Blogfest!

We to have been stricken by whatever computer cold was going around so I haven't been on in a few days. Man did I have a lot to catch up on. I have just spent the last hour happily reading and commenting on blogs. It was a great time. You all blog so well. I get something different from each of you that helps me get through my day. I started the blog because Joy wanted me to so we could keep up with each other. I twisted Kathy's arm and got her to start one so I could keep up with her and the boys. I have found blogging to be very therapeutic and reading yours to be spiritually uplifting. Thank you fellow bloggers and keep it up.

Ian's potty mouth.

I know another post, it really is feast or famine with me. Oh well. Here goes..
Ian is in that adorable little toddler phase where he can say WAY more than people can comprehend. He has his own words for everything. He needs me or one of his siblings to interpret for him. Lately he has two new words that he likes, chip and truck. Unfortunately they don't sound like that's what he is saying. On truck he drops the "tr" and adds an "F". Normally only I notice this because thank the dear Lord the other kids don't know that word. As it happens thought the other day on our way into school (at Shelby Presbyterian Church) he saw a fire truck parked outside the fire house. So he commenced to screaming TRUCK at the top of his lungs (only the altered version). I'm going "Yes Ian Truck" every time he says it so that the passing mommies don't think that he is actually saying what it sounds like he is saying. I could have melted into the sidewalk.

Chip sounds like Sh** which he also says a lot since they are his new favorite food. What will I do with this boy? My dad asked me if he had been hanging around my brother to much, for those of you who know Michael you know what he means.

Mower than you probaly wanted to know.

I learned two things about myself yesterday. One is that I am VERY spoiled and the second thing is I LIKE IT! As you know I am taking care of things around our house lately, well it came time for the grass to be cut. I mean it was like "anyone seen Ian?" it was that bad. So yesterday my Mom (my hero) took all four kids with her when she took Katie to soccer practice, so that I could cut the grass. So I got out the mower and attempted to start it. It is difficult at the best of times down right ornery the rest of the time. I struggled with it for about half an hour. I have to admit there was a point when I thought "Hey if this thing doesn't start I can sit in the house and read my book while Mom has the kids." It was a fleeting thought I really wanted to honor Mom's willingness to chase all four of my kids around. So after much struggles I got the darn thing started and I mowed the grass. Man it was hard! Last year I did I a few times for "Fun" (ick I'm disgusted by my own spoildness) when I did though Andy trimmed in and all I had to do was mow back and forth in a straight line. This time I had to get in close to the house and run under bushes and around trees and all that fun stuff. Not to mention the front yard had to be bagged because it was so thick. I had to empty the bag every second line. I realized that as and adult I really haven't had to shower because I had dirt on me but yesterday I found dirt in unmentionable places. I'm still puzzled by how it could have gotten there.
The yard may look like a drunk monkey mowed it but the grass is short. I have the kind of husband who always looks to my comfort first. He will get me things from the kitchen and take my trash and all kinds of things like that. He is a prince, and now I really appreciate all that he dose.
Love ya, Babe!

I am woman hear me ROAR!

With Andy doing so much school and work a few things around the house that he would normally handle have fallen to me. The sprayer on the kitchen sink broke last week. I was waiting patently for him to fix it and then Monday I colored Mom and Sandy's hair and had to rinse them out with a cup I think there ears are probably still full of water (Sorry ladies). So I decided that if it was going to get fixed before summer break I would have to do it. I loaded my three youngest children in the car and headed off to Lowe's. I realized after some research that it would be better to replace the whole faucet (the old one leaked badly). Word of advice if the man at Lowe's and you husband say "AH that's an easy job no problem" take it with a grain of salt. However I set about it with passion and determination. I emptied under the sink and got a flash light and crawled in. First the instructions were ONLY for installing the new faucet NOT taking out the old one. I turned the water off and starting unscrewing everything that screwed. Now I don't fancy myself a girly girl but I do like to look my best. I had just flat ironed my hair and applied makeup before picking up the kids (I don't want their teachers to think I always look like my morning self). So I am laying under the sink working on these screws and things are falling in my face and sticking to my lip gloss. I just about lost it. It was so nasty. I also had Bob the builder and his little brother (Nathan and Ian) either under the sink with me or stealing everything from my screwdriver to my flashlight. I had it all undone except one screw that would not budge. I worked on it for half an hour. I was determined to get this thing fixed though because I had no faucet and no water in the kitchen. SO what did I do? I roared..... DADDY! I called my Dad. If I call my dad on the phone and call him Daddy or D-Da he knows I want something. He graciously came to my rescue. He fixed my sink and also hung a paper towel holder and a hook in the laundry room. I love my Dad he has always been my hero and he proved it yesterday.

What about you guys (girls) even if you don't think of yourself as girly everyone has that one thing that they can't handle be it spiders, bugs, or anything like that. I would love to hear what would push you over the edge and make you scream like a girl.

Here I am.

Hello everyone. I am still her and still trudging on with this thing called life. It is such a challenge to enjoy everyday and not say I will be glad when.... I am posting. I have been fussed at so here is a post. Last week was the week from ..... uh you know where. It was like the perfect storm in bad children behavior. When you have four children you always have one of them who is being more whiny or more difficult. Sometimes you have two which makes life interesting. Last week ALL FOUR were in foul moods all week. Emma was as snarky and sarcastic as she knows how to be which is a lot. For example Nathan would say "Hey Emma look at that pretty tree and Emma would say Ya Nathan that is a pretty tree... NOT." Which would make Nathan dissolve into tears and declare "Emma is being rude-to-me" Katie did her best impression of a snotty teenager, which she is sadly getting pretty good at. I actually sent her to bed without dinner one night last week. Granted she had Yogurt and a pop tart for a snack at 5:00, so I didn't feel like she was going to perish. She did though, she layed on her bed screaming "I'm going to STARVE... you can't do this to me!!!!!" She is no stranger to drama. Ian has been his lovely and mischievous self. He bit a kid at school and had to sit in time out. Which is really hard because you can't talk to a two year old about his behavior hours after the fact.
On top of all that Andy worked until 9:30 or 10:00 every night last week. He is in the final push of his current semester, and doing three jobs at work so he has been really busy lately. We would covet your prayers.
Here's to a better week this week... it can't be any worse! (Can it?)

Reflections on nine years.

Today is mine and Andy's ninth anniversary. It has been quite a ride. I'm pretty impressed with nine years, especially since it seems like we just got married yesterday. I have had a great time being married to Andy. It hasn't been without it's bumps in the road but we have weathered it all together.
Just to give a few examples, right before our second anniversary Andy's father had a heart transplant. Katie was born in January a week after she was born Frank went into the hospital not to come out again until he had a heart. At the end of March Frank got a heart. Andy was at the hospital at least four nights a week while his Dad was there. You can probably imagine what a stressful time it was for us. Andy visiting his Dad and being concerned for his Mom and his Sister traveling back and forth to the hospital. Me at home with an infant who for some reason despised the hospital. I'm serious as soon as we would pass the fountain in front of Carolina's Medical Center she would start screaming so what time I did get to see Frank my Mom or Emily sat in the lobby with Katie so I could go up.
Then, While I was pregnant with Emma, Andy went back to school to get his Masters Degree. He got it when she was about 8 months old. For any of you who have done the school thing with a spouse and then thrown kids in on top of that you know how hard that is.
We had a few years of smooth sailing during which we had Nathan. Nathan was a perfect baby. The kind that makes you scared to have another baby because he couldn't possibly be as easy going as Nathan.
Along came Ian, who is a joy and a delight but comes with his own set of challenges. Most of you know that Ian was born with some health problems. He was in the NICU for a week after he was born. Unlike when Frank was sick this was a crisis in our own nebular family. The decisions that were made were all Andy and I. The outcome would most closely affect us and our children. We felt this responsibility when the other kids were born, sure but not to this extent. It was really hard to watch Ian struggle but it was a great feeling to know that Andy and I were in this together. That he cared about our little boy as much as I did. A few nights after Ian went to Charlotte we got a room in the Hospitality House at Presbyterian hospital. They gave us a family room because we were a married couple. There was a set of bunk beds and a single bed in the room. Andy and I slept on the bottom bunk of the bunk beds because we couldn't stand the idea of being so far away from each other and we both need the comfort of the others nearness.
As you all know Ian is great now he is a thriving two year old who is one of the bright spots in our days.
I guess its true what they say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And closer to each other and to God if you will let it.
Now nine years have also brought us many blessings. We have had two houses, numerous vehicles, four wonderful children, continued education and success in business. We also have the support of friends and family. I know all of you loving and praying for us has helped make this marriage a success.
We still work on our marriage and I'm sure we always will. I got some criticism for getting married at nineteen. People said "don't you want to travel and play and experience life before you settle down?" I said to them that there was nothing I wanted to do in my life that I wanted to do without Andy. I'm happy to say that I still feel that way today.
Andy I know you appreciate me being frugal so this blog is my anniversary card to you. I hope you always know that I wouldn't want to be anyone but your wife and the mother to our children. I love you, Babe.

Nate update.

As I was sitting her blogging yesterday about how concerned I was about Nathan's leg I realized that I wasn't going to wait until today to know what was going on.
So I pulled the power of Mommy and called the Children's Clinic and told them I wanted him seen that day. I wasn't rude I just told them that I was concerned and wanted to know what was going on. So we went and he got to see Dr. Noodle (Dr. Hayek, my kids have called him Dr. Noodle since Katie was a baby). He examined his leg and said that he couldn't see anything wrong with it and Nathan didn't flinch when he mashed on it. He dose have a definite limp that is very noticeable. We are to give him children's Motrin twice a day for a week and see if it improves. If it doesn't he will go next week and have his leg x-rayed. Dr. Noodle also said that it was not MERSA and not to worry about what I heard on Dr. Phil, he said a lot of that information was sensational anyway. It always helps me to talk to him he is so level headed. So now we have a time frame and we are watching him closely. Thank you for your prayers. I will keep you updated.

O.K. people time to pray!

Nathan has been limping for a week. He started last Saturday, we were at my in-laws house for Easter and my Father-in-law has a heal spur so we thought he was imitating Papa. However no three year old can imitate that for a week without ever not doing it. Some days he limps worse than others. He has a doctor's appointment tomorrow to have it checked out. I have to admit I am feeling pretty anxious about it. Then today I watched Dr. Phil and he was talking about MERSA so now I'm a basket case. The strange thing is he says it doesn't hurt. He limps wether he is wearing shoes or not and no matter what he is wearing. Once we ruled out all of those factors it has us pretty concerned.

Pray for me to leave this with the Lord and to be anxious for nothing. I am not usually alarmist but this has me pretty alarmed.