christmas 09 in review...

the christmas season seemed to come and go, way too quickly for my liking. we started off on a good note, trying to get decorations up the weekend after thanksgiving, and all seemed to be going smoothly until "life" threw in some monkey wrenches and tried to steal my joy, turning me into a grinch...but we recovered pretty well even though i didn't accomplish everything i had hoped.

"the peanut butter fudge fiasco of '09" will be one thing that will never be forgotten from this holiday season in our home. elisa was reading the recipe to me and i misunderstood her interpretation of "1/2 c." when she said "one one-half cups"...i thought she said 1 1/2 c. and the rest is history...i ended up making a sextuple batch, rather than just a double batch. (see picture below...7 pans of pb fudge!!!)


i made a deal with nick that if we "only" made two pies for thanksgiving (pecan and fresh pumpkin), that i would make a pie a week for the rest of the holiday season. we had two mince pies with hard sauce, a strawberry rhubarb, a ham/apple pie (christmas dinner leftovers...so good!), and have yet to make an apple pie and one more pecan. they all turned out really yummy and didn't last long around here!

elisa is in the chorus at her school, and she was picked to sing a solo for their "winter concert" (yes, it's a public school, so we "must" be pc). they sang at the mall in front of the gigantical christmas tree, in between their amazing light shows. their school concert was the next evening and she totally rocked her solo the second time because she wasn't as nervous as the first time through. a couple of weeks later she was the narrator for the christmas program at church, and she did an awesome job. (i stayed up until 2 a.m. finishing her skirt for the program...it's so pretty i am making one for me next year!)


the local chamber had a tree-lighting community event, with a visit from santa and mrs. claus...we "had" to get a pic of all of the kids together, because "you don't get gifts from santa if you don't believe"...


soccer took up a LOT of our time this year, between starting a new team for the travel rec league, to practices and games for two players/teams, to all of the "business" that comes up when involved in coaching such teams. we have had a great time watching the kids play, but i have thoroughly enjoyed having almost 2 weeks off from games and practices.

christmas eve we enjoyed a worship service at church as a family, it was nice stopping and really reflecting on the true meaning of the season, remembering that jesus was sent to the world to redeem us all. we ended the evening with our tradition of eating lefse, smoked salmon, and drinking glogg after lighting all of the candles on our family advent wreath. everyone went on a gift-wrapping tangent before bed, then we read "a visit from st. nicholas" as we do every christmas eve, just before putting out milk and cookies for santa and heading to bed.

christmas morning was spent hanging out in jammies as we opened gifts. the best reaction from thad was when he saw his inflated "car" ball pit. "ooooooooh" was so cute coming from his mouth, and the look on his face was priceless! we hung out playing "rock star 2" and then made dinner which consisted of glazed spiral ham, "arkansas" green beans which is waaaaay better than the common green bean casserole, it's a must-have dish for our family throughout the year now!

most of the break so far has been spent enjoying time with the fam, but we still have over a week left, so i'm sure it will continue to be relaxing and hopefully the kids will continue getting along and not end up being too stir-crazy...we'll see.

autumn in the country...

our church goes on an annual retreat every fall at the lakewood retreat center. here are a couple of pics i got of thad...the older two were too busy doing all of the fun stuff there for me to get pictures, or was i too busy doing fun stuff? human foosball is the yearly highlight, and thad is watching the kids' game in one of these to follow...

thankfulness...

we had an amazing thanksgiving, hanging out at home. jerry grilled the turkey, we had sweet potato, corn and green bean casseroles, homemade cranberry sauce, fresh pumpkin pie, and pecan pie...yumminess!

for the month of november, i posted "thankful thoughts" on facebook. since i didn't blog much, i thought i would add those posts to look back later on.

november in review...

I am thankful for my husband, he's amazing!

I am thankful to have the privilege to live in a country where I am free to speak my mind, free to worship however I see fit, and free to pursue happiness...thanks to all of the veterans of the past and those currently serving our country to keep these freedoms alive!!!

Just reminded of God's promises...never leaves or forsakes, and promises to take care of us...thanks to a rainbow I just saw in the sky!

I'm thankful for my kids, along with their quirks that drive me insane, and their illnesses/accidents that make life interesting...I know I'll miss all of the craziness once they're grown!

..."baby dude" is no longer a baby *tear*...I'm thankful that Thad is successfully sleeping in his "big boy" toddler bed tonight (the first night), since we had an unexpected need to disassemble the crib this evening. (sniff, sniff)

I am thankful for the beautiful weather we have had the past few days...and as it continues for today's soccer games. :)

I am thankful that I get to worship with my family today.

I am thankful for insurance to pay for my trip to the chiropractor today...and that pays for my kids' various ailments as they come up!

I'm thankful for my chiropractor for his amazing adjustment! I am still in pain, but at least I can sit comfortably AND stand up straight now! And...Nick got his allergy shot this afternoon, they all got flu vaccines, and we caught Thad's ear infection as it was starting. So yeah, thankful for the insurance AND the doctors!!! :)

I am thankful for the gift of hearing a little one's first words...yesterday's new word was "apple" and it was SOOOOO cute hearing Thad's little voice say it!

