Julie's Incredibly Spellbinding Blog

Completion of Tasks

2009-08-08T20:59:00.007-04:00

My life is becoming about completion these days. We have so many tasks around the house that haven't quite been completed. It's been driving me nuts for many years, but today I decided to have Eric help me do something about it.

We finished two strips of siding from above the garage door that have been missing for about 5 years. The reason we didn't get it done in the first place is because it's about 14 feet in the air and we didn't have a tall enough ladder. So we got it done today with two tall enough ladders.

We went snake-hunting under our house and found 3 snake skins...all larger than the snake we found in the house on Tuesday evening. Yes--that's right....snake in the HOUSE. It was watching TV with us for who-knows-how-long. Then Eric was standing in the living room and looked up toward the front window and said, "Oh, look! A lizard!" I turned to look and thought to myself, "That's not a lizard's head." Then Eric looked a little closer and said, "Wait a minute. That doesn't look like a lizard." As it turns out, it wasn't. It was a little corn snake or some such thing.

He managed to catch it before I lost my mind completely and released it across the street. (The snake--not my mind.) I asked him to look under the house for a pit of venomous vipers (a la Indiana Jones) before he left for work the next morning. That didn't get done and didn't get done, so I sent him under the house today, whereupon he hung two halogen lights from the floor joists, so now we can actually just turn on the lights and do a spot check for venomous vipers or any other critters in the future. He's so handy. (Wish he'd hung them about 8 years ago when I was 7 months pregnant slogging through ankle-deep water that was under the house for some reason which I cannot now remember.)

I also hung the 50 lb. heavy bag that I got last Christmas for Ethan to vent his frustrations. He told me yesterday that since school was starting soon we needed to actually hang it up so he could use it. Sad but true. (Fact of the matter is that I got it for me as much as for him. We hung it a a great height for punching for him and kicking for me.) So we got that done. Not looking forward to feeling like using it, but I'll be glad it's there when that time comes.

I hung up a couple of our fishing rods. I need to get some more clips to hold the rest of them. (And I need to get a pink fishing pole for Rachael. She NEEDS a princess fishing rod, don't you know. Have you ever seen a princess fish? I don't think it happens in real life.

What else did we get done? Eric went through an entire tube of caulk to seal up between the siding the trim on the garage. That will be helpful when the next hurricane comes. Ethan coiled a rope. Twice, actually. His sister got ahold of it in between. I hung a pulley contraption that hangs a bicycle from the ceiling. Love it.

This has nothing to do with finishing anything (except dinner), but we had dinner in the dining room on our fine china tonight for absolutely no reason. That was nice, except Ethan was missing. He's spending tonight at our neighbor's house. (Last-minute thing.) We had talapia with white wine and tomatoes, rice, canteloupe, watermelon, and sweet tea. (The kids drank their tea from our china tea cups. It was really sweet.)

The things that went unfinished today:

* Cutting up the pine tree that fell from our neighbor's yard into our yard. I think I have to leave this to Eric because I haven't run a chain saw before. (One of the few pieces of power equipment I haven't tackled....I don't know....maybe I'll try to learn.)

* Painting the front porch rails that I hired one of our neighbors to build. We already primed them, though, so it's hard to get motivated to paint them white. There will be no visible difference.

* Putting more blocks in our retaining wall. It's only one layer high right now and that layer keeps getting covered over with dirt, so you can't tell they're there. We're adding more blocks as we have time/money/inclination. So far it's only about 25 blocks long. It needs to be about 32 blocks long, so we'll need about 240 more blocks. I think we have 15 to add to it right now. It's going to be a long process. (I started this project about 4 years ago, I think.)

One other thing that got done...getting a picture of my daughter in a dress that was made for my grandmother. (Sorry...I don't have the patience to figure out how to flip this picture so it's up and down. Just don't have it in my right now. Bigger fish to fry.)

It has a flag motif because my Grandma was born on the 4th of July. I think she received it for her 2nd birthday. My daughter is now 3-1/2 (and a tall 3-1/2 at that), so it fits more like a shirt, but we have a picture of my Grandmother in the dress and now a picture of my daughter in the same dress. I only let her wear it for about 2 minutes, because I was so nervous that she'd rip it or something. I think that with the 2 pix and the dress itself, it will make a nice shadowbox keepsake for my girly.

And the final accomplishment of late...we made travel arrangements to Illinois to lay my grandmother to rest. She passed away this past Valentine's day at the age of 86. I love her so much and will forever treasure the woman she was in my life. I am so grateful that God made her my Grandma. I miss her laugh and her humble way. She taught me so much just by living rightly.

Sorry to end on such a somber note, but that's life. I'm done writing because I'm going to go spend time with my family.

Priceless....

2009-04-21T21:48:00.003-04:00

It's just been a priceless day from beginning to end.

First, I got the boys ready for school in time to catch the bus so that I could be on time for Bible Study, but I decided to skip the bus and take them to school, thus making myself late for Bible Study. What's important enough to run late for? Giving each of my children a turn on the newly-hung tire swing. We just finished hanging it on Sunday. It is strung off a limb that's about 30-35 feet up in the air, so it has some SERIOUS SWING to it. (I don't want to tell you what I had to pay for that much rope.) It's a lot of fun, though. Totally worth it already and it's only been up for two days. I'll have to post pix later. (Camera's in the van right now.)

Second, I called Eric for an impromptu lunch date and he accepted so I told him I'd pick him up from the office in 10 minutes. I pull up into the circle drive, but he didn't notice me until I got out of the vehicle and called his name. "Why?" you ask? Because I wasn't in my usual vehicle. I was driving a jet black 3.0L Jaguar. I asked him if he wanted to drive. He said, "Where did this come from?" "Your mid-life crisis," I responded. So he drove us to lunch in Brandon at our favorite BBQ joint. I had to get and extra 1/2 lb. of BBQ beef to go as a "Thank You" for my mother and her new husband for letting me borrow their new car. But it was fun watching Eric enjoying a car that goes really, really fast. (I didn't tell him where it really came from until the ride back to the office.)

Thirdly (as recently posted on Facebook), Rachael decided to try out random phonemes tonight. She started with the first sound that's in 'flower' and the last part of the word 'duck' and gave a rather emphatic and breathy rendition of a word that no three-year-old should ever say. Eric whirled around on his heal, about to admonish her when he realized that she didn't know that word and thought better of bringing it to her attention. It was so hilarious I had to sit down to laugh. Mostly because I already had to pee and also because my glutes are really sore from laying a LOT of flooring at my mom's new rental property yesterday.

What a great day! I LOVE TUESDAYS!

God Bless You today!

Pix

2009-02-13T21:25:00.004-05:00

Just a quick update with some pix, as requested.

The problem is that I know what's going on in my life, so I don't assume anyone else cares to know. I figure you guys should be wrapped up in your own lives! I sure am in mine!

Working on putting new trucks on Ethan's skateboard.

This is Eric with a tiger above his head. It's a new exhibit at Busch Gardens called Jungala. You can poke your head up INTO the lion habitat. Crazy cool.

My beautiful girlie-girl!

The boys both won a medal at their Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts. Whoo-hoo!

Back into the Swing

2008-09-08T13:11:00.008-04:00

Well, it's the Monday before Bible Study starts again. Nose to the grindstone, pedal to the metal! It's going to be a wild ride! We have Cub Scout round-up on Tuesday evening, church on Wednesday evening, Open House at school on Thursday evening. I'm sorry....when are we supposed to do homework and EAT?! (The boys don't get off the bus until 4:30.) Life as a parent is not what we thought it was when we were children, that's for sure!

So I thought I'd put up a few pictues of my precious kids because they're so doggone cute.

They're looking at a lizard's tail that got dismembered as Ethan and I were trying to catch it to take it outside. He was just a little bitty baby lizard.

Rachael is playing dentist with Ethan.

Ethan made dinner for us on Labor Day weekend because Eric and I were in the garage all day long trying to install a pedestrian door. Finally at around 8:30, Ethan decided he was hungry enough to do something about it and made dinner for the whole family. What a guy!

There's no two ways about it. Seth is just silly.

Brace Face

2008-08-26T21:12:00.002-04:00

Got a request over the weekend to put up a photo of Ethan with his braces. Here's one with his brother on the airplane headed for Maine. It was two days after he got them on. He was still in a bit of pain, but he dealt with it with only minimal whining, which I was grateful for.

Summer's Here!

2008-06-09T18:45:00.005-04:00

Well, what an exciting summer we have planned! As with last summer, it hadn't even started before it was all booked up. We have a few breathing days (one of which is today), but not much. It should be pretty happy, though.

We started off with Eric's 38th birthday on June 1. It was lovely. We went to a Tampa Yankees game (professional, but not Major League). It was a fun time. We invited his parents along and it was just a beautiful (albeit hot) afternoon. One of his Youth, Joey, was baptized that day, too. Nice present for a relatively fresh Youth Guy.

Let's see...after that, the boys had their last day of school (Kindergarten and Third Grade) on June 4. Yay! Ethan is all As and Bs and Seth is doing fine, except his report card says he needs improvement in writing, which he does. Actually, he does just fine with writing when he can sit still and stay focused long enough to put something down on paper, but he rarely does that. And when I say 'rarely', I mean about twice a year. Suffice it to say that we're ALL glad school is finished for a while.

On Friday and Saturday, Eric ran sound and I coordinated a wedding for the daughter of a lady who goes to our chuch. It was a lovely affair and went off rather smoothly (for a wedding). They're a good couple and I hope they stay married forever! This wedding is the reason that our camping trip in my May 9 post didn't come to fruition. I had forgotten about the wedding that had been planned months earlier. Sort of felt compelled to keep my prior commitment.

On Sunday after church, we went bowling with the Cub Scout Pack at PinChasers in Zephyrhills. Rachael smoked us all. She didn't like the bowling so much, so I rolled the 6-lb. ball with her in my other arm for most of her frames. Oddly enough, I managed to beat myself empty-handed. Haven't quite figured how that works.

So this weeks starts my three weeks of standing in for our Children's Pastor on Wednesday evenings. But the cool thing is that on Thursday, June 19th, our family is leaving for a long weekend at Melbourne Beach. It's on the Atlantic coast not too far from the Space Center. I'm so excited. We got a great hotwire price on the Hilton there.

Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait! This is our official Family Vacation for the year because even though the kids and I are going to Maine in July, Erc won't be going with us because he has Youth Camp with the kids from the church. We're all really looking forward to it! Except Rachael. She doesn't know about it yet. But I'm excited enough for the both of us!

After we get back from the beach, we have less than a week before Camp Extreme, Part One starts. This is a lot of work, but it's fun. I'm helpin to cook for several dozen children and about a dozen volunteers and then running the craft cabana for all of the children. There just aren't words to describe how a woman feels after several straight days where a full hour each day is given to "Miss Julie, Miss Julie, Miss Julie, Miss Julie, Miss Julie, MISS JULIE". It's absolutely endearing and makes me so happy each and every year that I'm not the full-time mother of SIXTY!

Then there'll be Fourth of July. This is where I'm really going to miss my BFF who abandoned me last week. We always met up at the Lutz parade and usually spent the rest of the day together until fireworks were over in Temple Terrace at about 10:00. So our plan this year is to continue the Lutz parade tradition without them and go over to my Grandma's to celebrate her 86th birthday and maybe go up to Dade City to watch their fireworks.

Then we have four days to get ready and pack up for Maine. I have to figure out how to travel alone with a busy 2-year-old, a challenging 6-year-old, and a compliant 9-year-old. (Poor Ethan.) We have to leave the house at 5:00 in the morning. This is not funny to me. I anticipate lots of complaining and lots of audible whining. And I can't imagine how much worse the kids will be than I!

But the good news is that my Mom got me a kayak on a yard sale up there, so part of our plans will include water. I'm really excited to have fun, but I'm really anticipating that I'll miss Eric a lot!

So then we get back on the 22nd of July. Five days to mentally (and otherwise) prepare for Camp Extreme, Part Two. More cooking. More crafting. More fun. Then we have about two-and-a-half weeks until school and Bible Study start back up and summer will be a beautiful memory of time well-spent.

Since you've stuck wih me this far, I'll reward you with some bonus pictures of my cruise back in April.

Good-bye, Good-bye, Good-bye

2008-05-31T16:20:00.003-04:00

Two posts in one month! Man, I'm on top of things.

It was a week filled with Good-byes. Sunday, we had our best friends, Randy and Twila over for lunch and then their daughter and her family joined up with us for dinner. We had Twila's favorite for lunch: roast and potatoes (and all the trimmings) and dinner was my favorite, cheese fondue with white chocolate amaretto fondue for dessert. This was our big "last hurrah" at Eric and Julie's. I bawled when they left. (I'm such a baby.) But my bawling was cut short when RC ran his truck off the driveway. We really need to get some reflectors so that people stop doing that.

Monday we went to take some left-over fondue yummies over to Gradma's and shared a Memorial Day dinner with her and my Aunt Marlene. It was lovely, but while I was fixing dinner, I saw on the news where the husband of a friend of mine was found dead the previous morning. What do you do about that?! The first thing you want to do is call and check on her, but then reality sets in that she wouldn't want yet another phone call. So I just prayed for her a lot. My friend is now left to raise three boys on her own. The oldest is 13 years old and is severely handicapped. She's going to continue needing prayer. Her name is Lisa, if you'd like to pray for her.

Tuesday, Ethan moved on to Webelos in scouting and we said our last good-bye to his den leader and her family. They are moving to Knoxville soon and that was probably the last we'll see of them. They are such a nice, sweet family. Liked them a lot.

Friday, I woke up and went to Twila's to help her load the truck. Worked my tail off for 11-1/2 hours. Packed that truck up tight! Then said good-bye again at about 10:15 last night. Bawled half the way home. (I'm such a baby.)

So now it's Saturday and what are we doing? The boys are having one last play date with some friends who are moving to Montana next week. Then we're going to take them back to their house where they're having a reception for some friends to say a big good-bye to everyone.

This is all on top of the fact that Ethan and Seth's school is splitting next year and just less than half the school is going to be there next year, so they'll be losing a lot of friends to that. (Well, Ethan will....Seth's not much on the friend thing yet.)

But we're all still together and busy as ever. We have each other. Life is good!

Three Months is a L-O-N-G T-I-M-E!

2008-05-09T15:43:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted in over three months and so much has happened.

Shortly after my last post, on February 19th, I held my mother in the Zephyrhill's Hospital ER as a kind doctor with a good bit of an accent told her that my step-dad hadn't survived an apparent heart attack at their home. It wasn't for a lack of effort. Apparently, the EMTs worked pretty hard to get him back. My mother had tried CPR prior to their arrival, but God's timing was apparent to us and we have been comforted by the knowledge that He knows better than we do.

We held a memorial service (of sorts) for him a couple of nights later at a Japanese Steakhouse in New Tampa called Kado. It was a lovely time. That was all the memorial service he wanted. It was really good for my mother not to have to endure a traditional service. It's hard enough to get through those things, but it's nigh unto unbearable when you're not a people-person anyway.

It has been quite a time getting used to the fact that I won't see him again. I can't imagine the road my mother is on. They were married for 28 years and she had been his primary caregiver for about the last 12 years, since his heart attack at age 50. So, all at the same time, she lost her best friend and someone who depended on her daily. She has had time to adjust to the fact that they probably wouldn't "grow old" together, but there is just nothing that can prepare you for the emotional and psychological implications of losing someone so close to you.

So Mom packed up and left for Maine on May 1, as is her custom. She was talking about us flying up there to visit this summer, which I would love, but the airfare is looking quite steep, so she'll probably be coming back down for a visit at some point. She's leaving for Alaska to stay with my brother and his family for a while in October. I'm a little jealous of that, but one day I'll get up to Anchorage for a visit and a little tourism.

I found out this week that I'm sort of 'standing in' for our Children's Pastor when he goes on vacation in June FOR THREE WEEKS. Only on Wednesday evenings. My preschool duties preclude me from being able to work with K-6 on Sunday mornings, so I get the easy shift, at least. I don't know what they're going to do on Sunday mornings. But he's only missing two of those, I think.

Rachael turned 2 and Seth turned 6 in April. Ethan becomes a Webelo Scout at the end of the month. He is 9. Time is flying! Flying! Just flying! Rachael had a lovely birthday party at home on a Sunday afternoon. We kinda did it a little backwards because it started at 3:00 (I think), so we had cake and ice cream first and the presents. Then those who wanted/needed to leave left and everyone else stayed for a lasagna dinner. It was lovely.

Seth had a party thrown together at the last minute. We ended up going to Chuck E. Cheese and playing around on a Tuesday (school) night. It was easy and fun and we were done. Since his birthday was actually on a Wednesday, we gathered all the kids around at church and they sang "Happy Birthday" to him. I think that might have been the high-light of his birthday. You should have seen his face light up! He was so cute!

My Bible Study finished up yesterday. We're starting to plan for next year and get the children's crafts together. We don't have a host church for next year yet, but we're praying that God will show us the place He has prepared in His perfect timing while not allowing us to freak out too much with our necessarily limited vision. We're studying Luke next year. I like him. We studied Acts a couple of years ago and it was good. (Luke is generally accepted to have written much of Acts.)

Eric became a Manager (officially) at Verizon a couple of months ago. I think it was in February. We celebrated by going off for a lovely weekend at the beach ALONE together. Then on the following weekend, we took the kids with us to Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Both trips were absolutely perfect with lots of great memories!

Thanks to the help of my friend Namon, we got the garage clean enough to park our van in it. It looks like an actual garage that a real person would claim now. The plan is to have a yard sale once school is out. I hope that actually happens because I have lot to get rid of.

My BFF Twila is planning on moving to Texas at the beginning of June and I'm going to be bummed, but God is smart and has me busy all summer long so I can't stew in my sorrow like I'd like to. Well, nix that. I don't know if I'd really like that. But I would like to be a tad less busy. But I guess if I *really* wanted to be a tad less busy, I would be. Oh well....all this work with children is supposed to keep me young.

Here's the basic plan:
Kids out of school June 4
Leave for North Georgia Camping trip June 5-9
Summer Camp for K-6th grade at our church - Week 1 - June 30-July 3
Fourth of July (and my Grandma's 86th Birthday)
Youth Camp with Eric's kids from church (about 15 of them) July 14-18
Summer Camp for K-6th grade at our church - Week 2 - July 28-August 1

I think that gives me two full weeks in June and a couple of days in July to pretend I'm a stay-at-home mother of three. But I'm sure something will come up.

Every now and again....

2008-02-02T21:32:00.000-05:00

You need a week like this to remind you of how good life is. It's been a rough week. There was a young man, eighteen years old, named Chris Sacca who died this past Wednesday in a motorcycle accident right outside Lake Magdalene Methodist Church on Fletcher Avenue. A 78-year-old man driving with his wife pulled an illegal U-turn in front of him. He ran into the back of them and that was the end of the world for Chris.

Lots of questions for God and lots of amazement at His infinite wisdom. The biggest question is, "Why can't we know when those around us are going to go?" and the most amazing answer...."Because then you'd all be living in fear and anger and determination and you'd spend all your time being so stressed about the end that you couldn't enjoy the journey." And so the only answer for how to get humans to enjoy life....don't tell them when it's over. It's so painfully simple, but I have to say that if I were in the Creator's seat, I never would have thought of it.

But still, I wonder....and I will continue, just like every human that has gone before me and every one that will follow. I'm feeling very Ecclesiastes right now. Very.

I can't imagine what it feels like to have raised a child and then the minute he starts to spread his wings to fly from the nest, he's shot down out of the sky. So what was the purpose of the last eighteen years for Katie and Terry, his parents? To laugh and cry and learn....but why? To fill time? To teach them something? To bring them to the point of having to make a decision for or against Christ? It seems a bit extreme to me to pluck someone's son away when you could just go another route to that destination. I just don't get it. And I suppose God doesn't blame me for not getting it. I'm not privy to the Big Picture.

