were on sale.

And away I went with my crafting.

After 2 days of wearing my creations, I thought how in the world do people wear these? They are so uncomfortable. So with a little more velcro I found a way to make them comfortable. I velcroed my sole inserts that I wear in other shoes to the bottom.

Oh the possibilities are endless! Now I can have shoes to match any outfit.

2011-06-25T15:16:00.005-05:00

Yesterday we got to go on a field trip to the weather center.

I was probably more excited to go than the kids.

We learned all kinds of things and saw different instruments to read and forecast the weather. And I can't remember what anything was called. But here he is showing us a rain gauge.

I learned that every weather station in the world sends up 2 balloons at the same time everyday. They send it up "Greenwich time".

So here in Nashville they send it up 6AM and 6 PM. The balloon measures about 6 feet across when fully blown up. And do you know what it is filled with? All of us guessed helium, which is wrong. Helium is expensive so they use hydrogen. EEEKS! That's explosive! And I learned that as the balloon goes up it gets bigger. All of us except one little boy thought the balloon would get smaller as it got colder. Anyway these balloons have a little GPS signal attached to it and they are able to gather all kinds of information from it. And since everyone sends it up at the same time they are able to compare their findings with everyone else's findings. He told us that only 20 to 30% of the packages or bags are returned to the weather station. I'm surprised I didn't know about this before or maybe I've seen one and didn't know what it was when I saw it.

This tower with the big "soccer ball" on it is a radar. It has a disk inside that spins around 3x per minute. When we first got there one of the girls said, "Whoa that is one big soccer trophy!"

I found it fascinating to see all the different maps.

It was a small building but we got to see where they went when the storms hit too close to them. They have an interior lunchroom that had reinforced steel walls with a big steel door that they could shut and bolt in case of an emergency. Our guide, Tim gave us a poster that has all the different cloud formations on it. I found it most interesting! It shows the types of clouds they need to watch to see if they develop into tornadoes. You bet I'm going to use that information during a storm.

I was really glad to see our friend, Chance. This was the first time we got to see him in person since the airport when he came home to live with his family. He is such a happy boy. We gave him some clothes and books and he is tickled! Aussie got to speak a little bit of Chinese to him and Chance answered him back.

After learning more about the maps inside it was time to let the balloon go. So we headed out to watch it. Up up it went. I didn't have my sunglasses so I couldn't look up for too long.

The guide commented on how good our group was. Everyone asked questions and answered those that he had. **insert bragging on Aussie who knew many of the answers** We had 2 two year olds in the group and they were perfect too. Really proud of all of them!

And I already have gotten to use my new found knowledge. I was awakened by a huge thunder that roared and roared after it struck this morning. I rolled over and told Greg, "Now that was a positive charged lightning strike." Greg still asleep didn't really acknowledge me. FYI most lightning strikes are negative charged. The one that you hear that hit and roar for a long time are positive.

Severe tonsillitis

2011-06-23T22:29:00.004-05:00

"Good Job Doctor"

That is what I heard my doctor say to me when I went to see him today.

Even though I have been feeling much better after looking at my throat last night I decided I better go see my doctor. My throat was the worst that I have ever seen. Even worse then any I saw when I Googled it. Yes it is nasty!

In the doctor's office I became the "show and tell" patient.

The nurse was super fascinated when I told her and she said, "Ooooooh let me see."

OK sure I said as I opened wide and let her look.

"Wow- I've never seen anything like that. You have strep! "

Yes I'm afraid I do.

One minute later she brings in nurse 2 to take a look at my throat because it is so impressive.

"You've got strep. You need a stronger medicine", nurse 2 said.

2 minutes later nurse 2 brings in nurse 3.

You guessed it- to see my impressive throat. She is new and they are supposed to show her anything unusual.

I wish I would have said, "Hey keep them coming this makes a great story." But I stopped becoming the circus freak at that point.