I am thankful for how much fun I have at school, being an "audience" makes it rather interesting and enjoyable! ;)

I am thankful for my soft, comfy bed...especially when I am exhausted and my back hurts, it's so snuggly with my big comforter and fluffy pillows. :)

I'm thankful for my beautiful daughter...she's so excited about her school chorus solo and her part in the church Christmas program...she's funny, loving, and does a great job at being an awesome big sister!

I'm thankful for my amazing teenage son...he's awesome with Thad, helps us out by babysitting, attempts to get along with his little sister...he's artistic and creative, and I am amazed that he is doing such a great job at teaching himself to play guitar!

I'm thankful for a short work week! Only two days this week, then a 5 day "weekend"...woohoo! :)

Thad is going to need surgery for a hernia. Surprisingly, I'm not stressed or overwhelmed, this is what my life has become between all of my kids and their injuries, illnesses, etc.--it is what it is, and God will take care of us just like He always has! :)

I am thankful for all of my amazing friends, I am truly blessed!

I am thankful for growing up in a loving home, having an awesome mom and dad to bring me up in church and teach me how to deal with life! (and thankful for getting to talk to my mom for awhile this evening too...love you Mom!!!)

I am thankful for God's provision for our family. He always provides everything we need, but not necessarily all of our "wants"...food, clothing, home, jobs, family..., friends...we are truly blessed and I am so thankful to Him for everything He has done for me!

the lost get found...

Lately God has been showing me a lot of things. Some that I need to change, some I need to let go of, and some that He has just taken care of for me. Life gets hard, we get down and yet He's still there for us, and it's just amazing.

The past couple of weeks have been an emotional and spiritual eye-opener for me, and I needed something to happen in a big way in both areas because I've allowed myself to get in a place where I put so many walls up that I was blocking out God too. Reconnecting with friends from the past, reconciling situations (even if just in my mind), and a lot of healing of old wounds. It's been amazing to see how God has been working in me so quickly and so thoroughly, teaching me to allow things to just fall on Him to take care of however He sees fit.

I learned again to wait on Him and see that He is good...when things didn't look like they were going well and I wanted to run far, far away, I made myself stay and trust that He would show me the answers I was seeking...and it is turning out to be good, and I can picture it becoming amazing once more.

Today I began stressing about some things that hadn't been weighing on me for a couple of weeks (and over which I have no control anyway), and then I saw this Britt Nicole video (see below) and was moved by the lyrics...
I remember when you were
So alive with your wide eyes
Then the light that you had in your heart was stolen
Now you say that it ain't worth stayin'
You wanna run but you're hesitatin'

Later this evening I saw a photo tribute to an amazing woman of God who recently was called Home to be with Him, and I just cried. She was an inspiration to me, and the biggest reason I followed the call to marry someone in ministry. Life is not easy, but God is in control. Finances, illness, relationships, the future...all are in His hands, and if we let Him, He will take care of us until He says it's time for us to go Home. After watching the photo tribute for Lynn, I was moved to tears to the point I was sobbing. Seeing the light in her eyes, even when facing untreatable cancer, pictures of her with her children as they were growing up from babies into men, and even in her bed with her grandchildren surrounding her, you could see the love and light just flowing from her as she lived in the moment...I want that!

I want to be a light to those around me, starting with my family. I want the light to be recognizable, even in pictures of me. And one day if someone feels inspired to put together a photo tribute to me, I want to be worthy of having it made because I made a difference in the lives of others in a big way, even if it's "quietly loud" the way Lynn lived her life. I have a t-shirt I got a few years back from a Planet Wisdom conference a few years back that simply says "Love Louder"...I think that says plenty.

The Lost Get Found
by Ben Glover & Britt Nicole

Hello my friend, I remember when you were
So alive with your wide eyes
Then the light that you had in your heart was stolen
Now you say that it ain't worth stayin'
You wanna run but you're hesitatin', I'm talkin' to me

Don't let your lights go down
Don't let your fire burn out
'Cause somewhere
Somebody needs a reason to believe

Why don't you rise up now?
Don't be afraid to stand out
That's how the lost get found
The lost get found

So when you get the chance, are you gonna take it?
There's a really big world at your fingertips
And you know you have the chance to change it...

Why do we go with the flow
Or take an easier road?
Why are we playin' it safe?
Love came to show us the way
Love is a chance we should take
I'm movin' out of the way...

So when you get the chance
Are you gonna take it?
There's a really big world at your fingertips
And you know you have the chance to change it

sam's club membership giveaway...

i love sam's club, and unfortunately have allowed my membership to expire. i came across a "tweet" about this giveaway and knew i "had" to enter! check it out if you could use a new membership...and good luck, because i am going to win this thing!!! ;)

GO HERE!!!

the insanity never ends...

if you want to see a few recent cool pictures of what we've been up to, check out our family blog. there are some cute pictures of thad at the beach, and other stuff too.

after my last post, elisabeth got sick and ended up in the hospital with a kidney infection for 5 days. my classes got put on the back burner, and i'm still catching up on some of them (and retaking two of them, thanks to a "wonderful" prof). then we had some other stuff come up that makes life "fun". then after all of that, thad rolled off the bed and ended up breaking his arm. (he'll be fine, just immobilized the humerus for 2 weeks, one week left to go.)

