WooHoo!
Current mood: bouncy

We leave tomorrow for the beach! We're taking 10 boys from His Hands to stay four days at Noble House--a mansion in Santa Rosa.  It's going to be great!

The downside is I will miss my neice terribly....And she will miss me, too! (o:

Maddy has hit the terrible two's very early--she's only 18 months old, and she IS TERRIBLE!  If I have time, I will post the pictures of what she did with my makeup.  I had to wash her and the tub three times to clean up that mess.  And then there's the marker on my living room walls, and the dining room walls....and the rocking horse...and my table....and my couch.....  UGH!

CJ's also hitting some funky teenage stage.  Geez!  What a booger.  I'm not sure what to do with him....boot camp?

Cole is his usual funny self.  He, like, me, totally gets into holidays.  We made a poster for Father's Day, and he made Casey no less than 6 cards.  He also made it a point to tell every man he passed at church, "Happy Father's Day", whether he knew them or not.  It was precious.

Welp, gotta go pack!

5:08 PM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Funny Boy!
Current mood: awake

My four-year-old, Cole, calls toothpaste: "POOP-TASTE".

How funny is that?????

6:41 AM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

The Best Compliment!
Current mood: mischievous

So I decided to try Walgreen's to develop my pics today....they're right around the corner from my house, and of course, no where near the lines of WalMart.  Plus, with the exception of the skinny white boy who knows me by name, WalMart's customer service sucks.

So the girl who was doing my prints paid me the best compliment when she told me she's have to "talk to her manager" about the photos--and she wasn't going to give them to me--because she thought they were professional, copyrighted  photos!  I said, "Honey, I took those on my back porch with a black sheet hanging on some nails.  If you look closely, you can see dog hair.  The others are the same sheet thrown over the back of my couch."

Geez.  So where do professional get their prints done, anyway?  Kim?  Dana?  Where do ya'll get your pictures from where they don't try to haul you off to jail? 

11:59 AM - 4 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Easter
Current mood: blessed

We had really nice Easter this year.  The weather was gorgeous!  And the kids looked so cute dressed up.

CJ and I had gone on a "date" to get him something to wear, since I had found Cole’s outfit at a consignment sale ($4!!!), and Maddy’s dress was a hand-me-down (but very pretty).  CJ has hit the pre-teens full-force, and I’m not prepared, so we bump heads ALOT.  The date was a way for us to relate to one another that didn’t involve me yelling at him to "Get to work".  It was nice.

We went to an egg hunt on Saturday at a church in Lake Park.  WE were invite by a firend of mine, and we had lots of fun. 

After church Sunday, we went to E’s (Casey’s mom, Elaine) for lunch with her and Casey brother, his wife, and my neice Taryn and her step-brother Tyler.  Cary and Valerie hid eggs for the kids, and hid money in a couple eggs.  Maddy found a dollar, and threw it down deeming it worthless since it wasn’t candy!

Cole gave Maddy a ride on the back of his bike.  It was so sweet.  The big kids roller scated up and down the unbusy street.

By far the funniest thing was when I gave Maddy a little wind-up chicken that hopped across the floor.  As soon as she saw it she broke out in this huge grin, walked over to it, and stomped it like a bug!!  It was hilarious! 

8:33 AM - 3 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

Good Friends
Current mood: sick

Thank you, guys, for the show of support on my last blog.  Thanks for being a comfort when I begin raving like a lunatic.  Gee whiz, even Kristy came out of the wood work with some edification (I thought you never got on MySpace, honey!).

I really do have some of the best friends in the world, thanks.

Now, if I can bother you once more...we're all still sick, and Maddy's been crying for, no lie, one hour straight, and I can't figure out how to make her feel better, so if you guys could be praying for us that'd be swell.

Love ya!

7:33 PM - 4 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Needin’ Some Love
Current mood: crushed

Something is seriously wrong with me today.  I am usually a very confident, secure person.  Today, I'm a basket case.

It started when Casey wanted to skip our afternoon "date" because I'm sick.  He was trying to be considerate, and I took it as rejection.  Very illogical, and very un-Me.

