Farewell

When I started this blog almost four years ago, I needed an outlet for my thoughts. I was stuck at home with 3 small children, had a husband who traveled all the time and was in dire need of getting all that was in my head out so that I didn't go completely crazy. Blogs were becoming very popular and as more and more people joined the mom-blog bandwagon, I found myself becoming less and less enthralled with the idea that people from all over the world would be able to read what I wrote.

This blog has definitely served a purpose. I have loved sharing my life with you 10 faithful readers. I have loved having an outlet to express what's on my heart. I have loved sharing photos of my children. However, I feel my time in the blogosphere has come to an end. I'm a working mother of three who has just taken on a new part-time job as a Spinning instructor (if you've never heard of Spinning, you can check it out here. If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be a fitness instructor in any way, I would've told you you were crazy). And, in case you haven't noticed, I haven't been blogging much at all in the last year. That showed me that this blog thing isn't for me right now.

I have lofty expectations of having another blog some day, one where I can share more of my photos with you. I know the whole amateur photography thing is another bandwagon that so many have joined but I really do love it. Most of my subjects are my precious children but I do like taking pictures of other things, at least when I have the time. And that time is becoming more and more precious as the years go on. My children have grown so quickly, even though some days felt so long. My baby is about to be 4! I'll never tire of sharing the story of his miraculous birth. I'll always be thankful for the many L-isms over the years. She still says so many funny things. And K's dimples haven't changed one bit even though she is 8 going on 16.

With that, I say a fond farewell!

Day Three

For today's list, I thought I would get in the Christmas spirit this first week of December with a Christmas-themed list.

1. Watching the kids open presents on Christmas morning in our own house
2. Eating lots of dressing (and a little turkey) for Christmas dinner
3. A room aglow with the lights from the Christmas tree
4. My children's homemade ornaments
5. The smell of cinnamon and spice candles
6. Singing Silent Night acapella on Christmas Eve
7. Wine and cheese for Christmas Eve dinner
8. Listening to my children sing the now familiar Christmas hymns
9. All of our family gathering for Christmas dinner
10. The quiet of Christmas Night
    

Day Two

I have some thoughts about college football but I want to make sure I get it just right. (And no, it's not about Auburn.) So here's Day Two of being thankful:

1. K's dimples on her cheeks just below her hazel eyes
2. L-isms that continue to make me laugh
3. The way H winks when he asks a question
4. S's big, round blue eyes
5. Sunsets at the beach
6. When K reads to H
   
7. The legacy my parents are leaving my children
8. Movies and popcorn on a rainy day
9. The way H thinks that every football player wearing the number 2 jersey is Cam Newton
10. Watching L when she does gymnastics
    

In a Hurry

"Girls, hurry up! We're leaving in 10 minutes!" I holler this upstairs to my girls on a daily basis. I wake them up in plenty of time to get dressed for school and have breakfast. Yet, on many occasions, they aren't ready until just before it's time to go. Then there's a mad dash to put cereal in a bag so they'll have something in their stomachs to last until lunch.

I'm always rushing in the morning, whether it's making lunches that I neglected to make the night before or putting a bag together for the gym or cleaning up a last-minute mess H made.

Then there's instant gratification, the rush of information available at my fingertips. I admit I have an iPhone and I really do love it. Since I'm not often home and near a computer, I have the ability to be reached at any time for any reason (including today when, while at work, K calls me to ask if she can have a cough drop because she's coughing really bad. She wants to know if I brought any cough medicine for her. Let's not forget that I work at the school where she attends and am just downstairs in the kitchen and it's during her lunch time. Not sure why she felt the need to call. It's not like the campus is that big. The kitchen and her classroom are in the same building. It took her longer to walk to the office and tell the school secretary that she needed to call me in the first place). I like knowing things quickly, staying on top of things, current events, sports (especially how my Auburn Tigers are doing and what everyone is saying about them, good and bad), and even little stories about my hometown. All of this is available on one little device.

Even the games on the iPhone are meant to be played quickly. I read an article about video game designers (in a real paper magazine, not online) and how they've had to rethink the video game concept to fit users who play on their iPod-type devices. People want games they can play in 10 minutes, not several hours.