The doctor came in and he didn't say strep. He said it's a severe case of tonsillitis. He said if I hadn't taken the antibiotic when I did it probably would have affected my breathing. I asked him if he had seen a throat this bad before and he said yes. It looked just like his when he was a kid. After doing a little research, I'm guessing I have the bacterial tonsillitis. I may even have the rare form, fungus tonsillitis. The doctor said he didn't suspect that my family would get it. And those two types are not passed on. I still couldn't figure out how I would have gotten it though if it is not passed on through the air by people. I would have had to drink after someone or come in close close contact with someone's mouth who had it. I have no idea.

Anyway, the doctor said I was doing absolutely everything I needed to be doing. He did say one thing surprising. He said that I need to rest another FIVE days. That's a long time since this is day four. I specifically asked about walking (for exercise) and he told me not to and to really take it easy. That I could fall back pretty easy if I didn't watch it.

So I have orders to take it easy.

Anyone want to borrow my kids for an afternoon?

What a day!

2011-06-22T18:56:00.002-05:00

It's unbelievable how much we take for granite when we live a relatively healthy life. And when we are sick or have a broken bone, that is when we get a taste of how much we use whatever it is that is wounded. Today I needed something upstairs, so I thought since I'm going up I'll take this basket of laundry with me. Something I would do on any normal day with ease when I am not sick. I had to stop and rest on the steps 2 times. TWO times! My body is too weak to even take a load of laundry up the steps. I was really shocked.

Aussie is driving me crazy today! Since I've been up a bit today he seems to think I am fully better. He yells from the other room, "Mom?" And I suppose he expects me to yell "what?" back to him. But I can barely talk. I'm sure he has done this at least 20 times today.

The kids are antsy. They need to get out. Greg took them to Chick Fil A last night, but they need more. Last week, prior to getting sick I said we were going bowling. And if they each got 100% on their list for a full week I would take them to Chuck E Cheese. And we would go swimming and and and...

Ashley has been super helpful! She gets the laundry out of the washer and puts it in the dryer. She empties the dishwasher. She has been really good about checking on me.

Mason has been whiney. No one will play with him or she's been on the computer too long or he hasn't had very much time on it. This child has GOT to get out.

Today I managed to get 3 loads of laundry done, my coupons updated, dishwasher loaded and run or is that ran?

I'd say I've had a pretty successful day.

As for the 10 things a day list. I've learned my lesson that the prize for getting 100% everyday we would go somewhere is not a good plan. 2 did not get it done. Now who will watch those two when I take Ashley? And will Ashley still have fun if her siblings are not there? I've decided to let the boys have 2 make up days. And I have to stay on top of them to get it done. We will continue to do the list, but I will change the prize to getting 2-3 things at the dollar store. The others will have to wait as the one shops and they will get nothing if they don't do their lists. period.

better

2011-06-22T03:57:00.002-05:00

It's nearly 4AM and no I'm not just going to bed.

Actually I just woke up.

I feel significantly better.

My throat still hurts,

but I feel rested and my head doesn't hurt.

I feel like I can do something other than sit on the couch all day.

I'm Sick

2011-06-21T06:53:00.002-05:00

I'm sick.

Sore throat.

Yesterday I couldn't get warm.

Then at night I couldn't get cold.

And throughout the night I went back and forth.

I slept all day yesterday so I didn't sleep very much last night.

Today I'm a little better. I'm starting an antibiotic.

Father's Day

2011-06-20T01:13:00.003-05:00

1,280

That's how many emails I have unread!

Aye Aye Aye!

How in the world will I ever get caught up. I'm sure over the next few days I will do some mass deleting! I hope I don't delete anything important.

I got a picture of Ashley's feet.

They look adorable.

Hers are cute, so why are mine not? :(

It was pretty difficult trying to paint with much detail on my toes.

Today I walked 2 miles again. This time my family walked with me. I didn't want to do it, but I knew I needed to do it. The last 3 days have been party party party with food. I hope I can walk enough to make up for how much I ate.

Greg wanted Mexican today. We went to his favorite restaurant Baja Burito, but it was closed. I secretly was glad, because I don't think there is anything there that I like. So we went to Las Palmas.

