Sunday, November 30, 2008

Thanksgiving 2008

I anticipated that this Thanksgiving would not as nice as previous, because there were several family members that weren't coming up. But, I am happy to say that we had a wonderful time, ate some fabulous food and enjoyed catching up on each other's families. I think that Scott and I had the best time with my cousin Ashley and her husband Kevin. We enjoy them so much - even if it is only once a year...

Brooks started with fever on Thursday night, which continued through Friday night. Both the kids were coughing, but only Brooks is now. You know the kind... where they get so chocked that they gag. Bless him, it is no fun.

I have BUNCO tomorrow night, and I hope that we have fun. Christmas BUNCO is always a special treat!

Sorry that I have no better update than that. We have tried to have a relaxing weekend... and for the most part uneventful!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Patience

Dear Patience,

It seems that you are having a difficult time finding me these days. Perhaps it is because you have somehow lost my address... just in case, here it is: *********, ************, ***, ******* (if you can't read it, it is encrypted, but I'm sure that your computer capabilities will be able to decipher it.)

I have also wondered if you were hiding from me. I have lost so many juice cups... have you been hiding in there? Maybe you are under my daughter's bed. There are so many stuffed animals "sleeping" under there.

No, I bet you are hiding in our Christmas trees! There are so many pretty things there, and my children find themselves constantly touching this area. That's got to be it.

So, I implore you to find you way out of our Christmas trees and back into me. I am very scared of the thought of you hiding until after New Years! My kids would be so happy for you to make your presence known to me again! In fact, that's all I want for Christmas. I hope you aren't asking for some kind of ransom... we are in a recession this year and I would hate to use some of the kid's college savings to tempt you out.

If you could find it in your heart to return to us, our home will be blessed with happiness and gratitude!

Sincerely,

Our Family

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Clockworks

My Dad had a write up in our local newspaper today! It is a great article and here is the link to the article, with an accompaning video. I'm so proud of my Dad!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Late night Walmart shopping

I'm sure that many of you mothers out there shop late nights at Walmart, for all the obvious reasons... the children are at home asleep and you can go by yourself! So, tonight I took off after Scott got home, because the grocery trip was thwarted earlier today by cranky children (well, mainly cranky Kate).

I was a Mom on a mission - dressed in a hip looking jogging suit, wearing a UPS hat that really didn't match. I was there to get this over with and get back home! Most of the people I encountered were families, and many were chatting with each other as if they were long lost neighbors.

Well, there was a single guy I noticed in the produce section. I noticed all he had in his cart was a pineapple. He probably was a wonderful person, but if I could be frank, he just wouldn't be my type, and I think I might know why he was single and late night shopping at Walmart... but I digress...

Later on I see him again, and he is just sauntering around with a pitifully filled cart. It seemed to be filled with a "dating list" of food. I couldn't help but snicker at what he had inside (and this is what I can remember):
  • that lone pineapple
  • Kashi go lean cereal (he needed it)
  • a small bottle of wine
  • Velveeta cheese (?)

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

The first casualty of the Christmas season




Well, here was the first fatality of this year. Not even a veterinarian could repair this damage (especially considering that I still haven't found the legs).

What a lovely little horse ornament. I collect Breyer ornaments, and I sure did like this one.

And, yes, I have put the treasured ones up higher. But, you have just so much upper space, right? So, my children got into T-R-O-U-B-L-E yesterday. I felt the fear of my other ornaments, that they could have a similar fate.

And, nobody else wanted to lose their legs.
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Monday, November 17, 2008

Guess what? Brooks had a normal poop today!!!!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

"The Nutcracker Suite"

We had a fantastic time at our "spay day".

Our under the radar service project was spaying/neutering 27 animals for a local organization. It was fantastic fun - the girls had them down and ready, and Dr. B and I rotated between 3 tables for 3 hours. We also had volunteers to cart them back and forth. My back was a little tired from leaning over that time, but how fun is that? We did a lot of people a lot of good, and it felt good in return.

Afterwards, Scott pulled out my Christmas trees and I got them up. I had forgotten that last year I had purchased 2 after Christmas on sale at Lowes, so I put both of them up. I thought I would not put up our big one this year, but alas, I miss it! So, that one is going up next week! And, how could I forget, that this was the first year that Kate really could help me out - and she did a great job!

Then we were at the Weekley's to celebrate Meredith's 16th birthday! She is very excited to get that drivers licence - oh how I remember those days.

Today has been a downer day for me. Lots of reasons, none of which matter much. These days come and go, and I'm thankful that there aren't as many as there have been in times past. Anyway, I'm sure that things will look brighter tomorrow.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Say that a little quieter....

Tonight at Chickalay, Kate said her prayer a little too loud:

"Dear God, thank you for Mama, Daddy, Brooks and Me. Thank you for our food. And, please help Brooks' diarrhea go away really soon. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

It's a Wednesday

Well, not much got done at our house today. I woke up with a headache that hasn't stopped all day. We went to the barn this morning and saw Reed, then we picked a WHOLE BUNCH of pecans for me to crack. The kids loved it.

Brooks had a dr's appt this afternoon for a well baby 2 year. Since he still had diarrhea from last week (8 days now), I thought we'd get that checked out too. He took care of that by having a toxic explosion at the office. That was the worst smelling diaper ever. Of course, it got on his pants...

