Haven't blogged in a loooong time!  So much stuff has happened that I don't even know where to begin.  I am trying to think of what happened first.  I joined the local squad department I guess would be first.  Joining wasn't supposed to be this big of a deal.  Or so I thought.  But it was.  It was a great idea in the beginning. Then the classes started.  It was definitely more in depth than I thought it was going to be.  But I enjoyed it.  I went to all but one class (I had a kidney stone and was in surgery).  I passed CPR and it was time for my observation runs!  I was so excited to finally be able to tag along.  It was fun, lots of adrenaline, and I fell in love.  I was the first one in my class to complete my observation runs.  Next was class final, practicals, and then the National Registry.  I was pumped.  In the middle of all of this going on, I got a divorce.  It was not dramatic and was for the most part non-eventful.  My ex-husband and I remain friends.  I passed my practicals and I failed my first attempt at the National Registry.  I took a break, studied for 3 months, and took a shot at it again.  I passed!  I'm now a volunteer EMT and I love every minute of it.  I'm listening to a run with my department as we speak and truthfully a little disappointed I wasn't on duty right now.  HAHA.

The divorce.  The divorce happened for a culmination of reasons but it turned out to be a really good thing for us.  Eric and I are friends.  The kids are happy for the most part.  We're able to go to sporting events and sit with each other and also talk like friends.  There are times where we get annoyed with each other but we always seem to talk it out or let it go. We promised each other we would remain friends and I'm happy to report we have done just that.  Do people understand our relationship???  NO!  They don't but we don't really care.  I think some people think he should be mad at me for the divorce.  And I think those same people are intimidated by it.  Most people say we are weird.  That's probably an accurate description.  But we put the kids first and that's all that matters.  We've been divorced a little over a year now and we both seem to be doing fine.

The dating.  Oh my goodness!!!!  Dating sucks!  Maybe it's because truly I didn't ever do it before.  I was married and pregnant at 19 and didn't really date around much.  But I swear it sucks!!!  It's hard for me to not be in a relationship.  Eric and I have both dated a few people and for the most part it was fine.  There are a lot of liars out there and I'm very naive.  But I'm working on it.  I went on a date Friday and I had a good time.

The future.  I have some big plans for the future.  I'm going to return to school and get my RN.  It's a two year process.  But in the end it will be worth it.  I'll be able to provide for myself and the boys on my own and never have depend on anyone else.  I've become a little more independent but I want more. I demand more and I will achieve more.  Hopefully in the process I will find someone that will ride along but if I don't I'll be okay.  And it took a long time for me to realize that.  

Resolutions and such

What are resolutions? Are they empty promises to ourselves or to the people surrounding us? Is starting out the New Year with these limits and promises that you may or may not hold yourself up to, a healthy way to start the New Year? I made a list this year. There wasn't just one resolution I have a slew of them. Self destruct much?? hehehehe In all seriousness, I have 15 resolutions. Let's take a look.

1. Be more patient with everyone.
2. Be more positive.
3. have a flat tummy by June.
4. Slow down/quit smoking.
5. Be more organized (financially & home)
6. wake up earlier and be more productive.
7. Spend more time with Cody one on one.
8. Get Austin in his own bed all night long by 2013.
9. Get family pictures done this year.
10. Make more time for friends.
11. Exercise more.
12. Take better care of my skin.
13. Get my hair done more often.
14. Wear make-up/do my hair at least 4 times a week.
15. Actually get dressed everyday.

Some of these you read and are like seriously you don't get dressed everyday?? Well, I don't. I stay at home and spend seriously 98% of my time cleaning and I just can't understand why I would get dressed to do this. But I'm working on it, even if I'm just changing into some grungy "mom" jeans and a holy t-shirt. My hair is always in a pony tail and therefore never actually done. I need to moisturize more and find a good face moisturizer because the one that I have did nothing but cause a huge breakout (which I can honestly say I have NEVER had a huge breakout on my face a day in my life). I have no social life outside of family so I'm working on that.