Then, while in the process of trying to figure out details about summer camp for His Hands through email, I (totally) inadvertantly offended our gracious host.  Now, I know email communication is tricky, but this nice pastor thought I was being "sarcastic" and actually told me, "maybe this isn't a good idea".  I literally felt sick to my stomach at the misunderstanding!!  Of course, I looked up his number and called him right away to straighten it out.  But even after explaining that I really did mean it when I said I didn't want to be any trouble, I wasn't being sarcastic-- and he said it was fine, he understood, we are ok, he was glad I called-- I still feel crappy about it. 

I want to call the man at home in the middle of his TV shows and say, "Are you sure we're ok???"  Then he'd REALLY think I was crazy.  It's not even about whether or not we get to take the kids to this camp, I just don't like to be NOT OK with people.  Ya know?

So what would really make me feel better is to de-brief with someone:  Do you think I'm crazy?  Do you think this sounded sarcastic?  I feel so stupid for making the mistake of trying to communicate purely through email.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.  Embarrassed that someone would think I would treat them/talk to them that way. 

Embarrassed, maybe, that this bothers me so much?

Ah, well, crazy is as crazy does, I suppose.

All of this probably stems from a really rough, emotional stage I am in right now as I transition from the familiar--my old church, where I've been for nine years--to a "new" one.  I attended this "new" church as a child with my parents, and have lots of memories associated with it (good and bad)--and the people there have been very kind and loving.....it's just really hard for me.  I feel like few people really understand the move, and maybe I'm glad they don't.  With the personal transition, His Hands is also changing--becoming an independent non-profit agency.  Lots of work and stress involved in that, let me tell ya.

While these changes are good, at least on some level, I still feel like I'm dangling.

But I know that God is in control of everything, and I know He loves me, so I trust Him to take care of me.  I just have to be more careful about the emails I send.  Maybe I should re-read this blog.

Thanks for listening.

4:35 PM - 9 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Sickos
Current mood: sick

Everybody in my house is sick!!!  It started Thursday with Cole running a sudden fever, a bad cough, and nasal congestion.  (He has been the most sick out of all of us.)  Then I got it, then Maddy, then Casey and finally CJ.  We suspected CJ of exagerating his symptoms a bit, since he saw how much extra attention his brother and sister were getting, but then I took the whole crew to the doctor yesterday (yes, the WHOLE crew--it optimizes my chances of NOT walking out of there feeling like I just wasted two hours of my life--one of them was bound to be "really sick").  For the second time (last time I thought something was SERIOUSLY wrong with Maddy, but took Cole in too, for the above-mentioned reason of increasing my chances of not wasting my time--and HE had an ear infection and Maddy just had a virus), the kid I think is the LEAST sick is actually the MOST sick!  They all had sinus infections, but CJ had to get an inhaler for the congestion in his chest.

Of course, Casey and I are sick, too, but don't have insurance.  So I'm taking some leftover antibiotics from when a doctor would see me and I could for him to, and Casey's annual health-check is today and he's going to see if he can get some antibiotics of his own.  He can't have mine b/c he's allergic to penicillin.

Anywho, I'm well enough now to start cleaning up.  You guys probably know what a house looks like when Mom's been off her feet for a couple days--OMIGOSH!  I don't even know where to start!

Oh, and for those of you who love Cole stories:  Cole was sitting on the table at the doctor's office and he asked me, "Why am I sick?" I said, "I don't really know, why don't you ask the doctor?"  So he asked me, "Why does the doctor know?" So I said, "Becuase he went to school for a long time to learn about that kind of stuff."  He thought for a minute, and asked, "Why?"  Perplexed, I asked, "Why, what?"  "Why did the doctor go to school?"  So I told him, "Probably because his mommy and daddy wanted him to, honestly."  This made a lot of sense to him.  But then he wanted to know where the doctor's parents were.  I explained that it isn't typical to take your parents to work with you, and since the doctor was at work, they probably weren't there.  He vowed to ask the doctor where his mommy and daddy were, but when he came in, he forgot.

He was a nice doctor, by the way.  He's new--from Savannah.  Unfortunately, his name does not rhyme with a food.  All the doctors in the office rhymed with food before:  Dr. Alvarado: Dr. Avacado, Dr. Ranoula: Dr. Granola, Dr. Criscuola (our regular doctor) is Dr. Crisco.  I forget the new guys name, but I do remember thinking it doesn't rhyme with food and he's messed the whole thing up.  But he was very nice.  Even Maddy let him look in her ears with minimal protest.  Oh! And he helped me win an argument!!!  Casey wouldn't let the kids have Dairy, which was KILLING me, since all Cole wanted to eat, when he would eat, was cereal.  Doctor Whats-his-name says it's an old wives tale that dairy produces more mucus.  So there!

8:49 AM - 3 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Cole’s Frirst Soccer Practice
Current mood: sick

Cole is playing soccer this season for the first time!!

He was so excited that it was his "turn to play soccer" (he's watched CJ play for years), he practically slept in his cleats and shin guards.  In fact, the day of his first scheduled practice, he did just that.  I was making him take a nap, and the coach called and said that practice was canceled (due to the nasty weather we had last week).  I was like, you've got to be kidding me.  He's worn his shin guards and cleats ALL day, and you want me to tell him he's not going??? So as a consolation, I took him to WalMart to buy a ball.  He talked about getting a blue one a red one.....and then we got to the store and he saw....the PINK one.  And he did not care in the slightest that CJ asked with his nose wrinkled in digust, "The PINK one???"  That was the one he wanted.  Cole has always known exactly what he wants.

During practice this Tuesday, he was so sleepy, he had a hard time focusing, so I kept having to say "Pay attention to your coach".  This did not seem to do any good, since he spent most of his time saying, "I'm Optimus Prime!" and 'transforming' into a plane and 'flying' around the field. 

ALL the way to dinner after practice, he was chanting, "Pay Attention...Pay Attention...."  Finally I asked him if he even knew what "Pay attention" meant, and he just continued to repeat the phrase, which for Cole means he didn't understand.  So I explained to him that it meant to listen and obey.  That he understood.  I heard him in the tub that night telling his Transformer to "Pay Attention."

5:49 PM - 6 Comments - 7 Kudos - Add Comment

My little Man
Current mood: amused

My little man Cole has always been...entertaining.  A bit of a challenge at times, but always--hysterical.

Here's a sample of some of the things he's said to me lately:

"Jeejus (Jesus) gonna make me the boss."

"Don't you look at us like that!"  (He's heard me say that to him a million times...now it comes back to haunt me.)

CJ and Maddy were in the boys' room--both laughing hysterically, and Cole comes running out saying, "Mom, mom, comeere!  CJ's laughing Maddy!!"

"Maddy doesn't have a peanut.  She has two butts-one in front and one in back."

1:49 PM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Ants ate my baby!
Current mood: vexed

Maddy has 59 ant bites on one leg (yes, I counted), and more on the other leg and her arms and hands.  And it's my fault.

We were at an Open House for South Georgia House of Hope, a women's residential treatment program.  They had yummy cookies, and a beautiful home which is situated on an old farm with beautiful trees and a cool old barn and fields of grass.

So when the kids got bored and wanted to go play outside, I was like, "Sure, as long as you let me take your picture!"

So the first picture I tried to take, I asked them to sit by this neat tree, and suddenly they started yelling, "Ants, ants!"

So I snatched up the baby and quickly checked her, and OMIGOSH they completely covered the leg of her jeans.  COMPLETELY--couldn't see the material through all the ant swarming on it.  The boys were jumping up and down, trying to get them off of them, and Cole had them all over his shoes. 

So did what any mom would do--I stripped my children of all their clothes in the front yard of this beautiful house.

It only took a few minutes to get the devil-creatures off them once the kids were in their undies (I let CJ keep his dignity, since he didn't have many ants on him).  I only ended up with a few bites, myself (I'm allergic to fireants).  I went in the house to get them some ice, and the ladies prayed for them, especially Maddy, who had by far the most bites.

She actually was quite a trooper, and didn't even cry.  Cole seemed to really enjoy running around with nothing but his transformers underwear on.  He didn't even want to get dressed when I pulled out some backup pants.

I felt so bad that I didn't check out the area before I posed them for the shot--but now I know, and I definitely won't be doing that again.

7:23 PM - 4 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Bite me once.....
Current mood: tired

My sweet little girl has one and only defense against her aggressive older brother.  Her cute little (razor-sharp) teeth.

So when Cole "hugs" her (read: pins her down) she usually will protest at first, but when he keeps her in his wresting move of affection, she comes after him with her mouth wide open.

I've been hesitant to stop her.  Lets face it, she's half his size, and if he won't stop being so rough, what's a girl to do?  I do tell her "No biting" in that Mommy Voice that means Business, and we've talked to Cole a million times about hugging for just a short time and maybe not quite so hard, but he doesn't seem to get it.

However, after today, maybe he'll think twice.  He was already in time out, and I was in the kitchen when all of a sudden he started screaming.  He had a huge, perfectly Maddy-sized bite mark right on his cheek.  She got him good, too; it was already turning purple at the edges.  And while I was comforting him, she was still trying to come after him!!  Apparently she didn't like being thwarted by Mommy, either, because she started biting the couch!

I tried to be stern and tell her my usual, "No ma'am, no biting" in The Voice, but she just grinned at me and bit the couch again.

11:10 AM - 5 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

I don’t want ITCHES!!
Current mood: drained

Of all of my children, somehow I've always known that Cole would be the one with the most trips to the emergency room.  There something about his "enthusiasm" that just tempts injury.

Today we were in the yard; I was hanging Christmas lights, and the kids were playing.  CJ was kicking the soccer ball, and cole was play with the tee-bat tee (basically a plastic tube that normally holds the baseball up so that little ones can whack it, except Cole was playing it like a horn).  Somehow the soccer ball hit the tee, and all I knew was that Cole was bleeding--a lot, and crying--a lot.

So I took him into the bathroom to check out the extent of his busted lip, and realized after taking a closer look that there was actually a hole in his chin (actually the skin halfway between his bottom lip and his chin)--all the way through!  The hole was about a centimeter long, and I strongly suspected he was going to need stitches.

The funny thing is,  I know kids take their cues from us big people, so I was TOTALLY chill with him.  I gave him some ice to put on it, which he thought was cool, and he was fine.  He was just chatting away, with bood coming out of his big hole!

So I ran out to tell CJ we were going to the ER, and my neighbor--my poor neighbor with perpetually bad timing--and her little girl were playing with CJ and Maddy.  I told them I had to leave and she suggested I go to the pediatrician instead of the ER (we both use the same one--and it was wonderful advice).

As we drove to the doctor, I was trying to convice CJ that we (HE) needed to chill out (Cole was FINE--CJ was bawling).  I asked Cole if he thought he might want to pierce his lip like Jimmy (my sister's friend), because now was the time!  He just said, "Jimmy??  What the HECK?"  Then he starts negotiating to get out of the doctor trip: "My booboo is FINE, OK?"  "I have medicine at HOME."  It helped that Casey met us up at the doctor's office, he was so excited to see his daddy, he forgot why he was there.

In fact, I had done such a good job being calm, that I don't think he ever realized just how bad his cut was.  He finally overheard me telling someone about it in the doctor's office and said, "I don't want ITCHES!!!"

Apparently the doctor agreed, because he said it was such a clean cut straight through--it was basically a punture wound, and puncture wounds don't get stitches--they could actually cause an infection.  Instead we got some fancy cream to prevent MRSA.  He may not even get a scar.

And now that it's over, it's my turn to freak out!

7:19 PM - 4 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Little Bo Peep...who knew?
Current mood: embarrassed

So you guys have probably seen the pictures of Halloween.  We all ressed up, we had a blast.  Had a house full of tagalongs, it was AWESOME.

So you might have wondered the kids and I were dressed as book characters (or maybe you didn't notice).  Anyway, the reason for this is the homeschoolers had a "costumed book report" party at the library today.  My original thought when first coming up with the idea for this party last year was that it would be cool for those who didn't get to dress up (some people refuse to celebrate pagan holidays--go figure.  I say, if God is opposed to pagan holidays, why is His son born on one?  I mean, c'mon, couldn't he have chosen another day?*).  Then I realized for those of us who do, it means two costumes: one that they use for trick or treating, and one for their book report.  So I decided, in my wisdom, to make my kids trick or treat as their book report character.

OK, so as I was saying, today was the book party, and CJ did an awesome job telling us about Meteor Boy, and Cole was adorable 'helping' me read Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Then I planned to read the nursery rhyme Little Bo Peep.  I didn't have a copy, so I snagged one from the library (since we were THERE).  Something said to me, "Read it before you go up there"...did I listen? No.

So the nursery rhyme starts off very cute, and of course, I'm dressed as Bo Peep, and Maddy's my adorable little sheep. 

But as I continued to read, the poem goes decidedly down-hill.  We all know the first part, "Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep....and they all come home wagging their tails, yada, yada...." but what I didn't know is that the first verse is a dream Peep is having, and in the end she find her little sheep--skinned and hanging from a tree!!!!

I said, "Omigosh, that's HORRIBLE!!"  And one the moms goes, "Yeah, the original nursery rhymes are pretty bad, that's why we usually only read the good part."  Well thanks, you coulda told me that BEFFORE I traumatized a roomful of kids.  Sheesh!

I was so embarrassed.

* By the way, I'm KIDDING about Little 8lb., 6oz. Baby Jesus. 

11:02 AM - 7 Comments - 6 Kudos - Add Comment

Happy Birthday to me!
Current mood: awake

So yes, I turned 32 today.  Yipee!

Casey and I took the boys to Mori's, where they cook the food in front of you--Cole loved it, especially the "volcano".  (o:  Maddy was cranky so she stayed with Grandma E.

The coolest thing is that Casey, out of the blue, told me I could get this camera that I have been absolutely DROOLING over for months.  Months.  A couple of my buds have really nice SLR cameras, and this one isn't quite as fancy (or quite as expensive), but this one is the best in my price range, and I am SOO excited.

The only thing I wish is that I had been able to order it earlier so that it would be here already.  (o: Oh well, maybe it'll get here in time for us to go to ATL next weekend.

Anyway, I'm so excited about my new camera my tummy feels all flip-floppy...aren't I just the biggest NERD?

Oh, and I got a free video from Hollywood for my Bday, so I totally picked out a movie for ME.  I'm so used to thinking of everyone else when I pick movies that I actually paused at "Surf's Up" before realizing what I was doing!

8:09 PM - 6 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Superpowers
Current mood: cranky

I don't know how many of you guys watch Heroes, but it's our favorite TV show in the whole world!  It's so awesome!  We sometimes have fun wondering which one of the character's powers we'd like to have, or even invent new ones. 

CJ's superpower is getting Maddy to sleep.  I promise you, when she's fighting that nap for half an hour with me while I rock her and try all my tricks, I hand her to CJ and she's out like a light.

So I've discovered my superpower: I drain the power out of batteries.

The first time I really noticed was Saturday at CJ's soccer game.  I had charged my camera battery for the entire night, and then at the soccer field I took 4 pictures and it died on me!  The game hadn't even started yet!!

Then on Sunday, a group did a special activity with the His Hands kids, and I borrowed my sister's camera.  Once again, I took two pictures and then it died.  This is when I started the "joke" about my superpower, but it wasn't the end....nor was it funny.

I started to think about all the trouble I've had with my cell phone not holding it's charge....hmmmm....

So then I'm taking the kids home, and I realized I was out of gas.  So while I filled the huge His Hands van with $85 worth of gas, I left the door open so I could monitor behavior.  After I paid and got in to finish taking kids home--you guessed it, the van wouldn't start!  (This is not the neighborhood you want to be  stuck in.)  I found someone to jump the van, but that wasn't working!!  I called Casey with his phone (mine was missing)to let him know.  Could he send someone from the church with the other van to take the kids home and rescue me (it was starting to get dark)? 

Then his cell phone died.  No warning, just dead battery.  Now tell me that's not freaky.

The van did eventually start, and me and all those little kids made it home, but I can't help wondering

WHAT'S UP WITH THAT!?!?

6:34 AM - 7 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment