This Week

Monday morning after getting settled back at home, we went out to run errands late-morning.  We had accidentally left Sadie’s regular car-seat in hubby’s truck from taking it to the lake this weekend, so we were using an extra one we keep around.  I guess it sits lower or is a different angle or something, because when I went to put her in it, I think I made the same movement I would to put her in her normal chair, but then adjusted for the difference last-minute, and THREW MY BACK OUT!

It wasn’t so terrible at first, but it made me walk funny and tense up.  Then I spent the afternoon on the couch because it was uncomfortable.  The inactivity made my back muscles completely spasm and by the time hubby came home from work, I was just about in tears.

We are fortunate to have good friends, and some of those friends just happen to be physical therapists.  So hubby made a call to one of them, and he came and worked on my back for a while.  We are so blessed to have friends that are willing to help when it’s needed.  He could only do so much, though, because my muscles were spasm-ing (is that a word?) so bad.

So I went to his office the next morning (Tuesday) and another friend worked on me.  He did some stretching and some traction (which is a machine that’s pulling and stretching you).  It felt great, and I was definitely feeling some relief when I left.  When I was there, though, he discovered I have scoliosis (curve in my spine) which is probably the reason my back is weak and disposed to this kind of injury (it’s happened a couple of times before).

So I’m going to go back for more PT for the next few weeks to help fix what’s wrong now and then strengthen my back so it doesn’t happen anymore.

Day 88:  Last night, Wes had a performance at school.  He already knew that one set of grandparents were unable to attend, but he was hoping the other set would be able to come.  Before they began singing, he was looking all around for them.  Here was his reaction when he finally saw them:

So sweet!  They sang about 5 Caribbean songs.  Wes loves to sing.  I mean, he loves it and just music, in general.  In fact, all three of my kids do; I guess they come by that honestly.  But he was really cute singing, especially on his favorite song when he was really getting into it!

Well, it’s a yucky rainy day today.  Sadie and I are just hanging out at home together.  I guess I need to go do some laundry and maybe figure out some dinner.    Hope you have a good one!

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Last Weekend

Last Friday afternoon, we decided to go on up to the lake for the weekend.  We usually decide earlier in the day and are packed and ready to go once I pick the kids up from school, and then hubby meets us up there when he gets off work.  But it was a little more spontaneous this weekend.  We really enjoyed it nonetheless.

The kids spent Saturday playing with some grandkids of some of our lake neighbors.  They had a great time tubing and knee-boarding.  Saturday evening, we found a movie, Sister Act 2, on TV.  My sister and I used to watch this movie all the time.  We even recorded a tape from the movie so we could sing all the songs.  Gosh, totally showing my age there.  But we loved it and knew every word.  So, it was fun seeing my kids enjoy it too!

Day 85:  Claire enjoying Sister Act 2…

Day 86:  Sunday we came in town for a church meeting.  Then my mother-in-law took the girls to play at her house while I was going to take Wes to a friend’s birthday party and spend the afternoon browsing through stores and enjoying myself.  Well, the friend had to cancel the party at the last minute (as in, we were about to walk in the door) because of a bad ear infection.  So, being the incredible, wonderful mother I am (hahaha!), I took Wes up to his Grandmomma’s to play with his sisters and cousins.  He was so excited!  And I still got to spend the afternoon browsing through stores and enjoying some time to myself.

I wanted to pick up a few decor type things for the lake.  Our lake house is a wonderful place to be, but it’s not sophisticated or fancy by any means.  For example we have a deer head on the wall of the living room with bulb lights (think patio lights or very big Christmas lights) strewn around its antlers.  Hahaha!  Oh yeah, we named him “Larry.”……And I’m totally serious.  But it absolutely fits.  (I’ll have to take a photo of Larry sometime.)  So, you see, any items I choose for decorating there cannot be too sophisticated either.  That’s why I fell in love with this little guy:

Isn’t he wonderfully tacky?!?!?!  When hubby and I bought our first house, I went a little rooster crazy and had our kitchen overly-decorated in rooster decor.  I will not be doing that at the lake, but I just had to have this one!

Day 87:  Monday morning, we were back to normal.  Sadie and I took the kids to school and then came back home to get settled, tidy up, do a little laundry, play and color!

And I’ll continue the rest of our Monday and beginning of this week in another post, since this one is getting so long!

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Land of the Living

…in sight…

I’ve been suffering with a sinus infection for about a week.  My bad sinus season is from about November-May.  I just know to expect to deal with lots of pressure, and possibly, some infections during this time of year.  No fun.