There are a few of these that I have done!!! I have accomplished #'s-4,5,11,15. I quit smoking a week ago Thursday. I'm really excited about that. I have completely overhauled my finances and we are working on cleaning up in that area. I walk on the treadmill for a minimum of 30 minutes every day. I watch what I am eating and I'm drinking more water (I have lost 3.6 lbs in one week).

I'm hoping that all this resoluting isn't futile. I'm pretty happy with my goals and I'm hoping that it's do-able.

Unemployment Nonsense

Eric got laid off for the winter...yaay (boo hiss). I'm glad we get to spend so much time together. When he gets laid off we truly have fun. We're broke, but, we have fun! While filing yesterday we ran into some complications and needed some answers...their help forum SUCKS! There is no where to go to ask simple questions and if you call your are on hold for 3 days (not really but it is seriously like 3 hours). There has to be some way they can make that website easier to maneuver. It's old, outdated, and just a plain pain in the rear end. Surely with all this technology that is everywhere could help them out, I mean geesh. Okay seriously I was mad. A paragraph rant on unemployment is suffice. hehehe

I'm taking Grandma to the doctor today. She's not feeling very well so this should be an interesting trip. Her bones are aching and she's having trouble getting around.

We got all our Christmas presents bought. So much stuff...geesh...no wonder my pocket book is so skinny. =)

It's the most Wonderful Time of the Year!.........

Here we are in December and every single weekend is plugged...lol. This weekend we have basketball practice and then a game later this evening. My in-laws are coming to show their support to Cody. He has never played basketball before and so he's in the instructional league. He's getting better all the time. Most of these kids have been playing in a league for 2 years so he's a little behind. I didn't know that you could sign up at 2nd grade and he didn't want to play last year. He has a lot of talent, however, our basketball hoop at the house is a couple of feet short...so he feels inadequate at best.

Next weekend I have deemed "The In-law Marathon". It all starts Saturday morning. Not as early as we planned because Cody has a basketball game...but everyone gets to come so that makes my Sister-in-law happy! Then food, presents, food, playing cards, food, playing with kiddos, food...hmm might be a pattern there...lol. Then we spend the night and get up the next morning for a family reunion. Then we are heading to Eric's gma's house to spend a Thanksmas. We are combining Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then home.

The next weekend is Christmas weekend so enough said. hehehe

The next weekend is New Year's weekend and we are staying home as usual. We don't like driving on this holiday as there are too many drunks out. Next year's plans are to get a hotel somewhere close and swim into the new year ;)

I love the hustle and bustle of the season. For right now that is...ask me when it's over...lol. It's cold here now and there were some flurries yesterday. One of my favorite things about Christmas is the snow, the smell of snow in the air, and the smell of wood burning stoves....I will literally roll the window down and sniff the air! Drives my husband and kids crazy but I love it! It's almost as bad as fall..ya know when you can just smell the leaves and everything fall? That's my favorite...but Christmas snow and wood burners are 2nd and it's a close race ;)

I'm hoping to get to town at some point this week and finish up my list. The boys and I made some ring garland last night with construction paper. It was fun. Cody and I finished up because Austin was bored. We hooked both of their strands together and hung it up in the doorway of the dining room. Mom just ordered some more Christmas crafts from www.orientaltrading.com . Those will be in soon and while on Christmas break we will make those. Looking for more ideas to keep the kiddos busy during break. Without using electric. Well other than lighting of course...lol. Homemade play dough is in our future! Christmas colors of course.

Geesh

Why is it I blog for a few days and quit? What is wrong with me? I like doing it. I just don't understand why I don't do it more often. It may be because I keep a paper journal too and I feel like I'm telling the same stories over and over again and again. Alot has actually been going on since September so let me start there.

September

Eric and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary! We celebrated by taking a drive, going out to eat, and then we went to the Hollywood casino with $20 a piece. We stayed maybe all of 20 minutes...hehehe.