And another thing that upsets me is that tomorrow is the Super Bowl and there's not much Katie enjoyed more than wrapping up in her football blanket and watching the Super Bowl at church and now that will forever be lost for her because every year when the Super Bowl rolls around, it will always remind her of the day before she buried her son in the ground. I doubt she'll be there tomorrow, but even if she's not, she'll always remember why she didn't watch the 2008 Super Bowl.

So anyway....that's where my mind has been much of the week (since Wednesday evening, anyway). It's not a good place, but I think it's necessary. For a little while, anyway.

On with my life, since I am so fortunate....

Ethan finally learned to ride his bicycle this week! He's nine, for cryin' out loud! He started trying last week after his friend Andrew rode over on his bike. So Monday he started trying in earnest. I assured him that one time he'd just take off and be totally surprised by it. He was so funny...on Tuesday, he came inside literally next to tears and said, "It's no use! I'll NEVER learn to ride my bike! I've been trying for over 15 minutes and I just keep falling off! I'll NEVER learn to ride it!" Very upset, indeed! Two days later, he took off and was totally surprised by it. By the time Dad got home, he was riding like a pro....almost. Friday, by the time Dad got home, he was riding back and forth on the driveway turning really tight turns so he wouldn't have to stop. (The driveway is only 12 feet wide.) Friday evening he went on his first real bike ride with Dad. Today, he went on another one. He loves it! We've been trying to convince him to ride without training wheels since he was six!

Seth is in the process of being diagnosed with ADHD (we think). The doctor wants me to pursue behavior modification through a psychiatrist, but hasn't responded to my request for him to recommend one (or more) from our list from the insurance company. I get to follow up on that next week. Our sweet middlest is giving us all sorts of challenges in the area of discipline, decorating the walls with various writing implements, aiming straight for the toilet, and nose-picking. He's the one to rely on if you want a yellow or red report from school (instead of green). He's very sweet, though, and enjoys staying home over going just about anywhere. At least he's easy to please.

Rachael is learning more words every day. She's not as easy to understand as Ethan was...you sort of have to know her language, but she says probably about 50 different words. We were right that when she started talking she wouldn't shut up. She doesn't eat well, preferring cookies and peppermint balls over anything and everything. She's 22 months old this week.

Eric is in the process of being promoted to Tech Manager in the Information Security organization at Verizon. We're hoping that a good pay increase will go along with that, but we don't know yet. (Who fills out a job application without knowing the salary level?!) Anyway.... He's still working with youth at church and will be for the foreseeable future. He's pretty confident of his calling, even if it was a surprise to all who knew him as much as it was a surprise to himself. (Except God, that is....see Jeremiah 29:11.)

Me...I'm just Mom....and wife....and Preschool Coordinator....and Children's Teacher.....and the Cookie Lady.....and the Wedding Coordinator.....I think I'll just leave it there so that you can wonder what fills my time so much that I never blog. But I'm glad to say I didn't make it a New Year's Resolution to blog more. Because I knew I wouldn't.

God bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you! (I got that from my mom.)

Is it 2008 already?!

2008-01-14T20:20:00.000-05:00

It's nigh unto half-way through January and I still can't figure out how it got to be 2008. As far as I'm concerned, we need to go back and re-play Christmas! It was a weird bunch of holidays in my estimation.

We did the same things we always do for the most part....Christmas Eve service at church (our family lit the Christ Candle on the advent wreath and I'm still wondering if anyone got a picture of it) and then we went to Eric's parents' for our tradition...cheese and crackers, bean soup, cuban sandwiches, deviled crab(yuck), and stuffed potatoes (a very Cuban twist on Christmas...we are in Tampa, after all). Then on Christmas Day, we opened presents at home, went to Erics' parents and opened presents, then stopped in to have Christmas with my Grandma Reese and Aunt Marlene. We were back home before 9, which was lovely.

So then our annual New Year's Party was a bust on so many levels. The night before, we had a couple of friend's of the boys' over for the night and so I'm at home with 5 children and my step-dad calls to see if I can pick my mom up in Orlando. She was on her way home from visiting my brother in Alaska and he felt too puny to go get her from the airport. So I dropped off four of the kids with the mother of the other boys and Rachael and I headed off for Orlando. Gram's flight was somewhere around 1 hour late getting in and then I messed up trying to navigate a strange city after dark while talking to Eric on the cell phone. I ended up on a toll road (not difficult to do in Orlando) and we stopped for dinner at an Applebee's where they were seating too many tables in the section where we were seated. Our poor waitress was doing a fantastic job of staying afloat, but she was still overworked. So that took a while. Fortunately, we had already made plans not to have our annual bonfire because the weather was far too warm, so we moved venues to Randy and Twila's house. Good thing! By the time I got my mom dropped off in Zephyrhills and got back to Tampa, it was 20 minutes till eleven. So I had a some drink or other (whatever Randy handed me....I don't remember) and we rang in the New Year with Dick (Clark). Kissed all my kids, kissed my honey, it was lovely. Slept in the next day and didn't even go to the New Year's Party at Claude and Dawn's house. Don't remember why we bowed out of that one.

So here it is two weeks later and I feel like the holidays didn't really happen. Maybe it's because the tree was only decorated on about the top 2-1/2 feet. (Rachael and Seth pulled off all the low ornaments.) Maybe it's because I couldn't put presents under the tree because they all came to be unwrapped in very short order. (Rachael figured it out in no time flat.) Maybe it's because it was regularly 90 degrees in the weeks leading up to and including the holidays. It just didn't seem holiday-ish to me this year. Very strange. Very annoying. It wasn't that I was unhappy or overwhelmed or stressed. It just didn't seem holiday-ish. Perhaps it's the economy, stupid. Maybe it's because we weren't funded for all sorts of fun and exciting presents this year. (The boys only got four things from Mom and Dad beside their Santa stuff (which wasn't a whole lot).

But the cool thing came this past Saturday. We finally got to do Christmas with my family. My parents got the kids a Wii! It's so cool! We all love it! Eric and I also got two of those digital picture frames. They're neat. But the Wii takes the cake! I like it a lot! Heck with the boys...I don't know if I'l let them play it!

So anyhow...life goes on...I forgot to post that the Saturday (or the Sunday?) after Thanksgiving, Randy and Twila told us that they would be moving back to Texas to pursue a business opportunity that was just too good not to go after. So I'm sad about that.

I directed the Children's Musical at church called "Cookin' Up Christmas" and it was so much of a success I just can't tell you. Well, I could, but it would take a long time and it's time to chase the young'uns to bed so it'll have to be another post.

And that reminds me...many friends I know have made resolutions to post more in 2008. I will not make that resolution because it will be broken very shortly. I generally don't make new year resolutions. I figure that if something is important enough to change that I need to change it right away and not wait for January 1st. I'm also not one to say, "That's something I'll do when the children are grown," or "I'll get to that when I'm not quite so busy." The fact of the matter is that I'll either be a lazy slob when the children are grown or I'll be just as busy as I am these days, which means there'll never be a time when I'm not so busy!

I have no resolutions except that I will proofread my postings as long as I'm not writing them right before I should be putting the kids to bed.

So I hope there aren't too many errors and that you at least get the gyst of what I'm trying to say, but, oh well, I've gotta go be the heavy!

Much love,
Julie

Do Eyes Get Any Blue-er Than This?

2007-12-18T10:40:00.001-05:00

Double-click the picture to blow it up and check out my little angel-eyes.

Retrospective on Summer

2007-08-30T20:44:00.001-04:00

It went almost exactly as I said in my June 14 post. I added a few miscellaneous things (playdates for the kids, trips to Busch Gardens, etc.) here and there. And the lawnmower broke, so we've been relying on the kindness of others to loan us their lawnmowers so that our yard doesn't look like a jungle. And Grandma came to stay for three weeks. She's 85 and my aunt (whom she normally lives with) went on a trip in her RV, so Grandma came to stay with us. It was a blessed and enjoyable time. She just left yesterday and I miss her already!

Yes, it was a busy and wonderful summer. I wouldn't want every summer of my life to be this busy, but it was a good busy for the most part. Except the Haitian wedding I coordinated on July 21. (I may just have to blog about that next just to cleanse my system from the experience.)

Beautiful Children

2007-06-14T17:27:00.000-04:00

Aren't they lovely?

I have to say that going to the Picture People is typically a horrible experience. But if you gather up the kids and decide you're going to schlep them around the mall for the better part of a day, it's not so bad. It's all about expectations. And you do have to train your children not to act like mongrels....Apprently, the people with whom I shared a Picture People experience yesterday forgot the part where you're supposed to train your children NOT to act like yard apes while they're at the mall. Now, I don't want to sit here and say that my chilren are tremendously behaved all the time. But for pete's sake, they have at least been trained to obey and show some respect.

What I mean to say is this: The experience at The Picture People is usually sub-standard, but the pictures that come from it are usually terrific. And since I'm only going to have pictures and memories once they grow up, I'm willing to pay the dues it takes to have the cutest pictures possible. Oh - speaking of paying dues- if you get a 20% off coupon for the Picture People and you aren't going to use it...give it to me!

Summer's Over

2007-06-14T16:49:00.001-04:00

I realize it hasn't officially begun yet, but my entire summer is spoken for already. Very little rest for me until sometime in August.

Friday I have a wedding rehearsal to coordinate. Saturday is the wedding. Sunday is Father's Day. Monday begins two weeks of Camp Extreme, which is our church's answer to Vacation Bible School. Unlike VBS which runs for one week (or less), Camp Extreme runs for two weeks. Unlike VBS which runs for three hours in the morning, Camp Extreme runs from 9:30 (or earlier) until 3:30 (or 4:30, depending on when the last parent shows up--and I wish I were joking about this). Unlike VBS, where there is an adult teacher for every age group, there are about four adults to supervise about 75 kids. Our beloved youth group supplies the rest of the 'mature' volunteer base. It's going to be rather intensive to say the least. Our Children's Pastor usually takes a week off to recuperate when it's over. (He's in his mid-sixties, though! I'd say he's entitled!)