Yesterday I finally went to a doctor and got some meds.  I’m on antibiotics and some steroid pills.  The steroids have me feeling pretty crazy, and I only slept probably a total of about 2 hours last night.  But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.  I just know I’m going to be better in a few days, and that’s such a relief!

So here are some photos from this week:

Day 81: Wes had his first real baseball game on Tuesday evening.  I have to admit that I got a little teary when he and hubby rode off on the golfcart to the field (the ballfield is just down the block).  But I was teary because my little baby boy just looked so big and grown and handsome in his baseball uniform.  Wes is doing better than last year with baseball, but he did not happen to hit or catch anything the other night.  He’s having lots of fun, though, and learning a lot.  I’m sure there will be a lot of improvement by the end of the season.  And his coach this year is really wonderful working with him.  We’re very happy about it!  Here’s a photo of him up to bat…

Day 82: These are the people I love the very most in the whole world…

Day 83: We went to this concert last night — Brandon Heath headlined with Kristian Stanfill and Dave Barnes opening for him.  They’re all three really good, really good; but I was most excited about seeing Dave Barnes.  If you haven’t checked him out, you have no idea what you’re missing!  And he did not disappoint.  He was incredible…and funny.  It was an awesome concert.

(…blurred my address in the pic)

Day 83:  Myself and my girl.  We’ve just been hanging around the house playing this morning.  She was having a little mid-morning snack and I thought I’d take a quick pic.  I took quite a few.  Took them with my old point-and-shoot, and well, it’s not doing so well these days.  It won’t show me the pictures on the screen after I’ve taken them, so I never know what I’ve got.  Hehe!

Don’t know if you can tell in the photo, but I colored my hair yesterday afternoon.  That was, I colored my own hair — eek!  It was my first experience, and for a first time I think it turned out extremely well.  I picked out the most professional looking product I could find from Sally’s Beauty Supply because I didn’t want my hair to look like I dyed it out of a box – hehe!

Then I followed [almost] all the directions.  You know that part in the instructions where it says to wear gloves?  Yeah, I recommend doing that.  I did not do that and ended up with dirty looking hands that would not come clean.  It wasn’t really noticeable unless you were looking for it, but I knew it was there.  I also dripped a few drops on my ivory-colored bathroom rug and that won’t come out.  Yuck – brown spots on a bathroom rug…well, you know what that looks like.  So I will probably be buying a new rug today!

The shade turned out a little darker than I expected or planned for.  It’s not bad, just a little darker.  So, next time (I think I did well enough to warrant a next time), I’ll go a shade lighter.  Also you can’t beat paying less than $10 verses somewhere between $60 and $80 in the salon!

Well, I’m going to try to take photos this weekend!  We’ll see how that goes!  Have a great one!

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Becoming a Habit

Hmmm, well it seems to be becoming a habit that I forget to take pictures on the weekends.  I don’t know if it’s because we’re out of our usual daily routine or if it’s because our weekends have been pretty busy, but I know it’s happened a bit lately.

The real truth is, given the choice between enjoying my life and family or enjoying photos of my life and family, I’d much rather live it and enjoy it/them!

Our weekend actually was fairly busy.  Hold onto the reigns:  We stayed up at the lake from last Wednesday through Sunday.  The older two kids spent the night with my parents Thursday night, they went to bed early Friday night while hubby and I went next door and hung out with some friends.  Saturday we came in town for my nephew’s birthday party, then went home for a quick nap.  Saturday evening, we took Sadie to spend the night with my parents, and the older two to spend the night with hubby’s parents.  Then we went to a little party/shindig thing about an hour away at a beautiful farm.  Hubby and I went back to the lake to spend the night and then came back in town Sunday morning for a prayer meeting.  Sunday evening we met my parents and sister and fam at Chili’s for a birthday dinner for my Mom.

Whew!  I’m tired just reading all of that!  It was a busy and fun weekend!  There were plenty of things I “coulda/shoulda” taken pictures of, but I was just too busy doing it.  So I’m just going to fill in those days with some pics from yesterday!

The funny, or not-so-funny, part of it, is that in the middle of doing all that, hubby and I have been sick.  We’ve both had terrible sinus issues and sore throats.  We haven’t really slept well in about a week or more.

The kids went back to school from Spring Break yesterday.  They weren’t thrilled to be going, but when I picked them back up, they had had a good day!  Because I didn’t sleep the previous night, I told the kids I would be napping when we returned home yesterday afternoon.  So they got to watch a movie while I slept.  After I got up, they were happy to go outside and enjoy the gorgeous afternoon!

Day 78 (not really, but we’ll call it that):

Day 79 (again, not really, but we’ll call it that):

Day 80 (this one is actually accurate):  Reading night with my girls while the boys were at baseball practice.  Sadie’s Dora book and two of Claire’s books (in this photo) are from our library trip during Spring Break last week.  We had planned to read them last week, but every time we planned to, something else came up.  So I promised Claire a night of reading!  She read the “Rotten Egg” one and I read the others to her.  Sadie pretty much only lasted through the Dora story! 

Have a great Tuesday!  I’ll be back later in the week with more!

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Spring Break

As I said yesterday, we’re on Spring Break this week.  It hasn’t been one of those exciting, go on vacation, kind of Spring Breaks.  But it has been nice and relaxing.  The kids have kept relatively busy with little activities each day, spending the night with grandparents last weekend, going to playgrounds, etc.

My Mom came and got the older two yesterday.  They spent the night with her and will be coming back later this afternoon.  They were so excited yesterday in anticipation of her coming to get them.

I think they may spend the night with the other grandparents tonight or tomorrow!  They just love it!  I have said many times that they’d much rather be with their grandparents than their actual parents.

Yesterday morning, before going to Gram’s, we played down at the water.  (Reminder, we’re at the lake.)  The water has gone down so much.  I wish I had some before and after pictures to compare.  I know I complained about rainy days this past winter, but now I realize how badly we actually need the rain, and am hoping and praying for some this Spring.

Because the water was low, and I guess because it hasn’t really been disturbed since late last Summer, it looked pretty nasty.  You know, looked slimy on the bottom, pollen floating on the top at the shore, etc.  So the kids didn’t swim.  They only got a little over their ankles.

But they did play in the sand and had lots of fun digging and building things.  Here’s a P365 pic from yesterday:

I know she’s not looking at the camera or anything, but I just couldn’t get over what a big girl she looks like in this picture compared to looking like such a baby girl at the beginning of last season.

Also, I had some pics of the other two and some of her looking at the camera, but it was honestly not the best photography conditions — just blindingly bright sun — not ideal for good photos.  This was about the best I got.

I really should have taken some of the kids after them playing in the mud.  They were covered in dried black mud all over.  Here’s just one pic to give you a little idea of how black the mud is.  Look at Wes’ hand:

It was that black, but caked and dried on – ugh!  I had to bathe them all twice and really really scrub to get it off.  And I’m not sure it all completely came off! 

Will take my Friday me-photo later today.  *Adding it in now:

Have a great Friday & weekend!

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Ketchup, Part 2

So this week is Spring Break.  Hubby asked how long it would take for me to be insane with the three kiddos with me at all times.  I was afraid it was going to be about .2 seconds.  Don’t get me wrong — I absolutely adore my children!  You know that if you read this blog and/or know me.  We were mostly joking! 

We have done well, though.  We’ve kept busy as much as possible.  And I say “as much as possible” because I have to admit it’s a little tough with three kids and one of them being a 2-yr-old and just one of me.  Maybe I’m just a wimp, I don’t know.

Day 73:  So on Monday, we went to the kids’ favorite park.  It is not my favorite park.  It is excellent for kids; however, the way it’s built makes it a little hard for the parent (esp. when there’s just one there) to see each kid at all times.  Especially when the parent needs to stay with the youngest and the other two are running around everywhere having a great time.  There are these towers and steps up and down and all these little places that can hide the kids from the parents.  But I set the rule for the older two that if they didn’t see me for a minute, to come check in with me every few minutes.  We all had a good time, and I even got to see a friend (fellow mom of three; all BOYS, mind you; who, makes it look easy!) I used to go to church with.  So that was nice.  Here’s a pic of Sadie having fun at the park:

Day 74: The second day of Spring Break, I took the kids to the library for some new books.  Wes reads his Magic Treehouse books so quickly!  So he turned in the four I just got him a week or so ago and got some more.  And the girls got some books as well.  Then we went to another playground for a picnic and some fun:

I know you can barely see Little Bit in that picture, but we kept having to pile things on her plate to keep it from blowing away.  It was really windy.

Also, Claire looks taller than Wes.  She does go through a growth spurt sometimes and will almost catch up with him, but she’s never quite caught up!  She just has a habit of standing on her tip-toes!

The kids had fun playing until 2 out of 3 were crying.  Then I decided it was time to go.  They both had gotten hurt — oldest and youngest.  No big deal with either of them, but a good time to leave.

Yesterday I woke up with a sore throat.  This morning I didn’t feel good at all.  Sinus pressure, sore throat….yada, yada, same story, different day, ’tis the season.  So I informed the kids we would probably not have any kind of fun outing today.  They played outside, watched TV a little, and played in their rooms.

Day 75:  Wes loves building elaborate buildings with his Legos, so here’s today’s photo, what he worked on today:

Yep, I know Wes isn’t really in focus in this photo.  The point was to have the Lego building as the focal point.  Wes decided, kinda last-minute to “ta-da”! 

So after a super fun day at home (only a little sarcasm there, as I think the kids didn’t really mind it at all), we headed up to the lake!  Will post more soon!

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Ketchup, Part 1

Haha!  Yes, I know that’s not how you spell “catch up”, but I thought it was cute. 

Day 70:  Just me.

Day 71:  Kids stayed with their grandparents Saturday night.  So did one of their cousins (the other was out of town).  I can’t tell you how much they adore their cousins.  And their grandparents.  So it was a good time for them.  Here’s a picture of my older two and their cousin, DO (her name is actually Danielle, but Sadie says “dee-oh”, so they’ve started calling her that now sometimes).

While the kids were at their grandparents, the hubs and I went to a gathering/benefit type thing.  Then we had the whole night to ourselves!  I banned us from going back home and vegging out.  We ended up going to dinner at a very nice restaurant at the beach with some friends.  The reservation was for 8 p.m.!!  This is only funny if you know my husband and the fact that he rises and falls with the sun.  So, 8 is pretty darn late for him.  In fact, he was yawning as he was driving us out there and I told him I could not believe he agreed to this.  But we had a great time!

Day 72: My in-laws’ dog, Max.  He’s a sweet dog.  Pretty cute too!

Will post more “ketchup” later!

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Hi There!

I haven’t posted as much this week.  I guess I’ve just kept busy — cleaning out my closet, helping in Claire’s classroom, running errands, the list goes on and on.  All good stuff though!

Today, I’ll be doing a quick-clean of the house.  I’ll be getting started on that in a few minutes (right after I click “publish”)!!

Here’s something funny — my parents came over to hang out with the kids last night while hubby and I went to a banquet dinner.  Mom said she had given my blog address to a family member that was visiting in town last weekend.  This cousin is pretty distant in relationship, but I always remember her being so fun, and my Mom just loves being around her.  Anyway, Mom told me that the cousin’s husband is a minister.  What’s funny is that probably the first photo she saw on my blog was of my wine – HAHAHA!  Not that there’s anything wrong with a glass of wine here or there, but I just thought that was funny!

So here are some recent P365 photos…

Day 67:  Claire gets on kicks with different toys.  Sometimes she’ll carry around a specific purse for a few days at a time.  Other times it will be jewelry or a stuffed animal or baby doll.  This week she’s been carrying this one around.  In fact, as I type it’s sitting outside on the patio table where she left it after playing with it out there.  This baby is a little creepy to be honest.  My cousin gave it to her a few years back.  It’s like it’s a teddy bear with a baby doll face.  Creepy!

I cheated a little for the next couple of days.  You’ll see that the date stamps on the photos are the same.  The 9th (day 68) was extremely stormy outside in the afternoon.  I stayed busy during the day (that was the day I cleaned out my closet, which is a huge feat!), and then it stormed all afternoon.  So the kids weren’t able to go outside and play or anything.  Instead, they stayed inside and watched “Harry and the Hendersons.”

A couple of funnies about this movie.  When I turned it on for them, I told them it was a movie that my sister and I loved when we were little.  Claire asked, “Was it in black & white?”  WHAT!!!!?!?!??????  How old does she think I am?

Also, the first time the kid in the movie sees the big foot creature they hit with the car, he yells, “HOLY SH*T!!”  Oooooops!  I totally forgot there was a little language in this movie.  Yikes!  I told the kids after hearing a little bad language that the people in the movie said some words that we shouldn’t say.  Of course Claire promptly and excitedly asked, “What are they!?!”  I told her that I wasn’t going to tell her the words, just that if they heard the people in the movie saying things that they don’t hear us say, then it’s not the kind of words they should use!  I think it all pretty much went over their heads anyway!

So, since it was rainy out, it made my house really dark, which isn’t great for photos.  So I just took two the following day…

Day 68 (not really, but we’ll just call it that):  Sadie looking so cute playing in her room.

Day 69:  Wes & Claire finally getting to play outside again after the previous rainy afternoon.

Well, I have a house to go clean, so I better be going now.  I’ll take my Friday photo of myself later.  We are actually looking forward to a weekend at our real house (as opposed to the lake house) this weekend!  Have a good one!

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“I Want”

I have never been one of those Moms who just buy whatever her children say “I want” about in the store.  In fact, I’ve never even allowed them to say that.  Sure, I’ve let them browse the toy section, enjoying how cool everything looked; but when it became “I want”, I put the brakes on very quickly.

I refuse to raise selfish kids.  Well, let me say, I’m trying to raise children who are not selfish.  I don’t want them to continually be thinking about the things they want.  I want to teach them that they are so completely blessed with what they have.  I want to teach them to be content with what they’ve been blessed with.  I want them to appreciate the things they actually get, and not expect them.

I know this is a hard task in this day & age.  This is the age of instant gratification.  Our children have never known a time where we couldn’t look up something instantly on the internet, order a movie instantly on the television, or get a meal instantly in a drive-thru.

And the honest, ugly truth is that “I want” too.  My Amazon wish-list is a mile long with books (although they’re mostly parenting and house-wife organizational type books) and computer and camera gear.  That’s right:  “I want” too.  And I’m in prayer that God will change my heart.

I believe He’s doing that now.  I don’t think it’s wrong to know of things we like and wouldn’t mind having.  But I think He desires for us to care for others’ needs before our wants.  And He’s making that difference in my heart.  I’ll give more details of that as they unfold.

This whole thought process came from yesterday afternoon, when we got a Lego Club magazine in the mail for Wes.  I signed him up for this Lego Club a few months back, knowing that he absolutely loves Legos, and would probably think it was cool to be in a “club.”  So, of course, he was in wide-eyed wonder looking through the magazine.

(Day 66)

But I saw a pattern as he turned each page.  I was hearing “I want this one, I want that one.”  I said “Wait a minute!  I didn’t sign you up for this magazine so it would be all about what you want.  I thought you would enjoy it.  But if it’s just going to be ‘I want’ I’ll go discontinue it now.”  He understood and didn’t say it again.

Did he still want?  Of course.  Do I still want?  Of course.

But my heart’s desire is to want the things He wants.  Like the chorus of this song:

Heal my heart and make it clean.

Open up my eyes to the things unseen.

Show me how to love like You have loved me.

Break my heart for what breaks Yours.

Everything I am for Your Kingdom’s cause.

As I walk from earth into eternity.

It’s a tough lesson to teach, and a tough one to learn yourmyself.

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Just a Quick Update

Just some photos for P365…

Day 62: My bottle of pinot noir.  I’ve said that, for me, drinking wine is kinda like drinking coffee.  No, I don’t sip on it all day long.  But with both I started very very sweet.  With coffee, it was a ton of cream and coffee.  With wine it was the sweetest fruity flavored wine I could find.  Slowly, with the coffee, I’ve gotten used to drinking it with less of the cream and sugar.  Yes, I still like it fairly sweet, but not as much as when I started.  With wine, I’ve gone from super-sweet to a little less sweet whites, to riesling (still fairly sweet), and now I’m trying some less-dry reds.  I actually really like this pinot noir.  And when I tried a sip of my riesling to compare the two after drinking a glass of pinot noir, I couldn’t drink it.  The riesling tasted far too sweet!

Day 63:  Friday photo of me, sort of… a photo of part of me.  This month, I’m reading a Proverb a day.  31 Proverbs, 31 days in March.  I’m really enjoying it.  I’m also attempting the Read the Bible in 90 Days, but I’m not doing very well at keeping up.  I’m trying to go easy on myself about it (as I’ve attempted a number of times).  I’ve found that, in the past, when I got frustrated, I would just give up.  I’m trying to not be so impatient with the process or with myself this time.  If I don’t finish one day’s readings, I’ll just pick up there tomorrow.  As long as I’m doing something every day, that’s the goal.

Day 64:  Claire just followed her cousin, Hannah, around all day.  Loved being with her!

Day 65:  After a weekend filled with lots of fun, relaxation, and great times with friends and family, Sadie & Daddy got some cuddles before bedtime.

Have a great week!

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