We found out that my Great Grandmother has been being abused by her daughter (my paternal grandmother), and my Aunt (my dad's 1/2 sister). It was all emotional and verbal abuse and so far we have only learned of one instance of physical abuse, when they threw plastic flowers at her face. So we rescued her. She is now living with us and APS (adult protective services) has been called. We had no clue how to start out taking care of an elderly person. I was a home health aide before I had Austin, but, being on the other side is waaaay different. It amazes me every day the things that have done or said to my Grandma. It's despicable! You hear all these stories about things like this happening but I would have NEVER thought it would happen in my family. Needless to say, we have NO contact with them. It has been arranged that they cannot find out any information on her (medically and financially). They even stole some of her teddy bears!!!! Really? How low can you go? It's heart wrenching to hear the stories of what they have done to her. As I type this I'm sitting here crying for her. Who does this and to your own mother????

October
October brought the Fall Festival of Leaves! One of my favorite times of the year. We got to visit with our friends from Boston that came to visit us for a couple of weeks during the festival. Jane is building a house right next door to us and so it's been fun to watch it go up! It's completely done now! So pretty! She will be moving here in a few months.

November
November brought a lot of Dr.'s appointments for G-ma. We are switching almost all of her doctors to more local ones. We have found an amazing cardiologist here in Chillicothe. Gma likes him really well and says she likes "looking at him". He's younger which in her eyes is a total plus! She cracks me up. She's 86 mind you....lol.

We had too much food and visited lots of family during Thanksgiving. I love being able to spend time with my 2 beautiful nieces and my 1 gorgeous nephew. Eric's sister's girls are absolutely a couple of the most pretty little girls I have ever seen and my nephew can literally make you do things with just his eyes! His eyes are absolutely GORGEOUS! He was born with a faux hawk and has yet to outgrow it! So cute!

December
We are barely in December and we have almost ALL of our Christmas shopping done! YAY!!!! We have gotten the boys completely done and almost everybody else done too. It would help if people would actually give us a list to go by or something...you know who you are! lol

Other than all of that we are doing really well! Cody is doing really good in school. He has struggled yet again with bullies but it's getting better. I hate that he feels compelled to believe these kids! He is soo smart and advanced at most things I just don't understand. Cody has always been such a social kid and has never had any trouble like he's had the last couple of years. He used to be so confident (almost cocky to tell the truth) and now he has NONE. He thinks he is stupid and ugly. And after a summer break from his ADHD meds and a little weight gain he has determined he's obese. He's definitely NOT obese, but, he has gained about 20 lbs. 10 of which he needed to gain to have a normal healthy weight. I have harped on him some, not because of his weight gain, but, because he's not making healthy choices. You can have a snack, but, you don't need to eat a WHOLE tub of chip dip...you know what I mean?

Austin, oh Lord do I pray over this kid. He worries me constantly. I would bet money that he is as well ADHD, but, he sure does give me a run for my money. There couldn't be a funnier kid, but geez oh louise...he keeps me on my toes for sure. He is a sponge and picks up on anything Cody says or does. Which isn't always a good thing when your kids are spaced 6 years apart....lol.

Maybe I'll remember to post more ;)

Storms and such

We had a nasty storm this morning and then it was B-E-A-utiful out! I managed to get the whole house cleaned (other than bedrooms) and supper made. Then it was time to leave for Cody's game and we watched 1 inning. Let me tell you some background. This game was actually last week and we got 1 inning in. Then today we got another inning in, before, the whole sky turned black and they "paused" it again until next week. Stupid rain. I know, I know, I know someone out there right now is singing the rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey song. I know we need some rain, but, in all seriousness enough is enough. Remind me of my distaste of rain here in about a month or two when the well has dried up and I'm complaining because we need rain for the garden etc... lol

Cody was beaned with the ball. This was his first time in an actual game. It hit his helmet and then slammed down on his little bony shoulder. Thread marks and bruise right then and there. P.S. When this game starts AGAIN next week, we start where we left off. 4-0 so far. We're up!

He has another game tomorrow night and Wednesday night. Although, at this rate we may be playing ball into next spring. lol It makes it rough on this Momma when his games start at 7:15 (more like 7:40) at night. Um, hello Cody's bedtime is 8:30. Seriously??? He won't be in bed before 10 until possibly Thursday. By then, what's the point? lol

He has approximately 8 days left. He's getting out early Wed. for a Dr. appt. and Friday is field day so technically it doesn't count either ;).