Then comes 4th of July. The next day I have to help decorate the church for a wedding. Then a wedding rehearsal the following day and a wedding on the 7th. I will have few days available to mow the lawn (1+ acre) and do a month's worth of laundry for a family of five, clean the house and replenish the pantry before my father comes to visit from Colorado for two weeks. He's actually staying with my brother, but there will be a lot of fishing, Busch Gardens, Lowry Park Zoo, more fishing, and some other memory-making activities to keep up busy. During the time he's in town, Eric will be off to camp with our church's Youth Group for five days. The day he returns, he gets to run sound for a wedding rehearsal I have to coordinate. Next day--you guessed it--a wedding...for a Haitian couple who is getting married at our church whom I've never met before. Another Friday and Saturday shot to heck!

My dad will go home the last weekend in July. I think I'll do some more laundry and mow the lawn again. Then we'll begin August. Two weeks of nothing planned except our usual busy life. I can deal with usual busy. This crazy busy has got to STOP! Then I have one last wedding for the summer the third weekend in August. Then the boys start school and I can perhaps gather my thoughts a little more often than the three minutes each day that I get to take a potty break (when I'm lucky).

I write all this to say: 1) I won't be posting much over the next two months; 2) If my kids are wearing dirty clothes, you'll at least know why; 3) If I seem a little distracted, I AM! 4) If you drive by my house and my lawn looks like I'm trying to go into the hay-baling business, I'm not. Although, that's not a bad idea! It would be a great excuse not to mow!

What strikes me most about this, though, is that very little of this has to do with the fact that I have three children. I thought it was the kids who were supposed to keep me busy, not the other way around!

That which does not kill me....... drives me insane!

Miss Adventure

2007-05-22T21:39:00.001-04:00

Eric and I have taken to calling our youngest "Miss Adventure." (Or is that misadventure?)

The other day she climbed up onto the back of the sofa and onto the 4" wide window ledge behind it. When I found her, she was standing on the window ledge, pressed up against the window with her arms out wide like Spiderman. Except she was licking the glass. There was a line of spit that stretched from her mouth to about where her bellybutton touched the glass. So when she decided it was time to retreat, she took a step back onto the couch. Then she put her little foot back behind her and realized that there was nothing there for her to climb down onto, so she put both feet back up onto the back of the couch. She then considered her options. Rather than cry out for help, she decided to take the plunge. She simply stepped back into nothingness and landed softly onto the pillows on the couch. I have very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I was glad she didn't get hurt. On the other hand, I sort of wish she had so that she could learn a lesson and (hopefully) not do it again. On the third hand (remember I'm a mother of three so I can do that), I really wish I had the lack of experience to think that stepping into nothingness might just be the right thing to do. It reminds me of a quote I've often heard: When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: Either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly. — Edward Teller

Hydrodynamics

2007-05-13T22:52:00.000-04:00

Spit sinks.

That is the wisdom that was thrust upon me by my son who had turned five less than a week before. This coming about two and a half minutes into a fountain experience at the local upscale mall with his good friend, the young Mr. Nathan King, currently four years of age.

He came at me with all the wide-eyed enthusiasm of a young scientist who had just made is first official discovery. His taut arms stretched up to about his own eye-level, hands cupped into small parenteses around his cherub-like face. "Spit sinks." The words stole my heart.

Since he's my second boy, I knew immediately from whence the discovery came. Being a proper mother in a proper mall, I admonished him not to spit in the fountain again. He held firm. "But it sinks! It really does!" My reply was quick and simple. "Yes, I'm glad to hear that you have learned that important lesson in life. And now that you know that, you don't need to try it again."

(Please don't anyone inform him about the whole idea of scientific facts requiring repeatable outcomes.)

True Love

2007-04-18T11:19:00.000-04:00

I read something in one of those forwarded emails yesterday that was actually a NEW THOUGHT for me.

"True love is the acceptance of all that was, all that is, all that will be, and all that will not be."

This speaks to the frustration we often feel of wanting life to be more or different that God intended it to be for us individually. If you're life is aligned with God's pattern for life as identified in the Bible, you must understand that there is a reason why God has you where He does and it might indeed have very little to do with you individually.

Our society has lost sight of the GREATER GOOD in preference for INDIVIDUAL CHOICE.

My Family - Love 'em, love 'em, love 'em!

2007-04-18T11:08:00.000-04:00

Boys in the Van...Don't remember where we were headed.

Girl in Daddy's arms at the park where we go for lunch sometimes with Daddy because it's right across the street from where he works.

Kids are the best of what life has to offer. They offer unconditional and pure love. They are fabulous! They sure do add a lot of stress and running around, too! What a bundle of love we have in our home!

They're doing it on purpose!

2007-03-29T14:53:00.000-04:00

My boys are trying to force me into insanity! I know they are and I know it's intentional! It was about three nights ago when I realized this. It was time for the ol' get-to-bed routine. Every parent's favorite part of the day. Suddenly, there is so much they need to do!

So here's how it went.

"Guys, time to get ready for bed."

piddle...piddle....piddle....roll around play-fighting on the kitchen floor...holler...giggle

"Guys, come get your vitamins, get your jammies on, blah-blah-blah....Can't you just pretend I've said it all? You know the routine. We do it every night. Let's just pretend I've said it and go ahead and do it."

And they did. They got ready for bed.

They know they're making me nuts and they're enjoying the slow demise of Mommy. They're watching--those peering, devious little eyes--waiting expectantly to see how long it takes to make Mommy a little puddle of flesh and bone huddled up in the corner of the dining room, sucking my thumb and muttering incoherently about my past glory. It's happening...it's happening.

I love my kids! They're little angels!

Open Door Policy

2007-02-26T13:35:00.000-05:00

You know you're a little too indiscreet with your bathroom habits when your 4-year-old son tells you that instead of privacy in the bathroom, what you actually need is company. Then he offers to help you wipe.

Maybe I should take my husband's advice and shut the door. But then I think my 10-month-old daughter might not be safe from my 4-year-old son (and vice versa). But at least I'd be able to wipe my own fanny on my own.

Seth-doodle

2007-01-17T14:41:00.000-05:00

He's a nut. That's all there is to it.

What 4-year-old boy comes racing up to his mother after a bath and says, "Mommy, will you please comb my hair?" He's gotten to be very persnickety about the clothes he wears. I can't simply set something out for him. It has to be THIS shirt or THAT pair of shoes. He has gotten to the point where I will get him dressed for school and he will go back into his room and re-dress himself. He got in trouble for it this morning because he was running late.

I can't imagine what he'll be like as a teenager. Wait--yes, I can. I just don't want to! He's going to be the one into the $150 jeans and $75 shirts. And he'll have to have his own job because I'm not buyin' it! He'll be the one to have his brother drive him everywhere because he won't be able to afford gas money because he's already spent his paycheck on clothes. He is definitely his own person!

We love him!

Girl-a

2007-01-11T14:43:00.000-05:00

That's what we call our sweet Rachael a lot of the time. It's so funny to watch our brash and boisterous Sethy perk up when he hears her wake up from a nap and rush in to climb up on the bed with her and say in a sweet little sing-song voice, "Oh, hellooo, little girl-a! Hello, sweet little itty-bitty-itty-bitty girl-a!" There is no other person on earth for whom he would use this tone of voice! She's definitely bringing out a side of him that I didn't know existed!

The above picture is about 2-1/2 months old. She's due for her 9-month photos ALREADY! This was (what I call) her 6-month photo. She was acutally about 6-1/2 months old when it was taken because we went camping on her 6-month birthday and she got a lovely mosquito bite on her face. But she's beautiful and charming and wonderful. I hope she's as perfect as I was through my teen years! (My mom agrees with me on that point, I'll have you know!)

I thought life was supposed to calm down after the holidays. It hasn't yet. Maybe in another 18 years or so.... But by then, I'll be wondering where the time went! Maybe I'll write it down for posterity's sake....it went to running errands and keeping a functioning household for three lovely children and my wonderful husband! It's more than a full-time job! With NO pay!

Ethan has his Pinewood Derby for Cub Scouts on Sunday. He's putting together a skateboard. If it ever gets painted, it should look really nice. He came in third place last year (for speed), so I'm hoping he does well again this year. It's really a good time!

By the way...I've determined that putting my Christmas list on my blog was entirely successful. Not only did I not get ANY bath and body items, I actually got nice stuff that I wanted! I highly recommend it to all of you who do blogs.

So, these are my random thoughts for the day. More to come...some other day.

Updated - What Julie wants for Christmas:

2006-11-29T10:14:00.000-05:00

Every year I have several people ask me what I want for Christmas and every year I completely draw a blank when the question is asked. So this year, I decided to keep a running list starting in November so that I'd have a clue. This is not because I'm self-absorbed. This is because I'd like to avoid a repeat of two years ago when I received 26 various bath and body items from about six different sources. Apparently the hint there was that I need to chill out, but I haven't done that yet. (Or maybe I people thought I stunk.)

Here is what I have so far.

- One or two jumbo muffin tins (enough for 12 muffins)
- A nice pair of tongs
- A mortar and pestel
- A nice kitchen scale
- A santoku knife (I think Eric might have this one covered, but I'm not sure.)
- A temporal lobe thermometer (But I haven't researched it yet to find out which one's best.)
- Off-site babysitting services so I can get something done around my house!
- Gift certificate to Bed-Bath-Beyond, Linens-N-Things, Lifeway, Remington's, Landry's or some other nice place that's not Wal-Mart. (I have enough Wal-Mart in my life.)

So there you have it. What can you deduce about me from this list? I'm a busy mother who likes to cook.

Don't count your eggs before they're hatched.

2006-11-29T09:42:00.000-05:00

So here's the story about Seth that I promised in my last entry.

I was trying to get a million things done on one particular Wednesday. Actually, it was October 4. I had run to Wal-Mart after picking Seth up from school at 11:30. We had already stopped for lunch and were making our weekly dash through Wal-Mart. I was about halfway through when I realized that I had promised a sweet youth at our church that I would make him some chocolate chip cookies and take them to church for him. Well, of course I had already made plans to run some errands after I grabbed Ethan from school and really needed to get those things done, too. So we finished whizzing through Wal-Mart and got home. Fortunately, Seth fell asleep on the way home, but by the time I got done putting the cold groceries away and could start on the cookies, it was after 2:30 and I had to pick Ethan up from school at 3:40. Hmmmm.....it takes 11 minutes for each batch to come out of the oven and 15 or 20 minutes to get the ingredients together. Not to mention the time it takes for them to cool so that I can even pack them up to take them. But I didn't have a minute to waste so I started throwing ingredients into the mixer (which sits out on my counter underneath the cupboard). First the shortening, then the brown sugar, then the sugar. Turn on the mixer to cream it all together and...CRACK! CLANK! SPLATTER! Shortening, brown sugar, and sugar...there should be no CRACK or CLANK to that! Maybe a little bit of splatter, but not THAT MUCH! So I reluctantly peer into the mixing bowl. And in it, what do I find but an EASTER EGG. In October. It looked something like this:

Of course, I realized immediately that Seth had been sitting up on the counter with me making pancakes the previous Saturday. We had five plastic eggs left over from Easter with various different candies in each one that my friend Twila had given the kids. Yes---they were still sitting on the counter in October. And yes, the remaining four are still there and it's almost December. (Maybe I'll put them in the kids' Christmas stockings for a little extra treat!) Anyway--one of Seth's little pasttimes is to hide the Easter eggs somewhere on the counter. He usually tells me about it, though, so I can find them. But, alas, this time he did not.

But the happy ending is that I finished the cookies in time to get my other errands run, although I had to call the school and tell them to put Ethan on the bus. That bought me an extra 1/2 hour. By the time I got done cleaning up the Easter egg mess and taking the picture so I wouldn't forget all about it, I needed it!

And the cookies were DEE-LISH!

My sweet Ethan

2006-10-05T22:45:00.000-04:00

Here's a letter Ethan wrote to Emeril Lagasse. He actually wrote it last September (of '05) but I changed the date on it because it's taken me this long to get around to sending it. He wants Emeril to come help him decorate a birthday cake for his Mommy. Isn't that the sweetest? I'm sure it would be really yummy, too. I think a little Emeril episode of "Take Home Chef" is in order for my kitchen. That would be the coolest! Hey, a girl can dream!

Even if I don't get a birthday cake from Emeril, I at least have the sweetest seven-year-old on the planet for a son.

(Wait until my next post to find out a funny story about his little brother.)

Until then....
Ciao!

(PS: The text of Ethan's letter is hard to read. It says: "Dear Emeril, Will you come to my house? I need your help to make my mom a cake. Her birthday is Nov. 17. Sincerely, Ethan Laney")

Locked In

2006-09-28T16:15:00.000-04:00

September 28, 2006 will forever be immortalized as the day I locked Rachael in the car. In the Florida heat. It's a terribly long story, but I must tell it so that I can try to learn from my mistakes.

I took a neighbor of mine (Darla) with me to Bible Study this morning. We needed to leave early because Eric wasn't able to work from home today, which is to say that I had to pick Seth up from Pre-K at 11:30. So we left Bible Study at 11:15...actually 11:17 because the lecture was really good and I forgot to watch the time.

So we head out to the car. It was my mother's Cadillac that I had to borrow because my van was in the shop having the headliner redone. So I use the key fob to unlock the doors so that Darla can get in a situated and popped the trunk so I could put some of my stuff in there. (Life is easier in a minivan that in a Cadillac.) When I popped the trunk, I accidentally hit the lock button on the key fob, so although Rachael's door was opened by this time, the rest of the doors were locked. I slid the keys down into the driver's seat while I got her strapped into the car seat. With her safely strapped into the car seat, I shut the door. It was about three centimeters from being closed when I realized what was going to happen next. I didn't ever really panic...I think simply because that's not my nature.

Had I been my friend Twila, I would have picked up the nearest rock and rectified the situation; however, I am not. And it was my mother's car. Incredibly poor form should I choose that avenue. Fortunately, Darla had not put her stuff in the trunk. She still had ahold of her purse and Bible, so she let me use her cell phone to call 911 right away. Good thing we didn't dawdle because I was on the phone with various dispatchers for 10+ minutes.

I think I first got routed the Hillborough County because the nearest cell tower was probably in Hillsborough County. I was physically located in Pasco County. ON COUNTY LINE ROAD....so I kept getting tossed back and forth. TICK-TICK-TICK. With every passing minute, my daughter is getting hotter and hotter! So I was finally routed to a lovely dispatcher in POLK county, which is about 50 miles to the east! But the dispatcher there wasn't letting me go until she was sure I was taken care of. I started getting a little panicky when she asked me if I was in Lakeland or Mulberry. (There is another County Line Road that separates Polk County and some other county.) But she wasn't going to let me off the line until she had someone on the way.

By the time I got off the phone with 911 (very frustrated), a nice lady from my Bible Study (still don't know her name) had stopped and offered to use her AAA card and call for a locksmith because she had witnessed something similar in the past and said that the only thing that Fire/Rescue would do is break the window. So we called AAA and had someone dispatched. After some very tedious questions, I informed the AAA dispatcher that my infant daughter was beginning to roast in the car and could she please hurry things along. That worked and someone was on the way within minutes. (If only the fire truck had been dispatched as quickly!) Upon hanging up with AAA, I turned to the woman whose membership I was "borrowing" and asked her if she had time to hang around until they got there. She said, "Of course."

While I was still on the phone with AAA, my friend Janeen rolls up in her minivan and says, "Julie! What's going on?" in a very laid-back manner all her own. It was so laid-back it sort of shocked me back to reality. It was really a bizarre moment in time. She asked if there was anything she could do to help and I asked her if she would go pick up Seth from Pre-K. Of course, she had no problem with that, except that she's not on the pick-up list, so I had to call Eric and have him call the school because I didn't have my cell phone with the number for the school.

So I get Eric on the phone. (I have no idea how many of Darla's minutes I used.) I was very direct and tried to be brief because I knew he had a training workshop, going on. So I started off with something like, "There's a bit of an emergency. Do you have time to listen to me?" I don't think I even told him who it was, not realizing that I was calling from a completely foreign number. Of course, he said he could listen, so I told him Rachael was locked in the car and that Janine was going to have to go get Seth, could he call the school and tell them to release him to her? By that time the fire truck had arrived and he could probably hear the engine in the background. So there he was with that thrown squarely in his lap and not a doggone thing he could do about it. Except call the school. Which he did.

So fire rescue gets there and guess what....they can't do anything but break the window. So I explained to them that it wasn't my car and I'd like to hold off and see if the locksmith could get in before my little girl got too hot. So they said they'd wait for a while, but if she got too hot they'd go ahead and get her out. Fair enough.

It wasn't too long before the locksmith called Darla's cell phone and asked for directions to the church. He was about 15 minutes away, so all we could do was wait. By this time, Rachael was awake from her short nap and was starting to look a little pink in the cheeks.

Firefighters and men of action. They didn't really want to wait around, so they managed to produce some wooden wedges, a rubber mallet, and a long, slender stick. They tried the front passenger door and determined that because of the position of the unlock button on the side of the door panel, they couldn't quite hit the unlock button hard enough to open the doors. So they looked things over for a minute and then went and got some medical tape. Meanwhile, women were searching the church up one side and down the other for a wire hanger.

At some point, I called my parents up in Maine and my step-dad answered the phone. I told him his grandaughter was locked in the car and let him know that getting her out safely may necessitate some damage to the car. He told me that I needed to start using my head for something other than a hatrack (or something to that effect...I don't even remember). I didn't really need that kind of input right then, so I hung up. I'm still quite perturbed at that. But I should expect this by now. He's not known for being the most compassionate of people.

It was about this time that a police officer who would look quite at home in a Chicago donut shop arrived looking very disheveled and, quite frankly, slow--mentally and physically. He was pasty white with a prominent beer-belly hanging over his standard-issue belt. I wondered how he could possibly pass the periodic physical exams. He struck me as the type of guy that they were trying to figure how to get rid of but who never did anything bad enough that they could warrant firing him. The only thing I heard him say was a very slow "Nope" when the Fire Rescue guys asked him if he happened to have a wire hanger.

So, what do firemen do when absent a wire hanger? They start thinking like MacGyver. Medical tape comes to mind first thing. And something stable, but bendable. I don't even know what it was...maybe a wire from a portable defibrulator. Who knows! Who cares? Because those firemen and their wooden wedges and their rubber mallet and their taped together MacGyver contraption managed to hook the keys from the front seat and extract my precious daughter, who was now crying and had been for about ten minutes and was quite red in the face. I couldn't get her up out of that seat fast enough.

I remember thanking the firefighters and thinking how I would love for my little Sethy to grow up to be a firefighter. Except for that whole walking-into-a-burning-building-thing.

It ended up being Pasco County to come to the rescue. They pulled the fire truck in, horns a-blazin' and saved the day! Praise God for that! So I called Eric so that he wouldn't have to worry any longer.

And this sounds like it would be the end of the story. But don't forget Seth! Janeen wasn't back with him yet. By this time it was 20 minutes after his school dismissed and I was just praying that they would release him to her. So I dug my cell phone out of the trunk and was hoping that I still had Janeen's number in there. Thank God she hadn't changed her cell phone number is the two years it's been since we've really been able to hang out! So I dial the number. I got voice mail. I think the reason she didn't answer is because she was in the drive-thru at McDonald's getting him some lunch.

Turns out he was scared out of his mind at being picked up from school by a stranger and Janeen figured a Happy Meal would ease his tension and ingratiate herself to him a little. I don't think it worked, but he loves the toy!