this week nick finished 8th grade, and then our friend came down from tennessee with his two boys. they "guys" all went to a rays' game on wednesday night, where they got to be eyewitnesses to zobrist hitting a grand slam. on thursday we headed to ft. desoto state park beach, and except for some bad burns (sunscreen must've been a dud batch), we had a great time. we went out to eat at a local seafood restaurant tonight, after getting ice cream at a quaint little old-fashioned place this afternoon. they leave tomorrow morning and we're heading back to the beach with some families of nick's classmates for another "8th grade celebration". should be another fun day.

but for now, time for bed!

i'm procrastinating...

somewhat anyway. i'm supposed to be doing schoolwork but i'm too stressed to think right now, so i figured if i came here to post it might help clear my head. i'm very behind on my classes, and i have one professor who seems to enjoy being a jerk, so i'm taking an f in his class and retaking it this summer (which means coming up with another $600 on top of the other class i have to take this summer). that leaves me with 6 classes, 18 credits, to try to get this semester. if i fail another class i think i'll go insane!

so today i'm looking for the main cd for one of my courses, the one that the final is based on, and it's nowhere to be found! i still can't find it and i can't "let it go" so i can focus on other stuff, so i've wasted half of my day looking for it, rather than getting stuff done. i'll be so glad when this whole school ordeal is over, i've taken and passed my teaching exams, and i've interviewed and been offered a teaching position, and the first paycheck is in the bank.

hopefully i'll be back to post better stuff soon...if i can stay sane long enough.

goodness, it's been a long month...

since i last posted. actually a little over a month now! sorry i've been m.i.a.

nick had to have sinus surgery again (he had it last april over spring break...which is where we are now, april and spring break...), the first one was on february 26th. he had polyps form in his nasal passageways and nearly close them off, so he also ended up with a staph and fungal infection in his sinuses. poor kid! two weeks later he went for procedure number 2 and they did a culture of his snot and found out he had pseudomonas bacterial infection in his sinuses and put him on cipro. four days into the treatment he developed weird vision changes where his eyes were seeing things in weird colors. we ended up having to take him to the optometrist to be checked for eye damage and changed his antibiotics. between all of that and school projects for both kids, it's been an interesting month to say the least!

...and now i'm behind on my class work and am desperately trying to catch up on everything. i'm almost caught up on three classes, am caught up fine on another, and have three others to work on...nothing like taking 7 college courses like an insane maniac, it's been interesting! my financial aid check finally came...and went quickly too. it was nice to be caught up on bills for a few weeks, now we're back to trying to juggle it all. i know everything will work out, so i'm not letting myself stress over it, it always works out one way or another.

so here we are on spring break (the kids are anyway) and it's chilly out, so we haven't headed to the beach like i'd hoped or done much of anything else. no biggie, there's plenty that needs done around here and there's not a lot of time for running around right now. i am hoping we can hit the beach this weekend though, it would be nice to get some great beach-y shots of the kids. thad's 7 months old now, it's high time the boy went to the beach!

9 going on 19...

elisabeth age 2!

and now...

it's hard to believe my baby girl's 9 years old! she's so tall, she looks like she could be pushing 11. people mistake her for being older quite a bit. she's wearing size 12 jeans and size 7 1/2 shoes (women's sizes)! elisabeth is just growing up before my eyes, and i can't slow it down no matter how much i want to! she's pretty cool and fun to hang around with, loves girly fashion stuff, but not too frufru. she decided to try to do something with her hair and her pencils while doing homework, and it turned out pretty cute! now she does this all of the time! she's always loved posing for pictures and showing off. she also has a really big heart and wants to please everyone. she helps with her baby brother, likes to help in the kitchen, and will clean the whole house by herself...just don't ask her to clean her room! at this point in time, she wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up...and a "nature girl" (taking care of the planet and the animals). it's pretty cool that she helps us remember to bring the reusable grocery bags, recycle stuff, and wants to grow things.

for her b'day this year we let her friend kristina spend the night, and the three of us went to the mall. they got bff necklaces and initial earrings, and we ate some giant chocolate chip cookies while walking around. they even got to see a high school girl (her mom's a friend and wanted my opinion) trying on prom dresses and play around with the glamorous dresses themselves. as "fashion" oriented as they are, they think skimpy bikinis on build-a-bears are gross, put up their hands as blinders when walking past victoria's secret, and told my friend's daughter that her dress was cut too low in the front! good girls! :) she's growing up fast, but hopefully some of the values i witnessed at the mall will continue on through the "fun" teen years...

...happy 9th b'day elisabeth, i hope it's an amazing year for you!

(updated...on 3/3) we went to texas roadhouse for her b'day dinner, here's a pic...

still organizing...

schoolwork this time.

i just sat down with one of my handy-dandy notebooks and wrote out all of my assignments for the rest of the semester. i can't believe the semester is more than 1/3 of the way over now, and there's so much i need to do! i'm a bit behind on a couple of classes, one of them i'm way behind on because they didn't give me access to it on blackboard until the end of the 4th week, then i had to wait to get the book on cd from the professor. so yay, i get to play catch-up now...fun.

