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Monday, March 31, 2008

Jay's Dad

Jay got a call from his brother last night telling him that their dad had gone to the ER again. He has a history of heart problems and recently had a procedure done. Long story short, he has a staph infection in his aorta. Yikes. He had major surgery today - they cleaned out the nasty infection, replaced a valve, put a graft in his aorta - I hope I got all that right. The surgery took about 7 hours; Jay called just a few minutes ago to let me know that his dad made it out of surgery and would remain intubated until tomorrow. They expect him to be in the ICU for the rest of the week. Jay was able to stay up there all day to make sure his dad came out of it okay. I know he had been super worried. Up until now, all his dad's problems had been fixable. With this recent crisis, I guess we all wondered...how much longer can they keep patching him up? Well, I guess at least once more. PTL.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Cookie Bee

Liv and I stayed after church today to help work the Cookie Bee. We take cookies, bag them and tie hand written notes to them and deliver them to different people in the community. We have done them mostly to teachers but today we did Firefighters and Policemen. It is part of our Outreach Ministry and is meant to encourage these people that work at helping us in the community. I am going to ride with Wendy tomorrow and help her deliver these snacks. It should be fun!

I was proud of Olivia. She worked hard stuffing cookies and doing some general running around and cleaning up. I'm glad she got a good taste of serving and being a part of this wonderful ministry.

Oh, by the way, Christy asked me to head up her crafts for VBS and also asked Liv to help with the singing on stage. Wow! Big jobs for both of us. She also asked if either Jay or I could chaperone Alex's age group at church camp this summer. It's going to be a busy summer!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Fridays

I love Fridays. It's the last day of the week - a work day for me. Everyone is in "casual mode", we can often play games in my Friday classes. The day has so much potential to it and you have the entire weekend in front of you. Ahhhh....I love it.

Yesterday, I brought Allie home with me to play with Mary. They played pretty well (I was able to watch my story!) and then we headed to the playground. There we were joined by the Nobletts so I had company and the kids had a great time. We met Allie's parents for dinner and to give her back to them. I was happy to see that Terri and Patrick (and my Chase) joined us at Dan Thai. There were 13 of us for the meal and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I love last minute get togethers like that.

This morning we met my dad for breakfast at the Waffle House. I haven't had WH in forever so it was a welcomed treat. The kids love it - chocolate chip waffles, bacon, hash browns...it's all good! Afterwards, we went to Snellville to go shoe shopping. My dad was so generous and bought shoes for Alex, Olivia, and for myself. We all got sneakers, and I got a pair of cool sandals. They are black and have a wedge heel. And they are nice enough I could wear them to church - which I probably will tomorrow, if it's not too cold.

Mary's 1:30 game was rained out. We had just gotten comfortable when we saw lightening. They automatically call the game for 15 minutes to see if there is more lightening. Well, there was and we just called it a day and went home. Mary went next door and the rest of us relaxed at home. Actually, I did laundry and watched Bobby Flay's Throwdown. Love that show!

Tonight we met the Turner's for dinner at Chili's. I had the Triple Dipper because I had a craving for wings. Good. It's always good to get out with friends, even for the second night in a row. Tomorrow is the Cookie Bee at church, so Liv and I will be staying late for that, while Jay and the other two go home.

Sunday afternoons are the worst. The dread...the waiting for Monday...it's like the witching hour all day long....only five more days until Friday!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Christmas Pictures

My friend Laura just sent me over a couple of pictures of Mary dressed as an angel in her Christmas program last year. It is now the end of March...but I am still so grateful to have these pictures. I was sitting too far away to get any good shots (and I still had my crappy camera) so we didn't have any pictures of that night. The fact that Mary's teachers got her to wear a costume and actually get on stage was a miracle to us! Of course, this was the year she sang in the Living Tree too. Here's my baby girl....

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Check out my Slide Show!

I tried to post this slideshow within the body of the previous post but couldn't do it.

Wednesday

Mary's school had Picture Day. This is such a funny subject in our house because Mary is infamous for not wanting to pose for pictures. She has gotten better about it when it's me with the camera, but she will absolutely NOT smile for the camera when it's a professional photographer. Which is why we have no portraits of her since she was a year old. And, she is not smiling in that one, but at least she cooperated. We did have a church picture made last summer and she did smile then, but it came at great cost. So, yesterday, May May and I went shopping. I totally bribed her with a new dress, new shoes, new hairbows...all so that she would promise to smile. She looked absolutely adorable this morning.


When I picked her up, Mrs. Allison told me that she did not smile for her class picture but she did smile for the cap and gown pic. I had forgotten that she was going to have a cap and gown pic! How cute! I loved Alex's pic when he "graduated" preschool. Can't wait to see Mary's.

This afternoon we went to the park with McKennah. The girls played in the dirt a lot. This would explain Mary's feet and dirty fingernails tonight! When Jay got home, we headed out to have dinner with Hannah and her family to celebrate her 7th birthday. There's nothing like going to the buffet and stuffing yourself! Ugh. That's it for birthdays for a while. Thank goodness. Mary's is in July and we will NOT be going to the buffet!

Just finished...


"One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs,
Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls."


I just finished this book this morning. I loved, loved, loved it. The author also wrote The Kite Runner - which was also excellent. This book is also about life in Afghanistan in the 80's until now but it is not a spinoff of the other book. Last night I couldn't put it down! It was one of the best reads I've had in a long time. Okay, it was the best since the last two books I have read! I'm on a winning streak here - what will the next book be?

Monday, March 24, 2008

Cold snap!

It was FREEZING today! When Mary and I were coming home from her school, we actually saw snow flurries. Mary had soccer practice this afternoon and we had to bundle way up to go. The soccer field is the weirdest place because it is always windier, colder or hotter, more humid there than anywhere else. Lisa and I were sitting in our chairs shivering while Ashlyn was out there in shorts! Mary at least had jeans on and a couple of layers under her coat. She was still cold though. I just noticed some of my plants had started to flower so I hope they don't freeze tonight. The Washington Farms people had covered the strawberries last week in anticipation of this freakish weather. Two days ago the kids were wearing shorts.

I took a few random pics at Mary's last game. Lisa and Joel brought breakfast to share - chicken biscuits from Bojangles. I cannot believe they prefer those to Chick-fil-A. But they do! I was grateful to have anything at all though.


Alex chilling before the game.



Ashlyn and Joel having a biscuit.


Lisa and her coffee.

The back of some of our team. Mary's team is the light blue. Lisa realized today that our girls are playing in the wrong age group. They are playing U6 and should be U5. That totally explains why most of the girls are HUGE compared to my little Mary. Of course that's true of most things and most people for her. They got slammed in their game but they did have fun.



After the game, we went to Mount Carmel's Easter Festival. There were over 800 people there! Wow! That has got to be an all time record. We had stuffed 9,000 eggs and that still wasn't enough. Mary just about got trampled and Alex didn't get very many at all either. But the kids enjoyed the day and played on the inflatables. I worked one of the inflatables for a while and then spent the rest of the afternoon serving drinks. We took Liv's friend Addie with us and all three girls won something in the cake walk. We are still eating Liv's brownies. They are good!






That's my Chase up there!


Addie, Mary, and Liv having lunch


Alex and I had a picnic in the shade.

The girls are watching the 9,000 eggs be "hidden" on the big hill in front of the church. It was a madhouse!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Olivia at Music for Mexico

Olivia sang at Music for Mexico. I took this video so I didn't get any still shots. I was so proud of her!

Check out my Slide Show!

Friday, March 21, 2008

Good Friday

Everyone was home today for Good Friday. We were able to sleep a little late and just relax. I'm glad that the kids did not have school today so they could realize the significance of the day. We talked a lot about what Good Friday means and they all seemed to really get it. Especially Alex. He sounds like a mini preacher when he talks about it. I am proud of how well versed my children are in Scripture and in Biblical history. They are so much more knowledgeable than I ever was at their age - even until I was an adult! We never even had a Bible in our house when I was growing up so I know no one studied it. I wish Alex and Mary could have had the benefit of going to a Christian school like Olivia did but I am glad that we are raising them to go to church and Sunday School every Sunday.

We treated the kids to lunch at McDonald's today. It may not sound like a big deal but we have not eaten at McDonald's for a LONG time. We have been trying to not eat out at all if we can help it - especially not at McD's. The kids were able to play and have a good time. We saw a couple of Alex's friends there and Ashlyn met us there to play with Mary. Olivia went to her friend Addie's house to spend the night. We will pick both of them up tomorrow after Mary's 9:00 game to head out to the egg hunt at Mount Carmel. Jay and I are both set to work some of the games tomorrow. I baked some stuff for the cake walk today. I made 6 chocolate chip loaves of bread, one large pound cake, and 6 lemon poppy seed muffins. I hope people will enjoy the baked goods - I made them with love!

Finally getting better!

Today is Friday and I finally woke up feeling almost normal. It has been a rough week with this really bad cold. Poor Mary has been bored silly because I couldn't do anything and really only wanted to sleep. Today everyone is home for Good Friday so she should not want for company - she'll have her Bubby all day long.

I missed going to the gym this week. I am only three classes away from reaching my Bodybucks goal and I would have reached that goal if I had not gotten sick. Well, I still have time but it would have been nice to get it over with!

Today I hope to get some baking done. We are having a huge Easter event at church on Saturday and I have to bring baked goods for the cake walk. I have been wanting to make this Easter bunny cake and have just not been up to it. Maybe today. We also have to dye Easter eggs and have some more general merriment today.

Otis woke me up at least three times last night. He wanted water twice and wanted to go outside another time. He has been so good for the longest time. But last night he needed extra attention. Ugh. And I slept wrong so my back is sore. So much for feeling good today.

I just finished reading another good book. It is called Mademoiselle Boleyn by Robin Maxwell. Excellent! I think it is the book that the movie "The Boleyn Sisters" was based on. I really enjoyed it. Next up...A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. He wrote The Kite Runner, which was also an excellent book. Can't wait to see that movie too.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Sick Again - Day 2

Today has been the longest day of my life. I've spent it being miserable with this horrible cold (I actually think it's a sinus infection) and trying to entertain Mary. She started the day being quite high maintenance but thankfully settled down a lot and I was able to rest a little. But the pain....the pain in my face is awful. And my poor little nose is rubbed raw from blowing it so much. Of all days, Jay had to work late and is still not home. But I have to say that the kids were well behaved tonight. They went to bed without too much opposition and Mary has only popped out of her room once so far. I did shower and get dressed today - and that is more than Mary did. She took off her pjs she had been wearing all day just to put a fresh set on to go to bed. No baths tonight. Just this blissful quiet that is surrounding me now....ahhhhhh.

My dad called tonight to let me know that my cousin Marcelo's baby had been born. We were all very excited! Congratulations Marcelo! Babies are such a blessing and we are so glad that yours has been born healthy, even if he is a tiny thing. His name is Javier. After his grandfather. There must be some serious celebrating going on in that house tonight! He is the first grandchild in that family. Congratulations also to my aunt Rina, my uncle Javier, and my cousins Javier and Enrique. Can't wait to hear more news about little Javierito!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Sick again

This time it's me. Ugh. I'm coughing, sneezing, crying, blowing my nose constantly. It started last night as I was madly folding laundry. I woke up this morning with it ON! Mary's preschool class had a field trip to the Grayson Library (like we don't go there all the time anyway) so we packed up and went, even though my head felt like it was going to explode. I stayed in the corner and sneezed and blew my nose the entire time. I came home and could only manage to lay on the couch before I had to pick up Mary. Luckily, when we got home, she wanted to watch a video so that kept her occupied while I slept. And slept. And slept. Jay is the hero of the day because he got home and completely took over. He took Mary to soccer practice (despite her opposition) and then took Liv to gymnastics. He's even going to bring me an ice cold diet coke! I don't think he even ate dinner. Bless him. I really appreciate it Jay!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Happy Birthday to me!

Beware the Ides of March! Mine was the last birthday in our family for a while. Nothing until July when Mary turns 5! It was a great day, even if historic tornados ripped through Atlanta the night before and the day of. We woke up early (since all three kiddos were sleeping in our room because of the storm) and Olivia made us a delicious pancake breakfast. I'm so proud of her! She did a great job! Jay went to the Men's Prayer Breakfast at church and really enjoyed himself. At noon, Mary had a soccer game - it was cold and very windy. After the game, we went home to wait out the horrendous storms that were all over town. At about 5:00 I went to church to help set up for Music for Mexico. We had popcorn, candy, drinks, and slushy drinks. It turned out really well. This was a fundraiser for our mission team that is going to Mexico this summer. Olivia sang a solo - Once Upon a December from Anastasia - and did a fabulous job! She also sang I Just Can't Wait To Be King (Queen) with several other girls. The entire team sang two Spanish songs - Levanta tu casa and Pasa por aqui. It was a great success! I was happy to see my entire family show up. I don't know if they donated any money but I hope they did. Lisa and Ashlyn came - I was grateful for their presence there!

Today, Alex made his big acting debut at church. He and three other boys performed a drama in the big Sanctuary. He did great! We were so proud! Alex said he was very nervous beforehand but he still managed to make the audience laugh when they were supposed to. Way to go Bubby!

We went to our neighborhood Easter Egg hunt today. Stacey hosted it as usual and the kids had a great time. Olivia found one of the prize eggs (bucket of chalk) and the kids had lots of snacks and candy. Fun. I came home and cleaned like a mad woman. It doesn't take much for the entire house to completely fall apart. I did multiple loads of laundry and managed to clean my room and my bathroom. They were that dirty that it took all afternoon! But they both look great now and I am happy! Tomorrow I will hit the downstairs.

It never ends!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Unity and 5th Grade Dance

I went to Unity tonight. Seems like I just went not that long ago! It was at Marcia Reese's house and Michele Hutton provided refreshments. As usual, we had a wonderful time. Sue Cates was our speaker and she gave a heartfelt talk about the Women's Ministry. We had a small group but it was very nice. Next month we will be meeting at Vicki Tyler's house.

Olivia went to her 5th grade dance today. I was a chaperone so I got to be in on all the fun. It was a very LOUD event! There was a lot of screaming, squealing, running, and general merriment. The kids behaved pretty well. I just had to keep the food and drink off the dance floor and make sure the kids didn't get too rowdy. It was pretty easy. I don't want to say too much but ... well, there is a boy...and this boy likes our girl...and our girl likes this boy...it was a scary moment when Liv shared the news with me today! Oh. My. Goodness. I'm not ready for this!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Sick

Liv is home sick today. Nothing serious - just a bad cold but I'm sure she didn't feel like sitting at school all day. She has taken her medicine (PTL) and is laying down w/ a book and a box of tissues.

I really hate it when one of my kids are sick. Thankfully *knock on wood* it doesn't happen often. I'm sure Liv will be on the mend soon.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Birthday party

Well, the birthday festivities are finally over. And I have to say this was the easiest party I have given yet.

Olivia loves to have sleepovers. She has celebrated her birthday with a sleepover since she turned 7. I convinced her that we should do something different this year. We searched and searched and finally chose a party at Pottery By You. It's a paint-your-own pottery place here in town. They had several different packages available and we chose the "Making Mosaics" party. Liv invited 8 girls and 8 girls showed up! I love 100% participation. The girls got there and our hostess told them how to choose and make their mosaics. All I had to do was sit there and chat with Tara and Dana! Love it! I made a cake - a special request from Liv. I usually buy the cakes from a bakery but for some reason, she wanted a homemade cake this time. Somehow, I pulled one together. AND I made some chocolate flower lollipops too! The colors were perfect - everything was green, brown and white. It totally looked like I planned it but I didn't - I bought the plates right before the party.



So the girls worked hard, had cake, opened presents...and went home!!! Easy peasy.

Mary was invited to spend the night with her cousin Hannah tonight. What a nice surprise! She was so excited. They were kind enough to pick her up this afternoon.

Tara and I went to the gym today. I've never gone on a Saturday before. We went upstairs to work on the treadmill - I had my best treadmill workout yet. I walked for 65 minutes (including the cooldown) which was a little over 3 miles (at a speed of 3.0 but I did jack it up to 3.5 at one point). I listened to my iPod instead of watching tv which I think made the time go much faster.

Liv and I have a SOAR meeting tomorrow. I hope it goes well and that they don't make me write any checks!

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Well, our girl turned 11 years old today. What a huge milestone - I can hardly believe that I am the mother of such a young lady! I mean, she was just born yesterday!

I guess it was a little less then 12 years ago...I was working at Summit Bank at the Main Office. I went to eat Chinese food for lunch with some coworkers. It didn't sit well with me and I had an upset stomach. Well, this was the first of several "upset stomachs" that I had over the course of the next week or so. I finally took a pg test - positive. I took another pg test - positive. I think I may have even taken a third before I called my nephrologist (I was under her care for a recently diagnosed kidney disease) and requested a blood test. I took it and Dr. Hill called me back personally to congratulate me! Holy Cow! I was pregnant! It took us by surprise but we were absolutely thrilled! I had major smell aversions and morning sickness w/out the vomiting. When I told my parents they were concerned for me at first (because of the kidney thing) but then they were overjoyed at the prospect of becoming grandparents.

I was spilling a lot of protein in my urine, something that happened w/ the kidney thing but it was happening even more w/ the baby. My OB advised me to take an early leave from work at about 28 weeks, which I did and enjoyed not having to work. Things started going bad at about 34 weeks. I went tot he doctor one day and my blood pressure was elevated and my protein levels were through the roof. Dr. Ellis sent me right over to the hospital for a 3 day stay to try to control the preeclampsia. He sent me home on complete bedrest and major bp meds. I felt like a ticking bomb. My mom had me stay with her where she took excellent care of me. I made it to the first day of my 37th week and had my labor induced. I was so scared! We went to the hospital on a Monday night - my dad took me because Jay had to work (he was a cop back then). Jay came as soon as he could. I was given cervadil and told to get a good nights sleep. The next morning, they gave me pitocin. Long story short, I labored for 11 hours before the diagnosed me as "failure to progress" and scheduled me for a c-section. Still scared! My mom was at work and was a nervous wreck. She and my dad came up for the surgery and were there to see Olivia before I did. I had to be put asleep so I didn't wake up until an hour after she was born. We had long ago decided on her name - Olivia Renee - and Jay had the pleasure of announcing it to the waiting room.

When we got home, I remember my dad came over every single day to see her. We had so many visitors coming through - it was a little overwhelming! But, of course, at the time I didn't know I could say NO! I was exhausted. But it was a wonderful exhaustion. Livi was a perfect baby. She did everything the books said she should do at exactly the age she ws supposed to. How easy! I worked full time, my parents took care of her during the day. This was definitely a "honeymoon phase" of all of our lives. It was all so easy then!

We have enjoyed each milestone and welcomed her little personality developing. She is now a young woman - no longer our baby! It's hard to believe. She is so creative, she loves to read, she loves to scheme, she loves music, she loves to play, she loves gymnastics, she loves science and social studies. She is our first born. We have loved her the longest, we probably have the highest expectations of her, and the greatest hopes for her. We hope and pray that we are up to the challenge of parenting a preteen in this day and age and that we not only do an okay job but that we do an exceptional job raising her. She deserves it.

We love you Olivia! We wish you a lifetime of happiness and all of God's blessings. We love you all the way to God!

Monday, March 3, 2008

Saturday at Auntie's

This past Saturday, I took the kids to visit my aunt Hilda. It's a pretty long drive from here so we don't make it over there too often. They weren't really looking forward to it but in the end they had a really good time.

We got there and the kids immediately started climbing this magnolia tree she has in her front yard. They kept saying it was the best climbing tree ever. And it did look pretty fun! Auntie was hungry though, so we cut it short and headed over to Red Lobster for lunch. We talked my dad into going too. Liv had popcorn shrimp, Mary had clam chowder, Alex had chicken fingers - big surprise there! The food was good, everyone behaved, and we were rewarded with a trip to the toy store! The kids were excited. We don't have a Toys R Us near us so this was a treat. Alex chose a DS game, Mary a tea set, Liv a webkinz knock off. We went back to Auntie's to climb the tree some more. We played in the back yard too. She has a pool that is empty so the kids liked running around inside of it. Weird. Mary fed the birds, her and Alex threw berries in the pool, they played chase - I think it was fun! We headed back home at around 6pm. Jay was out playing golf and wasn't due home until later.

Tara called and invited me to a late movie, it worked out great since Jay didn't get home until after 9 and the movie started at 10. Lisa and I drove over there and joined Tara and Natalie - we saw Definitely Maybe. It was cute. It was more fun just being out.





All in all, a good Saturday!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Dentist

We recently switched dentist offices. We had all been going to Dr. Chartier in Decatur for years - I've been going to that office since I was a kid. Naturally, it was a day trip to take the kids for cleanings. I had to check them out super early, drive nearly an hour into town, spend the time at the appointment, and then we almost always had to wait out the traffic coming home. It was a pain. Liv had cracked a tooth so I knew that it would be a multiple visit fix. We got a referral from Lisa next door and Dr. Kohler was able to take us the very next day. We went and we just loved them. They were so kind and gentle to Liv! She has several teeth that are cracking because the permanent teeth are coming in and literally splitting them in half to make room to come out. So it was nothing to be concerned about but still weird to look at.

We decided to make cleaning appts for all three kids. It was Mary's first time to have her teeth cleaned. I know I waited longer than normal for her to go but honestly - I was not looking forward to the struggle I would have on my hands. Believe it or not, she cooperated like a champ! She opened her mouth wide for the entire time. I was very proud. Luckily, I had my camera with me so I was able to get a few shots of the big day. She felt like such a big girl because she had her teeth cleaned just like brother and sister do all the time.

My little baby is growing up!