Quite A Year

Another year gone, but it was a fun one.  Hope the new year offers all the fun and excitement as the last,  maybe a little less of the scary excitement (Mom's cancer and surgery, the flooding of the upstairs, etc.).  Gonna try and add some pictures from Christmas to this post too.

The Perfect Storm

Carpet, Jennifer's surgery, Christmas, work, kids... all combine to make the perfect storm of getting the house ready.  I am in the process of getting everything piled into the kitchen and family room into the  garage where Layne's new bed was.  Her bed is now in her room and the garage is now empty, well, just not as cluttered.  We need the kitchen and family room back so we can actually eat and sit down.  Neither of which was really possible the last two days.

Some pics of Charlie our elf and Layne painting.  Charlie made his presence known via graffiti on Layne's wall, that Charlie.

The Price of New Carpet

Yes, the carpet is in, but the house is an absolute disaster.  I know I've said the house was a disaster before, but this... this on a biblical level, this could put us on the show "Hoarders".  Want to sit down and eat at the table, well there is a path that can get you to the table, but you'd need a chair five feet high to reach the top of the stacked piles.  Our bathroom didn't fair much better.  Some stuff has been put back so it doesn't look as bad as the kitchen.  Looks like we've got a dirty clothes monster growing in the tub.  "Don't Walk, Run from... The Dirty Clothes Blob... in theaters just in time for Christmas."  It's making for an interesting holiday season this year, but we'll pull it off, we always do somehow.

We are leaving it like this for a reason, we want to really get rid of some things and go through it all and keep only the stuff we need and want, the rest goes.  It will be hard for all of us, but this a great opportunity to clean house.  Almost like a fresh start.

The good thing about it all is the carpet.  Jennifer and I like it, but the kids are ecstatic.  They like it so much, the first thing they did when we got home was take off their shoes and go upstairs to see and feel the carpet, then the realization that it's just carpet kicked in and the deity that is tv regained it's dominance.  We'll see how much of the house we can put back in order before Christmas and get decorations out as well.  We don't have any holiday stuff up at all.  Time to crack the whip and get those kids working or I see coal in their future.

A Festival of Lessons and Carols

Today, on the 2nd Sunday of Advent, we had A Festival of Lessons and Carols at our church.  Joshua is the only one who is singing in the choir at this time.  He is in the Epiphany Choir.

It was a bit of a rough day.  Joshua is pushing all the buttons right now.

We had instructions that the children singing were to wear their "Christmas Best" as they were leading worship this afternoon.  So, our son, who was upset last night that he did not have a suit coat to wear to the Puppet Theater - and "settled" for a shirt and tie, would not dress up for church this afternoon.  He ended up wearing his new tennis shoes, khaki slacks, and a guitar t-shirt.  The mention of the guitar t-shirt at this point would be foreshadowing.

Joshua did well in the first half of the singing.  He was a little fidgety and couldn't seem to stop waving at us - but did sing along.  For some reason, even though he knew where we were sitting and waved at us the whole time, he didn't know how to find us when it was his time to join us.   So he wandered a bit and then got a little frightened and was very snuggly for a bit.

Then Joshua was my sweet kid for a few minutes and asked if he could go give Rev. Jenna a hug.  I think she was surprised, but he gave a real good hug.

Then he got antsy and had to go sit with Layne, Jacob and Zackary in the front row with Miss Wendy.  He started to get real silly and I had to go sit with him and use my Mommy Voice and give him the Mommy Look a few times.  So when it was time for him to go back and sing he was so not happy.

He stood up there in front of church with his arms crossed and shooting daggers at me.   Then he started taking his choir robe off and playing air guitar with his t-shirt.  We were soooo proud.  The best was when he started giving me 2 thumbs down - just to make sure I really knew how upset he was with me.

I at least got a cute picture of the 3 of them in front of the Christmon Tree.  You wouldn't know the day we had and they yelling and screaming that is coming from upstairs by Joshua when looking at this picture.

Well - Merry Christmas!!!!!

