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April:
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April 30, 2007, 10:46 pm Attitude check and a prayer for Jen... I had kind of a crazy and hectic day. It seemed like it was just one thing after another. I thought it was pretty much winding down tonight until... I was in the middle of finishing up several cleaning and repair projects that had pretty much been taking up my entire day, and of course something out of the ordinary happened that took up about 4 or 5 unplanned hours of my time (you do not want to know!). So somewhere between having the serious heebie jeebies and doing load after load of laundry, and dealing with a child that didn't want to obey right away... I was feeling sorry for myself. Not in a boo-hoo, woe is me kind of way. But in a why-does-everything-happen-at-once-and-while-my-husband-is-gone-and-will-I-ever-again-get-a-good-night's-sleep and kind of a P.O'd kind of way. I was already upset because I didn't really get to talk to Andy today and I had something that I REALLY wanted to talk to him about. And it was just one of those days. Then, in my pity party state of being, I sat down at the computer while I grabbed something to eat, once I realized I was starving and somehow missed eating dinner. And what I found here changed everything. Suddenly, I was thankful for disgusting-things-that-only-happen-in-families-of-7, and laundry, and my sore back, and disobedience, and all the stresses that had been getting to me. Remember the girl and her son that I asked you to pray for a week or so ago? The 12 year old boy with cancer? Well, he passed away on Saturday night. I just can't imagine losing a child. I can't imagine what Jen must be going through. Please keep Jen, her husband Bret, and their other two (younger) children in your prayers. {if you'd like donate to help out with medical expenses, click here} And now, as I get back to laundry and cleaning up and probably not getting much sleep tonight, I'm going to have a much better attitude about it. I'll be counting my five healthy blessings and praying for peace and strength for Jen and her family. I feel foolish for being cranky about my tedious 'problems' earlier. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and their sorrows]. Psalm 147: 3 (NKJV) April 29, 2007, 12:42 pm Photos, Hobby Lobby, bad grammar, and chores... I finally updated my April Photo a Day over at Scrapsupply (see link on the left sidebar). I'll add a photo here from last night of the little things I made for Jacob's room. I got these cute little wooden animals for 50 cents at Hobby Lobby. I love Hobby Lobby. Speaking of which, I had a total score yesterday... I had taken the kids there, mostly because Brittany wanted to get some canvas for painting... and all the scrapbooking stickers and rubons were 50% off! So I got some that I had been wanting, but wasn't willing to pay full price for. Woo hoo! I LOVE that store! :) I cannot believe that April is almost over! Where does the time go? I know, I say that a lot. Speaking of 'a lot', I never understood in high school why teachers hated that phrase so much. I mean, we use it in speaking all the time (at least I do), and it sounds so retarded to say "I say that phrase a great deal of the time". I mean, what am I? A knight from the 17th century?! "I say, wouldst thou have a great many swords for me to borrow?" Yeah, I'm a little tired today. :) Well, time to go pack away a bunch of Darby's toys (since she cannot seem to keep them cleaned up), sand and paint in the laundry room (where Hannah chewed it up - I did the wood putty and drywall putty a couple days ago - and I'm tired of seeing the things that are usually stored in the laundry room taking over the dining room), go grocery shopping, do dishes and laundry, and I'm sure there are a million more things that will come up. Isn't Sunday supposed to be a day of rest??? (actually, we usually do try to relax on Sundays, today I just happen to have a lot [I mean, 'a great deal'] that needs to get done.) Oh yes, and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THE KENDSTER & TIM! :)
April 27, 2007, 1:51 pm HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTINE! :) I have nothing to say. Sorry. I've had nothing to say since the last post, three days ago. Maybe I'll get inspired soon. One can only hope. :) Actually, I have been painting more (and I'm getting better - woo hoo). And I've been doing home repairs. And scrapbooking. And cleaning (I'm always cleaning!). And taking care of five kids. I haven't been cooking much. I find that when Andy is gone, the kids and I just have soup and macaroni & cheese and sandwiches with an occasional simple 'real' meal. I don't know why. And I'm sure you all care deeply. According to Real Simple, the best places to find the lowest airfares are www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.farecast.com, and www.site59.com. Just fyi, for all you frequent travelers out there. And because I have nothing to say. April 24, 2007, 4:53 pm The cutie is talking... Jacob is going through an animal book right now, pointing at each animal and saying "dog". This reminded me that Brittany, when she was Jacob's age, called every animal a dog too. Only she would bark afterward. She would see a rabbit in the yard, and go "dog... woof, woof". Same thing for a bird in the sky. I guess Jacob is following in her footsteps. :) This afternoon, I was squishing Jacob, as I do frequently, and I said "I love you", and he replied with a plain-as-day "love you". So sweet! Oh, and a couple days ago, Jacob was touching something he wasn't supposed to touch and I said "no" to him, so he turned around with the biggest grin on his face, started shaking his finger at me and said "stop!" Too funny. The boy cracks me up! As you can see from the previous paragraphs, Jacob has been trying to talk. He will look at me with the most serious face, while nodding his little head, and say "sha vu me so tu" or something of the sort. I guess that's what we sound like to him. And then he keeps looking at me until I respond. He has a fairly decent vocabulary by now. He asks "What's that?" multiple times a minute. He says "let me see", "bye" (while waving crazily with no rhyme or reason - the hand and arm are just flying everywhere), "hi", "ball" (his favorite), "no" (usually to sass me after I tell him not to touch something - lol), "car", "mom", "Bih-ee" (translation: Brittany), "Zshu-sis" (translation: Justice), "Jarvis" (without the 'v'), "da" (translation: Dad and/or Darby), "cat" (but only to our cat - all other animals are 'dog'), "eww" (when he has something sticky or wet on him, usually right before he wipes whatever it is onto my shirt - not his shirt, mine), "uh-oh" (mostly when he drops something on purpose, just so he has a reason to say the word). There are other words he has said a few times, but not on a regular basis like the previous words: fish, bird, duck, goat (I think he forgot all those and replaced them with 'dog'), nose, oh no, truck. That's all I can remember for now. :) p.s. I write things like this in here for you guys to read, but mostly because if I don't write them here, they probably won't get written down anywhere. So now there is a record. :) April 22, 2007, 8:39 pm First of all, I'm sorry I forgot to make note of it yesterday, on her actual birthday, but... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIMBERLY! Blog stuff and other tidbits... I have added links to my Photo-a-Day galleries in the links section on the left. I used to add different quotes, etc. to the sidebars, but I don't think anyone paid much attention to that (see some of the older archives for an example). Thoughts? Also, I'm thinking of getting petracarden.com and transferring everything before we move. I don't know if I'll still have earthlink cable in WA, so why keep paying for it just so I can use the free webspace, you know? I'll keep you posted on that since I know you are on the edge of your seat. I really do love cookies. I mean, they are so freaking delicious, how could I not? I think I could live on a diet made solely of cookies. People never cease to be amazed at the fact that I have five children. Someone commented to me during the 'greet each other' portion of the church service this morning, saying they came from a "big" family of four too. Then, later on, they saw me picking up Jacob from the nursery and said "YOU HAVE FIVE?!?!" as though that was such a larger number than four. It amuses me. I'm ready for my husband to come home. The kids are ready for him to come home. It was too soon after the year in Iraq for him to leave again. We miss him. He misses us. Three more weeks ~ and I can't wait. I can't wait to see him, talk to him in person, kiss him... He's a really good kisser. Really good. Too much information? I don't care. I miss him. Chocolate Vanilla Creme Pop Tarts... ROCK. They must be slightly toasted, broken in half and eaten from the middle out to the edges. Yummy. I have the best kids in the world. Seriously. They are so awesome. All of them. I love that they step up and help me out without an attitude (okay - maybe that doesn't apply to Darby), and I love that they all love me so much. It just seems like a rare thing nowadays for kids to adore their parents and I don't take that for granted. I know that I am blessed to have children who tell me I'm the best mom in the world (and I can tell they mean it - it's not just when they want some of the aforementioned cookies). I was just overwhelmed with utter joy earlier when tiny Jacob came up to me, cuddled up on my lap, grinned really big and squeezed me with the hugest hug a 15 month old child can give (while making the cutest little grunting hug noise). And this morning in church, when most of the teenagers were huddled together in a section of the auditorium - in the typical if-you-are-a-cool-teenager-you-will-sit-here-with-us area - and my 13 year old was next to me, as she is every Sunday, resting her head on my shoulder... writing a note to me about how cool Paul was (not a cute guy in the youth group - Paul from the book of Acts, the subject of the pastor's sermon) ~ and I just thought again "How blessed am I?!!?" There are moments every single day that give me joy from all five of my children. And I'm just so thankful that they are mine. I can't imagine a life without them. April 22, 2007, 12:32 am After finally fending off the flu (we took turns with it so it's been in the house for over two weeks), we had a great day. Justice got tons of yard work done (thank you Justice!), the kids played with the neigborhood kids, and this afternoon I had Brittany babysit while I took off for a couple hours (Mom's need breaks sometimes too). I grabbed some Chic-fil-A and a double doozie from the Cookie Company and headed to a movie (I bring outside food into the theater - 1. because I like to eat while watching movies and 2. because the movie theater "food" makes me ill). I saw The Land of Women, a total chick flick... and it was awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Then I hit Hobby Lobby and picked up a couple little things and headed home. It was a nice break. While the kids were all getting their baths and ready for bed, I sat at my scrapbook table (today was the first time in almost a month!). I did a painting, a scrapbook page, and started (did the cover and about four pages) on a personal art journal. Some alone time out, creative art therapy... I should be a brand new woman tomorrow. Now, I need to head to bed so I don't totally reverse the therapeutic effects of today by not getting enough sleep. :) I leave you with a photo of my abstract painting (okay, so I'm not Van Gogh, but I like it - and I haven't been painting long - I'll get better). I posted the layout I did at ScrapSupply. The art journal is personal. :)
April 20, 2007, 10:45 am Set 5 of the old photos (that's right, there's more - I just can't seem to stop)...
April 19, 2007, 11:57 am Discovering and Rediscovering music... As anyone who is familiar with me already knows, I LOVE music. A wide variety of it. So I thought I would share some of my current playlist with you so you can hurry up and download these awesome songs for yourself! (cause I'm nice like that). I was going to provide links so you guys could go hear a sample of the songs, but yeah, I don't know how to do that, and I don't feel like figuring it out. Sorry. :) Whole Wide World by Wreckless Eric (from the Stranger than Fiction soundtrack - very catchy) Have Mercy by the Judds (all time favorite song to sing along to... I hadn't listened to the Judds in years, but I recently remembered how genius their music is - also been listening to Young Love by them) Summer Loving by Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta (oh yeah baby! I was in a the play 'Grease' about ten years ago [as Sandy's understudy - big whoop... I played an 'extra' pink lady just so it wasn't a total waste of time - and got to sing at some of the promotions for the play], and I heard the soundtrack SO many times during the 3-4 months of play practice that I haven't really listened to it since... until yesterday) I Can't Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt (another fun one to sing along with [admittedly, the ones that I enjoy singing along with are the ones that are in my key]) Only the Lonely by Roy Orbison (he's awesome!) Queen of my Double Wide Trailor and Yard Sale by Sammy Kershaw (I used to listen to country music ALL the time, but wandered away from it for the last several years. However, Andrea got me thinking about how great it was so I've brought out the old CDs [I don't know any current country]) Wind it Up by Gwen Stefani (she yodels the goatherd song from the Sound of Music during the chorus. What's not to love about that?!) I Won't Back Down by Johnny Cash (a Tom Petty cover by good ole Johnny. It's totally cool man!) I also listen to a lot of CCM tunes so here are a few favorites from that playlist: Selah is awesome. Some favorite tunes of theirs include (but not limited to) Wonderful, Merciful Savior, Precious Lord Take my Hand, and I Need Thee Every Hour Jars of Clay's version of I'll Fly Away Third Day is another fave. I love their version of Blessed Assurance, but they have lots of other good ones as well. Meant to Live by Switchfoot (they have many other good ones as well) This barely scratches the surface of the tunes I'm currently listening to, but it's just a sample. :) By the way, there are more photos to come later. :) April 18, 2007, 10:58 pm I'm up too late because I had to clean up the vomit I found in my bathroom (apparently Darby threw up and then just went back to bed without telling me [we've been passing around some form of the flu for about three weeks - it just won't go away]. Anyway, she missed the toilet, and it was all over the rug and in her hair, so I had to wake her up to bathe for the second time tonight. And do laundry. A mother's work never ends). So since I'm up, here is... Set 4 of the old photos...
April 18, 2007, 11:04 am Set 3 of the old photos...
By the way, what's up with the Danny Boy cardboard box being used for a towel-covered end table? Can we say white trash?!?!
April 17, 2007, 8:03 pm Talking about the weather isn't always boring... The weather is going crazy tonight. It was sunny earlier (after lots of drizzling today), then Jarvis came in to tell me the sky looked like this:
Then, within a couple minutes, this was above us:
It was gorgeous! Then it started raining cats and dogs for a few minutes. Then Jarvis came running frantically back to tell me to come look again. I got up and there was a huge rainbow that we could see from end to end (I wish I had a wide angle lens so I could have gotten the whole thing!!). I got a couple not-very-good photos and when I went back out to try to get more, the sky was just black.
Darby was SO cute. She was just standing on the sidewalk staring at the rainbow with wide eyes and she said "this is the first time I've ever seen one" as she continued to gawk in complete and utter awe. So adorable! Don't miss the post of school photos below (since I posted this one so soon after posting that one, and sometimes people don't scroll down). :) April 17, 2007, 6:46 pm Set 2 of the old photos (school pictures)... Let's start with the Kendster (my cousin, for those of you who have no clue - or as the backs of all these photos say, my "BCF"):
And Daniel (also my cousin, Kendra's bro):
And Matt, my brother:
And of course I can't leave myself out of the equation (because I'm an equal opportunity blogger when it comes to poking fun):
Oh, and I have to throw one in of Andrea. Because I know she loves it:
Stand by for set 3. It's coming soon. The photos are already scanned in and waiting to be made fun of. April 15, 2007, 9:39 pm Set 1 of the old photos...
Yeah, there are more to come. And Daniel - don't think you've gotten out of this because I came across a good one of you the other day and it will be in set number two. Oh, and Marci - you don't even know how many great photos I have of you. Oh yeah... good times. April 14, 2007, 2:58 pm I saw this on a blog that I stalk (because I like her scrapbook pages), and I just had to copy it. And since it took me a minute to figure it out, I'm just going to go ahead and explain it to you guys (just in case you are as slow as I am). Go to Google and type in "what *your name here* needs", then copy the list of what comes up and add your comments (I didn't click on any of the links - just copied these sentences direct from the google link descriptions). So funny. Here's mine (and I'd love to see yours) - I'm not making these up; I swear: What Petra needs (according to Google)...