Ever have those days when people don't even have to say anything and they tick you off? I've been having a week like that. I don't know what is up with me but, I'm telling you everyone everywhere are getting on my nerves!!! (Insert: Red Hot Chili Peppers song: "Somebody's gettin' on my nerves" here)

I'm pretty sure I'm done subbing for this school year. Too close to the end of school for aides and such to be taking off. We'll see. I would like to add a few more days to my June check ;)

Other than things have been pretty good. I'm at a point in my life where I am happy with "most" of my choices. I have come to terms with alot this past year or so. So so so happy that I married my best friend! I <3 our marriage!

Oh and P.S. I need a personal drill sergeant to motivate my hiney into losing some weight. I have the WANT to do it, but, when it comes down to it....................nothing........lol

Before you thought of Spring by Emily Dickinson

Before you thought of Spring
Except as a Surmise
You see--God bless his suddenness--
A fellow in the Skies
Of Independent Hues
A little weather worn
Inspiriting habiliments
Of Indigo and Brown--
With specimens of Song
As if for you to choose--
Discretion in the interval
With gay delays he goes
Without a single Leaf
And shouts for joy to Nobody
But his seraphic self--

Summary of a Year

A whole year has gone past and no new posts. I don't know where the time has gone, but, I know it wasn't spent blogging. Lol. So what's new around here? Where to start????

I guess we'll start with public schools. We decided to let Cody go back to public schools. He has had a roller coaster of a year. He started off rough. We expected that, with his adhd coupled with the homeschooling, it was a little hard for him to get back into a routine. He has struggled a little socially too. I would have never guessed for Cody to struggle in a social atmosphere. The kid knows NO strangers and usually can strike up a conversation with any kid. But, it's different when they are in school and he's the "new" student. He has been picked on relentlessly, by a few students, whose parents I know and would DIE if they knew how their children are behaving and speaking. Cody has come home on more than one occasion asking questions (of a sexual nature) that I was totally NOT prepared to answer. Out of the 50 or so questions, I only refused to answer 2. I have always felt (and was raised) that no matter what you always tell children the truth. There are, of course, some exceptions to the rule. However, for the most part I try to tell them the truth. Academically, he's doing wonderful! All A's & B's for the first two semesters, and All A's for the 3rd semester. His 4th semester interim is also showing all A's. If any of you have ADHD out there, you know how hard it is to achieve a goal like this. He really set his goals and worked hard to achieve them. He was tested for TAG twice. The first time he came home and told me he threw the test because he didn't want "extra homework". The second time, he told me he tried hard and then weeks later admitted that he missed questions on purpose because he was afraid that he wouldn't do good in TAG!! I was so upset, I didn't know what to do or say. He's now waiting until they test again next year and promises that he will try his hardest as long as I promise that he doesn't HAVE to do TAG unless he wants to.

Marriage: You know that cheesy saying, where people say: "I married my best friend and soul mate...." etc... Yep, I'm one of the cheeser's because that is exactly how I feel. Now before you go thinking I have rainbows coming out of my rear end, BELIEVE me that I don't! I don't think marriage is supposed to be a walk in the park. I think it takes work and compromise, but, if you can work and compromise with a partner that can keep you sane, make you laugh for no reason, and they still make you have butterflies when they kiss you-then you got it all! I'm so happy to be married to Eric that I can't imagine what it would be like to not have a marriage like mine. We have our own issues, but, we work through them always. Our rules are: Don't go to bed mad. If you have something on your mind, tell the other person (they can't help you or change what they did wrong (etc) if they don't know about it). This next year we are working on date nights. We only go out without the boys MAYBE twice a year. We're thinking once a month???