I have a Facebook account and can see what all my "friends" are doing at any given moment. The only thing I don't subscribe to is Twitter and I just can't seem to get on that bandwagon. But you get my point. We get on demand TV and movies, internet just about anywhere and are always available to talk, text, email, etc.

Yet two things have happened in the last two weeks that have forced me to step back and say, "What's the hurry?" I have two friends who are dealing with ill parents. These people are my age and their parents are the same age as my parents. This isn't just the flu or a cold, we're talking major illnesses and surgeries and life-changing choices here.

Then there's this sign I saw for several weeks as I took the kids to school and back home again. It read, "Thanksgiving wasn't meant to be shut up in one day." I don't usually pay attention to those kinds of signs, in fact I rather loathe them as they always seem to be catchy-type, on the surface sayings. Nothing that really makes me think.

This one was different. I really thought about that and they're right: Thanksgiving wasn't meant to be shut up in one day. We are to be thankful all the time. I am to be thankful all the time. Scripture even tells us to pray with thanksgiving when we make our requests (Philippians 4:6-7). And what follows our requests made with thanksgiving? The peace that surpasses all understanding. Who wouldn't want that? Who wouldn't want a peace to calm all that hurrying we do?

So as not to speed past Thanksgiving and straight on into Christmas, I am going to list 10 things every day for which I am thankful (yes, Mod Girl, I took this idea from you). I'll do this through the end of the year. I encourage you to do the same.

1. My Lord and Savior and His death on the cross
2. My husband
3. My children
4. My church family
5. My school family, including those I work with
6. Small town living (although it seems way too small at times)
7. My job
8. My husband's job that allows him to be home with us
9. My home
10. My parents and in-laws who are always willing to help where they can
    

Lest You Think...

...I have given up blogging forever, I haven't. All is fine at Mama's house, well as fine as it can be with three children. I made a pseudo-commitment to take a break from blogging. I thought it would be a two week break not a two month break. I would love to say that something wonderful was happening whilst on self-imposed break but it wasn't anything different than normal. I've driven the kids to school, gone to the gym, gone grocery shopping, worked, and driven carpool. Then there's the house keeping, cleaning, and cooking that has to be done as well. So that's what has consumed my break. See? It's not glamorous.

Here's what's happened since I last blogged:

• L got a second cast on her wrist after they x-rayed it to make sure the bone was healing properly and discovered that she had stuck a penny in it
• H got his first big boy hair cut
• If K grows any more she's going to be taller than me by the time she's eight. And I'm not short.
• S has been to the UK twice
• We went on a very short getaway with Sporty Mama and her Hubby
• I've watched too many AU losses although our most recent loss was one I was actually ok with. Frankly, I thought we would get our butts handed to us and we hung on until the very end. I was extremely proud of those guys for showing up and giving us a great game. WAR EAGLE!
• I had a fabulous birthday dinner lovingly prepared by my sweet husband, complete with steak au poivre, fresh asparagus and angel food cake with strawberry sauce and fresh whipped cream

Now you're caught up. I've learned that working a part-time job is a full-time job in and of itself. The hours really are great and I still get to do things with friends when I can, I can still do field trips and class parties, I just have to make sure my job is done first. There are days when I'm happy to be there and days when I wish I were anywhere but there. That's not all that different than my job as a mom. I have those days when I wouldn't trade any of it and days when I wish I could be beamed to a quiet spa island where no one asks me for anything.

I can dream, can't I?

P.S. Not sure why H looks so worried...

My Brain is a Ball of Mush

It's true. These days my brain really is a ball of mush. I guess working on top of being a mom will do that to you. Well, that and a broken washing machine. It just quit on me Friday in the middle of a load. So I had to empty the water on to the back porch, wring out all the clothes and take them to my in laws' house. Let me just say that I never realized how much laundry I did until I had to take it elsewhere. Our family of five generates some dirty clothes! Praise the Lord for the in laws; otherwise I'd be going to the laundromat.

We're still getting used to the school schedule which seems to be going well but it's hard to get the kids to bed earlier. While it's nice for S and I to have a little more quiet time in the evening, losing just 30 minutes is a lot!

