Happy Birthday, T. Willy!!!!

T. Willy is 5 today! He woke up CRYING and went to school CRYING and, when I left him at school, he was CRYING. He made sure that I told the teacher that he didn't want them to sing to him, but we did take cupcakes for him to share with his class. They haven't called, so I'm hoping he calmed down after I left. He's never done that...not even on the first day of school. His allergies are really bothering him, the family left today, and he has been staying up late with the company. So, I think a birthday was just a little overwhelming for him.

I have been planning this post for awhile, but now that I'm actually doing it, I'm finding it daunting. I want to remember everything, but I'm finding that I am forgetting some things. I'll give it a try. Forgive me if I repeat myself and ramble, but I want to document this for the kids.

The Big Man and I had been told that we might not be able to have children "naturally." So, we sought medical help to have MK, and after we had her, we were quite content. There was always a feeling that our family wasn't complete, but we didn't take any extra measures to have another baby.

So imagine my surprise when, 9 years after MK was born, I was late. I was so late that it was calculable. MK had spent the night with a friend, so I went to Walmart and bought a test. Actually, it was a kit that had 3 tests in it. Furthermore, imagine my surprise when it was positive! I really could not believe it. It was a Sunday morning, so I went to church. I told one person. I think my exact words were, "So here's a funny story. I took a pregnancy test this morning and it was positive!" She laughed with me; she agreed not to tell anyone, and that was it. Then I went to see the Big Man at work, and told him, and he laughed. But I'd just taken one test, and there was really no reason to think it could be true. I think I took the other 2 when I got home, both positive...and I sat and waited.

The next morning, I went to work teaching high school. I took a break mid-morning and went to my doctor's office and asked for a blood test. They gave me one, and told me to stop by on the way home from work for the results. There weren't many people in the room, so the two women working there talked to me for quite awhile, and they were so sweet. I made it through the rest of the day and stopped by just as I'd said I would. They finally called for me, and the same lady handed me a piece of paper. The first word I saw was, "Negative." My heart fell a little, but I had tried very hard not to get my hopes up, and I said, "Oh, it's negative," and turned to walk away. The lady stopped me and said, "Wait..." Wait? A life-changing word. I had looked at the wrong place. She then pointed her finger down the line....POSITIVE!!! A more precious word was never read. There were hugs and tears and I just couldn't believe it.

I went home and told the Big Man. We were pretty subdued, because there was a part of it that we just couldn't believe. We agreed not to tell MK, but she wasn't home from school yet, so we called our parents. My mom wasn't home, and I couldn't reach her cell phone, so we called the Big Man's parents and my brother. When MK came home, she overheard something and thought something was wrong, so we did tell her then. She was ecstatic. She ran around the house and hugged her cat and cried. We finally got ahold of my parents in a Wendy's. It was a very happy day.

Nine months later, we had a scheduled C-section for April 22. My technical due date was May 1, I think. My parents were planning to come down to stay with MK, and my biggest stresses were my elevating blood pressure and concern that I wouldn't be able to sleep on the night of the 21st.

But, on April 17, I woke up having contractions. They weren't hard, but they were regular. MK had made plans to go to breakfast with a friend coincidentally at the Big Man's restaurant, so I sent her off, and stayed home and timed contractions. After awhile, I realized that they weren't tapering off, so I called the Big Man and the doctor. My doctor wasn't on call, but I talked to another one, and she recommended that I come in. The hospital was in Pensacola, about 45 minutes away. So, the Big Man came home from work; MK sat in the backseat and videotaped the trip; we called the grandparents, and away we went.

I prayed one thing all the way to the hospital. "Lord, please let me be a 4," because I remembered with MK, they would admit you if you'd dilated to 4 centimeters. When we got there, I was a 4! They admitted me and took me back for surgery pretty quickly. The Big Man's parents didn't even have time to make it, so MK sat in the nurses' station eating graham crackers and drinking chocolate milk.

The surgery went smoothly, and Ty William was born at 12:21 pm. He weighed 8 lb. 5 oz...the same thing MK weighed at birth. He was 21 1/2 inches long, and our lives have never been the same. When MK was able to see him, he was only about 45 minutes old. She cried, and we have video of that. It may be the most dear video we own. Enough of that...here are pictures.

"I'm not waking up tomorrow"

That is what T. Willy told me when he went to bed tonight. Tomorrow is his birthday, but he has liked 4 so much that he doesn't want to turn 5. We had a little birthday party for him tonight with the family, because they are leaving sometime tomorrow. He got a new bike and some other nice things.

I seem to be getting a sinus infection, so I'm afraid some of my fun day off is going to be spent at the doctor's office. That's fine with me, though, because I prefer to be well.

MK is going to a band event tomorrow night, so she'll be gone all evening. She is sorry to miss T's birthday, but I'm pretty sure he'll understand. The kids were given Wii Music, which arrived today, and a little bird told me that TW is getting Wii Fit for his birthday, so we'll have plenty to keep us busy.

Now for some pictures.

The first picture is one that MK took of me with my dad's camera. And I am, of course, eating a circus peanut.





















Have a great night!

More pics - HI MK!

From my mom to the kids, our cell phones are ubiquitous. We need help!

Trip continued...

MK was allowed to play hooky today so that she could spend the day with the family. They played "goofy golf" and went out to lunch. T. Willy's allergies are bothering him, so he stayed home with my dad, and my mom took the teenagers. MK took some pictures, so here is one of them.

















We've been doing achievement tests at school this week. Tomorrow we should be back to normal. I'm playing hooky on Friday, because it's my parents' last day here, and it's T. Willy's birthday! He will be 5, and it's a day to celebrate!! I have a very "mom" blog planned for it.

So, that's it for me. I hope you have a great night!

My mom is here...so you know what that means!

Circus peanuts!




















And the cousins are having fun. Hope you are too...have a good night!

Say cheese

We have a nice camera (even though most pictures that I post are taken from my phone.) My dad has a NICE camera, and MK loves it. She grabs it and takes pictures of everything. So here are just a few of that many pictures that she took. One picture of is of her, so she didn't take that. I just liked it and wanted to include it.

Our school is doing a fundraiser, and last night we had a big kickoff for it at the school. So I came home around 4:15, then left at 5:30 to go back. The kickoff went well, but the weather seemed to keep quite a few people away. It made for a long evening, but it was nice to have my parents here so that the kids didn't have to be alone. They went bowling yesterday and are hoping for nice weather so that they can hit the beach.

Seeing red (and I need a tan)

Today is "Spirit Day" at my school. We were encouraged to wear red and white, the school colors. I obliged. So I'm wearing a red and white polka dotted dress, red shoes, a red hoodie (because my dress isn't in the dress code) and a red headband with a bow on it...too precious, but I'm trying to get in the spirit. I also painted my nails red. So here is a picture of some of that. It's also the first time I've gotten to wear these shoes, so you know that makes me happy! Have a great day!

Fuffy (I didn't forget the L)

We had a very full day yesterday, and by the time we made it to Destin, T. Willy was tired. When we reached the shopping center, he did not want to get out of the car. The only thing that persuaded him to come out was the chance to go to "Build a Bear." He hadn't actually made something there in a very long time, so he was content to walk around and play with the sounds that go in the animals. However, Grandmom was with us, and she offered him the chance to make something. He took her up on it! So, here is a photo journey through it.






















































He named his puppy, "Fuffy." We asked if he meant "Fluffy," and he said, "No, I want it without the 'L'." So here's Fuffy. He is at the perfect age to enjoy it...he loved all the silly things they have to do. It was also as though he didn't notice the racks and racks of clothes and accessories, because he made the bear, cleaned it and walked right to the computers to make his certificate. It was a fun time for him, and he loves his puppy.

More pictures

We also colored Easter eggs. Well, I didn't. I cleaned strawberries. My mom is making a dessert that she learned to make when we lived in Australia called pavlova (Hi, Chellie,) so I readied them for that. Anyway, here are some pictures of that. We had talked about going to the rodeo tonight, but we've opted to go to Destin instead...a far cry from the rodeo. We're going to go a little later so that we'll be there when it's dark. It should be fun.

What we did today

While the kids and my parents are coloring Easter eggs, I thought I'd take some time to post some pictures.

We went strawberry picking today. It was a beautiful day to be outside, and we had a fun time. Our former neighbors live on the same road as the strawberry farm, so we stopped by to see them. There was a procession of about 60 horses and riders as well as a couple of buggies being pulled by horses. We weren't sure what it was but remembered that the rodeo is in town, so we think it had something to do with that. It was neat to see. Anyway, here are some pictures. I'm sure I'll have more to post later. MK was with us, but she didn't want to have her picture taken.
My mom
Nephew, Benjamin
Niece, Alyssa
Me

Happy Birthday, Benjamin!

My family arrived a little after 5 this evening. They had a good trip and are tired of being in the car. It is also my nephew's 19th birthday, so we had a little party for him. My mom made a beautiful photo album for him, and we are amazed at the resemblance between Benjamin and T. Willy as babies and toddlers. So here is 19 year old Benjamin with T. Willy who will be 5 next Friday.

500

I just noticed that this is going to be my 500th post. So here is a very silly picture of me taken at school today. Since I deem myself too old to wear a headband, but my hair is too big and unruly not to be held back, I wear sunglasses nearly every day to contain my hair. Today I could not find mine (I suspect because MK has discovered that she likes them,) so I borrowed MK's. This is a pair she picked out on a whim because there was a buy-one-get-one-free deal. You will see why they were free. I had them in my hair, not intending to use them for sun protection. Then I took the kids to recess and it was bright, and I remembered that I had sunglasses. I put them on with a sense of humor, and one of the girls (who is always direct but was also sitting in time-out at the time) looked right at me and said, "They do NOT look good." Of course, that meant I had to take a picture and email it to MK. And here it is...

















My parents will be here tomorrow with my niece and nephew. They should be here about the time I get home from school. So, happy Easter to us!

And another thing...

I just wanted to post a picture of my door. The theme of the decorating contest is golf and serving. The school is coordinating a golf tournament and service projects. We are still working on ours, but it is going to be with our local Children's Advocacy Center; we are just working on the details. So, my door is supposed to look like a golf course, and the kids' faces are in the "holes." We also have a set of golf clubs to the side to add to it. Some of the doors are very clever, so I don't think we will win, but I am just pleased to have gotten it up on time. Plus, the kids love that their pictures are on it. (It was MK's idea to highlight "PAR" in the word part to go along with the golf theme.)

So that's it. I desperately need a good night of sleep, so I'm going to bed. Good night.

Threes

I am not superstitious, and I do not believe trouble comes in threes. However, today, I do have three things to talk about: Regan, Carly, and Uncle Shelton.

Regan (Ree-gan) is an 8 week old baby, the daughter of friends of the Big Man's family. She has tumors in both of her eyes and it has spread to her brain. Her parents' faith is strong, and it is holding them up right now.

Carly is my cousin's daughter. I've mentioned her before. She had a tumor on one of her kidneys, had that removed and then had chemotherapy. Their last reports had been good ones, but they received disheartening news yesterday. Spots have been found on her lung. So she will be starting chemo again soon.



Carly: just a few weeks ago at Disney







Uncle Shelton is my dad's older brother. He has been battling cancer, and I think emphysema. His daughters were told to take him home and call hospice. They are going to set up a bed in one of their homes and care for him as much as they can.

Whew...a lot is going on that we cannot control. Please keep all of these precious people in your prayers.

On a similar note, my dear friend, Shannon, is having a biopsy on Friday. I desperately hope that all goes well with that, and she would appreciate your prayers too.

It's certainly no coincidence, but the Bible verse that my class is learning this week is Hebrews 11:1: Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Okay...after that, I hope you'll have a great day!

Annette

Ahhh, April

Oh, you just have to love April. Flowers planted, garden growing, frost warnings and a fire in the fireplace. What in the world? I am blogging fireside. It is cold here! So, potted plants are in the garage, and the other plants are covered, and we are settled in for a chilly night. It isn't supposed to last, but it will certainly make us appreciate the warm weather when it gets here...hopefully in time for our northern guests at the end of the week!

So, here is a picture taken not in December, but tonight.

(Say this like Nancy Kerrigan)

Why, why, why?

Because that's what I'm thinking right now. My phone just woke me at 4:30. It was someone from work calling for the Big Man who had to be at work at 5:00 anyway. And the phone is on my side of the bed. I think I need to do something about that: I just wanted to sleep!!! So now I'm wide awake. Ugh.

"In this economy"

How tired are you of hearing that? But, I've realized that there are things more important than the economy. I had a meeting with the principal at my school this afternoon. He and I spoke before Spring Break about next year. He offered me my dream job...English teacher for the middle and high schools. The Big Man and I talked about it at length, and we came to a mutual decision. So, in this economy, I am turning down a job. There is a voice in the back of my head saying, "Are you nuts?" But, my heart knows that I am a mom first. I am missing out on a lot with my kids, and, while this school is really wonderful, there are also a lot of things that would require my time that I'm not obligated to do right now since I came into it mid-year. So, I turned it down. The principal was great and completely understood, and I really appreciated that. So, I am hoping to sub again next year. There is really no chance that I'll be hired by the school district, because they just let a lot of teachers go, so I'll let the teachers know that I'm available, and trust that the work will be there.

And that is what happened here today. I'll watch what I can of the UNC game and hopefully fall asleep quickly. MK was born in North Carolina, so she wore her shirt today that says, "Once a Tarheel, always a Tarheel." They're up pretty big at the half, so maybe she should have saved it for tomorrow.

Have a great night!

Today's picture: this is MK's sleeping companion. He travels to sleepovers with her, and for some reason, he is wearing a shower cap...correction, she told me it was a sleeping cap. This is Arnie the sloth.

Rambling

Feeding my farm dream















I have a lot of thoughts in my head...I just hope I can make sense of them.

Last night I put something in the crock-pot hoping it would turn out. I'd never made it before, but I thought I'd give it a try. Oh my goodness! It was wonderful. It was corned beef, onions, cabbage and potatoes. It turned out so much better than I expected, albeit a little late for St. Patrick's Day. I told the Big Man it made me feel like a country wife...a good hearty meal to come home to after church. Don't ask me why. My mom always did that for us, and she wasn't a country wife.

I think I say things like that because I dream of living in the country, perhaps on a small farm. My grandparents lived on a farm, and my uncle still lives there. It is truly one of my favorite places in the world, and the dream creeps into my conversation frequently. The Big Man kind of jokes about it though, because farms invite rodents, and I'm a bit phobic about them. I have run into my fair share at "the farm," and yet, I still dream about it. (This also reminds me of a rodent story involving Melissa, our dorm room, and a pair of slippers. Another time.)

And, the Big Man bought me a cast iron skillet this week. That may not be an exciting gift for some women, but it couldn't have made me happier. I've made bacon and eggs in it, and it just makes me feel "country" when I really and truly live smack dab in the suburbs.

So...we had heavy rain last week for days, and it rained again this morning. The Big Man had noticed a wet spot in the ceiling of his closet, so he wanted to check it out. I offered to help, because it was a tight squeeze, and our attic is TINY. So I climbed up and investigated. It was tight, but I think I found the source, and we did what we could to fix it. We'll just have to wait for the next rain to know if it helped. When I was crawling out all full of bravado, I told him that I could too live on a farm, because I like those jobs where I have to be handy. He kind of laughed, but since he didn't have to crawl around the attic, humored me and agreed.

Then, I was taking the garbage out tonight through the garage. When I walked to the edge of the garage, I noticed something. It was a brown, furry ball. My first reaction was "rodent," and my instinct was to get the Big Man. But no, I "farmered up" and investigated it on my own. And I was rewarded. It was just a rabbit (which could be a rodent, I really don't know and am too tired to look it up. I think squirrels are rodents, but they don't bother me...we're really just talking rats and mice, and I really am rambling.) Anyway, the rabbit was just a baby, and it wasn't moving, so I went into the house and got the Big Man and T. Willy. When we went back out, the rabbit was still there. I managed to get a picture of it, and you can barely see it, but I'm posting the picture anyway. Have a great night, and get some sleep!


















P.S. I looked it up...rabbits aren't rodents.

Think Pink

MK and I painted her room today. It is now very pink. She worked very hard, and we had a really fun time doing it. Except for the laundry room, it was the only room in the house that we hadn't painted before. Some rooms have been painted 4 times, but hers was intimidating, and we never had a good plan until now. Her room has 9 foot ceilings and it is the biggest bedroom in the house. But now it is finished, and she is happy!