i'm taking a test today and doing an article analysis for one class, need to do a book critique and chapter quiz for another class, need to do a report on art & science in culture in another, do a research article review in yet another class, have to do four chapter summaries in a class in which i'm behind, and all of the catch-up stuff for the class i've just gotten all of the resources for. that's all that's due this week (or prior to this week). the first one listed has to be done today, everything else by friday. it will most likely be saturday or sunday for some of the stuff though. but if i can get it all caught up by the end of sunday, i'll be happy with that progress, then i'll be on top of it all and won't have anything late after that. seven classes...it's a LOT of work. i wish i could have my degree at the end of the semester to show for it all, but unfortunately i have one class left to take this summer. (hopefully i can start on it a week or two early and finish it a month or so early, we'll see.)

hopefully the "mail fairy" will come and bring my financial aid check today too. money is just killing us right now (or actually, lack of it)! if it doesn't come today, i'm going to scream! they were supposedly processing it on 2/3, and supposedly they have 10 days to get the checks out after the funds are released...they were a bit late in that one, don't you think? i'm not thrilled with their financial aid disbursement practices, they've been late every semester for me, and it seems like they get later and later each time. oh well, it will be over soon-ish, right?

i'm hoping to get all of this done so i can try to work on things that i need/want to do around here. i have a dresser half painted, but need to get pulls for it (need the money to come first). once it's painted, along with the bookcase, they'll both go in my room. then i need to paint the armoire for thad's nursery. once they're all out of the way, we can go pick up our treadmill that our friends are giving us for free! i so need to start working out, and once a treadmill is here, there will be no excuse. i can't wait! (hopefully all of this will happen by the end of the weekend, including jerry picking up the treadmill.)

heading back into the books now...

exhausted and didn't do squat...

today! yesterday i took nick to the allergist, jerry met us there and brought the boys home. then i took elisabeth to her appointment. it was an exhausting day. i also did three assignments for school, and we went to elisabeth's end of season soccer team party at amicci's pizza.

today? nada, nothing. i woke up with a killer headache (had it all day yesterday too). i ended up going back to sleep with thad for most of the morning. i still haven't done much of anything today besides loading the dishwasher. i have a lot of school stuff that needs done, but there's always tomorrow...and i have a test tomorrow too.

going to bed super early (for me) tonight. (anything before 11 is early!) good night!

creative stuff...

i've been trying to get things organized around the house so that i can focus on things i "want" to do, without being distracted by all of the things that need done. two things i want to do more: workout and create stuff so in order to do that i have to clean out the garage so i can finally set up our home gym area (need a treadmill and a few more free weights for the weight machine), and get the master bedroom better organized so i can set up a better work space for sewing and crafting (no, not my first choice of locations, but it's all i've got for now). in order to do either one of these, the first thing that needs to be done is to paint a dresser and bookcase i found that someone set on the curb for "free". they will go in our room and probably hold sewing stuff. i also need to paint the armoire for the baby's nursery, and then organize the rest of the garage.

i'm just so tired of only focusing on schoolwork and housework, but finding it impossible to get better organized. i started on nick's room, did the family room yesterday, and am now working on the master bedroom and garage somewhat simultaneously. once my work area is set up, then the front room (living/dining rooms) can be free of my "crafty junk".

there are so many projects i have that need to be done, but with it being so chaotic, nothing ever gets finished, even if i get started. one thing that just popped up on my crafty/thrifty radar is this really cool, simple and cheap
scented diffuser.

hopefully soon i'll be organized and can start really posting great stuff to my creative blog and showing progress on my transition to healthy.

tote, journal and heat relaxer giveaway...

check out this giveaway and enter...it's full of amazingly beautiful items!!!

good luck!

pecan chocolate chip tea cookies...

...dipped in milk=breakfast of champions!!!

i was stressed yesterday, and yes, i gave in to my habit of stress-eating...i made chocolate chip cookies, but i found an awesome recipe that was just amazing. you make these to-die-for tea cookies. you can make them plain, or add different flavorings or spices, or different additives (such as pecans, chocolate chips, etc.) to change them up. i added a dash of cinnamon, vanilla, pecans and choco chips...they are absolutely y.u.m.!!!

the cookie dough was great, they melt-in-your-mouth fresh from the oven, and they make a great breakfast when dipped in milk too! the perfect all-around cookie! try them, you'll see...

okay, back to my regularly scheduled school work...

i don't want to go...

the more i've thought about it, the more i do not want to go to kansas this summer. i haven't seen my brothers in 6 years, or my nieces and nephews, so i would love to see them of course. but since i'm on leave, money is really tight and i honestly don't know how we'll be able to swing a trip out there at all. on top of that, nick now needs sinus surgery (yes, again) because of his allergies. kansas in june = wheat harvest + johnson grass...not a good equation for a kid with bad allergies, especially after surgery. so we'll see.

i've started looking for a job of some kind, but with taking 7 college classes and dealing with a baby and older kids too, that's going to be really hard. i need to make a certain amount if i do go to work to make it worth my time, otherwise, there's no need to bother. we'll see there too.

i wish i could just snap my fingers and fix everything that is not going well around here, but i can't. so i don't dwell on it all and figure it will all turn out okay in the end...even though the end isn't in sight at times.

it's 3 a.m. i just folded a bunch of laundry, filled the dryer and re-filled the washer. i have school assignments to do, i need to clean the house for the sitter for today, and i need to go back to sleep. i think i'll go back to bed for a couple of hours and then get up and do the quick-clean for the sitter's arrival. i do need sleep...

