Safe and Sound

Well, we rolled in to Tennessee at 11:06 p.m. yesterday. How do I know the precise time you may ask? Well, allow me to tell you...

We left the gas station at 5:05 from home last night - Craig remembered this. We proceeded to drive the entire trip WITHOUT stopping! Can you say "crazy"? We kept waiting for one of the kids to need to go to the bathroom and nobody asked. They fell asleep about an hour and half out, so I knew there was no stopping then. We made a usual 7-8 hour trip in 6 hours and 1 minute. Seriously, I was not a good traveling companion - I was ready to get out!!!! I was working on a serious tension headache and a major diet coke and chocolate craving - it was not good! Craig was laughing at me so I turned mean! I made him listen to Reba McEntire and my singing for about 50 miles!!! I told him that if he didn't stop that Faith Hill was next, and then I was going to bring out the big guns... The Judds!!! It didn't work, he just kept right on rolling. I told my mama that if I thought that my hips would have fit through my window that I may have hurled myself out of it into oncoming traffic!!! My sweet mother had diet coke, chocolate, and snacks out when we got here, bless her Lord!!!
Craig is off to his mom and daddy's today to tackle a bathroom repair project. I hope I will see him some this weekend, but this is a major project for them. It is a good thing that our parents only live about 15 minutes apart! Mom and I and the kids are off to run some errands and do some shopping. Hope everyone has a good day! And to Holly...don't stress, I remembered to pack for myself AND everyone else!!!

The Weekend Run Down

We had a great weekend! It was mostly relaxing except for a few minor episodes. We went to church Sunday morning and then decided we would take the kids to the lake for the afternoon. We stopped to look at a few houses on the way to the lake - we are still waiting for God to drop that dream home in our lap! We got up to the lake and hiked for awhile. The kids are so funny to take hiking. Tyler is a maniac - he wants to pick up every single stick and rock along the way, oh, and I also think that he noticed every single pine cone along the way also! Kayla is more subdued and likes to take in the more less noticeable scenery. Like for instance, she found two bugs that were, um, enjoying a personal moment! She thought it was really cool that they were "hooked together". Anyway, it seems that God's magnificence is multiplied by thousands when you are walking through the woods. You notice so much of His creation - it was quite enjoyable. We left the trail and drove all around the recreation area until we found a spot that had a bench swing, a swimming area, and a picnic table. Craig and I got to relax on the swing while the kids played in the water and the sand. Fun stuff!
Yesterday we went to Janna's for a cookout with the Hyder's and the Mack's. It was a very relaxing laid back day until Tyler had explosive diarrhea all over his clothes and clear up his back. He got to spend the rest of the day in his pullup and sandals - yeah, cute! I tried not to let that ruin my afternoon, but honestly, my humor in the potty training department is pretty much gone. I am frustrated, fed up, and mad - not a good combo! Anyway, we did have a good time yesterday though. Ryland is getting so big and is such a cutie. Mom and Ruth - ya'll should hear him talking -he is so smart!!! Kayla and Kendall had a big time playing and we didn't see much of them - they were pretending to go to prom! Yikes, it is a little early for talk of that isn't it?
Today is Kayla and I's first summer Mother's Day Out day. Tyler goes to Mother's Day Out and she and I go and do something fun. However, today is not going to be the funnest day that we will have. We are getting ready to go visit the folks for a few days, so she and I are running a couple of errands and then coming home to clean the house. We are going to break for lunch though. My daughter loves to go out to eat - I don't know who she gets that from!!! Must be Craig!

Very Productive

Today has been a very productive day. I was up at the church at 10 this morning to get all my stuff for Mexico that I have to pack. We all divide up all of the supplies and stuff that we are taking. The bag was so heavy that I could barely get it out to the van! Ran a few errands after that and then came home to fill embroidery orders and also do up some towels for a wedding that we are going to next weekend. I got that done and ran back out to do a couple of more errands. After dinner I got all of my Mexico stuff together and all in one place. I started putting some of it in my suitcase - I'm glad it has wheels! I also got together all of our gifts to go to Tennessee next weekend. Along with Mother's Day and Father's Day, between May and June we also have my birthday, Craig and I's anniversary, my parents anniversary, his parents anniversary, his mom and dad's birthdays. It is always a little insane! BUT, I am so thankful that we are traveling there instead of having to mail everything.
Craig has been working on getting all of the glue remnants off of the walls in the kitchen - what a messy job. I think he done now though and ready to sand! Talk about a messy job - that won't be pretty!
Memorial Day plans??? Some friends have invited us over for a cookout and I'm so looking forward to it. Craig and I have been seriously lacking in fellowship lately so I am ready to get together and laugh and have some fun!
Hope everyone makes time for some fun and fellowship this weekend!!!

EEESSSHHH!

Well, let's suffice it to say that my week has not gone as planned. After Tuesday night, I was pretty much spent, depressed, and just in an overall very bad mood. I spent all day yesterday doing absolutely nothing. I had a meeting at work last night and then stayed at the office and worked by myself for a couple of hours. There was nobody else there so I had a couple of hours of solitude even though I was working. That was very theraputic! That is my word for the week, I'll say it again - theraputic. Don't even know if I spelled it right, but .... theraputic! I can go with the flow for a pretty long time, but I eventually have to take a time out and have a mental and sometimes emotional breakdown! Yesterday was that day for me! I was a whiner, a cry baby, and a grump, and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed my funk until I got home from work last night and then I just couldn't stand myself any more! So today I woke up rip roarin' and ready to go! I took Tyler to a friend's house while I went up and worked at the church on getting stuff ready for our Mexico trip. Then she met me up and the church to do her shift and I took the kids for the afternoon. The kids played so well together and the work at the church was indescribable. I cannot explain how much preparation it takes to put a medical trip like this together. From the most mundane tasks to testing the medical equipment, everything requires someone. For instance, I have no medical skills at all, don't like blood or needles, so I was stuck with some of the more mundane tasks, but it didn't feel mundane - do you know what I mean. It was like kingdom work. I went around the room and tape name tags to the walls so everyone would know where to find there stuff. That is about as mundane as it gets, but it felt so purposeful. I opened pediatric tongue depressors and I loved it! It is just getting more and more fun but the day and each step closer that we get, I get more excited!
Tonight was crazy! I had a 5:30 appointment across town, Holly brought Gert back to me at 7, 2 customers between 7:30 and 8:30 and now I am embroidering the last of some birthday presents for a friend of Kayla's whose party is tomorrow afternoon.
Tomorrow will be much the same as today only with extra kids. We will try to be to the church by 9 tomorrow morning to sort more meds. Kayla has a friend who will be coming with us. Their are some very sweet girls who have said that they will watch wild man on the playground. We'll leave there take the girls to the party, drop papers off to a client, go by the post office and Blockbuster, pick the girls up from the party ---- and then, my husband and I will collapse and veg out in front of the TV tomorrow night with some fun movies. All in a days work! Um, where was my cape?

A Marathon Maybe

I left soaked with sweat, hair mussed, and my muscles trembling from the strain they had been under. Did I run a marathon you ask? No, just simply making it through a 45 minute honors night at Kayla's school with a wild four year old. I have to go on a tangent for a moment. You know, when we go to something like that we at least TRY to keep our children quiet. I mean I know that you can't always keep them quiet, but at least TRY instead of letting them talk at the top of their lungs and squeal and everything else. Like I said, we TRY to keep Tyler quiet at these kind of events, but he is four and it is totally like a four year old to loudly announce, "I have to go poop-poo." Yep, he sure did. Which would have been great if he had actually had to do that, but it was simply a ploy to get out of the cafeteria where it seemed it was a hundred degrees and not a breeze in sight! Enough said on this subject matter, let's move on to the next.

We left the school to go and get ice cream. Seemed that everyone else had that same idea and we met up with several people from church and school at the ice cream shop. One such "from school" person was there and that led into a discussion on the way home with our daughter about how choosing the right friends can make or break you. I, apparently, completely screwed this discussion up! So, now I have probably ruined my child for life; okay, maybe I'm being a tad bit dramatic, but you know what? It sucks to be the mean parent! It sucks to be the one who is always do the talking and the disciplining. Don't get me wrong - Craig is very good at all of that while he is here, but let's face it, I'm here with them the most. When he gets home it is like they are meeting a celebrity at the door. Today I have been told that I am a loser and that I am hated. Nice, huh? Mother of the year award please! It has just been one of those days today where you feel like a major screw up and in turn I feel like I have run out of nice words, so I am just trying not to talk. That is why I here blogging instead of talking, b/c at this point I think it is better if I just be quiet! Let's see what else I can get off of my chest...

Tonight was the two hour season finale of NCIS and the final performance night of American Idol. The children were both bathed early and in bed right at 8:00. I sat down with my bowl of ice cream b/c I didn't have any at Brusters. I was ready to go, ready to relax for two hours in front of the tube. Well, about 20 minutes later it began to lightning and thunder. At our house that means that at least one, if not both of our children will be up until the storm passes. Mix that with the weather man interrupting every 10 minutes - doesn't make for a very relaxing time. I finally just gave up!

Wanna know something else? I know that at this point you are probably begging me to shut up, but I am on a roll...Why is it that when you are down somebody comes by and kicks you? That is about how I would sum up our life right now. I know, especially in light of this past week, that we have much to be thankful for, and don't get me wrong, I fully understand and appreciate that, but that doesn't stop us from being where we are. We are in the midst of just having one thing after another it seems. These are not things that I care to go into detail about, but just personal things that it seems like just keep getting worse and worse. We have both been praying about something very specific that is affecting our lives in a serious way right now and I really think that God is just continuing to say "wait". Ugh, I hate "wait", but I did hear this past week that while we are waiting, God is working. I'm thankful for that, but I just feel so defeated right now that I am having a little trouble keeping it all in perspective. If my mother was hear she would tell me to take five minutes to feel sorry for myself and then get over it. I will get over it, because I know that God has a plan, but tonight is just for wallerin' in the mullygrubs as our pastor would say!

Day 2 - Not so Good

You know, I went on ahead and let myself get excited yesterday when Tyler did so well and now today has not gone well at all. We did have one successful depost in the right place and two in the very WRONG place. One of those required a bath! TMI I know, but, hey, such is the life of a potty trainer and potty trainee! He has fought me tooth and nail about even GETTING on the potty today!

On a less smellier note, tonight is Honor's Night for Kayla. She is getting an award of some sort. I will let you know what it is when I find out what it is. Today she is celebrating have the most AR points in the third grade for this last grading period. She gets to have lunch in the library with the librarians and they are bringing lunch from Burger King. She was so excited! She is also having her end of the year party today - they are having a luau! She got to take her flip-flops and beach towel with her this morning and they also made grass skirts. I had to send in a pineapple and apples - I wonder if they are roasting a pig?

I am in a weird mood today. Trying to be filled with joy, but not sure I am getting there! What is wrong with me????? Ahhhh! I hate days like this where you just feel blah! I think I'm going to go find my book and try to get wrapped up in someone else's drama rather than my own!

Day 2

Onto day 2 we go! Yesterday was a very successful day. There was no deposits in his britches and two successful deposits in the toilet! Yea Tyler! I pray that today goes just as well!