"return to Me, and I will return to you" malachi 3:7 nkjv |
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my babies: my man:
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April 30, 2005, 11:43 am Well, I missed another day. I guess I didn't really get on the computer yesterday (for a change). :) We were going to go to Sea World today, but we had some van trouble so we had to postpone our trip (Sea World is 2 1/2 hours away). Then yesterday we bought a pool (a small one), figuring we could play in the water at home today, but it rained last night and now it's chilly outside (it was in the 90s yesterday)! So much for plans, huh? My schedule (see Thursday's journal) has become more of a checklist. Since I hate schedules, but there are things I want to get done, Andy suggested I just make a checklist, so I'm going to try to do that starting Monday. We'll see if it works. Andy had yesterday off (and all weekend - yay), so we had a nice day of shopping (shopping is always fun!). AND... the best news EVER, I found a deli! My favorite place to eat is Panera Bread, but there isn't one here, in fact, I thought there was NO deli whatsoever (for which I was extremely bummed), BUT I found a McAlister's Deli so I'm happy. I got some soup and salad and sweet tea. Woo hoo! I'm excited. Hey, it's the little things in life, right? :) April 28, 2005, 9:09 am I decided to make some schedules. I made a schedule for me to try to balance my time and energy more wisely during the day, and I made schedules for the kids for when they get home from school (so I don't have to hear "I can't clean yet because I haven't had a snack" or "...I have homework" or "I'm too tired"). The kid's started their schedules yesterday and I think they actually liked them! I think knowing how much time they have to spend on chores, and knowing that they get more free time than anything else, helps keep them motivated. I, on the other hand, am not a schedule person. I'm good at making them, and I always have good intentions, but I'm not very good at keeping them. My personality is more fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants! I can't wait for summer when we are NOT constrained to the school schedule. I hate to HAVE to wake up at a certain time and go to bed at a certain time (because if I don't go to bed by a certain time - I will NOT hear my alarm clock in the a.m. and the kids will be late to school!). I'm doing pretty good with my schedule so far though (I knew I would be on the computer in the morning, so I allotted time for it in my schedule). I actually had dinner on the table at 6:00 last night - yay me! However, I did NOT take a walk this morning (like my schedule told me to) because I hurt my knee, and I figured I better rest it. So my walk time turned into more computer time. Whatever. :) We'll see if I make it to the grocery store during my "errand time" after lunch. Who knows? Maybe I have turned over a new leaf. I have to have SOME motivation or I would not have made the schedule in the first place, right? :) April 27, 2005, 8:24 pm HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTINE!!!! We're trying to see if we can send all our cards and birthday presents late this year. So far, we're succeeding! :)
Andy just got back from the field (a day early) - woo hoo. It's so nice to have him HERE!!! :) April 27, 2005, noon Oops. I missed a day. I think that's the first day I've missed since I started this thing, so I guess I'm not doing too bad. :) I did do some more scrapbooking yesterday. I'm on a roll, man! Andy comes home from the field late tonight instead of tomorrow. Yay. He is SUPPOSED to get a three day weekend - if he does we're going to Sea World in San Antonio on Saturday. I don't know that we have ever gone anyplace like that as a family (too expensive!!), BUT thanks to Ali telling me, they have a thing where 4 members of a military family get in free so we just have to pay for Darby and Jarvis. Woo hoo! :) The kids and I are very excited. I'm not too sure if Andy is a big "theme park person", but I think he'll have fun too. :) I'll probably post some more later today... for now, time to clean. I've not been feeling well for a few days and WOW - the house gets messy FAST!!! April 25, 2005, 9:18 pm The free guestbook I've been using keeps going out on me. I guess I'll have to break down and make my own. Oh well. You get what you pay for, right? :) I finally started scrapbooking again. Woo hoo. I did two pages yesterday. The first one I did wasn't that hot - I ended up not liking it that much. I liked the concept (a page about me, Marci, and Timberly and our differences, with a photo of us together), but the end result was kinda sloppy looking - not really my style. Anyway, I really liked the second page I did and I'll put a small scan of that on here. I'm very excited to be scrapbooking again! YAY, me!!! :)
April 24, 2005, 12:50 pm I've had a baby craving for a while. I know a lot of people think I'm absolutely insane. I already have four children (which I guess is a lot to some people - it's not a lot to me), Andy is getting ready to go to Iraq for a year, and I guess some people think I should wait until he returns. But I don't care about those things (after all what's one more when you already have four, and I do not know the future - they could postpone Andy's going to Iraq, he could go sooner, he could not go at all... I'd love for him to be here to share it, but I don't want to put it off and neither does he). I want another child, maybe two more. :) You see, here's the thing - I don't view children as a burden, a struggle, expensive... none of those things. I see children as what they ARE - a blessing from God! I see them as a joy. Some people just like them as babies and would rather skip the toddler part, some people want to skip the baby part, some people do not want to do it at all. I love all of it. I was MADE to be a mother. I think I'm good at it. I love doing it. It's my dream job, and I'm living my dream. I want another baby. I hope for one soon. :) April 23, 2005, 10:07 pm I had errands to run today. Going to the bank, post office, taking books back to the library, grocery shopping - it's all such a hassle that I'd really rather not have to deal with! I wish I had a personal assistant that could run all my errands for me. While we're hiring employees, I think I want a maid and a cook as well. Oh, and a nanny. Okay, I'll take a chauffer too. :) Tonight, Andy is out in the field, so I let the kids stay up a little late and we played. I got out a pad of paper and had them all give me some 'favorites' and 'worsts'. They can be so funny. Here are some of the answers I got out of them... Darby (age 3 1/2): Jarvis (age 6): Justice (age 9 1/2): Brittany (age 11 1/2): This was fun - we do this now and then, but it had probably been a couple of years since the last time, and I love to see the changes. Oh, we had just watched a documentary called "Creatures that Defy Evolution" and there was a beetle on there that has explosions that come out of it's tail end and this beetle made it onto three of the kids' fave/worst lists, but we couldn't remember the name of the beetle so we called it "the beetle with the exploding butt" (which the kids thought was quite hilarious) - it was on Justice and Jarvis' favorites list and on Darby's worsts list. :) April 22, 2005, 2:12 pm
April 21, 2005, 12:38 pm Today is my sister, Timberly's, birthday. Happy birthday Timberly!!! (tim ~ i know you don't like new photos so here is an old one!) :D
April 20, 2005, 8:32 am Well, she did it again...
Yep - Darby cut her hair. She did this a year ago and it was just starting to get long again. AND, I was going to take pictures of her today!! She was supposed to be cleaning her room yesterday, but she snuck into Brittany's room (Britt was outside playing) and got into the scissors. I came upstairs and about had a heart attack and mumbled something in panic voice down the stairs and Andy came running because he just heard "Darby... cut... her...", and Andy thought she had cut something vital like an arm. He was a little upset to have had his adrenaline going because of some hair, but HEY - it was shocking to ME! So, I had to "fix" it the best I could, but this time she chopped the BANGS (and I am NOT a fan of bangs!). I tried to keep it as long as I could without making it look too choppy, but it was difficult because there were some REALLY short pieces in there. Well - here is the result, and by the way, Darby absolutely LOVES her new haircut - go figure!
April 19, 2005, 8:26 am I took some pictures of Jarvis yesterday. I think he could be a model; he loves to pose and give those serious model-type looks. It was lots of fun. I think I'll take some of Darby today. I decided that when I take photos of all four kids together it's too chaotic for me to take good pictures, so I'm going to do one at a time. I need a better camera though, well I don't NEED a better camera, I WANT one. :)
April 18, 2005, 10:23 am
I potted some plants yesterday (and bought some flowers to put in a vase). I was feeling extra 'springy'. :) Plus, my empty pots have been sitting there staring at me so the kids and I made a trip to the store to get some greenery to go in them! I love having plants in the house - makes it seem more lively. Now I need to get to work outside - our yard and flower beds are FULL of weeds. Yuck! One thing at a time. :)
April 17, 2005, 12:24 pm
I hate it when Andy's out in the field, especially when he can't call. I haven't talked to him since early Wednesday morning, and I'm ready for him to come home. I miss him. I was distracted with 9 extra people in the house, but now that they're gone and I'm done cleaning the house up, I really miss Andy. I don't know what I'll do when he has to leave for a year! I guess I'll absorb myself in my hobbies. :) I'm so glad we have such a good relationship - who knew we could come this far. God has tremendously blessed us! April 16, 2005, 11:11 am
Aunt Cherry, Kendra, and the kids all left about 45 minutes ago. Justice said it was too quiet now. :) We had a blast with them here. My children want me to have about 7 more kids for them to play with (oh, and they are all asking to be homeschooled now)! Brittany loved baby Zane - she toted him around everywhere. Darby loved playing with the girls - they dressed up the whole time (when they weren't playing Barbies). Justice and Levi really hit it off (they are the same age). Jarvis had fun playing with everyone - he and Isaiah seemed to get along well, even though they are a couple of years apart. I'm glad mine and Kendra's kids all finally got to meet. We hope they come back to visit again very soon. :) April 15, 2005, 3:58 pm Wow. Kendra does not stop! She just goes and goes and goes and then she looks for someplace to go some more. Which is great - the kids seem to like going to the park twice a day - I just don't have the energy to keep up! :) Aunt Cherry and I stayed here for the third excursion of the day. Kendra took 8 of the kids with her to the school playground. Maybe that's it - maybe I could take one or two kids to the park every day, but eleven is quite a lot. No, nevermind - I don't think I could do the park every day with just ONE kid. I'm an indoor girl. I like to veg out and watch movies, or do scrapbooks, or even play Barbie's with Darby! Come to think of it - Kendra was always outside running around when we were kids - I think I had trouble keeping up with her even then!!! LOL :) Oh well. I usually get outside and take a short walk each day, but spending five hours a day outside is a little much on my poor body. She has inspired me to try to get in shape though - I seem to wear out too easily and it's been a while since I worked out (of course I'll be using my INDOOR aerobics videos). :)
The kids have been having an absolute blast with all these kids here! Kendra's kids are all so well behaved - it has been very pleasant having them visit. They'll be leaving in the morning, and I'm sure my children will be heartbroken. We won't go 5 years before seeing them again though. It's been a good few days (I wish Andy had been here - he missed the entire visit with them because he had to go out in the field with his unit). It's about time to be thinking about dinner - I'm going to try to come up with a third dinner that 11 kids will like. I'm 2 for 2 so far - so YAY me - (cheeseburgers and chips one night, corndogs and macaroni/cheese and veggies/fruit the 2nd night). :) Let's see... what should be have tonight? April 14, 2005, 7:32 pm Remember my last "after" scrapbooking area photo...
Well, I've actually got scrapbooking supplies in there now...
Okay, so it's not as neat and clean as the top photo, BUT I can scrapbook now! Yay!!! I still have lots of organizing to do (I have no idea what type of paper I have), but it's basically all there - ready for me to put where it goes and start USING. Woo Hoo! I'm so excited. :) (for those of you who do not have a hobby and do not understand --- get a hobby! It's fun.) :D April 13, 2005, 8:10 am
My cousin Kendra (above), her seven kids, and my aunt are coming to visit later today. I haven't seen her since she just had three kids so it's been a while. The kids have been asking non-stop, "when are all those kids coming". They are ecstatic and are counting the MINUTES until "all those kids" get here. Darby thinks that Gabrielle (the cutie in the back row next to Kendra) is her best friend even though they have never met! Justice is excited that he and Levi are the same age. Brittany has been preparing crafts for all the little girls to do, and Jarvis is a little nervous that TWO of the girls are the same age as him! :) Anyway, I'm looking forward to their visit, and I'm surprisingly not apprehensive about the fact that there will be eleven kids in my house for a couple of days! :) April 12, 2005, 12:35 pm Happy birthday mom. Hope it's a good one!!! :)