So, by the time we got out, it was almost 5pm, and that wasn't enough time to get home, get a bath, eat and go back to town for church. And, since I didn't have a change of clothing for him, I couldn't just go to Mom and Dad's. So we are back here at home.

I have a service project to help with on Saturday. I'll tell you more later....

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Christmas pics outtakes... Take 2!

OK, so my first attempt didn't work! Honestly, Allison, I can't wait for you to see my perfect picture - because I know you are as crazy about that great shot like I am. You too, Rebecca! Anyway, the "perfect" picture is being saved :) for the Christmas card... but here are some that didn't make the final round...






Way tired of picture taking at this point (really, just way tired!)
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Monday, November 10, 2008

Halloween pics



Kate was a clown. She wore the same outfit that my Nana made for my Dad when he was a little boy! Mom made a fancy collar for her and topped her off with red ribbons in her pigtails. She was just adorable!





Brooks was a UPS driver, just like his Daddy! He carried around a UPS box to collect his candy in - a pumpkin just wouldn't do! He got so many compliments and he was a trooper to wear that hat all night!
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Sunday, November 9, 2008

Cades Cove



The mountains were at their finest this year. We got to go to Cades Cove and take a trip back into time. The mountains there are just breathtaking - and we all have memories that we'll cherish!

I wish these pics could convey the beauty we saw. It was just wonderful!
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Tears of joy

I didn't cry when my children were born. Not that I wasn't the happiest that I had ever been - but the emotions didn't come out that way. I didn't cry when we got married. I cried only afterwards, seeing my Dad crying his tears of joy. But, early Friday morning, I cried my first tears of joy that I ever remember having.

After finishing a wonderful week at Pigeon Forge, Scott and I packed most of our stuff up in anticipation of coming home on Friday. I was ready. I love vacations, but as Scott knows, I get homesick pretty easily and I was ready to see our home and sleep in our wonderful bed.

Little did I know that there were other plans in store for me. I woke up around 1:30am with diarrhea and vomiting. Well, this continued until 5am - the last time I vomited - and I told Scott I was ready to go to the hospital. After getting lost on the way (thanks, GPS) we got there and thankfully, there was no one waiting. I remember sitting in the triage room and I could hardly think. Scott said I was white as a sheep. I kept asking for something for the nausea and they said they would, as soon as they got an IV started.

Well, the first guy tried twice and said my veins kept blowing. He apologized and said he would get someone else to try - much to my relief. Another nurse came in and she got it in the first try. I was so relieved that tears just started running down my cheeks. She said, "Oh, Honey, why are you crying? Do you just feel that bad?" I just shook my head "yes" but I knew I was crying because I knew I was about to get some relief from my nausea.

I just knew I had food poisoning. But, the ER doc said that there were 5 other people there with the same signs/symptoms. Something nasty was going around. We had eaten at Cracker Barrel the night before - and I ate 1 pancake. I told Scott that if he mentioned the word "pancake" to me again, I would vomit on him. But, I don't think it was that.

Having to be out of the condo at 10:00 and we didn't get discharged from the hospital until 10:30am, we were left with a dilemma. Feeling as badly as I did, we decided to get a hotel and stay one more night. I was in no mood to get into a car for a 6-7 hour car ride. It was good that we did, because Scott came down with the same symptoms that afternoon. He went to a private practice and got meds for himself. We both slept most of the night (except for getting up for diarrhea) and handled the kids pretty well... YES, WE HAD BOTH KIDS THIS ENTIRE TIME. Luckily they haven't gotten it.

So, after paying way too much for a hotel night's stay, we left around 9:30am on Sat morning to come home. That was the fastest ride ever - we made it home in 6 hours flat. I have slept most of the time since getting here. Scott is faring better - since he only had the diarrhea part of the virus.

So, blog buddies, I'm so glad that this weekend was a bad one to meet for lunch - and I'm really glad that no one showed up! I am dreading work tomorrow, mostly because I am so tired! We'll see what happens... I plan to get you caught up on Halloween pics and mountain pics soon.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Blog lunch!

Our next blog lunch is this coming Saturday at 11:00am at Eastside Grille. I haven't heard if anyone is interested in coming, so please let me know if you would. I don't want to be there by myself! :) If we cancel, the next meeting will be in January...

Monday, November 3, 2008

Piegon Forge update

We are here! The color is beautiful - but not quite there yet. It has been fun watching the trees turn more color every day. The ride up here was fantastic, thanks to the DVD player that we borrowed. That thing is incredible!

The kids have really been cranky so far this year. They have their moments of happiness and more moments of pitiful. Brooks WOULD NOT sit in Santa's lap today - so Kate had her picture by herself. :(

Mom, Kate and I did marathon shopping this afternoon! I got some great deals! Tomorrow we are hopefully going to enjoy some of the outside. The weather has been FANTASTIC! Low 70's and low 50's. Couldn't be better. We are also going to dinner with Dr. Bartley and Ginger tomorrow night - we miss them so much.

This computer is so slow - I will check up on blogs after getting home. Please pray for our country tomorrow. At this point, I feel like our country needs more prayers than ever.