Then we went to see a play at the Nashville Children's Theater. We got 5 comp tickets! Wow it's awesome to have connections! I can't remember the exact name, something like Jack's play or life or whatever. It was a musical and I really enjoyed it. I'm finding that as I learn who the actors are I am enjoying these plays even more. Jeff Boyet was in this play and we ate dinner with him the other night. He was also in the play Greg put on, Arcadia. It was really neat to get to know this Christian man and his father. He is the one who invited us to see this play today. He is a really good actor.

The rest of the day was filled with laundry, and folding it and getting today's coupons in order. And I'm loving playing this new game Tetris Battle on Facebook. Yes, I'm addicted. However, I am trying to get enough points to buy something on the game, so every chance I get I'm playing this silly game.

Tomorrow, I hope to go bowling. Last time I tried to bowl, not only did my finger hurt but I think I messed up my hip bad. So I'm hoping I can actually bowl. My finger always hurts when I bowl. Many years ago I broke it bowling. How in the world can you break your finger bowling? Well I was using one of the balls from the ally that had jagged ridges in it. And it was too small. My finger stuck in it and when I threw it my finger popped. That was my best game ever before it broke- 198. I think that was in the 8th frame. Imagine if I could have continued what my score might have been. Just a couple years ago I passed that. Not by much but I indeed broke 200. I can no longer play more than 2 games as my finger begins to hurt to badly. Most of the time I can only play 1. But I still have fun none the less.

And now at 1:43 AM I wish I was tired! I'll do the dishes and hopefully I'll be able to fall asleep.

And one last thing...

Happy Father's Day!

I talked to my Dad a good long time yesterday, so I didn't call him today. Maybe I should have. But I think he knows I love him!

Tacky Nails!

2011-06-19T00:50:00.003-05:00

Oh my goodness! I need to hurry and get in bed. Tonight I painted Ashley's toe nails like you see my hands painted in the next picture. It is cute on her toes. But when I did my fingernails. It was so gaudy that I just couldn't handle looking at it. Greg said I had to keep it that way. But I just couldn't! It was way too much of a distraction.

So I kept one fingernail painted that way and did the rest blue. Well that was just as bad. So I "tried' to take that off and I painted them red. It is much better, but you can still see around the edges where it was blue. Oh well. It was just an experiment.

Last night I thought I saw a skunk go into our bushes, w

ith it's big fluffy tail. Tonight, it was confirmed. Greg saw the skunk in our front yard when he came home tonight and it ran under the fence into our neighbor's yard.

I got my haircut today. Unfortunately, I think it looked better before I got it cut. But I think it may be a good cut and that I just need to style it. I suppose I'll find out tomorrow!

And DOH! Guess what I forgot to put in the mail?

Drats!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Always, Patsy Cline!

2011-06-18T02:20:00.002-05:00

Well tonight was big treat! Greg and I got to see the musical, Always Patsy Cline. The director Ted Swindley is friends with Greg and actually directed their last show, Arcadia. So he gave us comp tickets. It was really good. I came out of there thinking I needed to look up some of those songs and try to learn them. It brought back some good memories of when I went to Renee Grant-Williams (the best voice coach in Nashville). She introduced me to Patsy Cline. She told me to study how she sung because she was one of the best singers. The difference is that most voice teachers have you open your mouth and really sing those vowels. But this voice coach teaches you to sing through the consonants. It really made a HUGE difference. I still love to sing the song, Crazy like Patsy Cline.

After the show many of us went to eat at Merchants. I had a delicious French Dip sandwich! I enjoyed being around many other artsy people.

Earlier in the day I took the boys swimming at the Y. Ashley went to a girlfriend's house to play. I didn't have time to walk. So when I got home from the play, I power walked for 15 minutes in a circle through my kitchen, school room, living room and foyer. (4-5 times around was one minute) It was monotonous but I did it none the less.