The job is going quite well even though I have H with me in the tiny school kitchen. It's really a pretty good deal except I'm on my feet all day. As long as there is plenty of food for him, H stays out of the way and even helps sometimes. The only issue I've had is the sweet little first and second graders who come through to heat up a lunch they've brought from home. If there are 10 kids who have to heat their lunch and I only allow them one minute to do so, that's 10 minutes that kids are standing there heating things up. And here are a few examples of the questions I hear over and over:

1. How long do I heat this up?
2. Do you have a plate?
3. How does this microwave work?
4. Do you have a spoon?
5. Where is the trash can?
6. This is too hot.
7. Can you open this for me?

I honestly would love to help all of them but I can't seeing as I'm slightly busy handing out the 120 lunches that were ordered. It's craziness I tell ya! I had one 11th grader tell me that she was never again bringing something to heat up. Granted, there is more than one microwave but with the shear volume of children coming through to heat things up, it feels like there's only one.

So here's a recommendation to you parents who send lunches that need to be warmed up: don't. It makes life easier on everyone. But please know that your children are sweet even if they aren't old enough to work the microwave. Maybe I can teach a class on microwave use while I'm waiting to pick up L. Sounds good to me!

First Day of School 2009

It has come and gone. The first day of the 2009-2010 school year, that is. K is now officially a second grader and L is a kindergartner. I was slightly choked up when L went to her classroom and began her work. She did exactly what she was supposed to do without having to be reminded. I thought I would be okay but I was a ball of mush. It doesn't get any easier with the second one.

I have found my return to work to be exhausting. It's been almost 8 years since I've worked outside the home and it's tough even though it's only a couple of hours each day. The nice thing is that the day goes by quickly with the rush of lunches and kids and teachers and kids and food and all sorts of other stuff. Last night I crashed at 9:00 and woke up at 6:00am having not moved one bit. I'm pretty sure I was tired.

I have some sweet pictures of the girls on their first day, complete with new backpacks but I haven't uploaded them from the camera. That's mainly because I'm lazy and won't go downstairs right now to get the camera so I can put pictures on the blog.

It's been well worth it, though, to be around my girls all day and to see the kids in the school. They are a great group of kids and I'm having fun getting to know them even if it's only for a moment.

So Here's What's Going On

I have been neglecting this blog all summer long. It's hard to find the time to sit down at my own computer and write about, well, nothing. But that's why I started this: to have a record of my children's life and to get out all the things in my head. I would love to be more faithful to this blog (I feel like I've been cheating on her) but life has gotten in the way.

We got back from a trip to my hometown on Tuesday. It was wonderful and we were able to extend our stay one day because S had to work. He had too many conference calls on Monday to be able to sit in a car and try to work while 3 children were creating background noise. He went with us since he can work from just about anywhere. That was certainly a blessing for the car ride. It's always easier than being the lone adult in the car for 5 hours.

We got the chance to ride a real train while we were there. There's an antique rail not too far from my hometown so we went with Papa and PJ and rode the train. It was so much fun. There was an outdoor car and an air-conditioned indoor car. H thought it was a little loud while we were on the outdoor car so we moved inside about half-way through the trip. The air felt good since it was 90+ outside. Even with a breeze in your face, it was still really hot.

So what else is new? Well, I'm officially a working mom. I've taken a position at our school, coordinating lunches, organizing them, and handing them out. No, I'm not the lunch lady. I'm the lunch coordinator. I do get paid (not much) but I do get a really good discount on our tuition. And that makes all the difference in our economy today. Plus, whatever I make gets deducted from the tuition so we're not going to have any monthly payment. Oh, and H gets to go with me so there's no need for child care. And I get Fridays off. It's win-win. While this isn't my ideal job, it's a great way to ease back into the working world.

So that's the news from the 3m's Mama house. What's new with you?

Summer is Winding Down

As we move into these last few weeks before school starts, I must look back at what a wonderful summer we've had so far. I remember the last day of school in May, thinking that we had so much time this summer, it was going to be long and what was I going to do with three children at home all day with nothing to do?

