I'm still here

Don't fall out b/c I am posting. I know I don't do it very often and I can't promise that I will do it more.

The kids only have 9 more days before school starts back and I am very sad. I am not ready for them to go back. It seems as the summer has flown by again. It has rained a LOT this year so we haven't gotten a lot of swimming in. Now the pool is closed during the week which bites.

Since my mom got fired we have been spending more time together. We have been going shopping together... she NEVER liked to shop or do anything when she was working. It's funny in a way but she has learned things about me she didn't know. Like today we were in Wal-Mart and I picked up some bean dip and she says.. you like bean dip too?! I am glad we have gotten closer over the last few months.

I might have a full time job when school starts back. I put in for a job in the High School for a teacher's aide. I was told I would know something by this coming Wed., only a week before school starts back. I have decided if it's meant to be then I will get it if not then I will still be a sub.

Lauren decided to do PeeWee cheerleading this year and cheer camp started tonight. She really enjoyed it and I know she will be a great cheerleader. She loves dancing and jumping around.

Hunter decided to do fall baseball. I can't wait to see him play again. It's been too long since I have watched him play. He wants to try out in the 9th grade for the school team so he's going to play as much as he can till tryouts.

I was thinking the other day about the kids and how fast they are growing up. In 5 years Hunter will be a senior and Lauren starts 7th grade that year! I wish we could go back to him just turning 5 and her being 3 months old. My how time flies!!

Zoo Pictures

Hunter and Lauren

Lauren, Hunter and me

Hunter and Lauren with the birds

Hunter and Lauren with the Ape

Only my child

Lauren has been wanting to sleep over with someone all summer so yesterday she went down to a friends house and stayed the night. When I got there to get her today the mom told me that at 1 am she asked to come home. The mom asked if she would stay if she laid with them and Lauren said yes. So the mom figures she will lay there for a few minutes and go back to her bed. Boy was she in for a laugh... she said just when she thought Lauren was asleep she felt her touch her arm to make sure she was still there. So the poor mom had to sleep with 2 girls last night.

Anyway they have a in ground pool so the mom and I floated around while the girls swam for an hour and then I told Lauren it was time to leave. Do you know what that child of mine then asks... if she could spend the night again?!? Needless to say she came home and has been asleep since her head hit the pillow at 8:30. Kids!

13 years ago...

today I was laying in a hospital bed waiting to meet the baby I had been carrying for the past 9 months. It was not an easy labor but the end results where worth it all. My baby boy was born at 12:59 pm (11:59 pm where we live now lol) and he has kept me on my toes ever since. I can't believe it's been 13 years. I am not ready for the teenage years... the dating, the smart(er) mouth, the hormones or the 8th grade. Oh my... my baby's not a baby anymore! When did that happen?

Happy 13th Birthday Hunter, I love you!!!

A few words

I just read this http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/rare_prenatal_testing_case_rai.html on another blog. Now I am going to tell a story about "normal" babies.

Here's my story. I was born to teenage parents who weren't ready to be parents. There was nothing wrong with me but the "new" wore off and I was passed around but mainly living with my mom and her parents. Once I turned 3 the passing game got old so I went to leave with my dad's parents. Never once did I feel unloved or unwanted by them just my real parents. I am sure at 50 something they wouldn't have chosen to restart with a 3 year old but they didn't blink and I was giving a stable home for the first time in 3 years. I can remember starting school and the other kids asking why my mom was never at the parties or programs and all I could say was she didn't want me. As a child I often wondered if I did something wrong or something was wrong with me for my parents not to want me but as an adult I see that it was all in God's plan. Now as a mother I don't see how one gives birth to a baby and years later change their mind. I too was young when my son was born but I NEVER thought about not wanting him. Yes he was a "surprise" but you know what he was one of the best surprises I have ever had. Anyway today I do have a relationship with my mom but it's not the normal mother/daughter one many of my friends have with their mother's. Our relationship is sometimes rocky but I truely believe I was raised by the best people. I often feel orphaned b/c both of my grand"parents" are gone but I am thankful they were there for me when I needed them the most.

2 years today

It really doesn't seem like it's been 2 years. Some days it still feels so fresh and raw. I pass by her every time I go to town but it's still hard to stop and visit. I do more things that she did and I stop and think I can't believe I just did that... never in a million years did I ever think I would "turn in" to her. I can see it more and more tho... but the older get the prouder I am to be like her. I just hope I am half the mother she was to me.

I love and miss you everyday Mamaw! Thank you for everything you ever did for me!!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope each of you have a wonderful relaxing day. :)

Falling so far behind

I don't know how any of you girls do it. I am so far behind with the housework it isn't even funny anymore. I have been working everyday the last 2 weeks and I am PRAYING for a break next week. Yeah the money will be super nice come payday but I am so TRIED and cranky. Now I know how Lauren (baby girl) feels when she's oh so whiny. I will try to remember that when she gets that way.

Then Vince (hubby) says he's thinking about laying off tomorrow night. Hello I have been busting my butt and taking EVERY call from the school so we can go somewhere this summer! Then he says "you wanna switch?" Will do buddy boy. I will ride the choo choo train to Dexter and then get a free hotel room and sit back, relax, catch up on missed sleep, and eat out while you go to the school and work then come home and keep up with house stuff and kids homework, baths, and feed them all before Lauren's 8 o'clock bedtime. Tell me where to sign on the dotted line. Oh and hurry before the bags under my eyes get bigger and darker.

I wanna know why I can't just say "oh it will be there tomorrow and go to bed at night"? I can't do it I have tried but I lay there thinking about what needs to be done and had I done it I would stop thinking about it already. Like right now my eyeballs are on FIRE but here I sit reading and writing waiting for the clothes to finish drying. It's just CRAZY!!! My body quit hours ago but not my pretty little head. One of you can stick me with a pin because I'm done! ;)

26 more days till summer!!

This weekend has been a little busy for us. Friday after school the kids and I left for Conway. My nephew's birthday party was Sat. and we always go the night before and stay. Friday night we took the kids roller skating. I did leave my sil with the kids for a hour so I could run to Kohl's and look for a shirt to wear to the Kenny concert. I found a shirt and a pair of black Sketchers on sale for $18.00. After I got back to the skating rink I let my sil and 4 year old niece go home. My baby girl LOVES to skate so I decided to stay and let her do that. Around 10 my nephew fell so I decided that was a great time to head out. Once we got to the house I needed to go to Wal-Mart so her and I left the kids with her hubby and we headed to Wally's. We got what we needed and went back to her house and finally the kids, her and I went to bed around 2 am. Sat. morning we got up, ate donuts, got ready for the party and waited for everyone to get there. After it was over the kids and I headed back home. We pulled into our driveway at 7:00. Of course I am to anal so I had to unpack, wash clothes, run the vacuum, clean the bathroom and get the kids in bed before I could sit down and relax. I got into bed around 11:30 last night. We all slept in this morning.

This afternoon the kids, hubby and I went over to my mom's house for a fish fry. My uncle and his youngest daughter came in from Kansas for a few days. So my other uncle, his wife and kids, my aunt, her hubby and kids, my Mamaw B and us were all together and we had a great time visiting and eating. My aunt took some pictures of my family so I am going to post one. We weren't really dressed for pictures but oh well. Enjoy!

Easter Sunday

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. We did. We went to Church. Came home ate lunch at the in laws and then came home and rested. My mom and (step) dad come over around 5:30 and brought the kids their stuff. Baby girl got Marley and Me in her basket and her and I watched it after her bath. We both were crying at the end... great movie!! The boy got Bedtime Stories, we are going to watch in tomorrow (maybe). Here's the best picture I got of them this morning. Sat. hubby and son went fishing. Can you tell? We normally do a family picture after Church but when we came out of Church it was POURING so I looked and felt like a drowned dog so we didn't get one. :(

Benchmark testing starts tomorrow. I am not a big fan of this test but who am I?! Say a little pray that the kids aren't too stressed out over them.

The puppies are now 3 weeks old. They are starting to walk. I got woke up this morning around 5 am... they are getting playful and thought that was a great time to start. :) Till next time.

9:45 and the phone rings

My heart just dropped out of my chest. The phone rang and I see on the caller ID it's my mom's number. She doesn't call this late. I answer the phone and it's my (step) dad and he asks what I'm doing? Nothing, what's up? Your momma needs to tell you something! OK! She gets on the phone and says... I was FIRED today!!!! What??? She starts crying and telling me what happened. She says they waited till 5:00 pm to fire her and the reason they gave her was she was late last Thursday morning?!? WTH? Oh here's the kicker... her job was posted in the newspaper Sunday and someone came in today to interview?!

She has been with this company for 21 years. I am still in shock and I can't begin to imagine what she's feeling right now. Please pray for her. I know God has plans but I'm not sure she does.

So glad it's the weekend.

Thursday started off bad. Around 2 am my baby girl woke me saying she didn't feel very good. Minutes later we were in the bathroom and she was throwing up. After I got everything cleaned up I got her a place on the floor fixed and the trash can beside her. I decided to do a suppository because she has a habit of going down fast when she gets a bug. She didn't throw up anymore and went back to sleep around 3 am.

At 4:58 am the phone rings!!! Not good for the phone to ring at that hour. I looked at the caller ID and see it's my stepdad. I answer and he tells me he feels bad. Then he says I don't think I am going to make it. WHAT?! I asked what he meant by that and he says he thinks he's dying!! I asked him where he was and he told me he was crossing the county line... ok that's like 2 mins from my house... come here. I jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes, call my in laws, and start brushing my teeth. The phone rings again and he says "I've crashed"!!! Ok I am on my way. I jumped in my van and start down the highway. I find a car on the side of the road and pull over. A man is down in the ditch with him and they are standing outside of the truck. I got out and ran to see what happened. The man hadn't seen what happened just seen the tail lights from the highway and stopped to see if the person was OK. He had already called 911 by the time I got there. The man helped me get him to my van and we looked up to another car stopping... a nurse! Thank you Lord for both the man and the nurse. The nurse come to my van to see how she could help. Turns out he had a very bad reaction to something and by this point his throat was swelling up and I believe he was going into shock. The nurse told me she had some benadryl so I ran to her car and grabbed it and she give him some. During all of this I had finally gotten ahold of my mom and we were waiting for her so we could get him to the ER. She pulled up within a few mins of me calling and we left for the ER. They run some tests and couldn't figure out what did it but they said it was most diffidently a reaction. So after watching him and running meds they left him go him a few hours later. The real kicker is Wed. around 6 pm he and I talked and he told me he had gotten in something and he was breaking out in hives and itching like crazy. I told him to go get some benadryl and he told me he would. Well the 2 places he went didn't have any so he just went back to the lake to finish his night of running yo yo's. I didn't know he hadn't gotten the benadryl till after the nurse stopped!!!!

After all of that I had to get to Little Rock for my doctor appointment at the Headache Clinic. I couldn't believe my blood pressure wasn't high but it was normal. It was a fasting appointment so they could redue my blood work. Back in August my cholesterol was high so she wanted to see if it was still high. Plus my Vitamin D was super low the last two times.

My mil had gotten the boy off to school for me and my fil kept the girl. Once my mom and stepdad were released they stopped and picked up baby girl. Now that things were getting back to normal (whatever that is) I decided to go ahead and do the birthday shopping I had planned to do while in Little Rock. I got her some really cute clothes, a few toys and a game for the Wii. Mostly from my mom, stepdad and the in laws. I finally headed home and my mom and stepdad brought the kids home... they had picked up the boy from school. When they walked in the door and I looked at baby girl I knew she didn't feel good. I check her temp and it was 103, so I got Motrin in her fast and set her up on the couch. Her temp was 103 again this morning but since that she hasn't had any. So even though we have a bug running it's course I am thankful it's the weekend and I pray I never have to live this past Thursday ever again!

A few more details... for my new readers (if I have any) my stepdad is more of a dad to me than my "real" dad has ever tried to be but for my readers from my old blog I say stepdad because I have posted things about the "real" dad that I wouldn't want people to confuse my stepdad with. Anyway my stepdad is OK. He blacked out after calling me and crossed the highway and hit a HUGE Pine tree head on. He came to and called me back. His truck was totaled but it's just a truck. The only thing that matters is he was OK. I bought him a huge bottle of benadryl and I told him to please have some with him at all times from now on just in case.

Prayers needed

http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/ and http://www.jennasjourneyblog.blogspot.com/Both of these families have babies that need you. Please keep Harper and Brayden in your thoughts and prayers. Leave them stories if you have one or just let them know you are thinking of them.

Our Traditions..

Sandra over at http://familycorner.blogspot.com/2008/12/from-rain-to-sun-shine.html asked that we share our Christmas traditions so here's ours.

Our tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving. Most of the time I already have some gifts bought and wrapped to put under there.

Our Christmas going starts this Sat. at the in-laws. We will have dinner and visit then open gifts. This started a few years ago before we did do it Christmas day and with sil living 2 hours away it was hard on her kids. So we do it the Sat. before Christmas now.

Then Sunday the kids, mil, sil, her kids and I will go to church. After church the kids and I will go to my Mamaw's house for our Christmas with my mom's side. Not really sure why she changed it this year.. we normally do it Christmas Eve afternoon. Also Sunday night the church is doing the candle light service... again not sure why this was moved from Christmas Eve night.

Up until my Mamaw that raised me went into a nursing home, we did Christmas with dad's side of the family Dec. 23rd. But that stopped in 2004. Hard to believe this will be her 2nd Christmas gone.

Christmas Eve night the kids, hubby and I go to my mom's for dinner, visiting and opening gifts. We stay till time to get the kids home and ready for bed. Santa comes that night with all his gifts unwrapped and put together... he's good that way. ;)

Christmas morning around 6:00 am the kids could and wake us up. We get up and they show us what Santa brought. Then we open gifts from under the tree. Once we are done we find something to eat and the kids play with their things the rest of the day. At some point both sets of grandparents stop and see what the kids got. It's so nice not to have to go anywhere Christmas Day.

Care to share yours? I would love to read them all.

I have a few

so I thought I would tell you all about the big shopping day. As soon as I dropped the kids off at school we headed out. I had a few stops in Little Rock I needed to make so we went to Academy for the things I needed in there. I also needed to run into the mall for an ornament with all of our names on it. (Dd was very upset when she was putting the tree together b/c we had an ornament with hubby, me and the boy on it dated 1996. She wanted to know why she wasn't on there. So now we have one with all 4 of us with 2008 on it.) After those stops we went on to Conway. We met up with my sil there and started our shop til you drop day. We hit Kohl's, Shoe Carnival, T J Maxx, Belk's, Target, Payless and then we decided to take a break and eat lunch. After eating at The Market Place we went back to shopping. We started at Best Buy, Home Depot, Kirkland's, Old Navy and ended the day at Hallmark. The best thing was after I got home and went to Cabalas.com to get 2 things for hubby I was D O N E!!!!! :)

Since the kids stayed at my mom's for the night I got everything wrapped and under the tree. Saturday morning the girl had a Christmas party at Church so I went and got her and took her to that. Today the kids, my mil and I got up and went to Church and then drove to Conway for my niece's 4th birthday party.

As soon as we left my sil's house the girl said she didn't feel so good. About 30 minutes later she was throwing up. She has been doing so every 30 minutes or so since. Looks like she will get a few days off from school... she has a dentist appointment Tuesday for some cavities and 2 teeth are going to be pulled. Fun days are ahead of me. ;) I need to run and check on her again. Till then.

Reba Rocks!!!

Tonight was the Reba and Kelly Clarkson concert. My bff Susan and I had a great time. It was our first concert together and I see many more to come.

Oh and how come I am just finding Reba's show that is no longer on TV? I caught it on the other night. So funny! I am now DVRing it every time it comes on. I LOVE me some Barbara Jean! Do you know she's even funnier in person?! Yes, she was the opening for Ms. Reba and Ms. Kelly.

I also found out tonight that tickets for Brad Paisley go on sale this coming Sat.! :)

Can you hear me now?!

I have to know what my child heard me say this morning? Ds likes to ride the bus, you know b/c having mommy drop you off at school is so uncool. So anyway this morning as he's walking out the door I yell "don't forget your lunch money". "Ok mom I won't". Then he comes back in for something and I say again "don't forget your lunch money". "Mom I'm not". Guess what he forgot... his freakin lunch money. So to help him out with the coolness I stopped on the highway and gave it to the principal, all while still in my pj's! ;)