Super Boy and his Dog

Way to go Midnight Wolves!

They definitely went out with a bang at the end of their season.  They won their first game, 5 to 0.  Layne made 2 goals, Laramie made 2 goals, and Lauren made a goal.  I am so happy that Lauren made a goal.  She is the Head Coach's daughter and she has been so upset this year about the team never winning and how bad it has been for this group of girls.  Her dad used to play soccer in college, also.  Big game for them!

We had the first game of the day - 8:00 a.m.  It should not be legal to have an 8:00 a.m. soccer game when it is only 40 degrees and the mist is so thick you can hardly see because the sun isn't even fully up!  But at least it wasn't windy and Grandma brought lots of hot chocolate.

Since we had a game that was so early, we of course decided that pizza would not work.  So I got doughnuts from Sara's Doughnuts in Alpharetta.  They are really the best doughnuts.  Matthew said I should get a referral fee - everyone wanted to know where the doughnuts came from and where they could get them.

Here is Layne on the field today:

 

And here is the whole team together: 

The coaches are in the back, Coach Allen is on the left with dark hair, and Coach Shulstad (I don't know his first name - he is the soccer player) is on the left. 

The girls standing from left to right are: Rachel, Sofia, Fiona, Laramie, Layne, Lauren, Maddie

The girls kneeling in front from left to right are: Ansley, Emma, and Ashton

Way to go Midnight Wolves!!!!!

We also got a little into the holiday spirit today.  We went to see Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer at the Center for Puppetry Arts.  It was really good!  The puppets were exactly like the ones in the TV show.  So cute - and the mesh screen in front with the projected images really added to the show. 

We also went ahead and got tickets for the Muppet Christmas Show on December 3 - can't wait!

Just another day

Oh, yeah - except for the part where we woke up at 7:00 a.m.  I  know, I know - how does that happen?  Well, we were out trick-or-treating and didn't get home until almost 9:00 p.m.  Then I insisted on everyone taking a quick bath/shower.  Which means we didn't get in to bed until about 10:00 p.m.  I think everyone was sound asleep in just a few seconds.

For some reason Joshua decided to climb in our bed about 1:30 a.m.  Which led to reshuffling, grumbling, and lots of pushing with little feet. 

Then at about 4:00 a.m. I hear "Daddy, I wet the bed".  UGH!!!!!!  So - off Joshua goes for another bath and mom cleans up the pee and starts laundry and we climb back in bed again about 4:30 a.m.

Then we have the pushing / shoving / grumbling - "please Joshua go to your bed" discussion again.

Next thing we know - it's 7:00 a.m.

So I had big plans to get home early, go to Miss Dawn's to get our nuts / chocolate order from Girl Scouts, then get home, have dinner, be the happy family and ask everyone about their day - while daddy plays basketball.  Nope - not going to happen.  I have management classes tomorrow at work, interviews to perform for new EEG Techs, patient calls, Dr. Flamini on call and needing help, etc.  I didn't even leave work until after 5:30 p.m.  Then I realize that I have a total of 14 miles until I am supposed to be out of gas.... grrrrrr.  So I make it to the most expensive gas station on my way home at Northridge - with 1 mile to spare!!!!!  Get Joshua - who is out of control playing with Jack (his best friend at school) - get Layne and Jacob, go to Miss Dawn's.  Now it's almost 7:00 p.m.  Yep - we ate out - Taco Mac and cheese dip with tortillas.  I still can't seem to get it all done.  I feel like I spend my days rushing all the time.

Had to elect our new health benefits for next year.  Yes, they increased - AGAIN.  Yes, we get less benefits for the same money - Thank you to the current government (sorry had to say it).  We have further limits on our Flexible Spending Accounts - less allowed and less items that can be applied.  It gets even worse in 2013.  Hopefully something else will reverse this trend.  Going to be a tough election year.  Not intending to make a political statement - but every year when I have to review / renew benefits it really gets to me.

Here is one of Matthew's artistic photos - he loved the curl of the pumpkin:

This is a picture from our trip last weekend to Burt's Pumpkin Farm.  We made the trek again.  We went up on Sunday and took a picnic lunch and ate at Amicalola Falls State Park (along with a million other people from metro Atlanta).  Enjoyed some great weather.  Then came back out of the park to Burt's and picked our pumpkins.  I think it's a pretty good picture - except Grandma looks like she is visually impaired - and there is some girl in a pink t-shirt trying to move in to the shot :)

Here is Jacob amongst the pumpkins:

  And here are all  kids - Pumpkin Farm 2011:

Halloween Night - Before and After

I think a good time was had by all.  They each must have 10 lbs of candy.  They were hyper before we even left the house.

Before:

 All 3 of them told me "but Dad said we weren't to go in the graveyard" - I guess mom over ruled.

And after:

It was funny all the neighbors that commented on the "new stuff" from last year.  I think Matthew has a bit of a following at this point.  He might have to come up with something to add next year, too.

Happy Halloween!!!!!!

Anticipation

Waiting for Halloween. 

Matthew and Jacob are at the church right now for a Den meeting for Boy Scouts.  When they get back they plan on going back over to Grandma and Papa Jack's to keep working on the Halloween decorations.  Layne has made plans for Divya to come over and help them out, too.

It is a beautiful day here.  Blue skies and sunny.  Although it is still on the cold side.  But that just adds to the fun of fall for me.

Joshua is doing much better in school with his behavior right now.  He has stayed on Green for over a week. I let him pick out a new car / truck from Target this week.  He was very thoughtful on getting just the right truck - and very grateful for the treat.  I will meet with his EIP teacher, Mrs. Tepper, next week Friday morning.  Hopefully Matthew will be able to attend also.  His formal neuropsychological testing will take place December 15, 2011.  We will tell Joshua when it gets closer to the date.

Layne is still doing well in school and able to keep track of herself and her assignments.  The only thing she has missed was reading another book this month for the "2 books a month" list they have to track.  These 2 books are outside of the book reports each month.  Each book must also be an AR test and they must take the AR test in order to also "prove" they have read the book.  She was up late on Thursday trying to finish a book in order to take her test.  But - other than that - she seems to be keeping up all on her own.

Jacob of course, has slid again into the "I hate it school, it's stupid" and the oh-so-fun "kids should have rights, why don't kids have any rights?".  Matthew just laughs at that arguments. We set up a deal for him to get all As this past grading period, and of course, he got a B in math.  His teachers are convinced that he would easily have an A if he thought about his answers a little more.  He still tends to make easy mistakes that seem to be lack of attention.  So I am not ready to give him a break yet in math.  He is unhappy that he did not earn his reward and has told me that I am "kind of mean".

Here is Layne at a recent soccer game - knees locked, standing there, and it looks like she is yelling and telling everyone else what to do - hmmmm.....

Here is Joshua showing off the Monster Box he made at Lowe's a couple weekends ago - he loves taking those classes -

Here is Jacob multi-tasking - reading a book and playing monopoly - if only he could apply these skills to his school work......

We are going to go to Briers North tonight after dark.  They are a victorian neighborhood in Dunwoody that has everyone in the neighborhood decorate their houses.  I can't even begin to describe the decorations.  Maybe we will get some pictures - but it is so hard after dark.  We shall see.

We are so excited and happy that Grandmom is home!  I talked to her Friday night and she sounds wonderful. 

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Matthew, Layne, and Joshua worked this afternoon on getting the scene set for Halloween at Grandma and Papa Jack's.  I think Papa Jack had as much fun as anyone getting ready.

Jacob spent last night with Conner for his birthday at Conner's dad's house.  Sounds like they had a good time.  Jacob said they had a pillow fight "to the death" - but both he and Jacob are still alive and Matthew has been telling Jacob he didn't play the game right.

Started out the day in a freezing cold soccer game.  It wouldn't have been so bad except for the winds.  It was 45 degrees out and very windy - even in the sun.  They didn't win.  And it is the 1st game in 5 games that Layne did not make a goal.  She had a goal assist and almost a goal - but wasn't able to pull it off today.  They lost 7 to 1 - so it was pretty painful all the way around.