The answer didn't come right away. We had to find things to do, take short day trips, host friends, play with family. We had several guests stay with us including Sporty Mama, had a big birthday party for L, and hosted S's sister for 2 weeks. Her four children stayed at the grandparents' house and took turns staying with us. We had a fabulous time with all of these people, ate really good food and laughed a lot.

The girls are getting excited about school starting (that will eventually fade so I'm trying to encourage it for as long as I can), especially L who will be starting Kindergarten. I know I'll be a ball of mush on the first day of school and must remember to have tissues in my purse that day. We've purchased school supplies, new backpacks and Gran surprised the girls with new lunch bags which are really cute. I think I need to have them monogrammed.

Now summer isn't totally over. We're heading North to visit Nana, Papa & PJ at the end of this week. We have a few more day trips planned, a few play dates with friends and possibly a day trip with Daddy who was gone for most of the month of June. He also went on a last minute trip a couple of weeks ago and has been holed up in his home office ever since. While he is technically home all the time, we still miss him.

I'm very thankful for the time I've had with K, L and H this summer. We've had some wonderful times and we've had some difficult times. Tempers flare a little more easily when you're together all the time. That being said, I wouldn't trade my life for anything.

The Case of the Delinquent Blogger

Oh, I've been so neglectful of this blog as of late. It's getting to be that season around our house where things kick into high gear. VBS was this week and I was very involved in that, mostly behind-the-scenes. I'm no teacher but organizing registration I can do. We had a great turn out even though lots of families were on vacation for the 4th of July.

Speaking of July, it is a big birthday month around here with K's one week and L's the next. Usually it isn't so stressful but this year is L's 5th birthday and that means she gets a big party with all her friends and balloons and cake and the rest of the works that come with child's birthday party. We do big parties at 5, 10, and 16 and family celebrations for the others. I got that idea from S's brother so kudos to him and his wife for sharing that with me. It seems to make the parties that much more special and is a lot less work for me.

I've been busy making arrangements for said party, reserving a large water slide for our back yard, printing and mailing invites, and just generally organizing everything. It seems to be falling into place but this week is proving to be a crazy one. I am thankful that we can do this for L but I have a feeling I'm going to crash next Saturday night.

I plan to return to regular mundane blogging at some point just not this week. Happy 4th of July everyone!

I Thought Summer Was Supposed to be Lazy

Gone are those lazy summer days about which I was so excited. Our June calendar is now filled and July is slowly filling up. I keep looking at our fridge calendar to make sure I don't forget anything.

We've got two girls from a youth choir coming to spend the night tonight. My dear friend, Sporty Mama, is coming tomorrow to stay through Monday. VBS at our friend's church starts Monday and I have a girls' night planned for Monday night. Swim lessons start on the 22nd and we've got our church's VBS starting the following week. So these lazy days where nothing is happening seem to be long gone. I'm hoping July won't be as crazy.

Of course, there's L's 5th birthday party (her very first big birthday party), K's birthday, and a visit from Papa and PJ. So why am I blogging when there's much to be done? Procrastination, my favorite thing ever.

My mouth is feeling much better, thank you, after two days of soreness and sensitivity. I was still chewing funny last night and S even commented on it. I feel like such a wimp!

I will post pictures of my visit with Sporty Mama as long as I remember to actually take pictures. Have a great weekend, friends!

File This Under "Things I Do Not Recommend"

I went to the dentist today for the second time in a month. Why, you may ask? Because I had not one but two (!) cavities. I thought cavities were reserved for little kids and possibly teenagers but I am, at 32, not immune to these nasty little boogers.

So I sat in the dentist's chair and proceeded to have him stick my mouth with needles (thank heaven for numbing medicine) and then drill on two different teeth on either side of my mouth in what was possibly the longest 30-45 minutes of my life. I do not enjoy the dentist in the first place but this was just a nightmare. Don't get me wrong. My dentist is a nice guy and did a great job. He was very reassuring through the whole thing. "You're doing great," he said as he drilled deeper into my tooth, sending shock waves down to my toes.

Now that the numbing medicine has worn off (which he must have done a very good job of administering because my lower left jaw was numb until about 2:00) there is this very dull ache in my mouth. The top front tooth that was filled is very, very sensitive to hot and cold. And the back molar just plain hurts.

So here's my advice: Brush and floss, people. Brush and floss.

Up

Today was a fantastic day. Just plain fantastic. I got to sleep in a little, as did the entire family. H was the first one up at just before 8am. S cooked a wonderful pancake breakfast and I woke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee.

We have some college students visiting our church this summer as part of a campus ministry mission trip. We've "adopted" two of them and had them for lunch. They are great kids and it was fun to have some older young people in the house. Both S and I really enjoyed their company. And our "son" can eat. I love cooking for people who like to eat! We sent them home with all the leftovers we could. The one thing they don't get very much of is home cooking while down here. So they are usually pretty grateful for anything homemade.

Just after they left, we put the kids in the car and went to see "Up." (L calls it "Up the movie") It was great. They all sat there like little angels, enthralled with the movie. Even H had a good time and wasn't running all over the place. The dog truly is the best part of the movie. Just trust me.

We took our time getting home, stopping by a local ice cream parlor for a cool treat. We don't often do things like this but it really was such a nice evening. And H got a free cone since he's a little guy. Can't beat free! He ended up wearing the majority of it, trying to use his "free sample" spoon instead of licking it off the cone. It's moments like that I'm glad I'm not an OCD mom.

While I would love for every day to be like this one, I'm sure I wouldn't appreciate it as much if these days were the norm.

Whirlwind

The last two weeks of school are exactly that: a whirlwind. We've been so busy that I've needed to go to bed earlier than normal just to keep up with the pace. With something special/out-of-the-ordinary-routine going on each day, we've had no time to just be. I'm truly looking forward to not driving to school every day!

We had the girls' ballet recital last weekend and they were beautiful. K did both ballet and tap and did such a good job. And L is definitely a performer. She knew the routine better than anyone (her ballet teacher even commented on how well she did). I'll post pictures when they get downloaded. That's not an easy feat these days as S's new home office is upstairs where the computer is. And when he's finally done for the day, I'm busy with dinner and bedtime routines and don't feel like going upstairs to download pictures. Go figure. (At this point we're just happy that he has a job and has work to do. Even though it's a lot, it's work he's getting paid for.)

So what else has been going on? Let's see. L told me that her little friend (of the male persuasion), H, thinks that she's "hot." (That was her word, not mine.) H, thanks to his father, now calls pigs "bacon." Any time he sees a picture of a pig he says, "bacon." Insert exaggerated roll of the eyes here. L got promoted to Kindergarten on Tuesday night and sang loud enough that I could hear her above everyone else in her class. This dream of hers to become a singing star might actually come true. H has decided that he wants to start going on the potty. He's only made it once to the potty but we're working on it. My prayer is that we'll be done with diapers this time next year. One can dream...

That's the story of the last two weeks. My goal for the weekend is to rest and to finally get my house in order. It's a mess!

A Heartfelt Thanks

Sunday afternoon while I was on the phone with Nana, I happened to glance at my trusty fridge calendar (if it's not on there, I'll forget everything that's going on) and realized that L had snack on Monday. I looked through my cabinets and found absolutely nothing that would suffice for snack. A trip to the store on Sunday at 5:00 was not what I wanted to do but it had to be done. Plus we needed eggs so I took H and off we went.

I came up with a good, homemade trail mix that I knew the kids would like, grabbed eggs and milk and went home. Now one of the things I love about our new car (the one we got last February) is the auto rear door feature. It was worth every penny the upgrade cost us. However, I was none too pleased with it when I opened the back and my 18 eggs fell to the ground. Oh, I was just devastated. 3 of them were a total loss and 6 more were cracked open but salvageable. So I had to come up with something that could be made right then other than scrambled eggs since we'd had those for breakfast.

I came up with a sour cream pound cake. It's S's favorite but we still had H's birthday cake hanging around and I didn't want two cakes in my house. What to do?

I gave it away to some very special people. The night H was born, our local fire department/EMTs were the first on the scene and really did the work to save our lives. One of them even came to see me the next morning in the ICU because he was so surprised that we'd actually survived! So I took the fresh pound cake to our local fire department with a thank you note and told the chief about the night H was born. I thanked him, from the bottom of my heart, for their quick response and doing all they could to get me the help I needed. It was a long overdue thank you! He gave me the standard "It's our job, it's what we're here for" speech but they were so much more to me that May night.

