Merry Christmas...

Ah... I made it through Christmas and even got all of my shopping done! (I tried to post a pic off of facebook... its not working!) The shopping was easy since it was only a flat screen tv and a wii (and rock band, wii fit, and some other games)! It was the atmosphere that was difficult! Over the last few years, my grandmother had gotten to the point that she didn't 'believe' in all the hoopla of Christmas, so the hoopla wasn't effected by her being gone... just the atmosphere and the conversation! I ended up in a back room looking at pictures of times gone by! (I plan on going back over there tomorrow and scanning them into the computer before my uncles hi-jack em, so I'll post some later this week!) It helped to remember the good times with Grandma!

On a lighter note... if you have a wii and don't have rock band, you are seriously missing out! We got it for the kids, but Robert and I play on it waaayyy more than they do! I think the kids would like it better if it were Rock Band Disney... or Rock Band High School Musical! Maybe I'll suggest that! haha!

Anyway, I hope you all had a great holiday... I'm off to shop for an anniversary gift for my hubs... We have been married 13 years today! Who would've thought...

Update, Update, Update...

1. I still have a job! No changes for me or anyone else as far as I know!
2. My tonsils looked like gold balls on Sunday... got a shot Monday... the left one hasn't gone down at all... can you say tonsillectomy?
3. My niece Alyssa spent the last few days with us... holy cow I am tired! Special needs children require a lot... and sleep for the care giver seems to be optional!
4. Robert just bought Kali a 22 rifle... pink of course for her birthday! I'm guessing she is going to like it more than the DS she is getting!
5. I haven't bought any presents at all and it's how long til Christmas????

2 days...

This time last year I was told that instead of being full-time I would be 3/4 time at MCM. All that really meant was that I would have one less class to teach and about 8000$ less a year. According to our contracts, they have to tell us before the end of the semester (which is tomorrow, I guess) if anything is going to change! So... be praying I don't get the dreaded phone call asking me to come into the office! My stomach hurts just thinking about it! UGH!

Most Wonderful Time of the Semester....

As I typed my title, I was seriously singing! You know... its the most wonderful time of the year... it's the hap-happiest time of the year!

This week is final exam week! Yippee! Although I am sad to be saying goodbye to my students (well, some of them), I am ready to post the grades and be done. By ready, I only mean psychologically and emotionally, as I have stacks and stacks of grades to post!

The problem with these stacks and stacks of grading to post is that I am sitting in my house, in my pj's, about to read a book (can you guess which one?) and am not planning on going into the office! Hmmmmm....... grading make take longer than I thought!

Addiction...

Hi! My name is Jessica and I have an addiction... It all started quite innocently with a reading of the book before I went to see the movie...

And then I bought book 2... And book three...

And book four...

I read all of the books (and half of the next one online) in a matter of 5 days! I did not clean, cook, or even supervise my children much (mind you, they are pretty self-sufficient). What's worse is that I even passed my addiction on to several of my friends! (Sorry Katie!) I have gone to see the movie twice and am planning on a third trip tonight! I think I have a problem my friends... hahaha!

Ok, I'm only partially kidding... although my husband might disagree... I am a huge fan of this series... it takes little brain cells to read, and makes for a nice escape from reality........

Movies and More

My speech classes are watching Sweet Home Alabama this week... we are analyzing the interpersonal relationships and conflict skills of the characters... (can I say how much I loooovvveeee this class)... Anyway, I always forget how much I love the movie until I see it again! So many lines worth remembering...

On a side note... basketball starts tonight!!!! YIPPEE!!! I mean ladies indian basketball at MCM, btw! The girls always do an awesome job and the games are a lot of fun! Kali even gets to wear her little cheerleading outfit! ha!

That's all I have... ha!

I HATE SNOT! Sorry, snot seems to be surrounding me currently and I'm a little grossed out. I have 100 students... all sniffin' and coughin'. I have two kids who are blowing their noses and showing me. And... my own head is full of the nasty stuff! So....again... in case you forgot... I HATE SNOT!!!!!

Be careful what you ask!

I started the 'Abiding in Him' bible study at church last night and there is daily homework, so I prayed before I went to bed last night that God would help me get out of bed this morning in enough time to get my study done.... at 6:39am my cat (who had been meowing for a while) crawled in between Robert and I and peed in my bed! I was up after that and headed for my bible study!

The lesson for today... be careful what you pray for... you don't know how God will fulfill your request!

Weekend update...

Who knows how blogger will post these pictures, but they are from the weekend! The first pic is from church tonight. Kali and our music minister (her piano teacher) played a duet of "Jesus Loves Me" during the offering tonight! It was soooo cute and she did a great job! She was sooooo nervous, but she was very excited about getting to do it!


On Friday night I went with my friend Katie to play bingo! I've wanted to go for a loooonnnggg time, but couldn't find anyone to go with me! Katie was all about it! We totally lost, but we had a good time! Notice all the snack food we brought with us... and the free candles that the bingo hall gave us... good luck candles! Ha!

I had some pics of us posted with out dobbers in hand... but close ups are never pretty! ha! Anyway, I hope everyone has a great week!

Memories...

This post is a little random... it is the notable moments from the last couple of days.... things I think that are imp't to me...


I will post pictures tomorrow of the flowers at the funeral! My grandma had severe allergies to everything, but the most difficult allergy for her was the allergy to flowers! She loved to drive down the road and look at the wildflowers bloom, but she could never pick a bouquet and bring them into the house. With that thought in mind, my mom and her siblings picked the brightest flowers for the casket and I did the same when I ordered the flowers from the grandkids and great-grandkids! People I didn't even know that well sent flowers... and all of them vibrant! When mom ordered the casket piece the guy at the flower shop keep discouraging her... I guess bright isn't in for funerals! I think he finally understood though, because the flowers were gorgeous!


My mom finally told me the story of the night that grandma passed.... the chaplain and all of the kids had gathered around her to pray and the chaplain told her that she could go... and within 60 seconds she was gone.... and when she went there was an immediate look of peace upon her face... in my head, the only thing that makes sense is that the gates of heaven opened up and her Lord was waiting with his hand outstretched...

And my final tidbit, the 'fun part' of any funeral (if there can be a fun part) is hearing the stories of the family... I heard wonderful stories today about my dear grandmother! Stories of struggles and pain, stories that had me rollin' in the floor, and most of all stories of grandma's faith in her Lord. Every person I spoke to had a story of how gma had effected their life in some way! She was indeed an amazing woman!

Keep my gpa in your prayers... they were married for 56 years... that's a lifetime... and every time I think about how gpa is going to survive without gma I cry again! I mean, can you imagine???? A lifetime with a person and then one day they are gone... who's going to cook his eggs? who's going to watch the rodeo with him? who's he going to talk to about the birds and the flowers? Ugh.... here go the tears again....

The pain of loss...

It is with tears streaming that I post this post. Last night, my grandma passed away. As much as I would like to say it was unexpected... I guess it wasn't really! When Gma went to Lubbock 3 weeks ago, the dr's told her that if she didn't have open heart surgery she would be dead in 3 weeks. Well... she had the surgery... it has been 3 weeks... and she is now dead. Hmmm... it would seem to me that the dr was right and God was ready to have His child home. I can only imagine Gma walking the streets of gold right now worshiping her Lord and running into family who have gone before her. And honestly, at least I have that security... at least I have that comfort... my Gma has gone to a place and I know that I will see her again someday....

I survived!

Well, I survived the weekend! Homecoming was fun and the girls got to spend lots of time at TP village! I learned how to set up a TP (did I mention it is HARD), and I learned that I can survive on 4 hrs sleep still! I watched bonfires and cookouts and I prayed the entire time that no one would get hurt while setting their own campfires! I watched students make complete idiots of themselves and prayed they didn't get caught! I cheered for a fb team that just can't seem to win, and watched my students leave the field with their heads down. I took down a TP (25 ft poles are quite difficult to manuever) and put it away for next year. It was a lot of fun, but I am pretty sure I have not been soooo tired in a long time! The weekend made me realize that I am not as young as I used to be! HA! Oh well... I have pictures, but those will have to wait for another day!

It's Friday!!!!