Here are pictures of the graveyard so far (courtesy of Grandma):

Whoa - when did winter come?

Okay - this is when it annoys me in Atlanta.  Yesterday it was 85 degrees and today's high was 53 degrees.  It is supposed to be down to 40 degrees tonight.  Brrrrrr. The cold front had definitely come through. 

And the hospital is full.  That is how I really know the weather is changing.

We went to Shane's Rib Shack tonight for dinner.  It was Ocee Elementary's Kindergarten night.  Which means all the kindergarten teachers help serve the dinners and they do a contest for the class with the most participation they get a prize. 

Joshua is still our social connection.  He know so many kids already.  He was bouncing around from table to table.  I got to meet Liam, who he talks about quite a bit.

Matthew took the kids to church after dinner and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things.

Jacob's medical alert id bracelet came today.  He seems really excited about having a bracelet that he MUST wear all the time.  Wish it was always that easy to please.

I made each of the kids pose for a picture, this is what I got:

Jacob with the 2 books he is reading at once.

Layne with her soccer sweatshirt that she wears all the time that was a hand-me-down from Zackary.

Joshua with his UK clothing - Go Big Blue!!!!!

I still can't believe this Michigan girl has been sooooo cold today and it was only 53 degrees.  I think I might have acclimated. 

Home from Kentucky

Oh, yeah - and Home from Knoxville, too.

Drove up Saturday after Layne's soccer game (she made a penalty kick!!!! whoo hoo) to Knoxville.  Got there late and only had a few minutes to hear about the Sardonia trip to Disney World.

Got up Sunday and drove up to Louisville for a long awaited visit with Grandmom (oh, yeah, and Grandfather was there, too).  It was a great visit!

We stayed about 3 hours, got to see Grandmom's room, and the gym where she does therapy, and we got some play time in a family lounge on the 8th floor. 

We ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner.  The kids really scarfed down the food and want to go back again.  I think that means they liked the restaurant.   This is one of the many horses around town near the restaurant.  This is Horseapalooza.

Then Joshua asked to go across one of the bridges into Indiana on our way out of Louisville.  We obliged, and it took a very long time to get back across in to Kentucky.

Got to Melanie's again about 11:30 p.m. and went to bed.

Got up today and came home.  Lots of time in the car (the car is a mess) but TOTALLY worth it for time with Grandmom and Grandfather.  The kids are planning our next trip back already.

Layne's on Fire

She made another goal today.  She controlled the ball dribbling down the field.  She did awesome.   We still lost  - 3 to 1 - and some of the girls were very upset.   Especially our goalie - it was sad to dsee because they played a really good game.

Will try and post pictures later.

I have kids calling me to come upstairs.

Movie Night at Ocee

We got to watch Mr. Popper's Penguins at Ocee.  I left my phone at Grandma and Papa Jack's and my camera in the car.  So no pics from me.  Tried to get a picture of Joshua with the girl he is in love with, though.  It was too dark and Matthew's camera wasn't able to get a good shot.  Her name is Harper (Love that name!) and she is adorable.  I can see why he likes her.  Both Matthew and Conner's dad approved - LOL.

Got home a few minutes ago.

Joshua very tired and cranky.

Layne trying to find her soccer stuff right now - cannot believe we have to leave the house at 7:00 a.m. so she can have pictures taken at 7:20 a.m. UGH!!!!  And then she gets to play at 8:00 a.m.  I tried to get my parents to understand that they are in charge of hot chocolate and doughnuts in the morning.

Jacob had a rough week.  Got a very special message from his teacher today.  If I had it my way he would not have gone to the movie.  I figure that if you can't do the stuff you have to do at school, then you certainly don't deserve the stuff you don't have to do just because it's fun.  I told him he needs to think about explaining to us why this happened and what his solutions are for this not happening again.

Will let you know more this weekend of what his offense actually is - but  for now we are all going to bed.

Who is this kid?

Seriously - what Kindergartener asks to wear a tie to school?  He insisted last night this was what he would wear today.  And he remembered and insisted this morning.

Week Three of School

Well, none of them is thrilled about school so far.  I think they feed off each other with the negativity, Jacob or Layne starts it, the other picks it up, then Joshua, and then back to the instigator.  I think the homework in 5th grade has been ramped up from 4th, and that little bit of added work might be a contributing factor.  We'll see as time goes on, but hey, they look happy on their way to school.

I was paid to play golf today.  Work was a part sponsor for a golf tournament, and they needed warm bodies on the course, and the grumblings at work were, "Take Matt he likes to play...".  Hell, I wasn't gonna say to no to a paid day of golf.  I played awful except for two really good shots, my skin has a nice pink hue, but I'm not lobster red, and my forearms and hands hurt as does my back.... and I'd do it again tomorrow if they needed me to.

While I was finishing up my one day as a professional golfer (the whole paid day while playing golf... it counts.),  Jennifer and the kids had Mexican for dinner.  Somewhere during the course of the day Josh ended up with some "Hillbilly Teeth".  You'd think that boy won the lottery, from the time they walked in the door until he went to bed, Josh had on those teeth, he just cracked himself up.  Jennifer referred to them as "Mater Teeth".

The Help and a Double Date

I read The Help what seems like a long time ago now.  I knew at the time that I wanted to see it made into a movie.  Today I got to see the movie!  I was able to arrange with Ms. Shareen (a teacher that Layne and Jacob had at Primrose) to babysit.  She came over to my parents about 2:45 p.m. and we left to see the movie.  Mom, Dad, Matthew and I all got to go together.  

I cried in the movie.  The book was moving - but it really got to me seeing it on the big screen.  Miss Hilly Holbrook is evil, just pure evil.

We even went and had pizza again after the movie so we could talk about the movie.  We all loved.

The kids had a great time with Ms. Shareen, of course.  They were playing Wii when we got back and they were all very gleeful in telling us that "Joshua is better than Ms. Shareen".

We made it to church this morning.  Not sure how Joshua ended up in the service and not in Sunday School.  I got there a little trying to make sure I had everything for my meeting following the service.  The first thing that Joshua asked me was if I had brought a snack.  (I had not)  Imagine his surprise when he heard that we were going to get bread (it was Communion Sunday).  He was getting so anxious to "go get bread".  I must have heard 3 times "Mommy I want to get bread" before I had to tell him that "this bread is not a snack - this is Communion and part of the service".  He was bummed.  He got his "bread and juice" though.

Had another scare this week with running water in the upstairs bathroom.  I was upstairs getting laundry done and heard running water.  When I went in to the bathroom someone had put the stopper in the sink and had left the water running.  It was just about to overflow when I got in the bathroom.  I turned off the water and used my really good Mommy voice to ask which child had been last in the bathroom.  I heard a quick reply from both Jacob and Layne "Not me" but didn't hear from Joshua.  I looked down in to the living room and Joshua was fidgeting.  I asked Joshua if he had left the water running.  I got the typical Joshua grin and a "No, it wasn't me" response.  I told him to come upstairs immediately and clean up the bathroom and drain the sink.  While he was stomping up the stairs I hear him ask "How did you know it was me?  I tried not to smile".  Oh, good grief.

Had wonderful news on Friday from my favorite nurse at Norton Hospital that assured me that Susan is still with us.  The Susan we know and love.  What a blessing and answer to prayer that conversation was to me.  She is never far from our thoughts and always in our prayers.

Will have to update on the 10th Birthday of Jacob and Layne another day.