April 14, 2007, 11:22 am Tornadoes, Andy, Bowling, and Keepsakes... Sorry I didn't update on the tornado situation last night. I ended up getting a migraine (which is still there - ugh), and I wasn't interested in getting back on here. But we made it, nothing major happened where we are. We saw a few little tornadoes start to form, but nothing came of them. It was SO cold and windy though. So fun - I love storms. :) It's really windy today, and about 35 degrees colder than it was yesterday. Andy is doing well at BNCOC, although I don't think he's getting much sleep because of the crazy hours they keep (he has to get up at all hours of the night for different types of training and classes). He did awesome on his PFT (physical fitness test) and, of course, he is the master of the land navigation courses. Not to brag about my husband or anything :), but he is an excellent soldier. In his spare time there, he's been hitting the bowling alley (so he can completely crush me when we go bowling when he comes home). We used to go quite a bit when we lived in NC (ten years ago), but I don't think we had been since. Actually, he would completely beat me whether he practiced or not because I SUCK at bowling. But hey, it doesn't mean I don't have fun with my granny-style throws into the gutter! :) I finished going through the shed on Thursday. I had several more Rubbermaid bins to go through and some re-organizing to do. I went through a bunch of bins that held keepsakes, and it's always fun reminiscing (and throwing away the stuff that brings back no memories whatsoever and makes me go "what IS this?!"). The kids were amused to see my old cheerleading uniform (from when I was ten), some of their baby clothes (I kept a few of the outfits that each of them wore that I thought they looked especially cute in), and Brittany can't wait to get her hands on all my old notes and letters from when I was her age. Yeah, I'm thinking she probably doesn't need to see those until she's an adult. No telling what they all say. I haven't sat down and read through any of them in at least a decade. I'm sure they'd be entertaining for her though, especially with all the "I love Well, I am going to try to get some things done while the Excedrin Migraine has at least dulled my headache a bit. I think I'm going to scan some of those older photos in later though, so check back. :) April 13, 2007, 7:39 pm We're about to all gather in the laundry room (it's under the stairs) because tornadoes are forming. Woo hoo. I actually love storms, so it's fun (as long as it doesn't hurt anyone or our house). :) I'll keep you posted. :) April 12, 2007, 9:36pm I meet a lot of different people through my scrapbooking hobby. Online and in person. There are some people whom I've never actually met in person that I feel I've known forever just because of our online scrapbooking interactions. Today, I found out about a fellow scrapbooker, Jen, who is having a major family crisis. Her 12 year old son, Joey, has terminal cancer and has "weeks to months" to live. Tania, an amazing scrapbooker and wonderful person that I know through ScrapSupply (my fave scrap site, which you've heard me mention many times), has set up a donation blog with some details of Jen and Joey at http://benefitforjen.blogspot.com/. If nothing else, please remember this family in your prayers. I cannot imagine what this must be like, but I know several of my reader's have gone through similar situations (and with God's help, come through it defying the doctor's "wisdom"). I just wanted to share. I figure the more people praying for them, the better (the power of prayer is amazing), and if you want to donate to the cause (medical bills, etc.) just click on the link above. Thanks. Happy 65th birthday to my mom today. April 10, 2007, 6:18 pm <--- I started this post last night, but just got around to finishing it, so it's really ---> April 11, 2007, 11:29 am I'm trying to embrace being in my 30's. Really, I am. And the fact that I will be 31 in just 2 1/2 months isn't freaking me out... much. That being said, I was just reading a back issue of Real Simple magazine (I subscribe but sometimes life is too busy to stop and read a magazine, so occasionally, like today, I realize I have one from September 2005 that I never read). Near the beginning of each Real Simple, is a question with answers from the readers. This particular issue asked the question, "If you knew then what you know now, what would you do differently?" That gave me the idea for this post. Now that I'm admitting that I'm 30, here are some... Things I learned in my 20's (many of them in my very late 20's)...
I can't wait to see what my 30's have in store for me, and what valuable life lessons that I will learn. And now for the fun... a photo of me at age 20, and one of me today (ignore the dark puffy eyes, which are a direct result of Jacob being apparently incapable of sleeping through the night). It's actually rare that I post a photo of me without make-up, but I wanted to show the 'real, everyday me' - as a 20 year old, I think I put make-up on to go outside and check the mail! Now, aside from a bit of concealer if I really need it, I only wear make-up if I'm getting dressed up or going on a date with my husband. :)
p.s. I also came across lots of photos of some of my readers from years gone by. Yeah, I'm seriously thinking of taking the time to scan and post them. Because that would be fun (well, maybe not fun for the ones in the photos, but fun for the rest of us). :) April 8, 2007, 2:35 pm HAPPY EASTER! Mat 28:5-7 NKJV - But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. "He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. "And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you." I hope you are all having a good Easter. The kids are outside enjoying what's left of the snow (it was 3 inches when I measured our front yard last night). They were praying it didn't all melt while we were at church and lunch this morning. But there is still plenty left for them to pelt each other with. :) I'm about to hide some eggs inside (because there's no way we're doing the egghunt in the sludge outside) so they can hunt when they come in. I'm sure I'll have lots more photos later. :)
April 7, 2007, 3:31 pm I can't stop... These flowers are finally blooming on the bushes I had planted near our front door last spring. And now they are going to freeze! I hope they live through it! {see photos 2 and 3 below}
April 7, 2007, 3:03 pm Just as I was getting ready to head to the store to pick up some Easter basket items (because I like to wait until the last minute; it's part of my charm), I saw this and decided to wait a little bit (not because I can't drive in it, but because Texans can't drive in it - they go crazy and all drive two miles per hour and still crash into each other):
April 7, 2007, 10:43 am It's snowing... in April... in Central Texas. Yesterday, Brittany got sunburnt (i.e. it was HOT here... I think in the 80's); this morning it hailed (which isn't so strange during tornado season), then rained... and now it's 35 degrees and snowing. Not just flurries, but tons of snow falling from the sky. So weird. We've only seen snow ONCE since we moved to Texas and that was this winter (we did have an ice storm the year before, but I don't remember snow being part of that equation). Has anyone seen The Day After Tomorrow??? April 6, 2007, 1:06 pm About the fence... Okay, so I hope it didn't sound like I didn't tell the neighbors it was me who destroyed their fence; because I told them immediately. There isn't a mark on my van though. The housing maintenance people replaced the fence slats at no charge. They are a different color because they aren't yet weathered like the other slats (to answer Titus' question on the comments page). :) Beauty tips (for females - in case I needed to specify):
Now I have a question for you:
April 5, 2007, 4:14 pm Um...
The above photo is of my neighbor's fence... the three tan slats have recently been replaced... because the old ones mysteriously were broken... when I backed my van into them. April 3, 2007, 8:38 am Creepy... When I got home from taking the kids to school this morning, I found something that was very disconcerting. The kids brought me flowers a few days ago, and I had them in cups of water on the kitchen window sill. Apparently there had been bugs of some sort attached to them because this morning my window sill was covered with what looked to be tiny (inch long) caterpillars or worms of some sort. Eww! Anyone who knows me at all knows that I cannot handle these sorts of creatures. Give me spiders and snakes, but please oh please don't get me near worms or caterpillars. Gross. I'm sure the neighbors considered calling 911 if they heard the squeals as I smooshed the disgusting creatures with Clorox wipes and emptied the cups into the trash can. And of course I took the garbage out right away even though there was still PLENTY of room left in that bag. Because why would I want to chance any of them still being alive and crawling out of the trash?! I still have the heebie jeebies, but my window sill is sparkling clean (along with everything within a 10 foot radius of it... you know, just in case any of them crawled further). Why couldn't I have discovered them while Justice and Jarvis were still home this morning and THEY could have cleaned it up. *shudder shudder* Been thinking on verses like this a lot lately... Proverbs 23:7a - For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Family photo... We managed to all be ready for church a little early this past Sunday morning (a rarity), so we set the tripod up for a photo. The sun was too bright, but the house was too dark - so we opted for too bright. Hey - at least it's a family photo (another rarity). :)
April 2, 2007, 8:20 am I know I've been a bad blogger lately. Honestly, I just haven't been in the mood. Sorry. :) Andy is on his way to GA for school though, so I'll probably have more time to kill on the computer. That most likely means that I'll update more often. For now, I just have nothing to say. I know, I know... shock of all shocks... I have nothing to say. But it's true - I ran out. I'm sure it's shortlived though. I'll be back soon. :) March 28, 2007 Quick update... I haven't been around the internet much this week (I know you all have missed me). :) I have been hopped up on painkillers, which, when they aren't making me drowsy, give me incredible boosts of energy, so I've been getting a LOT done. It's a cycle of pain and headaches, take more medicine, feel drowsy and dizzy when it kicks in, get a couple hours of crazy energy (and use every bit of it - probably overdoing it), feel tired and have to lie down, back to pain and headaches when the meds wear off. I wasn't expecting my mouth to still be in such pain, and I'm really tired of being drugged up. I tried just using regular Tylenol yesterday at one point and Advil at another point, but that didn't work. Hopefully it'll heal quickly and I can get off the drugs and get back to eating normal food (eating is usually such a pleasurable experience for me - this is killing me! LOL). Andy had a dream that I got addicted to pain killers. I told him he doesn't have to worry - I HATE the feeling of being out of your head that drugs give you - ugh - I don't understand how people always want to feel that way. Of course, I do realize that drugs don't affect most people the way they affect me, so there's that. Other than the update on my mouth pain (lol), we have been super busy getting things ready for our move. We have a pre-inspection on the house on Friday morning (when you live in base housing, you have to pass an inspection before you leave), so they'll tell us what all we need to do before the end of May (I'm trying to get everything super clean and organized to distract from the damage that Hannah did to the house when we had her. I figure they'd look for more damage if the house was messy). We also have a bunch of stuff up on ebay and are busy getting more stuff up. I think we put about 22 things on there on Sunday. We did 7-day auctions this time, and the bids are already up to almost $300 buckaroos. Gotta love ebay! Jacob is getting four molars! Two have already come through, and the other two are right there ready to come out. He's been talking more, and is absolutely adorable. The kid smiles constantly. It's so funny. I remember us trying to make the other kids smile, but with him - you just have to look at him and he smiles (I think Jarvis was that way too). I'm soooo glad we had Jacob - he brings me constant joy! :) Andy leaves for Georgia at the beginning of April, so we're trying to get all the things done that he needs to be involved in before he leaves. When he comes home, we'll just have about a week before the packers get here. So that means I have a lot to do by myself while he's gone. Matt - I may be asking you for tips on replacing baseboards (no, I'm not a carpenter!!). :) Okay, well, I'll try to get caught up on everyone else's blogs soon - sorry I have been absent. For now though - I've got to get back to cleaning out the laundry room (break's over). :) March 24, 2007, 11:41 am I survived... I woke up in the middle of the surgery with the doctor totally struggling to get one of my teeth out, and I think I tried to say "I want to be asleep", and I heard the doctor say "we'll get you some more medicine" and that's all I remember. Then apparently I humored Andy with my antics and quips on the way home. And now I am still bleeding, swollen, and in pain... but I'm glad it's OVER. Thank all of you for your prayers! They were MUCH appreciated!! :) March 22, 2007, 6:06 pm The dreaded surgery... Tomorrow is the day. At 9:15 am CST, I have an appointment to get my wisdom teeth sawed, hacked, and ripped from my mouth. Two are deep in the gums and have to be dug out. One is all the way through, but very close to my sinuses. The last is halfway through, touching a nerve, and I've had major problems with it. When deciding between the options of being put to sleep for the surgery or remaining awake during the barbaric ritual, I asked the doctor his opinion. He said this: "I was awake during my surgery, and it was fine. But if I had YOUR teeth, I would definitely be put to sleep." I didn't get the drift that it was because it might put an extra fifty bucks in his pocket either. Nice. So yeah - I will be KNOCKED OUT! Okay, so pray for me. I'm very nervous. Plus, I found out they don't give Perocoset (sp?) out in Texas because of some stupid law that makes it difficult to write the prescriptions, so they'll give me Vicodin. Um, I had Vicodin for my after birth pains when Jacob was born (just fyi, the more children you have the worse the after birth pains are - whew, those were brutal). Anyway - the Vicodin did nothing, nada, nilch. I explained this to the doctor at my consultation and told him "I NEED Percoset!" (basically because that's good stuff to have laying around when you need a good painkiller, and also because I don't want to feel the pain of the surgery). He was like "well, I'll write a prescription for the extra-strength Vicodin; maybe that will work better for you." Yeah thanks buddy. Okay, I'm rambling. I've been dreading this moment for a long while, even though I need it (my wisdom teeth have caused many problems for me). I'll be glad when it's over!!!! Sometime this weekend, I'll let you know if I'm still alive. March 21, 2007, 12:15 pm Allergies... Two nights ago, I decided to make a bunch of breakfast foods for dinner. We had scrambled eggs, bacon, smoked sausage, pancakes, and cinnamon rolls. For some reason unbeknownst to me, I decided to have some of the pancakes. Apparently I'm retarded, because I know they don't agree with me, but they just looked so YUMMY! Anyway, by bedtime, my sinuses were clogged, my face puffy, my eyes itchy and watering, my head throbbing, my circulation poor. Ugh. So I spent all day yesterday with a severe migraine and nausea. I will never eat pancakes again!! I don't know if it's the syrup or an ingredient in the pancakes themselves, but I never had a reaction that bad - usually they just make me really tired and unable to function. I'd really like to get an allergy test to see which foods I'm actually allergic to so I know to just avoid them at all times. One day. Anyway, I'm feeling much better today, but the headache is still slightly lingering and my energy levels haven't quite returned. I'm sure I'll be fine tomorrow. I say all that to tell you this: If you are allergic to pancakes, don't eat them! :) Waste of time... I was checking some blogs this morning, and I found this link on Diana's blog (Andrew's cousin's friend). It's for a game by the M&M candy people where you have to guess the titles of 50 scary movies. There is a photo with plays on the words in the title of each film, such as a group of sheep in earmuffs (can you guess that one?). Anyway, it has consumed way too much of my time today, because once I guessed a few correctly, I couldn't stop. I was able to get 17 of the titles without looking up names of movies, but even after looking up names of movies, I'm only up to 46 out of 50. I just can't get the last four. So click on the link below and see how YOU do. :) http://us.mms.com/us/dark/dark_game.jsp March 19, 2007, 10:23 am Thirteen... the number of days until Andy has to go to Georgia (wah!) Five... the number of emails in my inbox right now (I have SUCH a feeling of accomplishment!) Four... the number of days until I get my wisdom teeth hacked out (yikes!) Zero... the number of candy coated Hershey's kisses that will be left in this bowl if I don't remove it from my reach really soon! March 17, 2007, 3:10 pm I am kind of tired today (I was going like a madwoman the last couple of days, trying to make up for being sick earlier this week), so I decided it was time to go through my email. I'm finding that I never responded to lots of emails (oops) because they were lost in my inbox - if it was you I didn't respond to, please don't take it personally! I really didn't mean to shun you. :) My goal is to get down to ZERO emails in my inbox and to keep up with it on a daily basis so it doesn't spiral out of control again (yeah, like that'll happen). Anyway, I found this email from a friend with the '4 things you might not know about me' survey and everyone knows how I love a good survey. So that is what my blog is going to be today (because it requires no thought from me and I can get back to whittling my inbox down even further, and because I know you love reading this kind of stuff). :) Things you may not have known about me... A) Four jobs I have had in my life: B) Four movies I would watch over and over: C) Four places I have lived: G) Four of my favorite foods: H) Four places I would rather be right now: March 14, 2007, 8:36 pm Thankfully I am feeling MUCH better today and now I am just dealing with lots of draining phlegm (yum!). I have been busy going through kids clothes, getting stuff on ebay, etc. It seems like I get blog ideas all the time, but I never remember a lot of them when I actually sit down to update. Most of the ones I've forgotten were probably brilliant and life-altering deep, but I guess we'll never know unless they wander back into my mind during an update. One blog idea I do remember is making an update of my "things to do before I die" list. The last one I made was in October of 2005 (see link in the archives over there <--- if you are interested). Reading through the old list, I noticed that I hadn't really done many of them, but what peaked my interest was the fact that I have no desire to do a lot of them now. How can I have changed so much in just a year and a half? Ride a motorcycle? Really? Why would I want to do that? Anyway, it's not that I don't still want to do a few of the things I took off the list; they just aren't that important to me anymore. I started to update the list and I whittled it down from 44 to 20, then I found that I really didn't have anything to add. So here is the downsized list (with a few new notes in parenthesis). :) 20 things to do before I die... 1. Figure out a way to make the kids keep their rooms clean (still trying to figure this out) 2. Go skydiving (the older I get, the more this scares me... but I still want to do it) 3. Travel through Europe 4. Get Lasik eye surgery 5. Get really toned and buff, if only for a little while (I really planned on doing this one already) 6. Raise Godly children! 7.Learn how to swing dance 8.Write several books 9.Lay on a beach in the Caribbean 10.Travel across the USA visiting all the dorky sites such as 'the biggest ball of twine' or 'the largest spoon' 11.Take photos of all the places I've lived and make a scrapbook of them *update: I took photos of a lot of them last year... I only have a few houses left* 12.Own a corvette 13.Own my dream house near water and mountains 14.Get better at sending cards and gifts BEFORE the person's birthday/anniversary/new baby/etc. 15.Learn to play the guitar that I've had for six years (uh, make that eight years now) 16.Be the best possible wife, mother, Christian, and friend that I can be 17.Stop procrastinating (I think I've gotten better at this, but there's still lots of room for improvement) 18.Get back into genealogy and trace our family back as far as possible 19.Be completely unselfish (hopefully this is an area of continuous improvement) 20.Manage my time and energy more wisely (again, gotten better, but still need improvement!) March 12, 2007, 1:12 pm I am uploading lots more photos to my kodakgallery right now, so I will send those out once they upload and I add comments. Here are a couple to hold you over. As always, if you don't receive the email with the photo link and want to see them, just let me know. :) *the photo of the capital building is by Joshua Goodling; the other two are by me*
March 12, 2007, 11:22 am It's been a few days ... Josh came down for a few days (from Wednesday to Sunday), and we had a really good time. On Friday we headed to Austin, which was fun. Hopefully Josh didn't get too bored when Andy and I spent a lot of the day on Saturday working on going through the shed. Our goal is to get rid of a ton of stuff before the move. We just accumulate way too much. We did have a big pile of stuff we put on Freecycle on Saturday (and what didn't get taken went to the Goodwill). We finally had to put it all back up and save the rest for another day though. We probably have another two or three full days of working out there before we are done (we have a lot of boxes marked "Keepsakes" and Andy has a lot of military gear to go through - I was going through some of the "keepsake" boxes and was like "What is this?" to quite a few things so obviously they meant a lot to me.) Anyway, Josh headed home after church yesterday, and I think he has decided he needs to fill his house with lots of loud and hyper children - haha! (photos to come later today probably) Andy... Andy taught our Sunday School class yesterday. It's the second time he has taught it (our teacher is out of town so he asked Andy to sub). He'll be teaching next week as well. I think he did an awesome job! He definitely has the teaching gift. Sick... AGAIN... Andrew was sick last weekend with a cold and some flu symptoms. I felt like I was getting it and so I rested all last weekend and thought I was able to ward it off. I had the kids drinking Airborne, and none of them got sick either. Until a couple of days ago. I was going, going, going all week long and so I ended up getting it anyway, and Brittany has it now as well. It's just more annoying than anything else - no energy with lots of congestion and a sore, swollen throat. Bleh. I guess it is that time of year though - seems like we are sick more often during the seasonal changes (from winter to summer here - there isn't a spring - it's already baking hot during the days). Hopefully it won't last long. Thankfully, the kids are on spring break this week so we didn't have to get up early this morning. Countdowns... 75 days until we move away from Texas March 7, 2007, 10:43 am Company... Josh is coming today. He'll be here through Sunday. All the kids but Britt are out of school on Friday (she is in a different district - we had her transferred because we didn't like the middle school in this district), so we are going to let her skip that day. We are going to go to Austin for the day and hit the Science Museum. Hopefully Andy can get off work and go with us. Should be fun. Movies... Andy and I watched World Trade Center the other night, and then we watched CNN's America Remembers, which is about September 11, 2001 (it is very well done in spite of the fact that it is put out by CNN). It's amazing how quickly we forget. Even the liberal media seemed to be all for the War Against Terror then (and even the CNN video was very supportive of Bush), even though they now claim that we never should have even gone to the middle east. Anyway... more on that later. The movie was really good - I recommend it. Speaking of movies, Andy and I got to go on a date the other night, so we went to see Zodiac. I thought it was really well done. It was a little long, but it was good. Thought for the day: Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Eph. 4:31-32 March 5, 2007, 11:55 am I love spring! (thus the theme of the new blog look) :) It's finally been warmer here. We don't really get much of an autumn or spring here in Texas (just goes from super hot to a couple months of cold and rainy to super hot again), but the few weeks of 70-80 degree weather is awesome. I can't wait to move to Washington where it sounds like the entire summer feels like spring! The countdown has begun and we are scheduled to officially be out of the armpit of Texas in less than twelve weeks. mystery odors... For anyone who has kids and/or pets, you know what I mean when I say "mystery odor". I actually know what the smell coming from the trash can is this time (and it's my fault - not the kids or the cat - I used some Goof Off to get some adhesive off something and then threw the paint thinner smelling paper towel in the trashcan so now I get a whiff of it every time I throw something away... I'm planning to take out the trash in a minute - just fyi), but sometimes I will smell something for weeks before I finally figure out what it is. These odors are usually lingering around the kids' bathroom or one of their bedrooms. I would even narrow it down to boys instead of kids, because the mystery odors don't usually result from where Brittany has been - but Darby is often the source of one of these odor enigmas. One of my favorite times was when we had a weird smell accompanied by swarms of moths and fruit flies. We lived in Springfield, TN, in a small apartment, and I could not for the life of me figure it out. At first I thought moths were just coming in from outside (there was like a plague of them outdoors that season) and I thought I had brought the fruit flies in on some produce from the grocery store. But weeks went by and I had cleaned every nook and cranny of the kitchen and dining room (where the bugs were found most often... although some of them flew around the rest of the house as well), but the scent still lingered. I constantly had a case of the heebie jeebies, as I do NOT deal well with bugs inside my home. I felt like such white trash. Then one day, Andrew discovered the source of the problem. We have an old table (it was Andy's grandparents) which is round with a large central base. The inside of the base is hollow. Andy pulled the table apart for some reason (it pulls apart in the middle so you can add a leaf... which we didn't have the leaf so I never pulled it apart except when we were moving). Inside the hollow base of the table, which is about three feet deep, it was more than halfway filled with food. Justice (who was around four years old at the time; he might have been five) had been stashing his leftovers in there so it would look as though he had finished his meals. There were sandwich crusts, pizza crusts, cereal, parts of pop tarts, peas... you name it... inside the table. I never looked because Andy was nice enough to warn me to stay away. Amongst all the uneaten and molding food was moth larvae. Tons of maggotty-like wormy creatures wiggling around in stale bread heaven. No wonder it stunk and I couldn't get rid of the bugs!!! As part of his punishment, Justice had to help Andy get it all cleaned out (I shudder just thinking about it). Anyway, that's my disgusting story for the day. The older my kids get, the fewer mystery smells linger around them. But Jacob is only one, and Darby is only five... even Jarvis, who just turned eight, still produces disgusting-ness from time to time. Oh, and speaking of odors... our seemingly awesome cat has started to spray. Ugh. It all started the DAY of my Pampered Chef party. I came home from getting the kids from school and the whole house smelled like cat urine. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! We tried to mask the odor for the party, but by the end of the night, people were starting to notice. Yeah... I doubt that animal will be making the trip to Washington with us. We love animals conditionally... they have to be GOOD or they are GONE . When they start becoming more trouble than they're worth, something must be done. For now, the cat HAS to be outside if we leave the house, but along with it's spraying issues, it has started whining a lot. I don't know what the story is - we thought we had a good one there. It may have to do with the fact that all the female cats in the neighborhood are in heat (spring, remember?). I guess we could get him fixed, but I hate spending that much money on an animal that we might not even keep (another reason for finding a new home for him is that we made the trip to Fort Hood with a cat - that thing was stuck in the van and/or a hotel room for ten days and when we finally got the house - it escaped never to be seen again - it was like "yeah... I'm done with you people - I do NOT want to move again!"). Okay... story time is over; get back to work. :-) March 4, 2007 HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY TO MATT!!!! and HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY TO GRANDMA!!!! March 2, 2007, 10:59 am this and that... How is it March already? I guess I need to update the blog design, huh? :) I don't have too much to say (believe it or not). We've been getting things done to facilitate the planning of our move (dates are now set for the movers to come - end of May). We have a to do list a mile long, but we are really excited about moving to Washington! Andy is sick :( but Jacob is starting to feel better :). I have a date for getting my wisdom teeth hacked out - March 23rd. I opted for the being-put-to-sleep option. Yeah, I can't handle being awake for it. I've rediscovered Buddy Holly - pulled the CD out of the archives. I may go back and look through more CDs and try some others that I haven't listened to in years because I'm really enjoying songs like "Everyday" and "Peggy Sue". Although I will add that upon further study of the CD jacket... Buddy Holly was really weird looking. I'm just saying.
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