By the time I poked my head into Janeen's back seat, he was just as pale as could be and looked as if he were about to be offered up as a human sacrifice. He was petrified and I felt simply awful. Had I known that the difference in having Janeen pick him up and getting him myself after the drama had passed was only 10 or 15 minutes, I would have just called the school and told them to hang onto him until I got there.

Oh well. What's done is done and it has given me the impetus to institute code words for people who may need to pick up my children if they don't know them. (A good thing for everyone who hasn't already done so.)

All this and Darla was only late for her 12:30 appointment by about 10 minutes or so. I felt so bad. She had someone coming to appraise her house. It's just having the finishing touches put on it and she had to call one of the contractors in the neighborhood who still has a key to her house to let the appraiser in. I was so sad I messed things up for her.

I went home and avoided a nervous breakdown by drinking a big cup of grape juice and pretending it was wine. Then I got a migraine for a while and then I was just plain tired. My brain didn't work right for the rest of the day.

And now...

I must do laundry.

Child Neglect! and Life Goes On...

2006-09-12T14:26:00.001-04:00

I'm guilty! Rachael fell asleep STANDING UP in her excersaucer today. Truth be told, I was sitting in a chair less than three feet away from her. I noticed she had gotten quiet, but I thought it was because she might have been listening to Blue's Clues (her favorite show), which Seth was watching in the other room. I looked over and doggonit if the girl wasn't asleep standing up! So I snapped a picture before I put her in the bed. She's such a doll!

We haven't found a routine yet. The new school year started a month ago and we're still not into the swing of things. The boys wake up at different times each day, but I dare not wake them before they're ready to get up because they're terribly grumpy when I do that. Occassionally, I have to wake Seth up just to get him dressed and out the door so he can get to school, but we really haven't found a good groove. Part of it has to do with the fact that we're usually right at 10:00 getting home from church on Wednesdays and on Thursdays, I have to wake up and get going for Bible Study which starts at 9:30. But that only accounts for one day out of the five. I can't seem to pull a rhythm together to save my life!

So I've told myself I'm going to start jogging in the mornings and that will get me out of bed at the same time every day. As soon as the blisters on the backs of my ankles heal up a little, I'm going to give it a go and see if it helps with the routine. (I've jogged two days so far and you should see the size of the blisters!)

Seth absolutely hates Pre-K...not in the strictest sense of the word hate, but he puts up a pretty good fit every morning before leaving. He's fine once he gets there. I think it's because he has no use for any of the people there. He wants to hang with older kids and it's just not his cup of tea. He's such a sweet little loner.

I didn't vote for voluntary Pre-K, but I'm sending Seth because of the interpersonal aspect of it since it got voted through without my approval. I think it's a 'nice-to-have' that doesn't merit the millions of dollars that is spent on it. I think that children are institutionalized at far too young an age in America and that they need more time in a familial environment to become individuals before they are required to stifle their nature in a school environment. The only reason I have Seth in Pre-K is because he doesn't relate well to other children his age and, as an involved parent, I can see that it would be a huge problem if we were to start him off with a full day (6+ hours) of Kindergarten next year. Since Pre-K is a half-day, I knew we would have problems (and we are), but I think they're reduced because of the shorter school day. If Kindergarten we only a half-day, I wouldn't have him in Pre-K at all.

Ethan is busy, busy, busy with school, Cub Scouts, and church. Cub Scouts has us all pretty busy. He has an scouting engagement every Saturday this month except one. The good thing about Scouts, though, is that he doesn't have to go to every single thing. But he enjoys what they do, so we go to 98% of them. He got bumped up to third grade math and he's reading on a sixth grade level. Not bad for a second-grader who didn't go to preschool at all.

Must run and get some more laundry done. You wouldn't believe how much dirty laundry a family of five generates. It seems like more than 20% more than a family of four, but it's probably not.

Adieu...

Seth's First Day of School (Pre-K)

2006-08-14T14:57:00.000-04:00

Seth started school today. It was a little rough watching Daddy drive off with my backpack-wearing boy. He woke up grumpy and didn't want to go, but Dad reported back that he did great once they got there. Eric had to track him down to get a hug from him before he left. Only a report of a minor kicking incident and he was (surprisingly) the receiver and not the deliverer. Apparently there was a little girl who got ahold of him with her leg.

So after I got Ethan off to school, Rachael and I had almost two hours before we had to go retrieve Seth and she slept most of it, so I got busy pealing wallpaper off of the boys' bedroom walls. Not the most relaxing and enjoyable thing to do, but it needs to get done. They have a bedroom set on the way from the store as soon as we call to make an appointment for delivery and I need to get the room painted. I hoping to be done before the end of September. When you are working around three kids and a busy schedule, everything takes a little longer than it should. I'm learning (slowly) to be content with that because I know the kids will only be around just so long and then they'll be painting bedrooms for their own kids.

Rachael's fussing right now, so I must be off. Maybe she'll catch a few more zzzzz's during Seth's nap so I can have two nice breaks today. (One must always retain hope!)

My Girl!

2006-04-25T14:53:00.000-04:00

Here's Bethany! At 1:36 p.m. on April 6th, we received our Bethany Rachael into our arms. We're going to call her Rachael. (For those who don't know about the naming convention and are confused as to why we have chosen not to call her by her first name, I'll write more on that in another post.) I figure the name Rachael will stick until she loses her mind when she's 12 or 13 and decides that Bethany sounds much more mature than Rachael. Whatever.

What a blessing she is! I'd truly been hoping for another boy all this time, but God knew I really needed a girl. She's absolutely wonderful...all 9+ pounds of her. She actually weighed an ounce short of 9 pounds when she was born, but since they waited over an hour to weigh her, I just tell people that she weighed nine pounds. Makes me sound like more of a woman. And she was 21-1/4 inches long. But after about the first six inches, it was all gravy. (The epidural wore off right at transition, so I have officially declared myself SUPERWOMAN!)

Isn't she beautiful?

Ethan loves her so much in a very sweet and near-suffocation kind of way. Seth is warming up to her and will touch her, but the kisses are still very few and far between. I'm trying not to to worry about that, because Seth's kisses are few and far between with everyone. One day soon, I suspect he'll get over the fact that she's not a new puppy. He very much would rather have that in his life right now than a new sister.

Isn't she just beautiful?

Daddy likes her pretty well, too. You should have seen him showing her off on her first trip to church (Good Friday). We have some learning to do with regards to raising a girl instead of a boy, but I'm sure that between us, we won't mess it up too badly.

Isn't she simply adorable?

I have decided that she's a keeper and that I need a new wardrobe. Nothing fits. But Rachael has enough pink and purple to last at least nine months!

And here's a simply beautiful P.S. The 'indicative' sonongram picture that I had given to my step-dad and mom.....After much investigation and deliberation, they decided that it was a boy. They were even more surprised than I was that she turned out to be a SHE!

The Best-Laid Plans

2006-03-21T12:38:00.000-05:00

Well, it's a funny bit of justice....

My step-dad wasn't able to attend the sonogram with me last Wednesday. He apparently had a pulled muscle that was acting like it might be some kidney trouble, so he bowed out. (Quite a clever excuse not to go, I think.)

But I asked the ultrasound tech to put the answer in an evelope. She said, "I can't write it down, but I can take a picture." (I thought she said she could label the picture, but apparently, I misunderstood her.) So I walked out with the picture in the envolope and thought I had a nice, tidy little birthday present for Chuck.

Come Friday, the next time I was in Zephyrhills, I gave Chuck the envelope and told him to go into the bedroom to look at it. He can have a poker face, but I just wanted to make sure. So he comes out of the bedroom and says, "Julie, it's just a picture." I said, "Well, isn't it labeled?" It wasn't and he's clueless when it comes to looking at sonogram pictures, so I gave him special dispensation. I told him he could show it to my mom and hope that she could figure it out. So she took it to the bathroom and cloistered herself for at least a good five minutes. No deal. She couldn't figure it out, either.

So they decided to take it down to Chuck's siters, Terry, who has many grandchildren and, presumably, more experience with decoding sonograms. Didn't work. She told them I'd be having a hurricane, because that's what it most resembled to her. I don't know what that means.

So I'm really torn now. I was convinced that it was a boy. I was fully convinced. But boy parts are relatively easy to identify, whereas girl parts are sneaky and unobtrusive. I've gone from being 98% sure it was a boy to about 60%.

I suppose it really doesn't matter. God figured that out for us nine months ago and we really can't be worried about it. But my nerves are absolutely not ready for a squeally 13th birthday party sleepover. But the good news is, that if it really is a girl, I'll have 13 years to prepare. And hopefully she'll be the kind that doesn't dig the squeally stuff. Or the drama. Or the haircare products. Or the designer clothing. Or the hunky football players. Only her daddy. Maybe she'll have good hormones. I'm really not ready to deal with a girl, come to think of it.

I have yet another OB appointment tomorrow. I'll try to keep my blog updated, but can't make any promises.

I'm Huge. Deviousness. And Freedom from Obligation.

2006-03-10T15:16:00.000-05:00

I've been requested by a particularly annoying friend to update my blog, so here goes. Life's been pretty normal with nothing incredible to write about. We're getting down to the last few weeks before the baby comes. I'm due three weeks from Sunday.

Eric accompanied me to the doctor's visit yesterday. She seemed to think that I might be getting a little 'big'. Hmmmm....that may explain Twila's comment from two days ago: "See what I mean...She's HUGE!" Yes, my dear, sweet, compassionate friend spoke those words to her daughter Brittney (also eight months pregnant, but with a broken leg) right in front of me. I was really surprised that she had what it takes to speak those ugly words in my presence. And I will never forget about four years ago she had her feelings hurt when I said that she has a funny little quirk where she occassionally engages her mouth before she thinks about how it will sound. I can't imagine why I would have said that.

But since the doctor seemed to echo her sentiment, I suppose I'll have to forgive her. Actually, I already have because the fact of the matter is: I'm huge.