We also bought her a new comforter set and some scarves for her windows. Her room faces east and gets the morning sun. In addition, her windows have arches at the top that aren't covered, so it gets very bright in her room. So she has blackout curtains. They aren't attractive but help the room stay a little darker.

So here are some pictures of our work.

Before: There really wasn't a plan in her room. She had printed out a bunch of lyrics and hung them on the wall, so that's what you can see to the left. Now they have had holes punched in them and are collected neatly in a notebook. You can see her bright red futon. We are looking for a new cover that will better suit the room.



















After: I moved the bed and we haven't put anything on the walls yet. Tomorrow we are going to paint two shelves black, then we are just going to look for posters to put on the walls.



















Windows: The scarves are nice and long, but they were just thrown up there in order to take the picture. I'll adjust them soon.
















So that's it. Whew. I had a good night's sleep last night, and I think I'll sleep well tonight too. Have a great night!!

From bad to good

My day did not start well. At about 3:30 this morning the Big Man woke me from a terrible dream. I was screaming in my sleep and scared him to death, but I was very thankful that he woke me. I can't remember ever doing that before. I've cried in my sleep, but I don't ever remember full out screaming. I managed to fall back asleep sometime later, but never really felt rested. My morning was spent pretty much just trying to shake the awful feeling.

But, things did get better. MK, T. Willy and I went to my classroom and finally decorated it. They like for us to change bulletin boards every month, so MK and I did that. We also decorated the door. I have lots of ideas, but I'm not the greatest at execution. Another teacher was there, and he was able to identify what it was supposed to be, so that's a start. After we finished at the school, we went to Moe's for dinner and then realized that our Kohl's is finally open, so we went there.

Kohl's was great. We bought T. a book and MK some shorts, but we mostly just looked around and had fun. Now that MK's room is clean, we are inspired to paint. We picked up some paint for it and some ideas for decorating. She aspires to live in New York City. So our idea is for a black and white comforter and pale pink walls....she loves pink. Then she wants some framed black and white posters of different sites in New York. So, we are inspired to paint tomorrow and work on our ideas. Once again, I'm an ideas person...but MK is good at the execution, so it should work. If all goes well, I'll post pictures. Our dilemma is going to be her futon. She has one in her room that has a red cover. So we'll be on the lookout for an all black cover, but hopefully one that's textured and won't show dirt too easily. We don't have the cat anymore, but if we did, black would be out.

And that was our day. I hope yours was wonderful, and I'll wish us all sweet dreams tonight!

Rain, rain, go away!

I may take those words back, because our summers are often dry, but right now I am tired of rain! I think it has rained all but one day since last Thursday. I can't remember the last time we had this much sustained rain. It's just dreary. The sun did peek out a couple of times today, but it certainly wasn't enough to enjoy.

So, I stayed home today and did more cleaning. The kids' rooms look great, and the laundry is nearly caught up. I still have more to do, but I'm happy with the results so far.

My parents are coming here for Easter and bringing a nephew and niece with them! We are very excited. So, I'll close with a picture that reminds me that Easter is coming and along with it, hopefully, some sun!!!




















And one thing I want to record for posterity. We used to watch "Fear Factor" regularly as a family. MK loved it, but, the animal lover that she is, couldn't stand that the people used to eat live bugs. She isn't however, a bug lover; do you find that ironic? Anyway, she was so incensed by this that she wrote a letter to the President. We were talking about that tonight, and she remembered her letter. Then she said, "I also mentioned that I was a Girl Scout; I wanted the President to know about my service to the country."

What do you say?

Pretty much the only people who read this are on Facebook, so this isn't original. However, all I did today was clean, and I didn't go anywhere, and it rained AGAIN, so these are the only pictures I had. So, just in case you aren't on FB, what do you call these?

I grew up calling these "jimmies." Most people, it seems, call them "sprinkles." I'm picky about them, though. They have to be the soft, kind of chewy ones. I will not eat the crunchy ones.

















What do you call these? I call them "sneakers,"(actually MK said I really call them "sneaks") and I hear sneakers on television. However, I live in the Deep South, and "tennis shoes" definitely seems to be a Southern thing. "Running shoes" was also a popular name for them.















So that's what I've been thinking about. Hope you had a great day!!