Austin: Austin just turned 3 a couple of weeks ago. It's hard to believe that he is that old already. He's been really sick off and on this winter. We started off good. He didn't even get a cold I don't think until after Christmas. But with spring coming/going/coming again he has been super sick the last 6 weeks or so. He has 2 more weeks to go and if he still isn't better we're looking at tubes and tonsillectomy. He's on an allergy medicine right now too. The Dr. thinks he's allergic to grass. He had pneumonia 3 weeks ago too. It's been a rough month and a half. He is, however, one of the funniest kids I know. I love when he gives us squeeze hugs.

My life definitely isn't perfect and things don't always go the way we want them to, but, we are doing pretty okay. I love that my life seems insane most of the time. I pray every night for some patience. That is the one thing that I lack TONS of. It's so weird that I have patience with other people's kids, but, let my kid do the exact same thing and it's punishment city. lol. But, I'm working on it. Those of you with extremely smart kids: Do you find that you treat them as if they are older than what they are? I find myself saying and thinking: Cody is way too smart and old to behave this way or that way. But then, I think NEWSFLASH! He's only 9. I'm struggling with that too. I'll get it, one of these days! ;)

I don't know! lol

So many thoughts and emotions are running through me. I feel like I need to be running and I don't even know where to go. Our lives have been so busy these past few months. Cody turned 8 on March 26th! Austin turns 2 on May 5th! Eric and Dad went back to work this in April. It was a good thing financially, but, lemme tell ya I miss that man! I have yet to get back into a groove. Homeschooling is the only thing I feel like I'm accomplishing and I'm barely able to get that done! Cody hasn't been cooperating here lately and I don't know if it's his ADHD or the warmer weather or what! He isn't listening and he's whining about every lesson which is not like him. He'll have his last Math class on Wednesday and we're done with Art and Music (thank God, cause those were the worst subjects EVER!). He has about 8 history classes left and maybe 10 English and 10 science! We're wrapping up the year. I swear this week though he has forgotten EVERYTHING I have ever taught him! It's driving me nuts. We're also struggling at bedtime. He has a doctor appointment on Friday, so, we'll see what he says and go from there.

Cody decided this year that he wanted to play ball. So we're doing that. He has roughly 2 games per week and they are either at 5:30 or 7:00 which is aggravating and schedule wrecking. If it's the 5:30 games we don't eat supper until late. If it's the 7:00 game it's messing up bedtime/bathtime routines! It's driving me nuts already and we've only had 3 games! It doesn't look like we're going to do well either! I somehow ended up as dugout Mom and that's nervewracking too! I was told last week that I pretty much suck at it. Thanks! I can't help that I don't feel comfortable yelling at other peoples children and that I have a toddler who desperately wants to play ball. Austin attempts (succeeds mostly) at running onto the field during every game! Mom is keeping the book, so, she can't help out as much and Eric and Dad are lucky to get to show up at all! I will say this though, tonights game, wasn't too bad! Austin pretty much did what he was told. He only succeeded onto the field 1 time and ran off to the basketball court 1 time as well. This is an improvement.

Construction on the dining room is still in force, it's just not going fast, with the boys back to work and all. I'm pretty sure we have a paint color picked out and the rest is already bought just needs finished up. It would probably have gone smoother if Eric would have helped Dad drywall.

I don't have a career. I feel like I have no special talents and I don't know what to do with myself. At some point, I want to have a career I just don't know what I want to be when I grow up. Since the age of 5 I have said that I want to be a teacher. After working in a school district as a paraprofessional there is no way that I want this career anymore. I want to do so many things and the things I want to do can't be rolled into one or two degrees! I wouldn't mind journalism, cosmetology, paralegal, secretary, and the list goes on and on. One of the problems is that there isn't (or doesn't seem to be) a high demand for most of these professions around us. If I said I wanted to be Amish I'm sure that I could accomplish that as there are an abundance of them in our area lol. Everyone I know seems to be a nurse and frankly I don't have the desire to do that. It seems like that's all there is around here, nurse, factory work, cosmetology, fast food, and retail. I just don't have a clue what I want to be. lol

Other than that everything is fine. There I'm done whining for awhile. My violin is still playing for myself and my pity party, but, I'm done putting it online (for now lol).

Spring is here and I'm loving it!