Our fire/police/EMTs are so overlooked and under appreciated. We often take them for granted until we really need them. We're certainly thankful we have them around!

You Can't Get Rid of Us That Easily

It's been way too long since I last posted and much has happened in that time. This is really the first opportunity I've had to sit down and think about what I can post. I have some sweet Easter pics to share and a few from our visit to the strawberry patch. The only issue is that they're still on the camera which is downstairs and I'm too lazy to go get it. Such is life.

Now on to what's really on my mind. I mentioned awhile back that S lost his job, got a new one, and we were going to have to move. This was not something I was thrilled about. I am willing to do it but not just super happy about it. However, we got word today that S is being moved to another contract, which means a different job that will allow him to work from home wherever that home may be. Which means we don't have to move.


I am BEYOND thrilled. The emotional roller coaster I've ridden over the last 4+ months has really taken its toll. And I've been forced to my knees, praying for God's guidance and wisdom, seeking to do His will. The journey has been rough and it's going to be another adjustment having S working from home rather than being gone all the time but it's an adjustment I'm willing to make!


A huge thank you to all of you who prayed faithfully for us. We have certainly felt it!

Coming Soon to a TV Near You

One of the benefits of living in a small town is that you get to know lots of connected people very quickly. A friend of ours sells ads for a local TV station and was filming a commercial for a new mattress company that just happens to be minutes from our house.

So when he called and asked if we had a large teddy bear that could be used for the commercial and did we have some PJ's for his daughter since his wife forgot to bring some and would K like to be in the commercial, too, I said yes. Oh, by the way, we'll be there in 10 minutes.

It turned out to be great. I happened to have two nightgowns that matched and the girls, K and her friend, N, were great little actresses. They really only had to pretend to sleep on this very large teddy bear. And they looked so sweet in their matching outfits. Of course, I forgot the camera in the haste to get out of the house!

(Consequently, we have said bear because it was a Christmas present for H. Only he's petrified of it since it's bigger than he is so the bear now lives with Gran.)

Insert Title Here

I can't seem to come up with a title for this as it's such a random post. Yesterday the kids were playing outside in the afternoon when the sprinklers came on. Instead of running inside, they decided to run in the sprinklers. In their clothes. They were having such a good time, I just couldn't make them stop. When the sprinklers went off, they were very distraught so S turned them back on for a few more minutes of fun. They were all sopping wet and immediately went into the tub. Of course I didn't have my camera and was having too much fun watching them so I have no pics to share.

S surprised me Saturday night by telling me that his boss told him to work from home this week. I cried when he said this as he's been gone for the last two months with only one week at home. Such a sweet blessing.

And I'll leave you with an L-ism:
L: Mama, do you know what?
Me: Yes, and his brother Why.
L: No, it doesn't have anything to do with H!

It's Delicious But Not So Nutritious

A few weeks ago, S was making his usual lunch, a PB&J (peach preserves, to be exact). As he reached for the bread he asked, "Since when do we eat white bread?" I replied, "Since it was on sale at the grocery store for 50 cents a loaf."

I realize that white bread isn't all that nutritious and I've honestly gotten used to whole grain breads even though a PB&J still doesn't taste quite right. But I really couldn't pass up a loaf of bread for 50 cents. I bought a couple of loaves and put them in the freezer.

So this morning when I made cinnamon toast for breakfast, K exclaimed, "Yea! We get white bread! It's so yummy!" I figure a few sandwiches made with white bread isn't going to kill the kids. Plus it's a good thing they consider it to be a treat!

If I Had a Sledgehammer...

...I'd use it on my washing machine. I'm so tired of that thing always being off balance. When we bought it, we had very little money and bought the most expensive one we could afford. Not bottom-of-the-line but pretty close. And it has served me well for many years. It still serves me well as long as there are clothes in there. But if there are sheets or towels in it, it throws it off balance. I used my trusty level and there's nothing uneven about it. It lines up nice and neat.

I'm so done with this thing it's not even funny.