April 11, 2005, 9:42 pm I bought lots of storage solutions for my scrapbook area yesterday and today. I am having so much fun organizing all my scrapbook supplies and seeing all the stuff I haven't looked at in months and months. I had forgotten I even had some of this stuff! I can't wait to finish and get started scrapbooking!!! :) April 10, 2005, 10:27 am Random thoughts... Um, I forgot to take a watch outside with me yesterday and there was a breeze, so I didn't get hot while laying in the sun, and now - I am burnt to a crisp. But just on one side. So it's really pretty! I have a stripe going down the side of me. Nice! I did get most of my office/scrapbooking area organized yesterday, and I should finish today. I'm so excited to have it done. I can start scrapbooking again. It's been a long time - probably close to a year. Scrapbooking is my favorite hobby, and I have so many new ideas floating around in my head. Hopefully they'll turn out well when I get ready to put them on pages. My hair is naturally brown. I dyed it blonde for maybe 8 or 9 years. About a year ago, I decided to let my natural color grow out, so I lived with dark roots for a while. Then in the fall, I decided to try to dye it back to it's natural color to get rid of all the roots that were driving me crazy. For some unknown reason, while in the hair color aisle at Wally World, I had a bright idea to get one with a little bit of a red tint. Good one, Petra. My hair turned Bozo the Clown orange! I even told my five year old son, "I have Bozo hair", and he replied, "you don't have Bozo hair, you have orange hair". That made me feel better! :-| So, I took some scissors and just started chopping away (the color was irrepairable). Thinking, if I could cut off the bottom where it was really really orange, it would look better. It didn't. So I had Andrea (my niece) cut my bangs a little - just so they would be in towards my face, not short. Well, her hand slipped and I had a big chunk of SHORT bangs. I started chopping again. I ended up at my mom's house with a hat on at almost midnight (I had somewhere to be in the morning and actual people could not see my hair like this - it was SO bad). I said - chop it off - all of it. So she did. And for the first time ever, I had super short hair. Anyway, I have been letting it grow since - my natural color, but about two months ago, I decided it needed to be lighter. It turned orange. Great. I went and got some highlights done - now it looked yellow and orange. I say all that to say this... Two days ago, I bought some more hair color. Blonde. Really blonde. Finally, my hair looks good. I like it. It's not orange. It's not brown. It's blonde. I think I'll just stay blonde. I obviously don't like my natural hair color. And I don't like looking like Bozo. So I'm a blonde... for now. :) April 9, 2005, 11:54 am Ah, Saturday... I love Saturday. I got to sleep in, it's a gorgeous day, and Andy is at the store buying me a lawn chair so I can start working on my tan! I love spring! I love getting tan - I don't care how many people tell me how scary skin cancer is. I LOVE having a tan, and I'm going to get one! :-D April 8, 2005, 11:44 am
When I was 7, we moved into a log cabin that we built ourselves (I say "we", but at age 7, I probably didn't help the rest of the family too much). My dad and brothers cut down the trees themselves. It started small and eventually ended up being pretty big. My parents bought some land and we were going to build a house. The cabin was to be temporary while we built the house, but things kept happening and the house was never built. We just added rooms to the cabin. We lived in that cabin for 2 1/2 years with no electricity and no plumbing. We would get gallons of water from the gas station down the road, we had a wood stove to cook on and heat the place, and my parents didn't have a TV for the first 25 years of their marriage anyway so we didn't miss that. When I was 9 1/2, the cabin burned down - to the ground (as you can see in the photo above). I was sad to lose all my toys and clothes and things, but I can't say I was sad to see the cabin go - especially when we rented a townhouse with running water and all the electricity we wanted! I've been messing around with google.com's new map search and you can see satellite photos. I found where the cabin was on their map, and I can still see the dirt driveway going on to our old property. It looks like no one has built up over the cabin. I'd love to go down there with a metal detector and find where the debris of our cabin was - because I know we didn't spend the time rummaging through it at the time to find all we could. Maybe one day - hopefully before there is a subdivision sitting on top of it (there is already a subdivision right next to it). Ah, memories. :D April 7, 2005, 1:29 pm My great uncle is in the hospital and probably won't live very much longer. He is the only one left in my grandfather's family (out of 12 siblings). I have fond memories of going to his and my aunt's house when I was a child. He was/is missing a finger and that scared me when I was really young. I wondered what happend to it, but was afraid to ask (I found out later it was cut off by a machine in a factory). He used to try to grab me and hold me when I would pass by his chair (he had a chair he always sat in), but I would slither by as close to the wall and as far from him as possible, acting like I didn't want him to "get" me, but really I thought it was funny when he did. I have only visited him and my aunt a few times as an adult, but always meant to visit more often. I haven't seen them in about four years, when I saw them at a reunion. I really wanted to visit again before he passed away, but it looks like I probably won't get the chance since his condition is not good (and I am 17 hours away). So... goodbye Uncle Huey ~ you'll be missed! April 6, 2005, 8:07 am Movies... April 5, 2005, 9:02 am I got a lot more done before I had a computer. My house was spotless, down to the baseboards. Now I spend way too much time on this life sucking machine. Not that I want to stop - I love my computer, but time just seems to disappear when I start clicking away. For instance, I wanted to download one song this morning, and before I knew it I had spent an hour searching for music! Now I think I will tear myself away from this hunk of plastic for at least long enough to shower and get something done in my scrapbooking area (I'm STILL not done with it!!). Oh yeah, and I need to send off some things I sold on ebay, and get Brittany's flute repaired, and go to the grocery store... if only I had nothing to do but spend all day every day playing on the computer. Oh well - life, unfortunately, goes on, and I have to join it... i should note that it is now an hour after i wrote the above journaling, and i am STILL on the computer!!! April 4, 2005, 8:00 am I don't understand why we have daylight savings time. We end up having to wake up before dark and putting the kids to bed while it's still light - what does that help anyone? I guess it helps my kids try to stay up past their bed time. It helps me hit my snooze button three more times in the morning. I don't usually recover from "springing forward" until it's almost time to "fall backward". Oh well - what can I do? Write my congressman? I'm sure he'll be concerned. Anyway... if I were president, forget anything that really matters - the first thing I would do is get RID of daylight savings time! April 3, 2005, 1:45 pm
I love my kids. I think they are adorable. They make me laugh (and I LOVE to laugh!). Brittany makes me laugh in an almost grown up way (she's getting so big!). Justice is so silly and he and I can get into hysterics and no one else will know why we are laughing - but we can't stop. Jarvis is absolutely hilarious; he and I have the same sense of humor and are both very easily amused. Darby is just too cute for words and everything she says is cute (could be the age - 3 is a funny age no matter who the child). I could have a million more just like them... maybe I will! :-D
April 2, 2005, 10:35 am
Well, I saw the Alamo! We let the kids ditch school, and drove down to San Antonio with Andy's parents. It was pretty cool. It was a gorgeous day, and I got lots of good photos. After leaving San Antonio, we decided to stop in Austin and see the capitol building. We went inside and explored, and that was a lot of fun as well. We saw a girl with her wedding gown on, and Darby was absolutely fascinated - she took a (pretend) picture of her with her Barbie camera! We ended up eating dinner in Austin at Joe's Crab Shack on the water. Darby loved all the toys hanging from the ceiling, oh, and there were a bunch of geese hanging around in the parking lot, and we fed them some crackers. On the way home, Darby told me "mom, that was a fun dinner time". She's pretty cute! I love doing touristy things, so it was a great day. April 1, 2005 *APRIL FOOL'S DAY!*, 7:37 am
I think we both look a LOT different than we did three years ago. Older, definitely (and we both have less hair!!). I'm scared of turning 30. I'm not even 29 yet (2 months and 28 days to go). I think I might STAY 29, at least for a few years. I always wondered what the big deal was - why women lied about their age. Now I understand. It's the fear of leaving youth behind and becoming... OLD!!! Well, I'm not going to get old! I'm going to eat right and exercise and... oh who am I kidding... I guess there's no turning back time. I'll just make the best of it like everyone else. :)
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note: to see journaling from March, click on the link below. :)
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website created by petra carden 2005
