'Tis the Season

I love this time of year! Even with all the chaos of shopping, parties, school events, etc., it is just such a festive time of year. Of course I have busied myself putting together holiday centers and a holiday party for my daughter's kindergarten class, not to mention getting the class' teacher gifts for both her and my son's classes.



My favorite part of the season is shopping for the "perfect gift" for each member of my family. I love the thought of seeing their faces when they open their gifts Christmas morning. I was ahead of the game and had all my shopping for the kids done by mid-November, but it is so hard to restrain myself now when I see things that I would just know they would love. However, I can manage to exercise restraint when I remember all the toys they already have and all the space they take up in our house!



It is also such a great time to teach children about sharing and giving to others less fortunate. It wasn't until this year that my daughter expressed a real interest in the Salvation Army bell ringer. She was so concerned that he was going to be tired and wanted to know why he would spend so much time outside just standing there ringing a bell. When I explained it all to her, she said that when she got older, she'd help him, so he could have a break, and she could be a helper.



Now, I am off to go wrap some packages. While this time of year does offer so much in the way of writing topics, it does require that I spend less time at the computer. However, I will try to get back to post soon about our newest family member (and my daughter's early Christmas gift).



I hope everyone finds joy in the season.

Am I Lame?

Yes! I have been a total slacker with this blog. I can only say that being a stay-at-home mom now, I thought I was going to have more time than I did while I was working. I guess I honestly do, EXCEPT that I keep filling up all that time! I have overextended myself with obligations at the kids' schools. The thing is, I LOVE being able to do all that stuff. It just keeps me really busy. Plus, there is always this house falling down around me to keep us busy.
I will write more in a couple days to let you know about our Thanksgiving week. I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving and was able to spend some quality family time (or whatever makes you happy!)
I shall return . . . . .

Mission Almost Complete

Well, the garage sale is finally a thing of the past - well, kinda. We still have a lot of stuff left, so we'll be having another one at my mom's house probably in the next month or so. Although stressful getting everything ready, priced, moved, etc., putting an ad in the paper, putting up signs, AND coordinating the other people in the neighborhood - it was a great success! We got rid of enough stuff to free up some room in our basement, PLUS we made a decent amount of money. Yippy!!!
I only have a couple more hurdles to get over this month before my life resembles some sort of order. I have no idea how October became so hectic, but WHEW! I'll be glad when this month is over. There's lots of good stuff happening, it's just been so busy! That's my excuse for lack of blogging, and I'm sticking to it!

The "M" Word

Last week I went to have my first mammogram. Yippy! (Nothing to worry about - just a base-line.)
It's funny how much hype goes around about the dreaded mammogram. I've heard all kinds of horror stories from friends and random acquaintances, not to mention the "not so funny" emails. It's a wonder anyone even goes to get this done the way everyone talks. Well, I'm here to break the myth. Come on now, let's all admit, it's not that bad! I mean I have stubbed my toe and had it hurt worse. Maybe it's just different after giving birth to two children, breaking bones, etc., but having a boob smooshed is not that big a deal. The worst part of it is getting over being manhandled. I'm not too keen on having a stranger grabbing my breast, positioning it, then smooshing it all while making small talk. I found it easier just to disconnect and think of it as a routine dental cleaning or something like that. It wasn't the most fun thing I've ever done, but it was far, far away from being the most painful.

Garage Sale Coming Soon

My mom and I are planning to have a garage sale at my house in a couple weeks. I've invited the neighbors to join in, so as to draw in a larger crowd. We decided to have it the weekend of Oct. 20th. That sounded like a great weekend, but now. . . . . I actually have to get my act together and pull out all the items I plan to sell, plus get them priced. I have the hardest time pricing things. You know, one man's trash is another man's teasure, but how much is that treasure worth?? Hopefully gaboodles - I could use the money! Wish me luck!!!

A Normal Week

I have failed to blog this week because I really have nothing to say. I have finally had a week where everyone in the house is relatively well. My daughter went on her first field trip and had a blast. My son managed to make it through most of the day at preschool without crying the whole day (just most of it). There is always home maintenance to keep us on our toes, and a large, lovable dog who keeps coming up with strange ailments. I am thankful that I have a great vet who will actually consult with me on the phone instead of making me drag her in there all the time.

I guess I should also mention that my dad must've been going through grandchild withdrawal, because he came over Friday to go with my son and I to pick up my daughter from school. (Keep in mind that my parents have kept my children at least 3 days a week since they were babies while I worked.) Of course my dad is just smitten with my daughter - I do recall him promising her a Corvette on her sixteenth birthday, the day she was born. Where was this man when I was 16 driving the 4-speed, flesh-colored, diesel Volkswagon station wagon??? (He has since had "selective memory" when it comes to this promise, so sorry baby, I think the Corvette is out! ) Daddy wants her to drive a big, bad truck anyhow!

Uneventful Weekend

It's funny how at this stage in my life I am grateful for uneventful weekends. Weekends that don't involve a trip to the ER or house demolition or kid's birthday parties are fabulous! Now, that being said, we are still walking on a torn apart floor and haven't even been able to decide on the tile we want to put down. Put in the grand scheme of things, running errands, going to church, and going to see Elmo and Sesame Street Live makes for a decent family weekend.

I hope everyone else had a pleasant weekend as well!

Post Script to "Inspiration" post

When considering who your "inspiration" might be there are 2 songs you might want to listen to in my music selections. Click on "Anyway" by Martina McBride and "If Heaven Was Needing a Hero" by JoDee Messina. They both can be very moving songs. I also want to recognize the people of whom I spoke and thank them for not minding me sharing a bit of their struggles with the public at large. God bless you.

I'm Still Here

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, although there were a couple of days in the past couple of weeks that kinda made me wish I had. Let's start with the down and dirty - what's been going on around here, and essentially my excuses for not blogging recently.

First, remember the sick kids, well the hits just keep on coming. The chest cold my daughter had got passed to my son (no surprise there), but he decided to take it to the next level. The condensed version is that we wound up taking him to the hospital on Labor Day and got to be their guests overnight. My precious boy had croup and pneumonia. Now, add to this that the Friday before Labor Day I came down with a horrid stomach bug which has yet to go away. That's right - 13 days and counting. The doctor now thinks this is not a virus, but a bacterial infection - yippy! However, as a mom, I've been plugging along despite feeling like poop. The good news on the illness side, is that my daughter is well and is doing well in school.

The other excitement in our house is that the wonderful kitchen floor did finally dry out, but the wood was so buckled that it had to come out (don't even ask how many times we tripped)! So the Saturday of Labor Day weekend we sent the kids to my parents and began demo. (Keep in mind, I felt like puke the whole time.) I won't bore anyone with tedious details, but after replacing sections of subfloor and visiting our neighborhood Home Depot, we are living on concrete sheets right now until we can find the time and money to actually tile the floor.

So, that's my past 2 weeks in a nutshell. Hopefully, my readers will be understanding and overlook my lapse in updates lately.

Please also forgive the whiny nature of this post. We are on our way to getting our act back together around here.

Inspiration

Isn't it amazing the things from which people can draw inspiration? Maybe it's someone's great achievement, or a majestic sight, or witnessing an act of kindness . . . . I have had the good fortune to be inspired by the unfaltering faith of some of my friends. When it seems so easy to blame God or question why the awful things we see on the evening news are transpiring, there are some people who can be dealt some of life's hardest blows and continue to have amazing faith. I am blessed to know two such people. One friend being diagnosed with cancer and having to change her plans for starting family, and another who had to watch, love, and care for her first young child live with, fight, and eventually die from cancer. These people are INSPIRING to me because I think if there was ever a time to lose faith, these are certainly instances of it. People deal with sorrow and adversity in a miriad of ways, but I continue to be amazed by these two people, who I am proud to call my friends.

I'm Lame

Just remember that I started this blog by saying that I would not be an utterly faithful blogger. I console myself by checking other's blogs and noticing that I am not the only one. (You know who you are.)

Life here has been a little crazy. Both kids have been sick. It's surprising because my daughter has always been "healthy as an ox." Now she's been ill twice in 3 weeks, which has caused her to miss school for a total of 3 out of 11 days so far. I know her teacher must think that either I am overprotective or crazy, or that my daughter's sickly. What a great way to start the year!!

Now, my son starts his little morning preschool tomorrow. I am planning to camp outside, so that when the teacher gets frustrated from his inconsolable crying, she can easily find me. Let's just pray that I'm not the one bawling my eyes out.

Also, on the home front - the joys of home ownership. Unbeknownst to us, our refrigerator had a blown washer which caused an undetected water leak. The way it was discovered was my noticing the wood floor in the kitchen buckled up at 5:00am on Sunday morning. After my hubbie shut off the water, we have turned on the fans trying to dry out the flooring. Luckily he was able to make the repair to the frig pretty easily, but the floor is another thing. I see demo in our near future - argh!

First Week of Kindergarten

Well, we survived the first week of Kindergarten. And yes, I mean "we." After all, we all had to adapt to a new schedule. Luckily, my daughter had a great week (not counting the throwing up part). She really likes her teachers and has already made some new friends. Each day I picked her up she was eager to tell me about her day. After her absence for her stomach virus I offered to walk her in, but she told me I could just drop her off - and in she trotted! (My baby is growing up so fast.)
I must also say that I really like her teacher as well. Of course I had already heard great things about her, and I did request her. She made a point of calling to check in when my princess was home sick, and called again Friday afternoon to share a moment she had with her at school. This teacher not only has her act together, but is very kind as well. It sure does make letting my baby go a tad bit easier.
Tomorrow is going to be another trial at church. My son cries the whole time he's left there. Last week I stayed with him the whole time; tomorrow I'm planning to stay only part of the time. Here's hoping!

So yesterday was my daughter's first day of Kindergarten. Neither one of us cried, although her little brother did. (I think he realized that I'm not nearly as fun as his sister.) She did great! She got into the car smiling and proceeded to tell us about all the cool things they did in her class. I am so glad that her first day experience was a good one.
Today, however, was a different story. There was no problem with her going, but about 10:30 this morning I got a call from the school nurse telling me she had thrown up. Poor baby: (
So, I brought her home, and she won't go back until at least Thursday. (the 24 hour rule and all)
Anyhow, she was a trooper. She told the teacher she thought she was going to be sick and almost made it to the restroom, but only got half-way down the hall. I am so glad the teacher heeded her warning. The experience we all dread happened to my precious angel on the second day of kindergarten. I love that girl so much!

How Hot Will It Get?

I know we're all feeling the same way, but come on! Is there any relief in sight? My poor children are like hostages in the house. We have gone to the pool a couple times this week however. It's the only thing that makes being outdoors bearable! Even our basement is feeling warm, and that never happens. Oh well, just thought I'd vent. I guess in January this won't seem so bad.

Professional Photo Day

All I need to say is how do families with more that 2 kids do it? We could barely get both of them to sit and look the right way, much less smile at the same time. Of course, the 2 year old was less cooperative, but our 5 year old acted like she was made to model!

Tourists in Our Own Town

So today we decided to take in some of the attractions Atlanta has to offer. We began our day by meeting my friend Kathy and her son at the new World of Coca-Cola. It's a nice new tourist trap. The highlights were definitely the 4D movie, the tasting experience, and of course, hugging the Coca-Cola polar bear. We then went over to the CNN Center to dine in their food court. We rounded off our tourist experience by letting the kids play in the Olympic rings fountains at Centennial Olympic Park. (Of course it was so hot that the kids were not the only ones dripping by the time we left.) I guess that is why we're not supposed to go out on an extremely hot, code red smog alert day.
We have a fun and busy day - and all of this was before nap time!!

Day two and I'm back on. I don't expect this will keep up. Anyhow, today was another day of domestic bliss - church, grocery shopping, cleaning, board games, pet maintenance, etc. My morning started with a heartbreak when my darling 2 year old boy cried the entire time he was in the nursery. It just killed me to see him so distraught. I know he'll survive, but will I??
Thankfully my 5 year old enjoyed her Sunday School class and actually came home and reenacted the story of "Jonah and the Whale" with a slew of stuffed animals (Bella Bunny starred in the role of God). Now that she'll be entering the public school system I want to make sure she still has a good biblical, moral foundation. I know she'll be shocked when they don't say grace before lunch each day. I guess we'll have to get in a few extra prayers here.

Welcome!

Well, this is it - my initial blog. My hubbie and I were speaking about this today, and here I am online tonight "creating a monster." One thing I have to say from the get-go is that I am NOT a blog addict, nor do I pledge to update this blog with a daily happening. If I have nothing to say, there will be nothing said. However, I thought I could put this sight to good use by posting things that I think people might actually use, such as: good links to activities, vendors, etc. Please bear with me since I am a blog amateur. Hopefully you'll see vast improvement as time passes.

For now, thanks for stopping by.

R