So anyway, my doctor wants me to have a quick sonogram to check on the weight of the baby. If it's too big, they'll probably induce me sometime before they normally would. So I have a sonogram scheduled for next Wednesday, which happens to be my step-dad, Chuck's, birthday. He'll be SIXTY! And it'll be the 10-year anniversary of his quadruple bypass. So here's my devious plan....I'm going to take him with me to the sonogram and have the tech tell him if it's a boy or a girl. He's going to be the only one in the world to know (aside from the tech who will forget about five minutes after we're gone) if I'm having a boy or a girl. Is that an awesome birthday present or what?! But I've sworn him to secrecy. He can't even tell my mother. So for three weeks, he's going to know and no one else will. I think it's cool, but if he messes up and spills the beans to ANYONE, I will hold a grudge for a very long time.

Why did I devise that nasty little plan? Mostly to drive my mother nuts, but now that I think about it, it'll drive Twila nuts, too. And that's not a bad thing. Also, I know I can trust Chuck to keep a secret. At least for three weeks. He's just naughty enough that he'll really enjoy bugging my mother with his unmerited insight. I'll hear about it for years to come, but I think it's a cool little twist. It'll be fun. I just hope the sonogram tech will be willing to tell him since we're not really there to learn that bit of information.

On a completely different note, Eric is taking the boys camping this weekend. They'll be gone from Friday evening until Sunday when I get back from church. Yes, you heard it here first! I will have my house to myself for the first time in well over eight years! I've gone on a couple of trips just myself since the boys have come along, but always away from home and for a specific purpose. Never have I had MY house to MYself to just relax and do what I want to do. For almost two whole days.

Of course, there are a couple of obligations that I have to fulfill in town, so I will, unfotunately, have to leave and run into town on Saturday afternoon, which is a bit of a bummer, but I'm still very excited. And I think I'm going to go with them to set up camp this evening, so I probably won't get home until late evening and I have to wake up and get to church on Sunday morning, but all in all....I'm still going to have seven or eight waking hours to my own self this weekend....in MY OWN HOUSE! Do you get that I'm a little jazzed about this?

Well, the next time I post will probably be POST partum. (Hey, that was funny.) You'll be able to hear all the gorey details of labor and delivery and you'll enjoy it, by golly.

My eldest son just called me 'dude'.

2006-01-24T17:46:00.000-05:00

Ethan is seven and he just called me 'dude'. He apparently just found out that I throw away his math homework after he's done with it. (His teacher doesn't require it to be turned in. It's strictly homework to be used as an enrichment tool.) So I asked him to throw it away and told him that he had learned all that he could learn from it--that it had completed it's mission on this earth and was time to be disposed of. His response: "Sheez, dude! You know you're torturing my homework." (I think the personification of inanimate objects has truly been overdone in modern culture.)

Speaking of Ethan calling people 'dude'....This is a treasured mother moment which I hope to never forget because it still makes me laugh audibly every single time I think about it. Last Friday, we were at my mother's house with my grandmother, step-father, mother, and my immediate family. We were having a lovely baked spaghetti dinner. We are all seated at the table holding hands, preparing to pray before we ate and Seth, age 3, announced to all assembled in a very clear and audible voice, " The baby is going to come out of Mommy's [insert anatomically correct colloquialism here]!" That wasn't the funniest part, though. As we were all absorbing Seth's astute remark and smirking, giggling, what-have-you, I hear Ethan almost mutter to no one in particular, "Sheez, dude." And that was all he had to say on the matter.

[I'm laughing so hard I can barely type right now.]

So there you go...the highlight of my week. The highlight of my year so far, but it's still early.

You may have noticed that I haven't posted recently. That's because we haven't been well so far this year. Ethan had a sinus infection. Ten days of Amoxicillin and he's better. Seth had something that could have led to pneumonia. Five days of some antibiotic or other and he's still got a cough which I'll check into at some point if it doesn't go away. Eric had pink eye and a sinus infection--simultaneously--quite a trick! He's just about better now, but still hanging onto a cough. I now have a sinus infection and will ask my OB to write me a prescription when I go to see her on Thursday. Hopefully, I'll get better at some point.

As for the pregnancy, all is well, except I'm bigger than I've ever been in my entire life. I weigh more than 180 lbs. at present and will probably gain at least 10 more before all is said and done. I'm big enough that I can't sleep through the night because I can't get/stay comfortable. And the hot spells (not flashes--it lasts too long for that!) are really annoying. They happen during the day and at night and I'm really sick of it. It's a shame that I can go through menopause while carrying my last child. It would be good to get it all over with right now.

I'm not dead yet!

2005-12-09T10:32:00.000-05:00

So I must be getting stronger!

Life is so out of whack today, I'm blogging for therapy between batches of chocolate chip cookies.

Where shall I start? It's not good to be in our family this week. It all started Saturday morning with my brother Chris called to let us know that his place of work burned down and he was suddenly jobless. He purchased his first house last March, so he was quite shocked and panicked. So we started praying for him right away. Then on Sunday, my mom called before we left for Sunday School (yes, in fact, we were late) to let me know that my aunt Sandy from Illinois was diagnosed with four brain tumors. The doctors thought they were likely malignant. She's married to my Uncle Bob (mom's brother) who has been fighting cancer for almost two years now. He's finishing up his last chemotherapy session at the end of the month. So she went for a CT scan on Sunday and he went for one on Monday. Talk about a bad situation.

Monday nothing bad happened. Tuesday we find out that Eric's employer (Verizon) will not longer be offering pension benefits. He apparently gets to keep what he's earned so far, but we're not sure of much just yet. So we're going to be put to the screws pretty hard in about 20 or 30 years, thanks to money-hungry management. How nice. I cried. Then I got over it and figured God will take care of us whether we have plenty of money or not.

Wednesday, my step-Dad was taken to the hospital with upper-GI bleeding. Come to find out his heart is only ejecting at 15%. That's not good at all and they had to put him on coagulants to stop the bleeding, so that stressed his heart even more.

Thursday we found out that the doctors are saying my Aunt Sandy has probably less than six months remaining. So my other aunt (Marlene) and my Grandma are going up to Illinois to spend Christmas with that part of the family. My mom may go, too. I'm pretty sure this would be the first Christmas I'd spend without seeing my mother, but I'm perfectly fine with that. At this point, a lot of her decsion depends on how well Chuck is doing. She's praying about it. I'm praying that she has peace with her decision because it's a very tough call.

This morning (Friday) Eric took our mouse Henry to the vet. Spent $150 to get all the medicine necessary to fix the darn thing. And has to take him back in two weeks for another $30 shot to rid him of this mites that are causing him to scratch holes in his skin. How lovely. Mind you, we don't have money to spend on this mouse, so Eric has donated money out of his 'New Bike Fund' which makes me very sad, but it's necessary at this point. I'm hoping to be able to reimburse his fund when he gets his bonus in April. I will never again take in a 'free' pet.

I like the fish better, but our red betta (actually, Ethan's red betta) was found deceased this morning. We told him (Ethan) last night that Tooey (the fish) wasn't long for this world. He accepted it pretty well. He didn't notice before he went to school, and we didn't tell him, that he had actually died in the night.

So anyway, the good news is that my batch of cookies are turning out beautifully this morning and the bad news is that Seth just noticed that I'm making chocolate chip cookies, so I need to sign off and go guard my goods.

Thanks for being interested enough to read this entire entry. I feel like the Grinch, but the truth is that Jesus is still the Reason for the Season and, as my Grandma Reese always says, this too shall pass.

PS: Happy Birthday (tomorrow) to my seminary friend, Gil!

Well, I was right...

2005-12-07T14:11:00.000-05:00

We managed to get everything done last weekend and even squeaked in a fondue dinner at Randy and Twila's house on Saturday evening after Ethan's dress rehearsal. Speaking of Ethan's dress rehearsal, Seth had a cameo appearance. He cracked the whole place up! Before the show started, one of the directors had given Seth a streamer stick (there were a few extra after handing them out to the cast), so when the time came at the end of the show to use the streamers, my covert little daredevil weaseled his way past the six of us adults who were all sitting in a cluster together, and made a bee-line for the stage, streamer in hand. He wormed his way around the 15 or so performers who were on stage and placed himself right next to his favorite friend (Mark Fernandez), who is 11 years old, and joined in (in a rather dramatic fashion) with the streamer twirling. It was an absolute riot to watch. It was all black-light on the stage and it was just so darned cute that we couldn't yank him off the stage. When the lights came up for the big finale song, he started wandering around the stage and that's when I sent Eric up to yank him. That will definitely be one of the stories that gets re-told throughout the years at our house! It was precious!

Sunday was so very relaxing. It was really nice and just what I needed to finish off a very busy weekend. I was sorry to miss Ethan's performance, but am grateful that we were able to see the dress rehearsal.

Monday I spent in Zephyrhills doing a little Christmas shopping and having lunch with my Mom, so I didn't exactly get much accomplished. Eric was late getting home from work, and that sort of threw the whole night off, so the whole day (with the exception of getting to see Mom) was pretty much a waste.

Tuesday was Bible Study in the morning. Our children's director hosted a luncheon afterward at her home, which was very nice to just sit around and chat for a while. Then Mary Kay (the children's director) offered to keep Seth while I ran a couple of errands. Do you think I was about to turn her down?! It was really nice being able to shop at Wal-Mart without having to stop every five feet to look at something or make sure Seth was with me. There was a small child in line a couple of registers over when I was checking out. She was just throwing an ugly crying fit and I was extra grateful for Mary Kay's kindness at that point.

I'm going to close and go get some laundry out of the dryer. This will probably be the only post for the rest of this week because we have a simlarly busy weekend this weekend (maybe worse). Friday, I have to figure out how to get a double-batch of chocolate chip cookies made, a birthday cake baked, and a broccoli casserole started, while getting Seth over to Zephyrhills so that Mom and Dad can watch him while I go to Ethan's school and help him with his gingerbread house (an annual Quail Hollow Elementary tradition). Then Saturday, I have to ice the birthday cake, go caroling at the Veteran's Home with Boy Scouts, take the casserole to the potluck that follows, meet my parents back at the house so they can keep the boys overnight while Eric and I attend the CBS Christmas Party in the evening. Sunday, we'll meet back up with the boys at church, go out for a quick bite, then get back to the church to set up for Ethan's 7th birthday party, which is scheduled to last until 3:30. Whew! I'm tired just trying to figure out the logistics!

So anyway...the next time you'll hear from me is Monday....maybe!

All next week, we get to work on Ethan's eel report and visual aid! I can't wait! Anyone who says that stay-at-home moms don't contribute to society needs to be shot.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2005-11-30T10:47:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving was great. We had a few cancellations, but all-in-all, it was a great time. We missed our friends Randy and Twila. They didn't make it becasue Randy thought it a good idea to go off-road cycling (ALONE) the day before Thanksgiving and broke his scapula. I can't imagine what kind of pain that would be, but apparently it's pretty severe. I hope to not ever have a reason to know how much that hurts. Grandma Reese came down with a cold or some similar malady and didn't feel up to coming, although she did supply the potatoes for us and they were very tasty. My mother kept the boys overnight on Wednesday night and brought them with her for Thanksgiving Day. It was really nice to be lazy on Thanksgiving morning, although I felt kind of bad when I realized she'd been up cooking since 5 a.m. and taking care of my boys, too! Then she came to my house and finished cooking the turkey, gravy, stuffing, and potatoes. We ate around 2 o'clock and Mom had been working like a dog to get the turkey on the table for quite a while. It turns out that if you're cooking a 12 pound turkey and a 13 pound turkey in the same pan, you need to treat it like a 25 pound turkey, which takes a lot longer to cook. I was impressed that we ate at 2:00. That's only an hour later than we had planned. But everything was delicious and we enjoyed the afternoon with Eric's family and my family. And we all fit in one house! That's the nice thing about small(ish) families. We were only missing my brother Eric and his family, but they live in Colorado, so they were excused.

Ethan had five days off school for Thanksgiving and, as it turns out, should have been working on some homework during that time. I had no idea how frustrating and mind-numbing it would be to help a first-grader write his very first topical report. He had to write a report, give and oral presentation, and create a visual aid on the state of Kentucky. Yes - I said FIRST GRADE! He's actually in second grade classes, but they still consider him a first-grader. It's asking a little much if you want my opinion, but no one ever does. Next month, we have the same thing due on eels. I think we'll plan a little better and not try to cram it all into one night, though. The poor kid was toast by 10:30 last night when we finished. I finally allowed him a 3-minute break when I realized that he literally couldn't write another word. His mind was absolutely shot and his head was hanging down below the table, just high enough so that his eyes could still barely see the paper. He was trying to write the number '1982' and the poor kid just couldn't get it right. So I scratched his back while he laid on the couch and we prayed together that God would give him the strength to finish strong. The break and prayer did him good and he was done 20 minutes later. I was really proud of him for sticking it out. Of course, when we left for school this morning, he left his visual aid at home, so I had to run back home and take it back to the school so that he'd have it when it came time to give the oral report. That kid....

Seth went to make cookies with Mamaw (Eric's mom) yesterday afternoon. She has an annual tradition of having each of the grandchildren over (individually) during the holdiday season and making sugar cookies with them. Acually, she already has the dough made when they get there, but they cut them out and bake them. Seth's are quite tasty - possibly the best sugar cookies I've ever had! So he did that while I went to Target and Lifeway and got a little Christmas shopping done (very little).

I probably won't post again until next week because I'm going to be busier than a one-legged pregnant woman at a butt-kicking contest. Tomorrow I teach my 2-year-olds in the morning, then Eric's taking the afternoon off so that I can be sure to be on time for a wedding rehearsal (I coordinate weddings occassionally, for those of you who didn't know that) in the evening. Friday I'm going to catch up on laundry and attempt to clean at least a part of the house, then I have to be at the church for the wedding by 2 PM. It's a 5:30 wedding, but we'll see about that...our church is located on a major interstate which comes to a crawl at rush hour every day, but it's especially bad on Fridays. I don't think some of the guests will arrive until after the ceremony. After the wedding, I have to complete the Christmas decorations in the sanctuary because the bride doesn't want wreaths in her wedding.

Saturday, we're going to the Laneys so that Ethan can have his cookie date with Mamaw. Eric and I are going to help them set up their gi-normous Christmas tree. Then we have to have Ethan to J-Force rehearsal by 3 PM at the church.

Sunday, we'll be late for Sunday School. After church, we'll go out to lunch. Then, we're going to off-load the boys to various and sundry people so that Eric and I can go see Verekai (Cirque du Soliel) in St. Pete. I'm so looking forward to that! I just hope I'm not too tired to enjoy it fully.

So, that's what I'll be up to for the next several days. If my pregnant body can hold out until April, I'll be so very surprised.

My Birthday Weekend

2005-11-21T14:13:00.000-05:00

This weekend was just as wonderful and simple as they get. Friday, we stayed home and watched my Alegria (Cirque du Soliel) video that Eric and the boys gave me for my birthday. We all enjoyed it quite well, but I think I may have enjoyed LaNouba a little more. I made baked spaghetti for dinner, which was good, but prevented us from eating in front of the TV (one of the boys' favorite things to do), so we pulled out the hide-a-bed, which sufficed as a special treat for the evening. We finally stopped flipping through the bonus features at about 11PM and threw the boys in bed. It was a great little family evening at home - all too rare lately.

Saturday, Eric elected not to go off-road cycling with his friends, partly because he was dog-tired and partly because the rim on one of the tires of his bicycle is bent. We'll have to get that fixed soon. So we all got up and going at about 8:30 or 9:00 and had a french toast breakfast. Yum! We gradually got ready to take Ethan to J-Force rehearsal---this is a musical show he's involved in at church (production on Dec. 4 if you care to see it). While Ethan was at rehearsal, Eric, Seth, and I ran down to Sonic to grab some lunch. Yum! Then we got back, did some miscellaneous work around the church that we needed to get done, finished up at about 3:30 and took the boys to Twila and Randy's house so they could babysit while Eric and I went on a date. We used a gift certificate to Logan's Steakhouse that Jack and Elizabeth Fernandez gave us almost two years ago for Christmas, I think! It doubled nicely as a birthday gift certificate. Then we went to the movie theater across the parking lot to determine if there was any value left on the TWO AMC gift cards I had tucked away in my purse. Between the two cards, we had $45! So we called Twila to make sure she was OK with keeping the kids until almost 10PM. (I won't mention what Seth had done at that point. Suffice it to say, Twila is such a dear friend and she took care of everything.) So we went to see "Good Night and Good Luck" which was an outstanding movie, even if it could have been a little longer to include a bit more information. It was quite good. So we went to pick up the boys at Twila's and Seth fell asleep on the way home. A near-perfect day for the family!

Sunday we woke up and were late for Sunday School. No surprises there. I think we were about 20 minutes late. Pathetic. After church---I actually was able to attend Big Church, thanks to my wonderful Preschool workers who showed up for the most part, we went to a Taco Bell/KFC/Pizza Hut combo restaurant on Armenia Ave. Once we good the food, it was good. Only one mistake on the order and one food item that they didn't have. The combo restaurants like that always confound me. They are a jack-of-all-trades and master of none! So anyway, the boys behaved well and we were able to get back to the church on time for a meeting I had with a bride. Her wedding is on 12/2, so we chatted about that for a while, and we did some more miscellaneous work around the church that needed to get done until about 3:30, then went home and put Seth down for a nap. Ethan and Eric played Risk on the computer while I watched 24 (the only TV I watch - although I watch it on borrowed DVDs - Thanks, Pops!). We had lots of leftovers for dinner and then watched the Food Network and some other miscellaneous TV for a while, then capped our evening off with an Iron Chef battle, which Bobby Flay won. Ethan was quite happy about that. My boys love the food network, especially Emeril and Iron Chef America. Odd, I know.

So then we went to bed and I slept for over five hours straight! Close to a record for me, since my ever-expanded belly keeps me from sleeping soundly most nights. So, it's gonna be a great week! I'm hosting Thanksgiving on Thursday, so I'd better finish the blog and start straightening the house!

Hugs!

What's Up with this Blogging Trend? (& I'm Old!)

2005-11-18T16:26:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to figure out why blogging is so popular. Is it because people are really so self-important that they think the world will actually be interested in what's going on in their daily lives? Or is it simply a good way to keep up with family and friends near and far? I suppose we will tell ourselves it is the latter, even though I suspect for some, it is the former. Maybe it's just a good way to waste time. Probably a little too philosophical for starters.

So I'll just start by saying that I turned 'Advanced Maternal Age' yesterday. My obstetrician likes to use that term. It's another word for 'thirty-five'. I had a good day. Started off by waking up next to my wonderful husband. That's always nice! Got ready to go and taught a class of 8 2-year-olds at Community Bible Study. They were all well-behaved and we only had a couple that cried for Mommy. Then the Childrens' Teachers gathered in the library for luncheon/lecture. It was a nice time. Grabbed some leftovers from the luncheon, stopped by Winn-Dixie because they're having some really good sales this week, dropped by Grandma Reese's and Aunt Marlene's house to say 'Hi' and then picked Ethan up from school. Put Seth down for a nap, helped Ethan with homework. Tried to get some minor components of the house organized, then Twila called. She dropped everything and drove all the way up to Wesley Chapel so that we could go to Outback for my birthday dinner. Love that girl! Then we came home and made sure my Allegria (Cirque du Soliel) DVD worked. It did! It came nicely packaged with tickets to the 12/4 production of Verekai - (a Cirque show that is going to be here for a limited time). THANK YOU, ERIC!

Then we went to bed and I slept reasonably well, for a pregnant woman.

SPECIAL NOTE: Happy Birthday to Shawn Hubbard! Congratulations on your good work at Police School! I'm proud of you, but you'd better stay prayed up! Love you!

My new blog

2005-11-18T12:59:00.000-05:00

I got tired of everyone else having a blog and me being left in the 90s....all blog-less and boring. Even my son, Ethan (6 years old) wants his own blog. So I suppose I'll have to set one up for him. Will keep you posted as to what comes of that.