okay, enough for my middle-of-the-night ramblings, i doubt they make a lot of sense!

crazy clean-up...

it wasn't my plan to start with the room i'm in today, but due to certain "issues" regarding the occupant of the room, it was necessary. the tv and ipod dock were the first to go. the phone and ipod will be confiscated this afternoon. to say we're lowering the boom would be putting it lightly.

i'm tired of having to babysit kids with their homework and it's going to stop, because it's taking away from things i need to do with my own schoolwork, housework, leisure time, and things i "want" to do like sewing/knitting (which get pushed to the side because i have other pressing things that i "have" to do first).

my plan for housework stuff today was to do laundry and work on getting EVERYTHING put away properly. but plans change, so it's clean out this room and lower the boom (rhymes!). laundry will still be washed, but probably won't get put away unfortunately.

i also need to focus on some school work (majorly and soon) because soccer tournaments and doctor's appointments have been getting in the way and i need to get some stuff done today too.

kid #2's room is next...

otters, and geese, and ducks, oh my!

today was the weirdest day as far as wildlife is concerned in my neighborhood. i live in a subdivision, which is full of "waterfront" lots, because we have several man-made lakes (aka retention ponds) because of the phosphate mine that used to be here and the digging that they did for it. anyway, it was definitely a "wild" day...

first off, when i let the dog out to do his "business" this morning, there were probably 50 cattle egrets sitting on the bank of the lake behind our house. luckily rocky decided to listen to me, rather than trying to make some new "friends." we see these birds all of the time, but not normally in such large numbers.

about an hour later, as i was driving nick to school, three otters ran across the road at a spot where there is a lake on each side of the road (so for them it was a straight shot from one lake to the other, just a street and a couple of sidewalks in the way). i actually pulled up on the grass on the left side of the street so we could see over the bank and take a gander...they were swimming and diving under water, looking just as you would expect otters to be, playful and having fun...kind of made me think of a few kids cutting school to go swimming.

speaking of ganders... later in the morning, once elisabeth left for the bus, thad and i left to run a couple of pressing errands and get some groceries. in the exact.same.spot. there were 5-6 geese crossing the road. two of them are gray and the rest are white. they showed up in the fall, so i'm assuming they're "snow birds". they left the same lake the otters left and were heading toward the same place where the otters entered the water. weirdest thing!

and as if that weren't strange enough, as i was still driving out to run those errands, i drove through the roundabout and was leaving our subdivision when lo and behold two mallard ducks (a male and a female) were crossing my lane and heading toward the median. they actually kind of freaked out and weren't sure what to do, so i stopped as quickly as i could so they could just go on their merry way, which they did. (i'm pretty sure they're "snow birds" too, we don't normally see ducks and geese in our neighborhood in the summer.)

on the way home from the errand/grocery run, in the same place where i saw the otters and geese, there were sandhill cranes. now that's not very unusual here because these gigantic birds walk around all the time, digging their beaks into the ground for food, leaving lovely holes in your yard as they do. they are normally seen in pairs, because they stay with one mate for life, and sometimes they have a baby or two who tag along, but it's too early in the season for babies at the moment. what was unusual about this particular sighting is that there were six sandhill cranes in one spot. i have never in my life seen this many just hanging out together, and i've lived in florida for a total of ten years (eight in our current town). it was pretty amazing.

so today was just that, amazing. seeing all of these creatures "hanging out in the 'hood"...i think God was trying to show me something, or at least trying to get me to open up my eyes a little bit more. i think they've been a bit preoccupied with other things to notice His stuff and He was doing what He could to get me to pay a bit of attention...i guess it worked, because now i'm on the lookout for some amazing things. wonder what He's got going on next? i have some ideas, but it may be much more amazing than i could ever even fathom. (thanks for the view God!)

book giveaway

a recent blog find is having a cute book giveaway. the book looks like it has great illustrations and an amazing message about dreaming. check it out!

valentine's...

it's 2:30 a.m., i should be in bed, i know...but i'm not.

we were able to go out on a "date" this evening because elisabeth went to the relay for life fundraiser night at school (movie night) and nick went to a party. we did have the baby, and we really only had a 2 hour window because of how the start/end times fell for the kids' activities.

we decided to head to our new mall, the shoppes at wiregrass, and attempted to try out the grillsmith, but even though the wait wasn't bad, we decided it would be cutting things too close for picking up elisabeth from the school event. so we headed to cosi cafe to try it out. i had their duo deal and ordered a "grilled chicken t.b.m." sandwich with their signature salad and a side of baby carrots, while jerry ordered the "turkey light" sandwich with the "tomato basil aurora" soup. i went up and purchased one of their oversized, 6" chocolate chip cookies for us to share for dessert...yum! all of it was really good and the atmosphere was pretty cool too. we chose to sit at a high top, but they had this really cool "big comfy couch" that was about 10-12 feet long that accommodated two tables' worth of space. if the kids were with us, i'm sure we would have opted to sit there. i definitely want to try it out again soon and try the "four cheese and fig melt" which has brie, cheddar, swiss and provolone with fig spread inside one of their flat breads.

i'm sure we'll head to grillsmith to try it out soon, but this made for a nice quick evening dinner since time was limited. we walked around the shopping area for just a bit and stepped into pottery barn to peruse the merchandise before heading out.

we enjoyed our evening, elisabeth had a blast hanging out with friends at the school afterhours, and nick went to his party then hung out at a friend's house until 1:00 a.m. (the time i picked him up because jerry and i both dozed off and didn't get there at midnight like we'd planned). if it weren't for the soccer tournament this weekend, nick would've spent the night, but he still got to hang out with the guys for awhile anyway.

"a nice time was had by all"...

14 years ago today...

nick's 3rd b'day...

i was in the hospital in orlando, fl snuggling with my first new baby boy. wow, i can hardly believe it has been that long since i became a mommy! what's even harder to imagine is all of the things that life has brought in those 14 years. a lot of changes and a lot of tough times, but a lot of great times too. one of these days i'll get my scanner going and upload some great pics of when he was little and we'll take a little "walk down memory lane" (much to his chagrin, i'm sure!)...

my favorite picture of him as a little boy is when we were on a pastor's retreat at snowshoe, wv in august. the retreat was over and we were heading home and decided to take a detour to summit lake and look around a bit. there was an old hand pump water well right in the middle of the area between the lake and parking lot and we decided to show nick how it works. you pump the handle, wait, then the water comes out. he saw this happen a couple of times and would try to get a drink of the water but it would stop before he could get any. he decided to put his head up there to get a drink as jerry was pumping it, and he ended up soaked. i got a picture of it just as the water was coming down on his head! (i just remembered...this is the summer the "macarena" came out and we were watching something about it on the tv in the room at snowshoe...that's where we learned the dance. haha)

some of my favorite memories of when he was little is how much he loved super heroes. he could climb like spiderman through the hallway at his grandma's house. he would climb up the wall at the living room end of the hall until he was at least 4-5 feet up the wall, then he would climb the length of the hall at that height! one time he thought he was superman and wanted to try to fly off the 4th level of a parking garage...luckily i figured out why he wanted to look over the edge! another time he insisted he needed his superman pajamas to be in his diaper bag at church (because i wouldn't let him wear it to church)...when i went to pick him up the lady in the nursery had let him put the shirt on, cape and all, and he took off running around the church grounds with his arms out the sides, cape blowing in the wind and yelling "i'm superman, i'm superman!" as he was weaving in and out between the church members...good times!

now he's 14, he still makes me laugh on a daily basis, and he gives me at least three hugs every night before he finally makes it into his room to go to bed. he is turning into such a great guy, not that i ever doubted he would, but it makes me so satisfied to see how he is turning out. through all of the changes, tough times and all, he is amazing!

i'll close this post with an essay he wrote for school this week:

Changing Diversity
by Nick Bolt


“It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”
– C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis’ outlook is that of which we should all strive to emulate. We better our selves, change ourselves, or else we will become gangrenous. However, we must take small steps, because you cannot aim above your resources and ability. Things must be immediately attainable with ability to serve in the future. For me, it is getting a college education so I can better serve my community. I then can go into the work field and support my views with tangible monetary backing. I can encourage better recycling programs and suggest new ways to make cleaner power. My voice could back lessons that are more diverse in the classroom, so that students can learn about different social groups for more than just a month at a time.

Indeed a college degree helps one’s chances of positively impacting their community, but there are different levels. Monetarily contributing to certain causes with income gained through your college education. A degree isn’t always necessary, many people create new charities and projects that unfortunately rely on donations. Though seldom successfully combined, a person who manages to back their own cause can succeed more than the latter examples. Personally, I hope to enter the field of Biomedical Engineering, a lucrative career path where I could sustain my own projects and help to better the state of Florida.

For instance, I would like to see more eco-friendly energy sources of power. A great addition to a “green” source of power would be a way to recycle simultaneously. With processes that can turn landfills into methane energy, it is definitely possible.

Eventually I would also like to see more, maybe organize, assorted themes in subjects like American and World History. Instead of focusing on African American views during certain events in history for a single month, show them more often through the whole of a curriculum. These short periods seem overly pandering and sometimes malodorous. By incorporating these concepts into everyday lessons, students can have an open view of events in the world and our country. While parents may continually instill their passively biased views, eventually broad-minded outlooks of future generations will abolish these dauntingly narrow-minded ideals.

In brief, my plans to better our state and my community are rooted in various areas, though all stem from one main obstacle, higher education. My hopes of alternative recycling-based electricity and diverse historical views in textbooks could be fulfilled by anyone with the determination to do so. To like-minded people who wish for such high goals, I would urge them to heed the words of Mother Teresa, a forerunner in diversity around the world, “Do not wait for leaders: do it alone, person to person.”

sick and tired...

literally. i started getting a scratchy throat on monday and now i'm in a full-blown cold of some kind on thursday, this stinks! i've been running a fever off and on for a couple days, my nose is stuffed up on the right side, my right eye has been running like a faucet all day, and my right ear is stopped up so it sounds like i have my finger stuck in my ear. i made it to the chiropractor yesterday, so i feel much better where my back and neck are concerned, it helped so so much to get an adjustment!

so i missed both of my days of doing my practicum work this week and will have to convince my sitter to stay over a few times to make up for it. if i can pull it off without missing any more days, i can have my hours done by the end of march. it would be great to be finished early to give myself the extra time to focus on the other six classes i'm taking.

i've decided that i need to be more organized and utilize better time management skills (that's kind of obvious when you consider a 5 month-old baby, 21 credit hours of college classes, marriage, an elementary school-aged daughter, and a teen-aged son...and then look at my house). so once i get past this week's worth of schoolwork, i am going to sit down and make a schedule for myself to stick to. i know with kids things will come up to change the schedule, but if i have a basic schedule for the the days i'm home and stick to it, i could probably actually have time to do things i "want" to do like sewing and knitting, among other things. so i'll check in next week and let you know how i'm doing. if you have any tips or suggestions, feel free to share! my "priority" is to finish the knitted diaper covers for my photographer friend laura at toddlerazzi. then i will focus on finishing the nursery (yes, he's 5 months old) and the next "project" is re-doing nick's room. somewhere in there i need to finish sewing the burp cloths for mister slobbers, and his set of cloth diapers too. i guess those are kind of at the top of the list also.

okay, off to take some medicine and work on school stuff...

whiney...

everyone seemed to be whiney this morning! now that they're all gone, i'm feeling a bit whiney myself!

i'm still tired, would love to go back to bed. my back is killing me, but i don't have time to go to the chiropractor today. i have assignments for school that i don't feel like doing, but they're due today, so i have no choice. laundry is (as usual) overwhelming...there has to be a better system, or actually "a" system, that i can follow. it's raining and getting colder as the day goes on...not a big deal, until you consider the fact that we have a first round soccer tournament game this evening out in the crud. today would be a perfect day to have chili simmering in the crockpot for dinner, hot coffee brewing all day long, and snuggling up in bed under my comfy blankies in my pj's with thad and watching all of the recorded things on the dvr that i haven't had time to catch up on...but i can't because i have laundry and assignments to do. wah. (see? i'm whiney)

so instead, i'll skip the tv, snuggling and chili, and settle for my joffrey's "jamaican me crazy" coffee brewing in the pot...it smells divine. hopefully the caffeine and taste will lift my mood, my headache, and give me a burst of energy so i can do these dreaded assignments!

homework drama...

when you have a smart kid and they don't apply themselves...it's super frustrating! the homework drama ends now!!! (well, actually as soon as all of the incomplete work is finished...) i can't handle being organized with my homework assignments and take care of someone's who is perfectly capable of doing it for themself.

i'm finding out more and more how much "fun" parenting can be. boy was i wrong when i thought the terrible twos and horrific threes were bad...just wait until you hit the pre-teen and teen years...much. more. drama. period!

thank goodness i have another baby around right now, so i have one "easy" one to be thankful for when the tough stuff comes along with the non-baby ones. lol

oh well, it's nothing a maple butter blondie and a couple of white russians can't cure...ahhhh!

things i want to do...

seem to always get pushed aside for things i "need" to do. especially now that a new semester has begun, my time is yet again spoken for in ways that i don't "want" it to be.

i want to sew some things, i need to sew some others. i need to knit some things, i want to knit some others. i want to paint some stuff, i need to paint the walls. ...you get the jist.

so how does one figure out how to juggle it all? i'm not sure yet, but if you have any suggestions, i'm all ears! time management and organization are not my strongest skills. help! lol

i think that the first focus needs to be the nursery...paint the walls, paint the armoire, sew the dust ruffle, rocker cushions, curtains, etc. and hang (and buy) pictures for the walls.

so my goal is to do something every day to work on the nursery. i washed the fabric ready to be sewn yesterday. today i think i will cut the fabric for the dust ruffle. i want to make it tailored looking, so i think i'm going to do box pleats at the corners and not gather it. tomorrow's goal will be to sew it together (if i don't do it today)...after i get back from doing some of my practicum hours for most of the day...

maybe not 21...

i still haven't heard back, but they have to get approval for me to take that last 3 credits this semester. i pray that i can get approval, but if not, it will work out somehow anyway. maybe i can talk them into letting me take a 1/2 semester class for the second half. i might email the dean if they tell me the answer is no, and plead my case with her. i know i have a "history" of incompletes/extensions, but there have been extenuating circumstances with all three semesters i've been going to school so far! (nick's headaches/surgery/missing 78 days of school...me being pregnant and in bukus pain...me giving birth via c-section...don't those count as exceptions to the norm? i think they do, but oh well if they don't...)

so a new semester has begun. i've turned in my first assignment (a few days late, thanks to my books coming almost a week late), and i'm ready to be finished already. i am however convinced that i must be a major glutton for punishment though because i am considering starting my master's degree this summer if possible...we'll see.

...back to the books!!!

21 credit hours...

...that's 7 classes!!! it's going to be a tough semester, but i'm excited that i will be able to finish and graduate this may! fortunately (or unfortunately actually) two of those classes are me finishing up my "incompletes" from the summer semester when i was in so much pain and couldn't sit at the computer for long periods of time to complete my coursework...so those two classes are already more than half-way finished. a third class is my "practicum" which is going to be me going to the school and shadowing the guidance counselors, checking in with my professor about it weekly, and then writing a paper when i've finished all of my hours of shadowing. (thankfully, i think i have someone to watch thad on tuesdays and thursdays so i can go in twice a week and get the hours finished quickly.) so basically, i'm taking 4 full classes. two of those are psych classes, and two are general studies electives that i had to take. i'm taking children's literature, which should be really fun, and women in leadership, which should be insightful because it deals with issues that pastor's wives (and other women in church leadership roles) deal with...i could've used this class years ago, it probably would've helped me cope with some stuff a lot better than i have through the 15+ years we've been married and in ministry together!

so here we go, a full semester ahead....wheeeeeeee!!!

i did it...

i made my first official knitted diaper cover!

go over to my "katee did it" blog and check it out!

freecycle rocks!

i got rid of everything i pulled out except for one pick-up tomorrow morning. i love that "one man's trash is another's treasure" so we can pass things on to be reused and recycled. there's so much more to go through, so many projects taking up garage space, and things to get rid of...at least it's a start.

i think the next thing needs to be to paint the "new" dresser and thad's armoire so i can get them out of there and make space so we can get to the weight/strength machine to get a good picture of it...so we can sell it on craigslist.... then we can make room for the treadmill we want to get. (we never use the machine and are thinking dumbbells would be a better investment/space-taker-upper) if i can get the stuff to make nick's papasan chair cushion, we can get his chair out of the way too. wow, the space we'd have if those three things were gone!

think i'll head in there now to do some painting...

and i went with choice number 3!

i went out into the garage for a little while last night, with laptop in tow, and posted a ton of messages to my local freecycle with stuff to get rid of. now i hope there will be takers so i can get rid of a bunch of this junk. if you need children's vhs movies, let me know i can hook you up! i also have a bunch of things that i am either going to offer for barter or try to sell on etsy, there are a few old "country woman" magazines, and a ton of handmade crocheted doilies and other handmade linen type things that i acquired from freecycle quite awhile back and have realized i really will not do anything with them and it would be better for someone to enjoy them than for me to have them stored in my garage where i haven't touched them since i got them. i can't wait to go through all of this junk and purge a ton of it! i need to simplify my life, and there's once place i can start. if i can actually make some money from some of it, i will be ecstatic!

after i take care of some other pressing matters this morning, i plan to pull out the handy dandy sewing machine and start on a few projects i havne't begun yet. i have quite the list. check out my "katee did" blog to see the progress of things i'm making...but don't check for a couple of days, give me a chance to actually "do" something! :)

okay, hoping today is a good day. maybe miracles do happen.

sigh...

i'll be glad when today is over, it's been so bleh. i'm stressing and it doesn't seem as if anyone wants to work with me like i need them too. i'm tired of dealing with people, especially when they won't give even a little. oh well, this too shall pass, right? it always does. i'm just overwhelmed this week, i guess that's what i get for having 3 weeks of almost bliss...

i need to do something productive to get my mind off of stuff...do i knit, sew, or clean in the garage?!? choices, choices...

oh yeah, my mom called from the ER. my dad (step-dad) fell today and hit his head, had a hard time getting up, drove himself to the doctor and was told to go to the ER. i think he's okay, but it didn't help my mood...

bleh...

kids are back at school and i almost feel depressed about it. i like having my kids around, and i like not having to get up and go to work every day. i'd love to homeschool, but they're already too assimilated into their lives at school, so i'd hate to change that around, especially with one entering high school next year. oh well, cest la vie...

so what have i done today? absolutely nothing! i slept in after the kids left because i've been toting around a headache for 3-4 days now. i guess i need to get to the chiropractor, but i hate to spend the money on it...but i'm useless with this headache, so it's probably worth the cost.

okay, that's enough of my funk...

...i'm off to get some stuff done. thad's asleep, there's a pile of laundry on my loveseat in the family room, and i have some errands to run...maybe i'll feel more useful once i get something accomplished.

off to take some excedrin first...

cloth diapering...

i've started really looking into cloth diapers (will probably end up sewing my own for the most part) and i found this contest to win free diapers

baby good buys is giving away a bum genius package! it would be nice to win it, just to get me started and try out some premade cloth dipes!

resolutions?

i don't usually do well with following through on my new year's resolutions, so i'm not going to set myself up for major failure. but there are things that i want to accomplish this year, so i'll list a few of them here (in no particular order, just as they come to mind)...

1. graduate from college in may and get my fl certification
2. lose weight following the transitions lifestyle system (i would like to be in a size 10, maybe 8, by 2010)
3. become more organized in every aspect of my life...(sort/purge/organize everything at home, get finances in order to be set to buy a home, manage time better, etc.)
4. build my unfranchise so that one of us can stay home with thad indefinitely
5. take time to do things "i" like to do...sewing, knitting, reading, decorating, etc.
6. spend more time with my kids, doing things besides watching tv or griping at them
7. go on more dates with my hubby
8. do the couch-2-5k program and begin running with my hubby
9. grow spiritually more than i have in a long while
10. take time to smell the roses and become as "green" as possible

new year, new blog...kind of...

i just added a new blog to my list of blogs (that i don't keep up with very well in the first place!)...

i added a creative blog for things i make, sew, knit, cook, etc. it's "katee did it" for my "kateedid kreations". i'm thinking of selling a few items on etsy eventually, we'll see how it goes. i've just been so inspired to sew, knit, etc. lately (now to find the time...) so i wanted to have a place to post that kind of thing separately in case i do start getting too crazy with it.

so check it out from time to time, it might be kind of fun to see what all i do through the year.