One trip back from Knoxville with everyone (I think after Aunt Dee's 80th birthday party) - Grandma, Papa Jack, Layne, Jacob and Joshua - we stopped at MacKay's Book Store in Chattanooga.  Right before the bookstore there was this sign almost covered with Kudzu that referenced a Confederate Cemetery.  We drove back and there was a cemetery with mostly unmarked graves of 155 soldiers from General Braggs' Army in 1862.  It was an interesting find.  I had to take a picture - so here you go:

Our first hurdle with school

Joshua woke up good this morning.  It took a while - but he was still good and I could get a smile and a giggle after some raspberries.  When I mentioned that he needed to get dressed because we needed to go soon, he asked "where are we going?".  I got a little nervous, and then said with lots of cheerfulness "you are going to school today".  He immediately started crying and my heart broke a little bit.  He didn't want to go to school, he "just wanted to go to church".  (This is the first night for Wednesday night dinner at church).   Oh - it was so sad.  My compromise was to take the 3 kids to carpool.  He did okay getting to carpool.  He still wasn't real excited about going to school - but we all stayed positive.

I walked up to the door with him and Layne and Jacob.  He soooo wanted me to go in to the school with him.  I had to tell him that the school doesn't let parents go down to the classrooms in the morning because there is so much for the teachers and students to do at that time.   He got that quivery little chin and my heart broke a little more.

I ended up sending a note to his teacher.  Telling her that he seemed to be okay going to school on Monday and Tuesday and then came home Tuesday after school very sad.  This morning he cried and didn't want to go to school at all.  I asked her if possibly something had happened or if she had any concerns.

Well - it sounds like that Joshua was getting "too friendly" with one of the kids sitting across from him.  This is Malachi from his Pre-K class last year at school.  Grandma and I are fairly convinced - even before this year - that Malachi is a bit of a troublemaker.  So it is pretty good that he was moved.  Just wish she had moved Malachi and not Joshua.

I think he had a better day today.  He seemed to have a better day.  He didn't cry going to bed when we mentioned he needed to get a good night's sleep before school.  Keeping my fingers crossed for the morning.

The kids are kind of sad that we are going to Louisville again.  They are worried and missing their Grandmom and Grandfather right now.  They will have fun while we are gone, though.  They are going to spend Friday night with Wendy / Zachary / Lauren and they are very excited.  They get to see Zack play in a scrimmage football game on Saturday.

Layne is very concerned about her Grandmom and she would love to give her Grandfather some hugs.  Layne and Jacob said prayers tonight at church in their Clues Crew class for healing for Grandmom.

No pictures from today.  Will have to do better tomorrow. 

1st Pack Meeting

Jacob and Matthew had their first boy scout Pack Meeting tonight at church.  Now the school year is definitely in full swing.  Matthew says that Jacob did awesome.  This was probably the first time he did not complain about going, that he put on his uniform without complaint - and he had a good time.  Sounds like they had a water balloon fight.

Here is Jacob in his uniform:

 

Check out those size 7 1/2 men's wide tennis shoes.

Layne and Joshua chose to wear their tie-dye t-shirts to school on the 2nd day.  We were a little slower to get up today.  We are all still awake at 9:15 p.m. I bet we will be a little slow tomorrow morning, too. 

Here are the pictures Matthew took this morning:

Many more prayers being said for Grandmom tonight.  I continue to pray for her doctors and nurses who are helping her get well.  I have lots of prayers for Grandfather to stay healthy as he continues to advocate for Susan since she is not able to speak for herself right now.   We love you both very much!

First Day of School

They did great!  Just a few minutes to post a couple pictures.   We got up about 6:20 a.m. and we left the house about 6:55 a.m. so we could be at the bus stop by 7:04 a.m.

It was sad to see my baby get on the big bus!

Layne and Jacob were very excited (no matter what Jacob says!).

All 3 at the bus stop:

Layne and Jacob making sure their younger brother doesn't embarrass them with a yogurt mustache:

 Joshua had some first day excitement:

And Joshua had to show off his Cars 2 backpack:

  The anticipation of the arrival of the bus (we were the only kids this day at our bus stop):

There they go:

Layne and Jacob said that Joshua did well getting in to his classroom.  It sounds like he was "clingy" and didn't want them to leave, but he didn't cry.

They each got to where they needed to be after school - Layne and Jacob to Grandma and Papa Jack's and Joshua to Prime Time.

First day so far so good - now they are screaming upstairs and tattling - must go yell at them to go to bed.

Good News

Doug called to tell us that Susan has surgery on Monday at 3 pm.  I am hopeful and prayerful.  We all are keeping Susan, her family and friends, and the doctors and nurses who will care for Susan in our prayers.  We are in Pikeville, KY for Aunt Doe Doe's 80th birthday.  What a great time. Good to see everyone.  I never got to see Bailey before. Of course she is precious.  I will have to update later about our encounter with the Pikeville Police Department.

doctors and decisions

matthew and i got to louisville pretty early in the morning.  we got up about ten am. took showers and we headed to downtown louisville with doug and susan to meet with  the oncologocal surgeon, dr. mcmasters.  he was fairly abrupt and to the point and yet none of seemed to feel as though we understood our options.  i give him credit for at least realizing that we were not getting the information we needed to help.  he was able to get dr. donald miller from oncology to speak with us.  he was a very calming and personable presence.  i told matthew that i feel god does hear our prayers.  dr. miller was exactly who we needed at that time in that place.   i think he helped us all feel better and i think we were able to understand what needed to be considered.   it is not easy at all to hear someone say that this person you love so deeply has cancer.  i love my family so very much. i have kept this with me since we added susan to the prayer list at church     do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to god. and the peace of god, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in christ jesus.   phil. four  verse six and seven       okay i know this post is wierd without capitals, numbers, and paragraphs   but   with this smart phone every time i tried it would kick me out of blogger.

Another birthday for Joshua

Yep - he should be 8 years old now if we were counting birthday parties. He partied on his birthday, July 12th.  He partied July 13th in Knoxville. He partied today at Catch Air in Johns Creek.   I was late getting over to mom's - just for the "fun" of being yelled at for things out of my control.                I worked feverishly to get the cake frosted. Mom had baked it the night before which was a huge help.  When it was finished - again with a lot of help from mom - it looked like Lightening Mc Queen. I will update more later when I am not using this #*(* smartphone.

Bought Layne a Bed

I know - she didn't NEED it.  But she oh so wanted this and this is still from her Christmas from 2010.

I hope she likes it - she didn't get to see it before we bought it.

I hope it is what she was wanting.

She a picture on line and said she liked it.  Jacob really liked it.  Of course, Jacob is always wanting. (I am having a hard time with that right now)

Now I need to get everyone motivated to keep moving on the house.

We NEED carpet.

Feeling overwhelmed a bit right now.  Lots of things to get done.  Utilizing the Layne worry gene to it's maximum power right now.

Can't wait to see my family tomorrow!

Quiet Thursday

I did speak with Layne and Joshua last night after their dinner.
They went to a Japanese Steakhouse - Wasabi's - for dinner.  Joshua told me about the chef juggling eggs and one landing in the chef's hat and one landing in the chef's pocket.  He also told me about the volcano and the train the chef made on the grill.  I guess shrimp have gotten a little expensive - they all had a shot to catch some rice in their mouths.
Layne proudly told me she was the only one who caught the food in her mouth.  Is there a way to capitalize on that skill?  Must think on this.....
Layne also told me that at that restaurant "everyone" int he restaurant sings Happy Birthday - even the people eating dinner.
Joshua said they came out and "beat a drum" when they sang Happy Birthday.
Grandma says the restaurant took a Polaroid picture that she will bring home.

Aunt Melanie made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting that sounds like it was perfect!

Matthew sent a couple text messages today.  He and Jacob are pretty hot out in the heat and humidity.  He and Jacob both ended up with a headache this day. It must have been pretty bad for Jacob as he actually swallowed a pill.  One text said they saw a wild rattlesnake.  Not sure if there are any "tame" rattlesnakes - but either way I am sure I would not want to see one.

I was very non-productive today.  Had my first migraine in a while.  Pretty wiped out and hoping my headache is all gone by tomorrow.

I miss my family right now.  It is very quiet. 