It's 8:27 and my children and I are all in our pj's watchin' tv! I am off today and my children are taking a "mental health day!" We all need one occasionally, right? Our plans for today include TP village, High School Musical 3 and flu shots! Yippee!

The girls LOOOOVVVVEEEE TP village and since my students are all running the TP's, the girls get to run around in and out of the TP's. Last night, they helped start fires (let's just say the mommy me was stressing out a little) and got to be up close and personal when my AYA girls put up their TP. (Putting up a TP is WAAAAYYYY more difficult than I would've thought! Those poles are HEAVY and everything has to be just so!)

Anyway, the TPs will be up today and tomorrow if you care to stop in for a little visit! =) Now... off to shower and start our day of playin hookie!

I SURVIVED MONDAY!

Well, I survived Monday! And tonight, I rewarded myself with a little GNO at the paint your own pottery place! I painted a cross and a pencil holder... I'll post a pic next week! Tomorrow I get to sleep late... I'm soooooo excited.... Kali has reached that 'need to go to the dr place' and the only appt was for 9:30 am. That means that I get to sleep til like 8am in the morn! Yippeee!!!! You know, it is the little things in life sometimes...

Catching up...

The only image I can think of to describe my current life is the cat my brother threw in the pool when we were kids... it was soaking wet and doing everything that it could to keep it's head up! Pretty image, huh? I could go on... like when I tried to help the cat it clawed my arm and made me cry.... etc.

I should probably never post on Mondays... Mondays are my busiest day. I hit the ground runnin' in the morning and I literally don't stop until 11pm tonight. By 11pm, I will have been at home for all of 30 min today and only seen my kids when I got them up from bed and when I ran home between babysitters. On Mondays, I teach 4 classes and see about 100 students! This morning, I found myself singing "I hate Mondays" to the tune of "I want Candy" as I pulled into Sonic for my breakfast burrito and diet coke! Maybe I'll create the rest of the song as the semester goes along! ha! Monday's are soooo bad that when Kali woke up with lime green snot this morning, I told her she wasn't allowed to be sick on Monday... she had to wait until Tuesday because neither her father or I could take her to see the dr today! Now, isn't that awful?? (She wasn't really sick enough for the dr, yet.... otherwise I would have done the good mommy thing and stayed home!)

In lite of all I just wrote, I am going to try to come up with some positives from my day thus far...
1. They turned off the air in my building and my office is no longer 50 degrees.
2. I got to teach my fave essay in Engl today... "I want a wife"
3. When Monday is over Tuesday starts and I get to go to my fave Bible Study over Ephesians with my preacher's wife.
4. Only 6 more hours until my day is done....

Children...

My mind is swirling with the many things I would like to say, but I'm have quite the time focusing in on one theme... another words, sorry if this lacks focus!

Our weekend was packed full of birthday activities, football games and a trip to the minor emerg clinic. Long story short, there was an altercation at my house with Kali running full force into Megan to 'shove' her out of the way and Megan not budging. (This is where I point out that Megan's hands did not touch Kali in any way and Megs wants everyone to know this!) Kali hit the ground with quite a force, landing on her wrist. She had a cup in her hand that she was trying not to spill, so she landed 'funny.' She cried, the wrist swelled, the dr said go to minor emerg. So... we did. The wrist was not broken, just a bad sprain, but let me tell you how much fun a 7 yr old is when their hand is sweating under a wrap... ugh! Needless to say I am a little annoyed about it all, thus the trip to the alter yesterday...

I realize that children fight. I fought with my brothers. My friend's kids fight with each other. My students tell me stories of still fighting with their siblings. BUTTTTTTT, that doesn't make it right. I have tried to explain the importance of being nice to each other and how one day they will love each other, but IT'S NOT WORKING. To make matters worse, Megs weighs exactly twice as much as Kali, so if I were to let them fight it out, I imagine Megs would crush Kali. Their expressive capabilities are not helping the matter either. Megs is really good at putting words together... in fact, she is quite proficient at saying things that she knows will upset Kali. She is also good at just standing still in such a way that she can't actually be blamed for hurting Kali. Kali, on the other hand, is not so good with words and never has been. When she is angry, her first instinct is to pound on her sister. So... how am I supposed to handle this??? What happens next time Kali takes a running lead and her sister just STANDS THERE and Kali breaks something??? Who should be in trouble??? Megan for standing in front of the car so Kali couldn't get in seat? Kali for shoving her sister? Megan for bucking up and causing Kali to fall????

AUUUGGGHHHH... calgon take me away! I am praying for wisdom and attempting to see if there are behaviors within the house that I need to be more aware of, but I am pretty much at my wits end with it all. Can I just send them to their room everyday and not deal with it????

Meg-Pie

This morning, at 7:29 to be exact, Megan Renee' turned 11 yrs old! 11 Years Old!! Holy cow! I'm not sure I can handle this! Before my eyes, she is changing from the little girl that played in the dirt and thought boys were smelly into a young lady who cares what she wears, spends entirely too much time in the bathroom, and thinks boys with lots of hair are cute. (Dont' tell her daddy!)

I have sat here for quite a time trying to come up with words to describe her, but it is quite difficult. She is just like every other child in the world that hates to clean, doesn't like her sister, and has begun to role her eyes! But she is soooo different than most in that she cares... truly cares... about other people and making sure everyone feels welcome. She is very much a rule follower and worries about those who aren't following the rules. She loves the Lord and wants everyone around her to do the same!

Ok... compt is dying.... will try to think of more later...

Home sweet home...

Ok, I am exhausted, but I am home. Grandma's surgery was yesterday morning and she did wonderfully. We all prayed over her before her surgery (even the dr's and nurses). The surgery took about 3 hrs, and the dr's were amazed that she did so well. Her color was good after the surgery, but there is nothing fun about watching your grandmother on a ventilator. I was set to come home yesterday after the surgery, but I got lost on the way home and decided to just turn around and stay the night... I'm glad I did stay, though, because this morning Gma was sitting in her chair eating her breakfast when we got to the hospital. She had tubes and wires everywhere, but she looked good and was talking again. The prognosis looks good, but prayers are still asked for, because anything could happen at this point.

A few observations from this weekend:
1. My family (my uncles specifically) really is/are crazy and you should never talk about politics when sitting in the waiting room.
2. Sitting in the room with your biological mom and your adopted mom can be quite awkward at times.
3. Lubbock is the WORST town for directionally challenged people. I have never gotten lost so much in my entire life!
4. If I ever need heart surgery I am going to the Lubbock Heart Hospital... that place was AWESOME! (Well, except for the fact that there was no Internet access!)
5. I am dropping SPANISH class tomorrow, because of the previously mentioned lack of Internet and the fact that I am language acquisition retarded!

Update...

They postponed my grandmas surgery until Saturday because she crashed twice yesterday after her angiogram. She was upbeat today and I enjoyed spending today with her. I am off to eat dinner and do a little shopping (what is a trip out of town without a little shopping???). The surgery is scheduled for 7am... so keep the prayers going!

PRAYERS, PRAYERS, PRAYERS

I type this blog as tears stream down my face... my grandmother is having open heart surgery tomorrow... Thursday... in Lubbock. I am driving down in the morning with my dad. My grandmother is convinced she is going to die on the table, so please keep her and my family in your prayers. Grandma isn't that old as far as grandma's go, but her health isn't at it's best. The surgeon doesn't seemed worried, just grandma. Anyway, she has said her goodbyes 'just in case' and there have been lots of tears! I've been stressed out just because I didn't think I had the time to drive to Lubbock on a Thursday, but really, what option do I have? I mean, what kind of granddaughter would I be if I stayed home instead of seeing her off into the operating room? Anyway, keep all of us in your prayers... I'm not ready to lose my grandma and my mom isn't ready to loose her mom! Pray that grandma survives the double bypass and valve replacement and heals quickly (she's also a very whiny patient)!

Anyway... I'll let you know how it goes!

Busy, busy, busy...

As I'm sure you can probably tell from my last post, life has been a little crazy lately. The transition from summer to fall is always difficult, but this semester just seems to be a little worse than normal. I've tried to put my finger on it, but I can't quite place the difference, and frankly, it might just be a combination of it all.