Spring has definitely sprung here in southern Ohio. Our forsythia bush has bloomed, the Easter Lilies are up, and there is that smell in the air that is just SPRING! The other day we made a trip to Chillicothe to return Cody's chest protector and exchange it for one that fit good and as we were making our way home I kept smelling this sweet smell. I asked Eric if he smelled it and he didn't so I wasn't sure what it was. All the sudden it was really strong, it was the trees lining Yoctangee Park! They are in full bloom and so beautiful, so I just rolled my window down and took as many deep breaths as I could before the flow of traffic took me away from the trees lol. I'm not sure what kind of trees they were but they're beautiful and they smell good.

We're wrapping up the school year here and while we're still learning, I can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can't wait for this summer break and a much needed vacation.

We celebrated Cody's 8th birthday a couple of weeks ago. We had a nice turnout. The weather wasn't cooperating very well but, it was nice for everyone to get together. I love watching my two families meld together and I catch myself just sitting back at staring at the loved ones around me. I like that my family can do that.

Austin will be turning 2 in May and boy is he rotten lately. I think that we have hit that "terrible 2's" full fledge and are embarking on the "trying 3's"! He asks why after EVERYTHING.
Me: Austin go to the bathroom it's time for a bath.
Austin: Why?
Me: Because you're filthy.
Austin: Why?
Me: Because you were playing outside.
Austin: Why?
Me: Because it's nice out.
Austin: Why?
Me: Because God is showing us how beautiful his love is.
Austin: WHY?
Me: Because He is good.
Austin: WHaaat?
Me: Because He is good.
Austin: Who?
Me: God.
Austin: Oh, okaaaay. Loves you.

He is a riot for sure. He's definitely a handfull though. My Mom gets a little irritated with me because I say that he is bad all the time. But, he is. Believe me, that's not anything to be proud of. He's just so stinking rotten that half of the time I want to pull the my hair out and the other half I want to cry because he's so cute!

Here's another anecdote of Austin. We are constructing a larger dining room and the men were up on the roof putting the shingles on and so forth. Austin was playing on the ground by the swingset and he sneezed. My brother says Bless You! Austin said Thanks AMEN! He screamed Amen at him lol. We have been working on our prayers and stuff and he has struggled with remembering to say Amen. Well he doesn't forget now lol.

I love my boys. They are so cute and sometimes not that well behaved, but, they are mine. There definitely could be worse. I love my family, my wonderful husband, my in-laws, my family, and our extended families. I love it all!

snow among other things

Well we finally got a good snow down here in Southern Ohio. Hence, my husband is out playing in it on the four wheeler. He somehow contracted poison ivy while cutting up some firewood for the garage earlier in the week. He's pretty itchy but we're wondering if it's poison ivy or oak or sumac. He usually gets covered head to toe when it's ivy and he only has it on his wrists and eyebrows (from wiping sweat).

We went to Dayton to the doctor the other day. Cody needed some prescriptions refilled and he got a cold a couple of days before the appointment. We wanted to make sure it wasn't anything Dimetap couldn't take care of. It wasn't so he and now Austin are both on Dimetap for a little while. That's one thing about winter that bugs me is the stinking colds. It doesn't help that we live in Ohio where one day it's 42 degrees out and the next day it's 25 with a windchill of 18. Crazy Ohio weather I swear.

Everything has been going pretty good. Austin slept all night in his bed one day this week and the next night he didn't sleep at all. Last night he tossed and turned a ton and was literally kicking the crap out of my chest.

Cody is doing excellent at school. We have left the Roman Empire, the Islamic Empire, and now we're learning about the Vikings. He's started his multiplication tables and is continuing to read at what is now calibrated as an 8th grade reading/comprehension level in grade 2!!!!! He's so smart. I don't know where he got that from. lol

We're continuing to pray for a dear friend of the family. She will hopefully be getting a much needed surgery early next week.

I've been planning Cody's birthday party a little at a time. He'll be 8 in March this year. I have so far ordered him a Birthday Boy t-shirt he knows nothing about. I picked the day and time of the party. And, yep that's it that's all I got...lol.