I know I probably shouldn't post this picture on the Internet (Layne is in her underwear).  But I love that the kids come and wave good-bye when I leave for work or have to leave without them.  I love that the last thing I see before I leave home is my kids.  Of course, most of the time it is Layne and Joshua, Jacob really likes his sleep.

Happy Birthday Joshua!

I can't believe he is 5 years old already!

I think he had a good day.  He got lot of Cars The Movie toys.  He go the Batman Cake he wanted to get Grandma for her birthday (and I wouldn't let him - so Grandma got the Transformers cake - that was another post earlier).  He remember "the cake that got away".  So that was today's cake.

We went to Ippolito's for dinner.  He got yummy, garlicy, cheesy, buttery rolls and spaghetti with tomato sauce.

It is hot - we are all melting.  I don't think anything anywhere inside is cooler than 80 degrees.  The heat index was 110 degrees outside today.  We are dripping.  Even Matthew is miserable and he is usually good no matter what.

Got to get to bed.

Layne and Joshua will go with Grandma tomorrow to Knoxville.  Joshua gets another party at the Sardonia's tomorrow.  He is very excited.

Matthew and Jacob are going to spend 3 nights and 4 days in the wonderful outdoors camping with the Boy Scouts.  Hopefully the mosquitoes won't carry them away.  I also hope they don't literally melt in the heat.

Happy Birthday Joshua!

 

I think this face says "I got real money".  But then I realized he thought it was "police contraband".

 Here he is wearing the money clip like a Police Badge.  That kids marches to his own drummer.

I Am the Devil

Dinner at the Layne's house and Jacob is the only child still eating with the adults and he argues back with Jennifer about something, and Gramma comments that he would argue with the devil.  Jacob turns and faces me and says "You mean him...".  Hence I am the devil.  I wish I'd known that, I'd have been having a lot more fun over these past couple of years.

Jennifer turned on the music in lieu of the tv this afternoon, and the only kid to really enjoy was...

Little Whitey

He was rockin' the gangsta shorts, and had the moves.  I got him dressed up for the part even more, but he wouldn't really dance like he had earlier, but look how cute our little gangsta is.  The pose is all Josh, I didn't tell him how to do any of it, he crossed his arms and did the backwards lean all his own.  He's got to be waking up at 3 am and watching classic Yo MTV Raps, 'cause I don't know where he's learning this from.

Weekend Day Two

It was gonna be a short post (I'm exhausted), just gonna add some pics, but my infalible mac and the synch with the camera screwed up and all the pics are just gone.  They were there, I could see them, iphoto went to delete them from the camera and crashed.  The pics are gone, really bites, we probably had some good pics in there, might need to get a new card just in case the other is/was messing up.  Just sucks, technology is great when it works (most of the time), but when it goes wrong, man are you screwed.

So our day was fun, great breakfast at Gramma's, then the pool.  A long time at the pool, Josh got some big air off the diving board (you'll have to use your imagination, no pics remember).  Of course Josh still can't swim, so yours truly waded water and pulled him to the ladder what must have been 2500 times, well more like 30, but right now my body is telling me it was 2500.  Got back to the Layne's house and had a wonderful dinner and then decorated the bikes and scooters for tomorrow's parade through the neighborhood.  We had pics of that too, but alas they are no more (really getting mad the more I type this and realizing how much we lost).

So another big day tomorrow with the parade and fireworks, and better have a functioning camera with downloadable pics (said with teeth grinding).

Updated with pics on July 14 by Jennifer.

Not sure what happened with the camera - but the pics were downloaded.

Here is Joshua jumping off the divingboard. He was having a blast as you can tell.  It got a little scary in the afternoon as he would jump off without Matthew being there.  Thank goodness they have awesome Life Guards at this pool.

Here is Joshua with his tricked out bike ready for the parade:

Here is Layne - she really had a plan for her bike and spent a lot of time getting the items she wanted and where she wanted them (I know, really doesn't sound like her, right? LOL)

And here is Jacob on one of the scooters - he still not a fan of the bike riding thing: