Monday

Boo!

Sunday

My head hurts. I just can't write tonight. See you tomorrow!

Saturday

Jay left early this morning to head to the Men's Prayer Breakfast at church. being a deacon means you have to do these things! Actually he did them before (a little) so it wasn't a big deal. The kids and I treated ourselves to the breakfast buffet at Golden Corral. Later, I treated myself to an emergency trip to the bathroom at Wal Mart. But I digress.

The kids and I headed to church because a group of us were getting together to start painting the Nativity scenes. We painted the tomb, Mary's house, and Ceasar's Palace. Just the base coat, mind you. All shading and accentying still needs to be done. It was COLD and windy. At one point, the wind was blowing so hard, it kept knocking our work over. It was at this point that we decided to call it a day. The kids played in the sandbox and on the playground but soon headed up to the Student Cafe to chill and get warm. It was a productive day.

The rest of the day we just chilled. I felt like I never got warm and it was almost 7pm before I came out from under the covers. I had to feed the kids because if I don't, no one else will. Right Jay?

Gladiators Game

We went to the Gwinnett Gladiators game tonight. It was out first time taking the kids, and my first time in a very long time. It was FUN! Lots of action, lots of noise, and - I must say - lots of fighting! We took Alex's little friend Nathan - it was a good pick because he loves hockey. Mary was a little PITA but when is she not? She fell asleep as soon as her little head hit the pillow though. She called for me to tuck her in and as soon as I walked in to see her, she was fast asleep. Pobrecita!

Tomorrow is painting day at the pavillion. Lots to do! Jay is going to run to Stockbridge for me to drop off some sweatshirts to be embroidered. I have to charge my camera battery because it's been forever since I took a pic!

Thursday

Unity tonight. We sorted bags for the Angel Tree Project. Man, it sure did open my eyes about how much work is involved in this project! Lots to do, lots of needs, lots of kiddos! It was good for all of us.

I had the kids' conferences today. Long story but suffice it to say that both little kids are doing well. I had some questions and didn't like the answers I got much but that's just their different teaching styles.

Friday tomorrow! Yeah! I'm having breakfast w/ two friends and shopping for sweatshirts for the Christmas Parade.

Wednesday

Long day. Short day at work since the kids had early release. We went to church early because Alex had an appointment to speak with Seth about being baptized. V. long meeting. But it went well and Alex has a lot of material to think about.

Somehow I found myself in charge of coordinating the painting of the Nativity drive thru. What? How did that happen? So that will probably start this Saturday since time is a-runnin' out! Only two of the six scenes have been built. Hopefully the rest will be done by this weekend. I'm also scrambling to get the Opt to Shop together. Tablecloths, tables, signs, etc. Lots to coordinate. It will all come together, it always does. I'm also singing at the brunch and decorating a table. Crazy busy it will be. Anita has offered to do my centerpiece so that is a relief.

Still trying to plan Thanksgiving. Not sure what we want to do. We've committed to going to the Tanzosch's house but may rethink it - still thinking about it.

Must go finish lesson plan for tomorrow - I'm being evaluated by the principal - yikes!

Alex is so funny...

My boy is a trip. He tries so hard but invariably gets himself into a mess. He took a shower tonight and since there was no kid shampoo in there, he decided to use regular body soap. He took his nails and scraped some soap into his hair. Yikes! He got out, got dressed, brushed his teeth and was in the bed already before Jay noticed. Luckily he noticed, right? Jay put him back in the shower to wash the soap out and to properly wash it. He came up to me and said, "Mommy - you know that rectangular thing?" He was talking about the soap!!!! How funny. My boy is so cute. He had another great night at TKD. There's a mom there that is always commenting on how he is improving. Tonight she said his stamina has improved since the beginning. She is right. He wants to be a fast runner so bad. He is going to participate in Ninja Camp - it's a board breaking contest, pizza, movie and a sleepover at the TKD place. Should be fun.

I worked today. It was a good day. I had lunch with Carlos and that is always fun. He laughed and laughed and laughed. I want to get him married to Elizabeth soon! That way he won't ever leave. *sigh*

Monday

I did so much laundry today there shouldn't be a dirty piece of clothing in this house! Why does my family keep changing their clothes every single day? It is so not necessary. They could get two outfits and just switch them up every couple of days. That would make my life so much easier. Oh yeah.

Okay, just kidding. Obviously I couldn't ask them to be stinky. I'll just hire a laundry maid - okay Jay?

I had a great time tonight at BS with Carlos. That laugh can make my day in a heartbeat. Love it. I had him going pretty good too. I really wish he could stay here full time. I think he is having a great time and would do well here. Must pray about it.

Okay, must go check out FB. See what's going on with my peeps.

It was a good day.

We have just gotten home from a loooong day at church. It was my turn to provide dinner for the Youth Group (did I already mention that?) and so I decided to make it at the church. After worship, we went out to lunch with a bunch of people - tried a new restaurant and it was pretty good. After that, we went back to church because I had choir practice. The kids stayed in the Youth Room and played. They have all kinds of video games and Alex loves to hang out there. I made Hobo Stew and it turned out great. Wendy helped me by bringing salad and bread. We have a crock pot full left over so we have lunch and dinner for a few days. Yuuuummmmm!

I am glad that today was a busy day and that I had lots to be thankful for. Tonight I am thankful for my family, I am thankful for my church family, I am thankful for the many opportunities to serve. I am thankful for all the people that care for me and about me. Thank you Lord for your provision, even today, and for always knowing exactly what I need and when I need it. Today I am thankful for the season of grief that you gave me so that I could clearly see how you carried me when I was too weak to stand on my own. I am thankful for the way and the timing in which you revealed yourself to me. You gave me a new song to sing and I am grateful!

Congratulations to Jay for being nominated and voted a Deacon in our church! Wow, I am married to Deacon Jay!

New Computer

I'm blogging from my new laptop. Do you like it? Does the font look different? Prettier? Faster? Okay, I know you can't tell the difference but I sure can! I love it! It will no longer take me 10 minutes to flip through websites. My computer won't freeze up if I want to see a video. It won't crash if I want to download an attachment. And it looks pretty too!

Thanks to Albie who gave Jay the heads up about the great computer deal. We had dinner with them last night- it's always fun to hang out with the Watson's. We were going to try to meet up with them again tonight but Jay took longer than expected at the golf course and Albie had an 8:00 soccer game. The kids and I spent the day running errands - I had several things that I had to return to different stores so I decided to knock all of that out today. The kids behaved pretty well so it was a good day. Nathan came over when we got home and I did some cleaning. It's never done though. And the laundry is never caught up. But my new laptop is pretty!

I have to prepare and serve dinner to Liv's youth group tomorrow. I couldn't decide what to make and it was getting down to zero hour. I went to my cooking club today and we made Hobo Stew. Sounds awful but it tastes so good. I decided to make several extra batches and serve that to the kiddos. They will most likely eat it. Wendy is bringing a salad and bread. I think no matter what I fixed, it would be a let down to the steaks Bobby prepared last week. Thanks Bobby! So Jay bought my supplies tonight and I was going to start browning the meat but ... well, now I have to play on my shiny new laptop!

I also have Joyful Noise practice tomorrow. I don't really want to go but I guess I had better. Okay, I guess that's enough for now. Must go play now!

TGIF

Fridays are good. Too tired to blog. Doing some online shopping for Christmas. Don't tell Jay! :)

Grey's Thursday!

20 minutes until Grey's...can't wait...Jay is hoping that Hahn and Torres kiss again. Gross! That is one story line I could have lived my entire life without! I heard they are writing Hahn out though, because the network is not cool with the way the show is going, if you know what I mean!

Thursday...let's see. Mr. Obama is still the President-elect. I worked today. I taught 8th grade and 5th grade. I was also able to visit with Carlos for a bit. It's always good to hear his laugh. Mary, Alex and I went to the playground after school and we spent a good 3 hours there playing. Nathan and McKennah were there, Jackie, Katie, and David came, and finally the other Nathan and Becca showed up. Lots of people. We didn't go to karate because the kids were playing so nicely. I know we told Jake we'd be there today but they were just having such a great time. I hope he will be there tomorrow so we can get his birthday party invitation.

Mary had to soak in the tub for a long time tonight - she was that dirty. Yuck. That's what playing in the dirt and woodchips will do to you. Tomorrow is the last day of Alex's restriction. He has been talking non stop about not forgetting to turn in his homework tomorrow. He is on it and he will not forget! I hope this worked and he will continue to work hard and remember his responsibilities. It's so hard being 7!

Missed Post and Election News

I could have sworn that I posted something yesterday. Did I imagine it? Does this negate the whole NaBloPoMo? Hope not. I'll keep going anyway.


Okay, yesterday was Election Day. I was able to go at 7am to vote, since Jay kindly offered to stay home w/ the kiddos so I could go out. It took 2 hours and 15 minutes to get through the line. But it wasn't bad - it was very organized, the people were calm and chatty. The time just passed easily. I woke up thinking (hoping) we would have one President and went to bed with the realization that we indeed have another one. Not the one I would have chosen. Really the two choices were not stellar by any means but I feel like the (R) candidate was the better of the two. For many reasons. I won't go into all of them now but I'm sure I wasn't alone. I think the (D) candidate is dangerous. Not so much him per se but his following. KWIM? But I do have to agree with just about everyone that there was a definite need for change. CHANGE. Too bad McCain couldn't have coined that phrase first. Even though he is (R) I believe he wanted change too. Any idiot has to be able to see that we as a nation are a sinking ship. And we need to be rescued. I can only pray that now our leader will realize this and do his very best to bring about the help. Let's move away from the rhetoric, the slogans, the charismatic speeches. Let's see some action. I won't go so far as to say OBAMA ROCKS (like I saw on some blogs today) because I don't think he does. He's only been in national politics for 3 years! But I will say that anyone who is willing to take on the job he now has, well, more power to you!

And that's all I have to say about that.

The kids and I had the day off from school. We went to the library, shopping, we went out to eat, we drove around taking fabulous fall pictures...it was all good until the "Chick-fil-A incident". No need for details but let's just say that when we got home, EVERYONE had to go to their rooms. :)

The leaves have turned and the colors are absolutely breathtaking. I especially like the bright red trees that are side by side with the evergreens. What a contrast! And we enjoyed the trees that were red on top and just a vibrant yellow on the bottom.

Our neighborhood just looks amazing right now. I would love to take a drive up into the mountains. We just may do that anyway. We should have done that yesterday! But I guess we wouldn't have had time - Alex had tae kwon do after all. He has a friend in the class named Jake. After class was over, Jake invited Alex to go and have a Smoothie with him. It was so cute!!! Then he got invited to Jake's birthday party at Master Choi's. That should be interesting.

Last night was Lisa's final baby shower. Finally! It was the Bonko shower and it turned out really nice. The food was good, the company was good. We stayed late just talking. I just really didn't want to come home and see the election results because they weren't looking good from early on in the evening.

Today is Wednesday. That meant a day full of preschoolers (ugh!) and church this evening. I hope the kids don't have a lot of homework.

NaBloPoMa #3

So far so good!

Today was my favorite day of the week - Monday! It started with me thinking Mary was going to wake up sick, since she woke up several times in the night with a runny nose. Luckily, she slept an extra hour or two and woke up fine. I checked her in a little late but it was worth it to let her get the extra sleep. I made a quick dash to the gym (poor neglected gym - this pesky job sure does keep me away from you!) where I did my 3 mile walk. I had just enough time to shower and dress before Wendy came to pick me up for our lunch date. We went to Red Lobster which pretty much negated the 3 mile walk but it was totally worth it! I loves me some seafood. After lunch, I went for a much needed pedi. My toes have thanked me all afternoon. It was shortly after I got home from the pedi that THE HEADACHE made its presence known. THE HEADACHE started behind my eyes and soon spread and was bad. I was able to lay down for a little bit but it still hasn't gone away. I may have to just break down and go to sleep. No, can't do that. I can't miss CSI:Miami - as bad as it is I must watch it. It's a crazy addiction - similar to my Word Challenge addiction.

Tomorrow is Election Day. It will be a big day in history. All we can do is pray that the right person is chosen and that he will honorably lead our nation. These are scary times but as Carlos reminded us yesterday, we needn't worry. We can cast our burden on Him and he will give us rest. PTL!

Busy Sunday

Today was a great day - lots going on, lots to be thankful for.

I ended up making about 4 dozen little tarts and I don't know how many sausage pinwheels to take for breakfast. They ended up looking fabulous on my Pampered Chef Chillzanne platter after I put some bright red strawberries in the center. What a shock when I got to my Sunday School class and not only did we have a guest teacher but about 10 extra people! It was almost standing room only! It was a very interesting talk - about the history of the New Testament Church and the Independent Christian Church. After that we went upstairs to hear Carlos preach a great sermon on Mat 6:25. You could tell he was very nervous at first but he settled down and really did a great job. I was able to sit with Sue Cates since Jay went to help Bobby cook down at the pavillion. We had a cookout after worship, hosted by Bobby's shepherding group (we are in his group) and the Women's Leadership Team was invited to attend as well. I grabbed a plate and followed the other ladies back to the Fellowship Hall for our meeting. I was on the Nominating Committee to help find replacements for certain positions that have become vacant. It was an arduous task to find someone to fill the President's position and I worried and stressed about it for days. After talking to Sue, I stopped worrying because all the worry wasn't helping me find an answer and I became convicted that the correct person or persons would be revealed to us at the right time. And they were. Sue and Wendy have promised to prayerfully consider being co-presidents. That would be a wonderful combination!

Alex went to play at his friends house this afternoon. He is currently grounded from watching tv, playing on the computer and from playing the GameCube. He has not been diligent with his school responsibilities. He completes his homework each day just as he is supposed to but he is not careful to actually turn the papers in when they are due. He did this (or didn't do this) two weeks in a row. So we are going to try to shift his focus away from the menial to the important by revoking certain privilages. He sure has been reading a lot!

Mary had her friend Ashlyn come over today. They played outside for a long time and then came in to work on a puzzle. I was able to tackle the dining room. It has become a war zone! We have gotten used to dumping our junk in there and leaving it because we can't see it from anywhere else in the house. It has gotten bad. I had Jay buy me a bookshelf so each kid could have a shelf to keep their school work on. This will also help Alex keep up with his homework each week. I sorted all the tons and tons of papers that we have. I need to buy baskets to keep these papers in so they remain organized. Jay also promised to hang the mirror that I've had leaning against the wall for a solid year now. It is huge, black, and beautiful and I can't wait until it is up. It may even happen tomorrow!!!! I asked Joel if he was up to helping out with it and he said yes. If I get my dining room in order I just may have to have a dinner party to celebrate!

Tomorrow is Monday - and you know I love my Mondays! Wendy has invited me to have lunch with her and I am really looking forward to it because we are going to Red Lobster. Yum!!!! I also have Tuesday off of work since it is election day. My school and the kids' school are closed. I hope I manage to make the time to vote. I don't know how I'll do it w/ all three kids home with me and Jay at work.

I didn't think I'd have anything to say on day #2 of NaBloPoMo but it has turned out to be a long post! Good for me!

Happy November!

I just can't believe it's already November 1st. As Paula Deen says, "Great time of day!"

Halloween was a huge success. We met at Tara's for dinner, as we do every year. We had pasta salad and a whole mess of sides. I made the cutest pumpkin cake

but there were a ton of sweets already so I ended up bringing it home. We had no problem cutting it up today! The entire crew headed out as soon as it got dark, Lisa and I went to her house to give out candy. Joel had decorated his front yard with tombstones and other scary things. It was a big hit because we had a lot of traffic! Lisa and I stayed by the firepit trying to stay warm but it was tough - my hands were still pretty frozen. There was a wide array of costumes, some pretty creative. Of course my kids were the cutest! Liv was a dragon fairy.

Kind of hard to see her wings in this pic. Alex was a black ninja...

He was totally hamming it up once he put his costume on. Mary was a Bratz leopard/cat thing. I don't think it actually had a name but she looked awfully cute, even if she wouldn't smile for the picture.

They were so excited and it was very contagious. Alex and Mary ended up going to the Fall Festival at church with my brother of all people. He said they don't have good trick or treating in their neighborhood so they were looking for an alternative. I heard the festival was really nice - carnival games, pony rides, hay rides, hot chocolate, jumpy things. Fun, fun, fun. It was the first Halloween where we weren't all together. But everyone had a great time and I guess that's all that matters.

Tomorrow will be another long day. It's our turn to provide breakfast for Sunday School, then we have a picnic afterwards and I have to take a covered dish. After that, I have a Women's Leadership Team meeting. Later in the afternoon, Liv has small groups.

A few weeks ago, Alex had his belt testing ceremony in Tae Kwon Do. It was a big deal for us since it was our first time going through this. He worked hard and he passed the test and received his yellow belt. I took a ton of pictures because it just all looked so cool!

He had to do the white belt Form (or as Master Choi says "porm"), He had to break a board, he had answer questions from the judges. Some of the questions included the Korean names for some of the moves as well as counting to 10 in Korean.

He had to take several tries to break the board but it was very exciting when he finally did! A few days later, Master Choi had the belt ceremony - another interesting experience. It just happened to fall on our wedding anniversary so we ended up having a fabulously romantic dinner after the ceremony, with the kids, at the Waffle House!!! Hey, what's a busy mom to do but just take whatever comes along, right? We'll have our date night next year, in April, when my dad gets back!

So I joined this NaBloPoMo thing. Blogging everyday for a month. Considering I don't have an audience, who's going to care? LOL. But I'm going to do it anyway. And I will hopefully post a bunch of pictures so my dad can keep up with the kids' activities. Hope I can keep it up!

It was a happy November 1st after all.