I can't wait for Spring to get here. I have been tanning a little and trying to monitor portions so that by the time full fledge summer gets here I can be in a bathing suit on the boat and not worry about which fat roll is hanging out of where. Yeah now get that image out of your head I dare ya....lol.

Somehow I have managed....

Somehow I have managed to not post anything for months. That is awful! Not that I haven't had plenty of stuff to post just that I haven't posted anything...lol. I don't know where to start even. I guess I'll start with homeschooling and work my way from there.

Homeschooling is everything I thought it would be and more. I love homeschooling Cody most of the time. It's so fun to watch your child "get" a concept and give you his points of view on the topic. The curriculum of Ohio Virtual Academy is much more advanced than a regular public school. So much in fact, that it keeps me thinking about our subjects after we are done with them. History is by far the most in depth to me. We have learned about The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, Christianity (how it was spread throughout the world), Catholicism, and The Islamic Empire so far. These are topics that our local school district teaches in Middle School at best. As much as I love homeschooling I don't think we'll be continuing next year for more than one reason. The first reason is Austin. Austin is one of those I have to have my Mommy for everything children, and while that is great on one hand, it seriously debilitates our school days. The second reason is more of a financial reason. I feel like I need to be contributing more financially to our family. So we'll see how this summer goes but more than likely Cody will be going to the local school for third grade next year.

We had an awesome Christmas season filled with tons of family and memories. We got a couple of Christmas surprises. The first being that my sister-in-law (Eric's sister) is expecting baby number 2! A complete surprise to all including Karen and Jason. My brother and his wife will start attempting to get pregnant in the spring/summer! Two of Eric's cousins are expecting as well.

Oh I have so many thoughts running through my head right now it's really hard to put them in order enough to get them typed out lol.

I feel "lost" most times anymore. I don't know why but I wonder what my purpose is. Obviously it's to be a mother and wife and those roles are my upmost favorites. But don't I have anything else to offer the world? I have been thinking about journalism and such. Something I could do at home and send in somewhere but I for one have no clue how to do that and where I should even start. An online magazine (is there such a thing? I don't think it's called magazine.) would be awesome but again I have not researched or done anything about it. In my wonderful world where I have an amazing husband/best friend and two awesome boys how could I possibly feel like something is missing? I almost feel ashamed to type it on here and it may make an editing cut before I publish. I just feel blah. Eric is laid off right now and maybe it's our financial issues that cause this blahdism but I just feel blah.

We have big plans for this tax season. Hopefully we will be able to pay off our truck, pay off a small loan to my Grandma, and give Mom and Dad some money towards the groceries and electric bills that they've had to pick up the tab on. I don't know where we'd be without them. We'd also like to get Cody's four wheeler fixed and a chest protector bought for him. We'll see how that goes. Our original plans was to buy a boat but that's not feasible at this time. We're working on our financial situation and trying to get ahead of it. We do not, by no means, spend outside of our means, but, you have to have means to pay your bills and with layoff pay it's just not there.

This is all I have time for right now. More to come I'm sure.

Oh p.s. Austin calls Karen's baby bump Noah. So when we find out the sex of her baby let's hope for Austin's sake it's a boy! lol.

Has my life resolved to this?

So I just realized how completely geek-y I am sometimes. Okay stop laughing now, I know. It is only Thursday and I am completely wishing the weekend away until Sunday when I can watch the Season Finale of my shows on Lifetime! Drop Dead Diva is such a great show. Then I watch Army Wives. It really doesn't have a lot in common with real Army Wives and only somewhat of an actual concept of the the real Army, but, I love it anyway. So the Season Finale's are this Sunday and I'm thinking YAY can't wait to watch them and AWWWW it's the Season Finale....lol.

Homeschooling is going great. Cody is continually surprising me with his intellect. Austin is Austin and that's all I can ask for. He's a handful and sometimes makes it near impossible to complete lessons. Mom tries to take care of him as much as possible, however, with her NMH it's hard on her and inevitably wears her out completely in one day. I was seriously considering just putting him into Paint Valley School District Monday, but, when I talked to Cody about it on Tuesday he started crying and said he didn't want to go. He loves homeschooling. I was shocked and knew it all at the same time.

