Monday, March 29, 2010

We had a nice weekend. Saturday morning I went to grocery store all by myself and then came home and got some cleaning done. I did not get as much done has I had planned because I decided to get our Spring clothes out of the garage and go through some closets. I ended up making a bigger mess and was completely worn out by the time I got everything put away. Saturday night was District competition for our church. We had 18 entries covering several categories such as singing, Bible, and drama. I am actually a coach for one of the Bible competitions. My team did not have any competition so we only had to answer a few questions. It was a late night but my kids did great sitting through everything. They wanted a corn dog from Sonic so I got them one and then we headed home to get to bed. Sunday we had church. Sunday morning we were getting ready to go and Sam could not find one of his black dress shoes. It is so crazy because he had the shoes on the night before and I told him to change into his tennis shoes. So before we left Saturday night to go to competition he sat down in the living room and changed his shoes. I tore the house apart Sunday morning and could not find that shoe. Jeremy had a nursing home service with the teens so when the kids and I got home I looked again, but the shoe has yet to be found. It really was driving me crazy! How does a shoe disappear over night. I am hoping it turns up but I do not know where else to look. After I had looked everywhere I decided to take a nap. Last night was the kids Easter program at church. Samuel was in it and he did such a great job. I think I cried most of the program. It is sometimes overwhelming to think about how blessed we are that Samuel Jae came into our lives. It was so sweet hearing him sing "Tell me the story of Jesus". I am so thankful that he has been placed into out family and that he has been told about Jesus and that he has accepted Jesus. Well I better stop before I start crying again. Here are a few pictures from this weekend.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Friday has finally arrived! This has been a very tiring week. I guess it just has to do with getting back in the swing of things. I had class last night and when I got home I could not sleep. I ended up cleaning the kitchen and put some laundry away. I think I caught the Spring cleaning bug and I am hoping to get some major cleaning done this weekend. I really need to get rid of a bunch of kids clothes. Most of the items hanging in the kids closet no longer fits them. They are all just growing up so fast! Chloe is starting to show interest in using the potty. She has gone a few times at school and she has gone twice at home. We have been putting her on the potty every time she has a diaper change. It will be nice for her to be potty trained but it also makes me a little sad. It is hard to believe that Chloe will be three this summer. Emma is growing like a weed (well, a little weed). Every day this week when I got her dressed her pants are like high waters on her. She learning so much and keeps us laughing with the silly things she says. Chloe is also doing so much better with her talking. She is saying many new words and she is actually trying to say new words. We will say something and she will repeat what we said with the same syllables. Most people still thinks she is not progressing but those of us that are around her all the time can see a major improvement. I do not want to think about how noising my house and my van will be when all three of them are talking:) Sam is still just doing great in school. He is reading so well and his report card was amazing. The teacher was very pleased with how he is doing. He brings some kind of reward home weekly for meeting some standard in reading. Today his class went on a field trip to the Nashville Children's Theater. He was so excited! They were riding a bus and everything. I was disappointed because they said they did not need parents to come on this trip with them. I got a picture of Sam this morning wearing his school t-shirt. I am just so blessed to have three amazing children. I am still struggling some with my job and I am thankful that May 27th is getting closer. I may have an opportunity to get a new job in the Fall but I am trying to not get my hopes up that it will work out. I am praying that the opportunity will happen and it does seem hopeful, but I do not know. The past few weeks I have heard of so many people, so many friends that are hurting. My heart has been so burdened for so many people that I love, but today I want to give a few things that make me happy.
1, I love that Samuel skips into school every morning.
2. Every morning when Emma wakes up she finds me in the house and wraps her arms around my legs and says "Mommy I love you".
3. I love when I pick up Chloe after school she always claps her hands together and starts squealing "My momma, my momma".
Well here are the last of our Illinois trip. I had about a million but I just picked a few to post. Most of them are on Facebook so I figured you may have already seen them. Have a great weekend!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Well we have been home since Saturday. We had a wonderful trip. I have been playing catch up since we got home so that is why I have not posted anything. My laundry was out of control and it was tough getting back into the swing of things. Well I need to get to work but I wanted to post a few pictures from our trip to 123 Jump when we were in Illinois.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