To top off the busyness of the week, I now have the busyness of the weekend to look forward to! I am sooo not complaining about this, because I LOVE MY FOOTBALL PLAYERS... but it is difficult to go cheer for a team, when they aren't exactly a winning team. I want my boys to have the satisfaction of winning, so that they are not so frustrated during the week! (And by my boys, I hope you know I mean my college students!) I have been at MCM for 3 years, and at the pep rally yesterday, I realized that 4 of the 5 team captains are my previous students! Over 3/4 of the team are students that I have either had in class, know because they are friends of students, or students that I currently have in my class. Anyway, I want to spend my Saturday at the field cheering on my boys.... but it's difficult to come home and see all the laundry that needs to be done etc and not feel a little guilty about spending my day at the field. But... I will soooooo go cheer em on, because the benefit it does for them and the appreciation they show is way more than the appreciation I will get from my family when they have clean socks!

Anyway, keep Robert in your prayers. He's a little overwhelmed with work and school right now. He is taking calculus, statistics, government, and Spanish! Although individually the classes are difficult for him, all together with his other responsibilities, I think he's going a little batty!

Sexual Harrassment Training...

I am currently sitting in sexual harassment training... the guy is quite interesting, but he has yet to say anything that I would actually thought about doing??? And frankly, I have TONS of stuff to do, so I really could care less about what he has to say! I mean, seriously.... I need to grade papers and plan a lesson for class in an hour! AUGH>>>>

I'm tired...

Ok, this is going to be one of those posts... you know, the ones you don't want to post but you know you will feel better if your friends tell you they love you???

Ok, here goes! I'M TIRED! I'm tired of friends who are too busy. I'm tired of husbands that won't mow the yard. I'm tired of children who refuse to participate in the daily care of the household. I'm tired of messy/cluttered houses and laundry that needs to be done. I'm tired of worrying about money. I'm tired of not having clothes because of weight loss, and not having the money to go buy new ones. I'm tired of my office feeling like the meat freezer at the grocery store. I'm tired of unmotivated students. I'm tired of husbands who are stressed about school and are taking it out on me. I'm tired of rude people and people you can't trust. I think I could go on all day, but the one tired that probably sticks out the most to me is that I'm tired of always screwing things up no matter how much I am trying not to and am quite thankful that my God is a graceful God... otherwise, there is nooooo way that I survive.

On that note... I think I'm going to pick my children up from school and lay on the couch for an hour with my eyes closed and a blanket over my head. Maybe if they don't see me they will forget I'm there????

Ok... so I came home to hide away under my covers and feel sorry for myself, and in the mailbox was a flyer from Women of Faith. I looked through it and put it on the bookshelf. I then looked down and saw the bible studies that I purchased while at the conference. I picked up the first one... "Resting in Him: I need to slow down but I can't!" Since reading a Bible study requires no movement, I picked it up along with my Bible and plopped down to rest. Here are a little of what touched my soul...

47% of people say they are concerned with the level of stress in their life

Sometime the stress of life can manifest itself in our attitudes and responses to daily life. (ouch)
God desires to restore you. Your level of exhaustion and need for rest will never match God's desire to give you rest.

Mark 1:21-34 In this passage, Jesus taught crowds, cast out demons, went for a home visit w/some healing, went back to town and cast out more demons and performed more healing acts.

Mark 1:35 says that Jesus went to a quiet place and prayed.

I guess the point of it all is that even Jesus had a lot on His plate and instead of taking it out on the world around Him (like we so often do) He went to a solitary place and was alone with God in prayer. Hmmm.... sounds like a good idea, huh? Amazing how instead of calling out to the Lord in prayer I just simply get frustrated and want to crawl under a rock. This definitely gave me something to think about. I'm still not going to do the dishes or mop the floor, but perhaps it influence the words that come out of my mouth this evening.

My day in pictures...

So I think I figured out where all the dove go when it is dove season... they come into town to eat people's cat food! This morning, while I was attempting to get dressed, I kept hearing weird noises in the back yard. I look out the window to see a covey of dove chowing on wet cat food...



This is our newest addition to the family. His name is Chocolate... but my Spanish instructor is the one who gave him to us and his family referred to him as "Choco" (done with a Spanish accent)!
He is in serious need of a make-over, but I can't find anyone who can get him in NOW! ha! Boy dogs do not need pony-tails! Boy dogs in families where life is crazy especially do not need pony-tails! I cannot fix my hair, the girls hair, and the dogs hair everyday! ha!


ANd seriously I am about sick of the rain! I know I should be thankful that it is raining... but COME ON! I can only take soooo much! Between the mud and the dogs who might drown in the puddles my carpet needs to be cleaned... my students smell (you know, that wet dog smell boys often get).... and my runny nose won't go away! AUGH! I wouldn't mind the rain if it could come in spurts... rain every Monday for example, but no! our forecast shows the rest of the week of rain! I guess I can't really do anything about this though... so I might as well try to find some positives... um... I'll come back to that one!



O

Updates...

No, I haven't dropped off the edge of the planet, although I am feeling just a tad overwhelmed with life. The beginning of the semester is always a little crazy for me... this semester I am teaching 6 classes... 3 of which I have never taught before... and taking two! I'm not really sure what I was thinking when I said yes to all of this! AUGH! Oh well... I will survive... I always do!

I hope everyone is doing well... I'll post pics of the first day of school etc later!

Quote for the day...

Quote from "That 70's Show"... "The only thing smart about you is your mouth!" Modified quote from Rt "The only thing smarter than your brain is your mouth!" Hmmm... wonder who he was thinkin' about when he said that????

I leave at lunch on Friday to go to the Women of Faith conference in Ft. Worth/Dallas. My friend Amy and I are going with her sister's church. Keep us all in your prayers... I mean, 100 women on a charter bus driving to the metroplex... don't you feel sorry for the bus driver???? haha! I'll tell you all about it when I get back!

NKOTB...

Have you ever noticed that each generation seems to have certain musicians that people either loved or hated? In my mom's days it was Elvis and for her Neil Diamond. When I was in elementary school it was Michael Jackson and Madonna... and in jr high it was NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK! I've previously posted about NKOTB and my love for them, and I just found out that on Sept 2nd they are releasing a new album! YIPPEE! My kids are making fun of me, cuz I have been playing their old songs on the computer... wonder what they would think if I busted out the posters I have hidden in the garage! :) Anyway, the NKOTB tour has begun and they will be in Dallas on OCT 19th... and I am sooooo going! If you want to go with me, let me know, my plan is to buy tickets this week! ;)

Now off to WM to buy their greatest hits album!

Holy cow... what a day...

I figured I would post pictures of where we ended up after I could no longer handle the jump around place. Even the kids were toooooo hot to be there. It didn't help that Megs ripped out her earring and was having an emotional meltdown over the blood oozing from the hole that she has had all of 3 weeks. (Rest assured, we home cleaned them, and put the suckers back in...)

The pool was very relaxing and cool after the heat from the first venture of the day... and it would have been perfect except for the flying ants that were ALL OVER THE POOL! You could tell the manager wasn't there too, because the lifeguards/kids would get in, skim for about 3 seconds, hop out and call it good...meanwhile, my children were no so happy about the ants and even I was having a difficult time making myself want to hop in with the ants. I wish I had a picture of the suckers... they were scary looking. Bigger than fire ants, smaller than red ants, BIG WINGS! Anyway, we made it about 2 hrs and then we headed home.

These next pics are from my adventure this morning! We were taking my daughters friend home to Cleburne, as well as their refrigerator that we had borrowed when we moved into their house. I made it all the way up HWY 80 to I-20, pulled onto I-20, hadn't reached 45mph yet, and realized the fridge was FLYING THROUGH THE AIR! It hit the asphalt and went sliding towards the 18 wheeler that was behind me! Luckily, no one was injured and other than a few tires squealing, there were no accidents. A very nice good Samaritan stopped and helped me load the fridge back into the truck and I took it all back to Robert at work. So much for taking Charis back to her parents... the fridge was not that heavy when Robert and I loaded it this morning... pretty sure I did something to my back just now though... I have taken a muscle relaxer, anti-inflammatory, and am perched on the couch with a bag of frozen broccoli behind my back (the only frozen thing I could find to work)! Anyway, now I must find another fridge to give my friend to replace the one that had met it's demise!

All I can say is God is good, because it could have been soooo much worse, and holy cow! why does my life have to be soooo interesting?

The Jump Around...

Ok, I know I'm probably just being a very crabby parent, but seriously???!!! 7$ per kid??? I know that it is for all day (which really means 10-6, but we didn't even get there til 1:30), and I know it costs money to run the air etc, but I don't know how much of this I can take! For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, we are currently at The Jump Around and I am quite miserable! Again, maybe I'm just being crabby... and that wouldn't surprise me as I'm definitely having one of those days, but I think the screaming kids and the lack of air conditioning is a little more than I can take. When she told me the air conditioners were out I should've taken that as a clue and gone to the pool, but instead, I paid the 28$ so the kids wouldn't be disappointed, but I'm pretty much ready to go home! I'm all for blowing money on the kids, but I'd rather get something for myself out of it... as in a movie, some peace and quiet... you get the point! Not to mention that the OCD me can barely handle the thought of all the germs hanging out on all of the jumping castles! Deep breath, deep breath, deep breath....

Great Song!

I was determined to clean part of my house this morning, but then I got distracted by CMT (which is what I use for background noise for both me and the dog while I clean). Anyway, this video came on... and I had to stop it, rewind it, and record it... and then I had to find it online so I could share it with all of you...

Now, if only I could convince both of my daughters that she is right!


http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--184511943

(Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to embed it... something about a tag being broken??????)

The week of early mornings...

Our church has a program called "His Kids" each summer where the kids work on a musical to perform at the end of the summer. They meet all summer one day a week and then for a week, right before the program, the meet daily from 8-3! I usually look forward to music camp, because it gives me a much needed break from parenting and I can get stuff done! This year, though, 8am is killing me! I would rather have the girls home all day bickering then have to get them up, dressed, with lunches packed, and to church by 8am! Well... maybe not bickering, but you get my point!

I'm trying to think positive thoughts about how this is practice for the beginning of school in a couple of weeks, but I just can't! I want to sleep late and I hate mornings! I keep hearing friends that are older than me talk about how they can't sleep late and go to bed earlier now... when is that going to happen to me? I mean, I don't remember ever having to wake my mother up to tell her we were going to be late... she was just always awake before me. Was it this hard for her to get up? What about you, friends, how are mornings in your house? Will I ever reach the point where I 'can't' sleep in? At what age does that exactly happen, cuz I'm pretty sure I've heard people my age who 'can't sleep in!' Does it just all of a sudden happen? Or will it come on gradually? ha! Ok, I think you get the point!

And although I've gone to bed at a decent hour each night, It's like I'm a walking zombie by 3. Today, it's even worse... Megs called at 11:20 to ask where her lunch was... I was supposed to be picking it up... OOPS! I completely forgot! That's not the only thing I have forgotten... and while individually it all appears to be little things, I'm sick of getting home and realizing I forgot things! Maybe I should take some ginseng or something... or wait, I have a better idea... I could just sleep til 8am and my brain would function better... ha! In my dreams...

Anyway, hope everyone is having a great day!

Benefit of a blog...

I decided this week that I really, really, really, needed to get my photos organized and catch up scrapbooking. Let me just say how much easier said than done that is. When cameras had film, I was very good at taking the pictures to be developed immediately and scrapbooking them. Now, I load them on my computer, where I can ignore them. I will say that my blog was quite helpful in all of this organizing! I was able to look through the years (wow, 2 1/2 years) and see when pictures were taken! It was kindof fun to see how much everyone has grown (or shrank in my case) in the last 2 years! And to see how God has brought us through some pretty difficult times! Amazing! Ok... I've procrastinated enough... time to keep organizing!

Messages from a Chocolate Wrapper...

I love speech time... I had a student give an informative speech on chocolate! She brought little baggies of dove chocolates and Hershey kisses for everyone! Yippee! (I got to take the extras home!) Anyway, this is what one of mine said!

If you can't read it... it says... "Smile. People will wonder what you've been up to!" Made me laugh!

My other piece said "Be mischievous. It feels good." Perhaps not such a good piece of advice, since it is something I struggle with already! Oh well, hope everyone is having a great day!

Sun overload...

I'm guessing no one felt the need to divulge their marital prayer habits... I understand, pray is personal! I'm definetly still working through some of that myself.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure we are all of sun overload at our house. Kali, Megan and I are all a little red in the face... probably time to take a pool break!

Have a great weekend! We don't have any big plans... just playing our new found past time Carcassonne.... which might I say is an AWESOME puzzle/strategy that has managed to take over every evening for my husband and I! It is a game that won board game of the year a couple of years back, and it originated in Germany. If you are ever looking for something to do, give us a call and you can come play this addicting game with us! :)

Seriously Satan...

One of many of the things that Robert and I struggle with in our marriage is praying together... or even talking about praying together. I mean, I pray daily (and often during the day), but I have no clue how often my husband prays or even what he prays about. The few times in our marriage that we tried to start and end our day with a prayer together, we slowly began to feel Satan attack... or at least I think that's what it was... it just seemed that each time we were doing what we needed to do all 'hell' broke loose in our life.

Anyway, over the last few months, I have personally grown in my walk and really tried to do the things that God is calling me to do... and one of those things is to bring prayer into my marriage. So, here is my question for you... how often do you pray with your husband? Do you do Bible Studies together? Do you wake up in the morning and pray, what about bed time? Or, do you just pray together for the 'big stuff'? Please be honest with me... if you don't pray together (and don't mind sharing), why not? If you do, how often?

Oh and I would just like to say how annoyed I am that my dear hubs has come home from work and is in quite the mood. Ah, the joys of the inpatient man... Looks like it's going to be a loooonnnnggggg evening!

It's a girl...

OK, wait, I'm not saying that I'm having a girl... that would be impossible! What I mean is that my girls have decided that they are girls. In the last couple of weeks they have each gone through some kind of transformation of types... Kali asks me to brush her hair and asks if her clothing matches... Megan has wanted to wear earrings and asks me if her clothing is fashionable... HOLY COW! Now, it's not that I don't want my kids to match or wear cute clothing, but do you know how expensive it can get when they actually care about their clothing??? To top things off, today they convinced me to take them to the mall for ear repiercings... Kali needed her first holes pierced and Megs wanted second holes. (Who knew those were still in fashion...)

Anyway, I'm sure Robert will be all kinds of excited when he gets home and realizes how much we spent on cute little earrings etc, but they are awfully excited! He should be way more concerned about the future school clothes shopping we need to do if they are both concerned about clothing...

Summer...

It just dawned on me the other day that we are on the downhill slide of summer... and it makes me a little sad. I've had a little bit of the green monster as I've read about all the great trips that my friends have taken with their kids and it's made me realize that this summer has been filled with a lot of unpacking, rearranging, bickering between children, the pool and that's about it! We haven't gone anywhere except Ft. Worth for a few hours to visit a friend at Cook's. In kid world, I've been told, this is the boringest (or to be grammatically correct most boring) summer ever! I had great ideas about things we could do this summer, but they never really materialized. Oh, well... 5 more weeks to get something accomplished! Perhaps the place to start is by getting out of bed before 10am...

Thanks for the prayers... and advice

Thanks for the feedback and prayers. I should probably start by saying that we have done many of the modifications that ya'll suggested and Kali simply needs more. In fact, she asked me last week if she is retarded, because she can't remember when we tell her to do something. She also has a reading issue that we can't seem to diagnose and by gaining control of the ADHD symptoms, I am hoping to figure out how to fix the reading issue. So drugs was kindof the last resort...

As for the other child... Megs... it's difficult to put into words all that she struggles with, but to name a few OCD, perfectionist, severe anxiety, emotional roller coaster... etc. etc. My guess is the emotional roller coaster comes from the pre-teen hormones flowing through her veins... as for the rest of it... God only knows. The dr gave her some suggestions as to how to handle some of the emotions she deals with and the people that she encounters... that's about it for now. He wants to watch her for a while longer to see what happens... another words... no meds, just continue to cope. I'm not sure how I feel about this as he doesn't have to watch her struggle daily through life. But, I think I will try to start some counseling with her and who knows, maybe with Kali under control I will have more energy to help MEgs. The most difficult part of this all is that she struggles with things that I don't even understand... and I'm seriously not sure how to deal with it!

Anyway, thanks for the prayers... I think I'm going to head to the pool... my way of coping with my crazy life!

On a lighter note... I hope this link works as the video cracked me up this morning... it is called THE DONT SONG... as in what husbands shouldn't do! Enjoy your friday laugh... if it works!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=17891468452

Prayer Requests

Ok ladies... I need some serious prayers for my children. We have an appt with the family dr on Thursday for each of them... Kali for ADHD and Megs for severe anxiety. I don't want to go to this appt... It took me 2 weeks to even make the appt... but I can't take it anymore... my house is a zoo and every time I turn around there is someone having an emotional breakdown.

I'm feeling quite guilty for not medicating Kali during the school year right now, as I frankly don't know how her teacher dealt with her. The kid has no impulse control, excessive amounts of energy, and can't even sit through a hannah episode, oh and I can't forget that she looks at me like I'm speaking Chinese every time I tell her to do something. Previously, my dr suggested behavior modifications and lowering my standards, and just seeing how she did in 2nd grade. Well... she isn't going to make it to second grade at this rate and I really don't think it is fair to set a child up for failure like this! There are a lot of behaviors that people have pointed out to me that she does, that I hadn't even noticed... like she can't actually sit on her bottom through a meal, she stands most of the time while she eats or sits on her knees, bottom, feet, stands, knees, bottom, feet... you get the picture... apparently, she is always moving in some manner too... not that I didn't notice it myself, I just thought she did it more in my presence! Anyway, there are many more symptoms of ADHD that she has, but I'd be here all freakin' day! :)

Megs is an entirely different ballgame. She was treated for anxiety in kindergarten, but over time we were able to wean off of the medication. I guess the pre-teen hormones that are flowing through her veins are causing her ability to cope to decrease, cuz let me tell you about the summer we are having! Several friends have told me of panic/anxiety attacks that she has had when I wasn't around... and they know because their children have told them. How crappy is it when other 10 yr olds don't want to play with your kid because they know there is anxiety? Things that should be easy for Megs aren't, so how is she supposed to cope with the hard things? She won't ask for ketchup at MCD's, she won't talk to a friend at the pool if they are there with someone else, she calls me after 30 min at home with her sister to ask when I'm coming home! UGH! All of these things individually wouldn't be that big of a deal, but together and happening daily is not so fun or healthy for a 10 yr old child. What's she going to do when she starts 5th grade and realizes she has 4 teachers... or 6th and has 8 teachers???? Holy cow... she will seriously freak! She can't even handle being asked to move to another chair at choir practice... totally freaked her out for 2 hrs even though the director specifically told her she wasn't in trouble! Sunday at lunch she apparently freaked out because her food was touching... and I didn't even see it... if I had, I probably would have told her to get over it... Oh my... as you can probably 'hear' in my post, I'm not exactly the most patient when it come to this stuff...

Anyway, as you can see we are dealing with a lot here. I don't so much mind the 'stigma' of Kali and her ADHD... or at least it is something I can handle. What I don't want is the 'stigma' of an anxiety disorder or OCD for Megs... that is not ok for a 10 yr old and I honestly think my dr is going to tell me I'm a loon. At least I do have past medical history to go off of, and if you've met my husband you know there is quite a bit of genetic issue there too... oh and did I mention my own prescriptions for some of this? FUN, Fun... isn't parenting grand?????

Updates (I use that title alot, huh?)

Karena came home safe and sound last night... PRAISE GOD! She was speaking and moving like normal, but the final MRI showed a few abnormalities. The hope is she won't require any physical or speech therapy, but she seems to get overwhelmed and overstimulated quite easily! Keep praying she continues to improve!

My children are DRIVING ME CRAZY! They cannot seem to keep their hands off each other. Yesterday, Kali punched Megs, today Megs scratched and pinched Kali! They both ended up with a red hiney, but seriously now... QUIT IT~! I thought summer was supposed to be fun! Holy cow! If you know some magical solution for this let me know... as of right now all I can come up with is heading to the pool where at least their bickering is drowned out by the splashing! (hee hee... I made a funny... drowned... get it... sorry, bad joke!) Anyway, pray for this situation too! I don't know that I have it in me to handle another 8 wks!

JW

Prayers... prayers... prayers...

Sorry I haven't been around this week... life has been a tad crazy! Kali's buddy Karena was admitted to Hendrick Hospital on Wednesday and care flighted to Cook's on Thursday. Keep her family in your prayers... she had strep last Sunday and Tuesday night was very disoriented. Her parents (Kayla and Shane) took her to see Dr. Wylie on Wednesday morning and he admitted her immediately. By the middle of the afternoon she was completely unresponsive and we were all quite scared. They did many tests and labeled it encephalitis and sent her off to Cook's. At Cook's they have agreed that it is encephalitis, but cannot find the cause. As of right now, they suspect the strep virus went array and caused the inflammation in her brain. Because the swelling in her brain was in her frontal lobe, she has been silent since Wednesday. (This is not normal for Karena!) Friday was the first day that she opened her eyes and seemed alert... Today she said a few words. A friend and I are going up tomorrow as it is killing us to sit here and wait, but please keep everyone in your prayers. The dr's told Shane that they felt like they could be looking at a 2 wk stay at Cook's!

On a side note, we have learned much about encephalitis and I would just like to encourage all of you to be quite careful when playing with kittens/cats that you don't know or swimming in a lake as both of these are carriers of viruses that cause encephalitis. In fact, kittens carry the herpes virus and a single scratch can cause all of what Karena has experienced this week! The lake/pond/river can carry ameba's that cause encephalitis! EWW! I'm trying not to be completely grossed out, but it is difficult when you see your child's best buddy almost comatose in the hospital bed.

Another side note... Karena is the first child that I have met that can keep up with Kali and has never complained that Kali was too rough... Kali and Karena both attack life in full force and can often be found rolling around in the floor wrestling with each other... this is part of what has been so difficult for everyone on the sidelines... the child that is never still or quiet cannot move or talk. I'm hoping that when Kali walks into the room tomorrow there is a different Karena laying there... the one who tries to jump right out of the bed and attack her! :)

Anyway, thanks for the prayers...

Headed to the drive in...

I thought I would post a pic of the girls before we head off to the drive in! We are going to see Wall E and Kung Fu Panda (and I know I should link, but I'm too tired)!

We did our beginning of the summer braids... a little late! :) Aren't they adorable???

Isn't it nice when they reach a point where they won't even pretend to smile for you???


And look at the member of the family who never gets to go with us... so sad... but he does sleep with me at night... and when Rt leaves for work in the morning he crawls right into his place, it's quite hilarious! Ok, I obviously have a whole lotta nothing to say... but I hope everyone has a good night!

Catching up on TV missed...

During the month of season finales we were moving, so I DVRed them and am just now finding the time to watch them! Anyone else become frustrated by the Desperate Housewives finale??? What in the world? Where was Mike??? Now I'm watching Grey's Anatomy and am yelling at the TV... get the poor boy out of the cement... stupid parents, let the kids love each other... Alex, how can you be so stupid??? Anyway, I think I'm a little too invested in my television shows that I watch!

I am feeling a little better about life (or at least better than I was yesterday). I think it is amazing how Satan will use the weaknesses we all have to get into our lives... into our heads... kind of sucks. And from reading blogs of other's that I know, I know that Satan is really messing around in big ways in other people's lives. So I lift myself and all my friends up to you Lord, I pray for your protection and your will.

Summer going strong!

I'm having a 'Calgon: Take me Away' kindof moment... my youngest has thrown 3 fits in the hallway floor (she's 7), my oldest has shown how truly ungrateful kids can be, and I am so tired of people telling me that things that I say are offensive or hurtful to them.

Issue one... Seriously, Kali is 7 yrs old... aren't we past the whining, screaming, yelling, throwing stage? She was swinging my dog around by his head earlier and I sent her to her room, (I was on the phone and I told her to sit in there until I was done on the phone) at which point she began to wail and thrash from the hallway floor. Seriously? 7 yrs old! It is times like today that year round school sounds great to me!

Issue two... Megs on the other hand, has been just as challenging, in her own way. We went to pick out a new Bible and nothing was good enough... Not the Bible I chose or the Bible covers I asked her to choose from and then to top it off she got all attitudinal because she wanted a highlighter that cost 3$ and I told her no, that she could wait until we went to Wal-mart. Now, had this been a shopping trip for fun, unnecessary things I would probably have set everything down and we would have left, but it was a Bible... you know, one of life's little necessities. And it isn't just today that is frustrating me... for about two weeks I've heard about how I make her do this and this and how miserable her life is etc. Gets a little annoying after a while! Anyone know of some magic solution to the tweenager?

Issue three... Two weeks ago it was my dean calling me in to get on to me for offending a student. Today it was a friend calling to tell me that I hurt her feelings... anyone else like to tell me I've done something hurtful/offensive? I cannot explain the hurt I feel when I get told that I have done something hurtful, because I most definitely do not do thinks out of malice or spite or say things that will hurt people. Not that I don't occasionally say things to people that I know will upset them... but not in either of these cases. And frankly, I'm tired of crying about it! I want to be one of those people who never offends/hurts people, but I'm not exactly sure how to make that happen, since I can't seem to not offend people currently!

Anyway, enough whining... I'm tired from VBS, I think I need about 14 hrs of sleep to catch up... maybe I will go work on that!
JW

Summer...

It's been a while since I posted so I thought I would catch you up on my happenings since my conference. Maybe I'll break this up into a few posts so you don't get overwhelmed...

After I got back from my conference, I started to unpack with a vengeance. I got about half of the house unpacked and put away and realized that I couldn't unpack anymore... there was no where to put the stuff! I mean, we have 4 boxes of board games and no where to put them. Not to mention that our television had been sitting on the coffee table for the 2 wks since we had moved in! (BTW, it's not that we got rid of anything, our old house had tons of cabinet space... so everything had a drawer or a cabinet.) After much shopping, I lucked into a clearance of furniture at Wal-Mart! I bought 6 bookshelves for 49$ a piece! I did figure out when my friends came over to aid me in unpacking and decorating that I really only have enough books for maybe 2 bookshelves... but amazingly the girls managed to fill up 4 with books and decorations... I'll try to post a pic when I find my camera! (BTW, thanks to Amy and Karen who spent at least 8 hrs decorating my house for me... apparently God forgot to give me the girl gene that deals with decorating!)

Ok, guess I'll stop now... it is VBS week at church and I am the director, so I think a nap is in order before I head off to teach summer school! Hope everyone is doing well!
JW

Headed home...

Tired of conferencing... headed to IKEA and then coming home! Stayed out too late downstairs with other nerds... very tired with headache... hope IKEA is worth it.... Will post later...

Austin, TX

I think I'm a nerd! I know this might be news to some of you, but I am just realizing it! My colleague/friend and I are at a UT Writing/Communicating Across the Curriculum Conference in Austin... and we are soooo having fun! This morning we learned about using technology in the classroom and we were taking notes like crazy. This afternoon we get to learn about assessment and rubric designs... and I am soooo looking forward to it! Seriously... I'm not being sarcastic!

Well, looking around the room, I may not be quite the nerd that I was thinking... my friend and I are actually wearing trendy clothes with shoes that match... unlike most of the people in here! I think the peeps from "What not to wear" should come to one of these things and show the academic world that cute clothes can be comfortable and that matching is impt! I mean, how distracting for some students if their prof doesn't match...

Ok, maybe I'm half-nerd, half-snot! heehee!

We finally moved all of our stuff into the new house... more on that later!

Moving

Sorry I haven't posted this week... I have had sooo much to do. We are moving now on Sunday instead of Monday, which means I have TOOOOO much to do before then. Not to mention I am supposed to spend some time today helping Krista (my friend whose house we are moving into) finish packing! AUGH! Just the thought of this is making my head hurt! Oh well... it will be fine... it will be fine... it will be fine! Sorry, just thought if I kept writing it I might calm down! ha!

Anyway, thanks for helping me pack today Holly! Appreciate it! I'll buy lunch on Monday when you help me UNPACK my kitchen! HEEHEE!

Have a great weekend and someone take a nap for me!

Mexico...

Back from vacation and let me just say that everyone should go hang out on the beach for 4 days... We had a little bit of a rough start due to airport drama, but I'm trying to block that part out of my memory! Other than that the trip was awesome. We did a lot of nothing! We walked the beach, laid out on the beach, swam in the pool, sat around and smoked Cubans (one night), played cards, shopped, and sat around some more! We actually got to rest alot! Blogger will only let me post a few pics at a time, so here is round one!

Here is the front of the resort where we stayed. It is the Viva Maya Wyndam and it was great. Everyone was quite polite and the food was pretty good too! It is an all inclusive resort, so all food and drinks were included and there were quite a few activities to keep us occupied during the day. We did a few of the activities and watched a few more, but we didn't rush around to participate... we wanted to relax! :)














This next picture is the view of the ocean when walking down the beach front! BEAUTIFUL! I had never seen water so blue before! It was great! It was a little too rough to do some of the kayaking and canoeing that the resort offered, but since that sounded like work to me and Amy we were good with that!














Here you have Robert, Me, Amy and Matt. The resort had restaurants that you could make reservations at, but the guys had to wear slacks! We went to a different restaurant each night! The food was a little weird for me, but I found stuff to eat at each place and the rest of the gang thought the food was awesome... I'm just a little weird about textures and particular about taste!
















Here is a little of my hubby's personality! This is the Mexican restaurant on the resort and if you wanted to take pics you had to wear the hats! Fun stuff! And this pic was before the Mexican Coffee, which let me say is not your everyday coffee! :)















This final pic is right after we 'rededicated' our marriage to the Lord and recommitted to each other! For those of you who have been reading for a while, you know how our marriage almost ended last year... this trip was our first ever trip together in 12 yrs of marriage and it's purpose was to reconnect and to recommit. This was the final night at the resort... we went out to the beach and Matt and Amy each read some versus from Corinthians and Ephesians and said a prayer over our marriage and we recommitted to each other. It was amazing and quite beautiful!














As you can see we had a great time and I feel like it was worth the mucho money we spent! I'll post some of the wild animal pics we have tomorrow!

Way too much to do...

Is it possible to have too much to do before going on vacation??? We leave in less than 48 hrs and I have sooo much to get done! I probably won't have time to post again before we leave, but please keep my family in your prayers for the next week. We leave Wednesday night and fly out Thursday morning... we get back Monday night... that's a long time for my kiddos to be without their parents! BUT... I know they will be in good hands and Rt and I NEED this trip. We got married sooo young and had no honeymoon... we have been married 12 yrs and this will be the first 'kidless' trip to anywhere besides Ft. Worth! I'll post pics when we get back. Blessings to all...

Jess

Graduation

I just completed my final task of the 07-08 school year... I sat through two graduation ceremonies all decked out in my gown on a stage that was hotter than blazes! Our students really should realize that the faculty are way miserable up there sitting in the lights with no air flow... it's kind of like payback for their final exams if you ask me!

This semester one of my favorite students graduated to the surprise of many of my faculty friends! This student is big, loud, opinionated, black, and 6' 2" tall. Most of the faculty members are scared to death of her, but she is one of my favorite people. She will tell you what she thinks, but if you take the time to talk to her she will also listen to what you have to say and really consider it. During the first semester that she was my student, she got into a fight and ended up getting stabbed... I was the only person from campus to call and ask if she was OK or if she needed anything. From that point on, I became some who she could depend on. She is from Oak Cliff... she comes from a family that has no male members (because they all leave)... her mother is an alcoholic and halfway through the student's jr semester the student had to bring her little bro and sis to raise... she was raised in chaos and chose to live with chaos around her for quite a while by choosing certain friends... But... despite what the girl had stacked against her... she graduated!

Oh, and lest you think she's still a hoodlum, after the stabbing I sat her down and we had a very long chat about the type of people we keep around us and how they influence our lives. She didn't want to hear it, but in the end those words helped her understand how the choices she was making now were going to affect her later on! Anyway, I'm quite proud of the girl! Just goes to show how a little extra time and attention can help a student go a long way!

I hate ITUNES!

Or maybe it is that I hate all things computer when they don't work the way I want them to. I want to be able to put my CD's on the compter quickly and them be organized... instead I look at the screen and it is a mess! Not to mention that my CD ripper from school is slower than molasses! UGH! What happened to the old days... we just carried our cassettes around with us, it was great, no scratches, no breakage... man, I miss the old days! hahahah!

Hope everyone is doing well... 8 days till MEXICO!

9 Days

9 days away... we are 9 days from leaving this town of our for the beaches of Mexico! YIPPEE! And to make matters better, I just called my family dr to tell him that I wasn't sure I could get my husband on the airplane and he called me in a prescription of Zanax! Now... how do I get him to take it! ha! Now for those of you thinking bad thoughts about a woman who would drug her husband, just know that I'm doing it out of love! He has severe anxiety and in most cases, beyond being a jerk, he can cope with changes. BUT... he has never flown and has no real desire to leave the great USA... so... in order to get him through the air port check points, I am afraid I will need the help of drugs to calm him down! Those of you who know him will completely understand! :)

The house selling/buying thing is moving along... so far! Fingers crossed and prayers lifted up that all goes smoothly til we move! ha! The stress of the 'what if's' is going to kill me... maybe I'll take RTs Zanax! ha!

The kids were out of school today, so I took them to see Nim's Island! Let me just it was great! There was, of course, some bad acting, but overall the movie was great for the kids! I recommend it for one and all! Oh, but Kali wants you to know it is a tad suspenseful! :)

Prayers Please

Edit: The doctor came in and she really thinks that was Kenzie has is a head cold. Yes, there was fluid around her heart and lungs, but she wouldn't call it enough to be failure. They put her on Lasix to flush out the fluid and have Ashley scheduled for an appt on the 22nd with a dr who comes to Abilene to make some decisions. Kenzie has two holes in her heart and a valve that is jacked up, but again, the dr doesn't think that surgery is necessary right this second! So... as soon as Kenzie shows us she can eat every 3 hours we get to go home! Keep them in your prayers... we have a long road ahead of us medically with both her and her big sister Alyssa!


I am sitting at Cook's Children's Hospital in Ft. Worth right now with my little brother, his girlfriend and their almost four month old daughter Mackenzie who is in heart failure. We have known since she was born that there was an issue with her heart, but the dr's have been waiting until she gets older to do something about it. We are currently waiting for the heart dr to come in... and I'll post again when she does... but please start praying... here's what we need...

1. Pray for Kenzie... she's got a long road ahead of her! She was born with a chromosomal issue that we aren't really sure of in terms of long-term expectations (same issue her big sister Alyssa has) and the fluid surrounding her heart and in her lungs is only part of the issue.

2. Pray for Matt and Ashley. They have two children together, both special needs, and then they each have a child from a previously relationship. They have a lot of baggage and I got to listen to them bicker and fight for 2 hrs in the ER last night over everything from Ashley's mom to Matt's refusal to disclose how much money he has in the bank. I left the hospital last night thinking, how in the world are these two going to get married and make it work.

3. Pray for me. I got about 5 hrs sleep last night and my patience level with my rude little brother has about come to an end. He's just quite rude to Ashley and I am annoyed by it. Also, I forgot to refill the Prozac before I left town... so exhaustion and lack of Prozac are probably a bad combination... which will result in me saying what I think instead of what I should say!

Anyway, I'll post again when I have an idea of what's going to happen next!

We just sold our house...

We just sold our house... we just sold our house! Yippee! It's all I can do to keep from running up and down the halls singing this! The guy just called me back and they want our house. We will get the papers drawn up and be out June 1st! With gas at $3.49 a gallon, this couldn't have happened at a better time... not to mention we will be moving after our vacation and before summer classes start! YIPPEEEEEE!

Anyone wanna help us pack???
JW

Update...

I have got to start posting more than once a week... haha! School will be out soon and I'll be back to posting normally!

Yogi seems to be doing fine, for anyone concerned. He has some pretty nasty bruising, but he managed to work out of his wrap... silly dog! I'm to the point that if he lives, he lives... I cannot spend money I do not have on an animal! I HATE GAS PRICES! Funny how gas prices seem to be crunching every one's budget and yet the government can't seem to do anything about it... what's that about?

We leave for Mexico in exactly 18 days! I can't wait! It is a little overwhelming to find people to watch the kids, the dogs, pack for all four of us etc, etc. But I know it will be well worth it! This will be the first trip Robert and I have ever gone on that wasn't to Ft. Worth. And the first one that was more than 2 nights! Yippee!!!!

Ok... have to grade the 60 papers staring at me...

Yogi

Friday night my sweet little Yogi caused lots of drama in our house. He came in from his nightly potty break and he could barely move. He had a wound on his side so Robert and I were convinced that one of our neighbors shot him. Robert and I spent all evening arguing over whether or not I should call the vet. If anyone knows my husband, then you know what he was saying... "we are NOT spending money on a dog..." "you are not calling the vet" etc. etc. After much crying on my part, I told him we would see what happened through the night and I would take Yogi to the Vet in the morning... but I would not pay for surgery! (In my head thinking I'm paying for surgery!) I took Yogi to the Vet Saturday and the vet was convinced that he had been shot... so I left him there to be x-rayed (let's not talk about how much a dog x-ray is). The x-ray showed that Yogi had not been shot... instead he had been chomped on by something much larger than he is! He has broken ribs and must be wrapped for the next 2-4 weeks.

This pic is in the car after the appt... look at my poor baby! :) He is on pain pills and antibiotics and he just lays around and looks all sad at me. Last night he layed on my chest like the kids did when they were infants. As I type all of this I can hear my husband laughing out loud because I am sooooo not a dog person. Yogi is the first dog I have actually liked in the probably 10 that we have had since moving to the country. If you had asked me last year if I would be willing to carry a dog outside for him to potty, I would have laughed at you... and now... I pick him up and carry him outside so that he can potty... I put his food on a plate and carry it over to him... etc. etc. Anyway... I will say that after all of this, Yogi better get better and be the perfect pet... hahahah!

Shelly

Do you like my new look??? My friend Shelley did it for me... she is amazing!!!! THANKS SHELLEY! If you want her to create a new look for you, click on the hyperlink above!

My life is still crazy, so I don't have time to post. I woke up at 7:10 this morning and have to leave my house by 7:30. NO FUN! Good thing I have a hair appt in 20 min... otherwise I would look like this all day! hahahaha!

Long time between posts...

I'm not sure I have gone so long between posts in quite a while... but our life is CRAZY! I'll try to touch the highlights of the week.
M--I teach a night class at CJC.
T--SOFTBALL
W--church
T--SOFTBALL
F--SOFTBALL
S--SOFTBALL
S--church

Are you seeing the pattern??? Our life revolves around church and softball right now. I enjoy the games and I know it is good for the kids, but we didn't get home a single night before 9pm... and then all I have the energy to do is crawl into bed. Dr. Reinmund should have warned me that the recovery from the big 'H' was going to take the entire 6 wks, if not more. I'm exhausted by the time my head hits the pillow!

I do have a funny/scary story from the other night. I went to United at about 10:45 Friday night and this toothless, black woman came to my window and asked for a ride home. I, of course, said yes, but I called my husband 'just in case' something happened. Well, this little woman tells me how God is going to bless me and was a sweet as can be. She originally told me she lived in ACU apartments and to drive down 10th. Well, we pass ACU apartments and she says that the house she needs to go to isnt ACU, but she tells people that so they wont be scared... huh??? Then she has me turn onto Carver street. Well, for those who don't know Abilene, Carver street is not a street I want to be on during any part of the day... it's not a safe neighborhood with the sun out, much less at 11pm at night. I called Rt and told him what street I was turning onto, then she told me to keep going down the road... we get to the end of the street and there are these two men in hoodies standing on the corner that she told me to stop at in front of a house that is all boarded up. So I stop a little ways back and unlock the doors to let her open hers, and then quickly lock them again. Before she got out of my car she asked if I had cash to spare, which I didn't because I don't carry cash, and then she mentioned debit or credit... like I was going to hand that over... I played dumb with that one too! Anyway, I spoke to one of my friends the next day and she told me the woman was harmless, but I can't help but be a little freaked out. Surely those men weren't planning to rob me.... surely she is a good person and had no intentions of hurting me... but when you put it all together it is a little freaky.... maybe I just watch too much CSI. Anyway, I'm alive, but a little freaked out. I called the police station just to let them know what had happened as I was concerned that she was setting me up for something icky on that dark road with the two men in hoodies and the lady at the police station told me "no good deed goes unpunished" and it makes me very sad to say that I won't be picking up anymore little old women who complain of gout anymore!

Edit: I just told my mom the story and got in more trouble than I think I have ever been in! Apparently this is a scam that has been going on and I am sooo in trouble! Thank God my angels were working overtime! :)

Oh... the memories...

Ok... how many of you can guess who this group of men are???? They, of course, were what made me drool with silly girlishness during my freshman year of high school... New Kids on the Block! Did you hear that they are reuniting and releasing a new album??? Am I the only one excited??? HAHA! I know I'm not, as there is a group of ladies I work with who are just as excited as I am! I think I might even break out the poster that I have hidden in the shed, just so my kids can understand!

Answers...

You know, I have found in life that sometimes the answers you need come along when you least expect them! For the past 2 yrs I have had extremely icky periods (sorry guys, this is going to be a girly post); I have also had some serious mood swings and behavior that I couldn't really explain. When I discussed it with my dr's they put me on anti-depressants and birth control... but that's about all the satisfaction I ever got! When I went for my 4 wk checkup today, my dr asked if I had "heard the pathology" before I left the hospital. Um, no I hadn't... in fact, it hadn't really dawned on me there would be pathology. Apparently, the people who get paid to look around at chopped up organs found an estrogen sensitive endometrial polyp and hyperplasia... not sure what that all means... but basically, I was on the road to endometrial cancer! This friendly little polyp was the cause of the nasty periods and because it was estrogen sensitive it was also the cause of my migraines during my period and even some of my mood issues. Had I not had the recurrent dysplasia, though, we might not have figured any of this out until I did indeed have cancer... so in a sense it is quite the blessing that the dysplasia returned! Amazing how God works sometimes... huh?

As for the rest of my crazy life... I decided at about 4am that I would not go on our church ladies retreat this weekend, nor am I going to go on our family ladies retreat next weekend. We simply have too much on our plates and I cannot handle it! It is better to stay home and be sane, than to go and try to relax and come back to complete chaos!

Catch up...

Sorry it's been so long since I posted... I haven't had a lot of positive things to say, so I've been trying to keep those to myself. I went back to work last week... 2 weeks post-hysterectomy... WHAT WAS I THINKING??? I was exhausted everyday by 3, but unfortunately did not get home a single evening before 9pm!

You might be asking what was keeping me out till 9pm every night... SOFTBALL!!! I'm not sure whose great idea softball was (oh wait, it was mine), but I am not so certain I still want to follow through with it. We have practice or a game 4 nights this week! If I only had one child playing it would probably not be so overwhelming... but I signed them both up! Kali LOVES it, but her games are often at 8pm at night... I don't know about you, but I do not know many 7 yr olds that need to be out that late at night. Kali turns into a devil possessed child if she doesn't get sleep, so I'm not sure how this is going to work! Megs likes softball, but doesn't want to admit it (cuz then mommy would be right) and she has some laziness issues to work through... like you have to bend at the waist and move in order to catch the ball... but she seems to be doing better. I know the season is only about 8 weeks, so I'm hoping we live through it!

On a positive note... I discovered yesterday that we only have 4 more mondays to the college semester! YEAH!!!!!!!!!! That means for 4 more weeks I will have to get out of bed early... then I get to sleep late! YEAH!!!!

On an even more positive note, we are in the process of booking a trip to Mexico... Robert and I and another couple are leaving on May 15th and coming back May 19th! YIPPEEE!!!! I'm quite excited about it since we have NEVER really gone anywhere for more than a weekend and I have never left the country! It will be nice to be pampered and to get away!

On a sad note, my grandma is in the hospital and it looks like she will be having open heart surgery soon. Her valve is doing something weird and needs to be replaced. She is remaining rather positive, but I hate that my mom is going to have to stop her life again in order to take care of grandma.... keep them in your prayers please!

Happy Easter!

Here's our family pic for today. The church wall isn't so great a backdrop... but this was taken in a hurry while we were trying to get to lunch! You know, the 'I forgot to take it and now we have to eat lunch and might get dirty' picture!

We ate Buffet City for lunch... Here's my fortune:

You shouldn't overspend at the moment, frugality

is important.

Um, if I didn't know better, I would say my husband picked that one out special! He wants to tape it to my phone or something so I see it every time I pick it up!

Gotta love it!

My kiddos crack me up sometimes... this morning in the car Kali told me that her back must be broken because it hurts and I need to take her to the dr. Then she told me that her butt knuckle hurts too! What's a butt knuckle???? I was on the phone with Rt when she said it and I was afraid he was going to drop the phone he was laughing so hard! Maybe I'll make him take her to the dr and tell the dr her butt knuckle hurts!

Last night at pokeno, three of the 9 people that I was there with told us that they were planning some type of plastic surgery in the next few months (2 boob jobs, one tummy tuck). One of the girls mentioned that she was using this particular plastic surgeon 'because she has financing'! So... what's your opinion on this??? What would you have said??? I'll tell you my reaction later, but I am quite curious how each of you would respond!

Spring Break...

Well, spring break has officially started... yippee! There is nothing fun about having two children home while you recover from a hysterectomy. My house looks like a bomb blew up, and no one but me seems to care! I have spent more time out of the house (which I'm sure is against the drs orders) just because I can't stand to look at my house anymore! And... to make matters worse, the kids are sooo sick of me asking them to do stuff just because I can't... in fact, I had to refrain myself when Megan told me she was tired of doing my job... um, hello, I'm pretty sure 10 yrs old is old enough to do your own laundry or not have any clean clothes! Ugh... only 5 more weeks of this!

Does anyone have any spring break plans I can be jealous of??? I mean, we are stuck in the house... what about you???

Stopped up...

Seriously tired of this not functioning system of mine... I have taken more medication and eaten some pretty weird things in effort to clean things out... I mean I'm going on 6 days with little to no action! TMI, I know, but I'm pretty miserable! Any remedies for my dilemma???

I'm doing good about sitting around, however, I'm not quite certain I can handle 6 weeks of it! I think it would be easier if I had an external incision that hurt to remind me that I'm crippled! Oh well... my friends are doing a pretty awesome job of making sure I don't do anything I'm not supposed to be!

Spring break is next week... if you have nothing better to do, come sit on the couch with me and hang out!

Too much...

I had to go teach my CJC class tonight because they have the next two weeks off... and I can definitely tell that it was entirely too much on my poor body. I am exhausted! All I did was get dressed, hitch a ride to CJC, and sit there for 2 hrs listening to speeches, but apparently sitting is not something that comes easy after the big H. I guess I have learned my lesson and will spend the next few days sitting on my behind on the couch... or my friends couch since my hubs won't let me stay home by myself due to his distrust of my ability to not do chores!

The girls start softball practice tomorrow... they both seem excited about it... which is a change over a few weeks ago! I'm hoping the experience is good... meaning that hopefully they have some skills and it isn't just miserable for them! I would hate for them to be the only kids who can't hit the ball or something awful like that!

Ok... I'm having a hard time time or making sense... I guess the pain pill is working... nite nite!

Home...

Home less than 24 hrs and I'm bored (written in a whiney voice)! My children are wrestling in the floor, my husband is trying to explain why I can't have a bag of peanut butter m & m's (because WM doesn't sell them), and Paige is on trading spaces with some goofy ex-couple who are decorating each other's bedrooms! (Weird!) Did you know there is NOTHING on TV on Sunday morning? I really wanted to go to church, but my hubs didn't think that would be ok! Whatever... what does he know??? I did make him call one of my friends to tell her I was fine so that she wouldn't be all stressed out wondering why he wasn't there! Oh well, give me some suggestions of things to do while sitting on the couch... oh and I've been told I cannot pick anything up over 5 pounds...