My "create something" item was to make a little hovercraft using a CD, bottle cap and balloon. But it didn't work. I wonder if the bottle cap was too heavy. I might try again tomorrow or when I can find the right cap to use. I'll share the website on how to make it when I try again.

Here it is nearly 3AM and I've finally finished all 10 items and can go to bed.

Good thing I can sleep in tomorrow!

My Life today

2011-06-17T01:28:00.002-05:00

Another 2 miles and my feet hurt!

I don't know what I'm going to do when Doris isn't available. She keeps me going. I'm not so sure I can keep this up on my own.

Yesterday's "Make Something" took way too long to create. I just made this little card for Ashley.

Tonight, I learned my lesson. I'm sure these will be just as appreciated.

VBS is over and I've already found another one. I don't know if they will want to go, but this is really a good gig for me. They learn about Jesus and I get to walk with a friend. I'd say that is a win win situation. However, I'm not so sure the kids will want to do another VBS. But we will see. That one starts on Monday. Tomorrow is another day of swimming if it doesn't rain.

Hail!

2011-06-16T00:05:00.002-05:00

Today we went to see the movie, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2. I don't know why I decided to see this movie since I hated the first one. But I'm glad I did because it is so much better than the first. We decided to see the movie today because we had terrible storms here and couldn't go swimming. On our way home from the movie I heard big pellets hitting the car. Then I saw them bouncing off the car. It was hail. And it was BIG! My friend Doris was so amazed by it. She stood at my front porch and was just mesmerized. She went out in it and gathered up several of hail balls and we decided to measure them. Unfortunately, this one melted a lot before we measured it. She got a picture of it in her hand and then measured her hand. It was 3 1/2" long! No joke! In the picture below, it is just measly 2 1/4".

Tonight when we dropped the kiddos off at VBS it was still raining. BUMMER! So we walked the mall. We walked another 2 miles tonight. Yea Me!

I'm Stove Up!

2011-06-14T22:29:00.002-05:00

Here is a glimpse of the chart that I made. Two of them were well on there way before I even woke up this morning. They were so excited they finished up in the afternoon and got a big 100% on their chart. And the last one, well he just completed his last one a couple minutes ago.

Two of the kids wanted to go back to VBS. Ashley took a friend and got a water gun as a prize. They made some cute lion masks and sang The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Aussie went with Daddy and Doris and I walked another 2 miles tonight. We went to a different park this time and it was one that I had not been to before. It was really beautiful. We even saw a doe up close on the trail. We swam in the rain earlier today. I got several laps in, so again I'm worn out and stiff. Or as Doris would say, "I'm stove up" That's certainly not a northern word.

Tonight, I think I'll actually be able to get into bed early. The last two nights even though I was tired I still had several things to do. But tonight I'm done and can go to bed.

10 for 10

2011-06-14T01:11:00.004-05:00

Another busy day and I'm too tired to finish my coupon job tonight. I'll have to finish it in the morning.

So I hung out with Doris again today and she was telling me about something she is doing for the summer and thought I might like to join her on that. She and her son are doing 10 things everyday. You can see her list here. So I came up with our 10.

Clean Something
Math (Kids need to learn their multiplication better and I need to work on saving us money with coupons or cleaning out my email inbox watching the numbers go down.)
Water (at least 2 cups)
One Fruit or Vegetable (Aussie is dreading this one! Yesterday he announced that popcorn was a vegetable because it came from corn.
Walk for at least 15 minutes
Read
Journal
One Dairy (Ashley is dreading this one and went to bed really upset!)
One Random Act of Kindness
Create Something

The kids will start tomorrow, but I went ahead and completed my list. I have to say I made a 100! I did all of them. Yay me!

Today, Ashley went to a friend's house during the day. The boys and I headed over to Doris' pool. We hung out for 2 hours then came back home. Then tonight we went to a VBS that our neighbor invited us to. Ashley and Mason liked it. Aussie absolutely hated it. And I mean down-right bored out of his mind hated it! I can't say I blame him. I told him he only had to try it for one day and if he didn't like it he didn't have to go back. But there were only 10 kids there. TEN! I thought all of them would hate it, but Ashley and Mason want to go back. Anyway, Doris and I had planned to walk the trail we walked yesterday. We headed out but there was an accident and we were barely moving. So we didn't make it to the park. We went to Aldi and I bought some fruit. Then we headed back to the church. We walked around the church and up this street. It was really cool because part of the street looked like we were in a jungle. Rich green trees and vines and hearing and seeing a couple hawks call back and forth to each other. And then we would go just a little further and see run down city. It was very odd but interesting. We estimated that we walked a mile.

All of us again were worn out from our busy day. I suspect we will be worn out again tomorrow.

Chinese Restaurant and Camp

2011-06-13T01:00:00.003-05:00

I am beat! Absolutely beat! Today has been a wonderful but long day. After church we went to a new Chinese restaurant my friend Doris has been telling us about. So we met her there and it was instantly the boys new favorite restaurant. Ashley says it is her second favorite. Her first favorite was Evergreen and it closed down a month or so ago.

After the meal Aussie introduced himself to the owner in Chinese. Then he made up another sentence and rattled it off. When he said it he then asked if he said it correctly and that he intended to say, " I like your french fries." He indeed said it perfectly. The owner before moving to America was an elementary teacher in China. She said that if she had not seen Aussie's face she would have thought he was another Chinese person. She said his diction and tones were perfect. Can you tell I'm a pretty proud Mom? The guests paying their bill behind us were quite impressed as well.

A few hours after lunch we met up with Doris again at the park and walked 2 miles. The park is really lovely and the path is shaded. That and it was late afternoon when the sun wasn't beating down. My body hurts. I haven't exercised those muscles in a long time. After walking the 2 miles we went back to her place and went swimming. Some more great exercise. But it has left me so very tired. Ashley fell asleep on the couch. Mason fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow and Aussie was out soon after that.

Last weekend my kids went to camp. This was really the first time all three of them have been gone for more than a night. I was fine and enjoyed the time I could spend without them. I had a gift certificate for a manicure- so I got that and a pedicure as well. Greg and I went to a Hibachi type Japanese restaurant and the food was AMAZING! And we went to see the movie, Thor. It was good, but not great. I have to admit that when the 3 nights, 4 days were over I was very happy to see my kids. Greg made it through it, but he almost made himself sick worrying about them (at least that first night.)

These pictures below are out of order. When they got back they had a performance on Wednesday night to show the parents what they learned.

Ashley is with her friend Mattison.

Here the kids are starting a little "dance" number.

This picture was specifically taken to show Aussie just how much taller Mason is than him.

This was the last day of camp. All of them were given these red camp shirts. I happen to get this group shot of the 3rd grade girls.

They were happy to see me. Mason told me something that broke my heart a bit though. He said, they had one rule in their cabin and that was no crying. Then he said to me, "but every night I was crying inside because I missed you."

And here is a picture the first day. Ashley agreed for me to drop her off at her cabin, go and set up the boys and then come back and set her up.

Aussie and Mason immediately pushed their beds together.

Here are all the 3rd grade boys. I managed to get a group shot before leaving to set up Ashley.

Once I got to Ashley's cabin they had to get started. So I set up her bed but didn't get any pictures of her before I left. The girl's cabin was a lot nicer than the boys.

I thought this was a pretty little bridge right outside the boy's cabin.

They ask the parents to write a note for each day they are there and put them in a basket and they will give them out on the appropriate day. Aussie couldn't figure out how I got my letters there everyday. Bless him! (That's a southern saying that means he's not very smart.)

He is NOT really dumb, I just suppose he didn't have his thinking cap on.

Each cabin had a color. The boy's color was orange. One of their least favorite colors but they wore their bandannas with pride.

Ashley's color was pink. Her counselor made pink tie dye shirts and gave them pink bandannas. I wish I would have gotten a picture.

I'm sure there is more to say but I need to go to sleep.

Tomorrow we have another busy day.