We have made it safely to Illinois. The trip actually went pretty fast until we were able 2 hours away. There is a stretch of road that all looks exactly the same and it feels like you are on that stretch forever. It was a beautiful day and so I got a few pictures of the clouds (well, actually Kraig took the pictures). Kraig and I got to talk and it was just a wonderful time. The kids were great all the way up here. Chloe started to get a little restless a out an hour away but nothing too major. We got to my parents at about 5:30 but nobody was here. My niece Isabel is also here because my sister is on Chicago for a teacher's conference. My mom took Isabel to get a haircut and my dad was still at work. The door was open for us so we came in and unloaded the van. The kids and I went outside to play while we waited for everyone to get back. It is just a sweet feeling to see my kids run and play in the same backyard that I used to run and play in when I was a kid. Everyone got here at about 6:30 and all the craziness erupted. The kids were so excited! We ate supper and then we went up to my dad's business to see my mom's cats. She is keeping the cats up at work while we are here this week. The kids played with the cats and Kraig and I headed to the third floor of my dad's work. The building is not like a brick building with three distinct floors but it is a metal building that has been build to have a bottom floor then some stairs that goes up to a second floor and then the some more stairs in the middle that goes up to an attic type floor. Over the past 5-7 years my mom has been packing up all the things we left behind at home and has been storing them up on the third floor. It is pretty crazy up there but Kraig and I decided to take a look around. The first container I opened had my Fievel doll (The "American Tail" character) in it. I took it out and Sam thought it was the coolest thing ever. We were only up there for a few minutes because it was kind of dark and creepy, but it was neat to see some of the things that I had forgotten about. It was also weird how just one look at some of those items caused many memories and emotions to come back like they happened yesterday. I plan on going back up there tomorrow or Friday and look for a few things that I would not mind my kids having. After our adventure we came home and tried to get everyone settled for bed. They all slept pretty good. The kids are all resting right now because we are leaving in about an hour. We are taking the kids to this place called "Just Jump". We will do that for an few hours and then we are going to eat at mine and Kraig's favorite place, Taco John's. It is nothing fancy but they have these amazing things called potato oles and they are delicious. We have to eat there every time we come home. After that we have church and then back home.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Day one of Spring Break and my kids decide to wake up at 6:00 this morning. I was able to get them to lay back down for a little while but Emma kept talking and she does not know the meaning of talking quietly. I got up at about 7:00 and started getting things done around the house. When Jeremy gets up I am going to run a few errands by myself and then we are all going this afternoon to pick up my nephew Kraig. Tomorrow morning I have to do some observation and then the kids and I and Kraig are heading to Illinois. I am excited to spend this time with Kraig. He is almost 16 and I am honored that he wanted to spend his Spring Break with us. It has been a rough few months and I pray that I will be an encouragement to him.
I posted the other day about taking our van in to be serviced and I am so thankful we did. I had bad brakes and rotors.It was a little expensive but I am thankful we got them fixed before the gave out entirely. We picked he van up on Friday and then we stayed home most of the weekend. Jeremy had a huge paper due and he thought it was due on Sunday (that is when everything else is due) but it was actually due Friday night. He did not discover this until Saturday afternoon so he was holed up most of the day working. He was able to finish it Saturday afternoon and is hoping the professor will not take much off for being a day late. It was the final project due so he does not have a class this week. Well I better get going. Everywhere I cleaned this morning is getting destroyed by the kids. Samuel is so excited about the trip he is acting a wee bit hyper. When he gets like this he just gets into everything and makes a mess. Before I go I have a cute story about Sam. I bought him the movie "An American Tail" the other day. It is the movie about Fivel the mouse and his family coming to America to get away from the cats. On the journey to America Fivel gets separated from his family. Samuel was glued to the movie. He cheered and was concerned during different scenes in the movie. At the end of the movie Fivel finally finds his mom and dad. The movie ended and Sam came over to me tell me Fivel found his parents and I noticed that his eyes were red and watery. I thought maybe he was sleepy because he had been up since 5:30 that morning. So I asked him if he was tired and he said "No mom. I am crying a little bit". Me "WHy are you crying?" Sam- "I am just so happy Fivel found his parents!" I just thought it was sweet. I have never known him to cry over a movie.

Thursday, March 11, 2010 Zombie Cat?

Zombie cat? I am sure you are wondering if I have lost my mind and I am kinda of wondering myself. I know there is no such thing as zombies and no such thing as a cat being a zombie but I have had a weird week concerning one of my cats. Our cat, Sally, went missing back in November. We had not seen her since the first weekend it turned really cold here. I though it was strange because Sally never wonders too far from our yard. She is actually the cat that I tried to give away to a family about 12 miles up the road last year when I was turning into the "cat lady". I say try because two days after I gave her away she showed back up at the back door. We decided just to keep her. Ok back to her disappearing. What was so weird is that a three of our cats were no where to be found for several weeks. Boots, my favorite, came back right in January but Sally never returned. I searched the yard several times and there is a big tree that is fallen in a field behind our house that the cats would sometimes go. Well, on Saturday I am pulling up into the driveway and I see something laying in the yard. I could tell it was an animal and I could tell that it was dead. It was laying toward the back of our back yard. I got out of the van and sure enough it was our cat Sally. She was dead and it was not a pretty sight. I had all the kids with me so I quickly got them in the house. Sunday morning we are leaving for church and I notice that the dead cat is closer to the house then it was the day before. Monday when I got home from work the cat was even closer to the house. Well Monday afternoon it was so nice outside and the kids wanted to play so I got a shovel and I finally got the cat out of the yard. I threw it into a bunch of leaves and branches and it was pretty much buried under a bunch of stuff. I will have you know that I got home Tuesday and that dead cat was in my front yard right up by the sidewalk to get in the front door. It was so strange! So I know the cat did not bring itself up to my front porch but it made me wonder. Molly had been inside the garage all day so I know it was not her that drug the cat back to the yard. The cat now has been buried in the ground and I am hoping to never see it again. Well that is my crazy story for the week.
We all have one more day of school and then we will have a much needed break. I do not have class tonight so I am super excited. We are taking my van in tonight to get serviced before our trip next week, It has been making a weird noise so I am praying it is nothing major.
Well my break is almost over so I better be going. Before I go I would ask that you pray for the family of a dear friend of ours. SOme of you may read the blogs from my blog list, so my friend Brooke Atwood Turnbough is one of the blogs that I follow and her father passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday. Her and her husband are missionaries to Spain and I know this is a very difficult time for them. Jeremy and I went to Bible College with her and her husband and her brother is a friend of ours. They are a wonderful family and if you get a chance please say a prayer of comfort and peace to the Atwood Family.

Tuesday. March 09, 2010

Well I am on lunch break at work and I brought my computer today so I thought I would post a few pictures. Yesterday was so beautiful so the kids and I played outside when we got home from school. I also wanted to post a picture of Sam's sign that he made for his play house. We are having a pretty good week but I am feeling pretty unmotivated to get things done that need to be done. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Spring Break starts on Monday and I am just ready for a break, The kids and I are actually going to make a trip to Illinois for a few days. Well I better get going. I hope you all are having a great week so far.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Well yesterday was extremely long for me. The teacher's conference was good and I learned so much but it was a lot of information to take in so my brain was hurting when I left. I had class last night so I just stayed in Nashville until class time. Class was fine and I actually finished a project and turned it in even though it is not due for a few weeks. I also get the next two weeks off of class because of Spring Break and then I only have one more class left. Unfortunately, my second class starts the next week.I got home about 9:30 and it was great to see my new washing machine and to hear it running. The washing tub is bigger than my old machine so I think I am really going to like it. So I guess you can guess what I will be doing tonight and most of tomorrow. Jeremy has a lock-in tonight that I will not be attempting to attend. My work is having an open house tomorrow and I am supposed to be there for a few hours to meet any parents of that are interested in the Kindergarten program for next year. I am going but I am not 100% sure that I will be returning to work there next school year. Well, I better get supper going. I am sure Jeremy will want to take a nap! I have not taken any video of the kids lately so I got a little clip from this afternoon. Sam made a solar system today and he is very proud of it. Chloe has been saying "Buzz, buzz, bee" the past few days and we are so excited to hear her actually say anything that that has been the phrase around our house (you will see from the clip why I just said that). Before I get going here are a few things that have been said around our house the past few weeks.

Jeremy was throwing Emma up in the air and then catching her. Emma goes flying because she is so light. Sam says, "Dad you better be careful you might throw her so high Jesus will catch her and eat her for breakfast." We spent the next 30 minutes adjusting his theology that Jesus does not eat people.

The other day in the van I looked back and Emma was holding up two fingers. She say me looking at her and she said, "Mom, I have two more numbers until I am five. Then I will be six and be a grown up. Right mom?" I was really impressed that she was basically doing math.

When we got home this afternoon I made the kids a play house out of the washing machine box. Sam watched the Little Rascals the other day so he made a sign for the pay house. It said "NO GIRLS! Except four moms." It was too cute.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Today is a day of celebration but honestly I usually feel kind of down when March 3rd rolls around. It was six years ago today that I had my surgery. I am very thankful that I am and have been cancer free. I am thankful that through my great loss I have gained three beautiful and sweet children. I know that what happened six years ago was for a purpose. I know the events of March 3, 2004 have made me a better person and I am so thankful that God turns "beauty into ashes". I am thankful for so many other things but I also grieve a little on this day. I still feel the loss. I guess I feel a little crazy for feeling this way but I know that each year it does get a little easier. Well I guess I better get going. I have to get Sam out of the bath. Today was "wild hair" day at school so he needed his head washed. I need to get everyone fed and changed before church. I also have a busy day tomorrow. I have to go to a teacher's clinic from 8:30-3:30. Since I have class tomorrow night I am just going to stay in Nashville. Well here is a picture of Chloe from this weekend and one of Sam taken this morning.

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

So I totally jinxed myself in Saturday's post when I said Sam had not had an ear infection in a long time. Samuel came home from the party crying that his ear was hurting. He was running a little fever and you could tell that he was not feeling well. I did not want to go through the weekend with him being in pain. I was also a little concerned about the chiropractor saying Emma's ear was still infected. So I called our after hours doctor's clinic and got both kids an appointment and took them in Saturday afternoon. They both had an ear infection. They both needed medicine so we made a trip to crazy Wal-Mart. I stayed home with Emma and Sam on Sunday and then Jeremy and a guy in our youth group took a look at our washing machine but could not figure out what was wrong with it. We were hoping for an easy fix but that did not happen. Jeremy ordered a washing machine on-line and he thought it said the item was in stock at the store. I called Monday afternoon and was informed that the washing machine would not be arriving until Wednesday afternoon! I dread getting the laundry caught up once I have a washing machine again. It is actually is weird not hearing the washing machine running because it is always running at this house. Well I need to get the kids in the bath and get the girls in bed. I have been putting Chloe to bed about 6:45 and Emma by 7:00. They are just so tired by the end of the day. I wish I could get to bed that early:)