We are planning a great trip Saturday to King's Island's Hauntfest. We are planning on taking along our dear friend Beatty and his special someone Annie. Hopefully, Karen and Jason will be able to join us as well. We are so excited. We can't wait to ride the Diamondback at night and for our wits to be scared out of us.

Work is slowing down for Eric and that's a scary thought. We had put money back to save for winter's financial hiatus, but, I had to have 6 teeth pulled/cut out so there went our savings account. Seriously it left us with $25 in there. It was awful and I feel incredibly guilty. This winter when we are scrimping and scraping it's gonna be because of me. Yay! We will make it through but hopefully we will win the lottery....ahahaha.

Okay so I'll close with some funny and charming antecdotes from Austin. Funny=When we fake cry to achieve a kiss from him-he calls us "baby". Charming=Today he told me bible and was carrying his children's bible around. How cute is that!

I Love Fall!!

Cody's teacher is at it again. Here's the latest poem.

I LOVE FALL

I love fall! Fall is exciting.

It's apples and cider.

It's an airborne spider.

It's pumpkins in bins.

It's burrs on dog's chins.

It's wind blowing leaves.

It's chilly red knees.

It's nuts on the ground.

It's a dry crisp sound.

It's green leaves turning.

And the smell of them burning.

It's clouds in the sky.

It's Fall. That's why......

I LOVE FALL!!

-Author Unknown

Isn't it though? This poem just sums it up. I do love fall. I like the baking and the apple crisps. The smell is out of this world. I love to walk out the front door, coffee in hand, and just smell the leaves and all the fall-y things.

Homeschooling is going great. Cody is top of his class. He scored first in the state and his school on an online game that preps them for the OAT tests. He's never got anything less than 100% and his teacher is still thinking about the advanced learner program for him. All is good. Life is good. I love my husband SOooooooo much. We have really "connected" as of late and it's wonderful to have "that" type of a marriage.

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Cups of Coffee

The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 CUPS OF COFFEE

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle,
When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the openAreas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee. From under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.
The students laughed. "Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided,"I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - family, children, health,Friends, and Favorite passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is everything else --the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued,"there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.The same goes for life.If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So...Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play With your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal."Take care of the golf balls first --the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked". It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."


Cody's teacher sent us this today and it wasn't until I had cried for the better part of the afternoon did I get it, to it's fullest intent.

Homeschooling and so forth

So Monday will mark the start of our third week at school! So far it has been amazing for.....well me. Not so much for Cody and it breaks my heart and is frustrating all at the same time. He is doing AWESOME as far as the work goes. He's gotten 100% on the many (I'm talking like 20-30 tests in two weeks) assessments that we do! He's paying attention and sitting through the day perfectly. However, if you ask him, he hates it. He wants to be around the other children. I completely understand, I just don't know what else to do. I'm terrified to send him back to a b&m school where the same problems from last year will undoubtedly carry over to this year. I'm at my wit's end here.

Here are a couple of pictures of him doing his science experiment.

Working hard on his science experiment!

Measuring very carefully I'm surprised his tongue isn't hanging out.

Tasting the secret formula! Kool-aid with no sugar=pucker power!

So disgusting. I had agreed fully aware of what I was getting myself into that I too would taste it. I was afraid he wouldn't have tasted it otherwise. Now I don't blame him. I thought I would puke. Mom tasted it as well. So disgusting

nothing like being late

First and foremost, let me say this, my kids did not take to the beach like I thought they would. Austin spazzed everytime we got near the ocean. Cody took until Thursday to come around to it. It was crazy! We had a beautiful condo (thanks Uncle Rob & NeNe) on the 17th floor. This somehow was like a stature thing according to Cody. He kept saying over and over we are only 1 floor from the penthouse! Kids are so funny like that. I'm so glad we decided to go down a day early and stay part of the way. There is no way Austin could have made the whole trip down there.



That being said, Mom and Dad, bought a portable dvd player for the trip with dual screens. However, the second screen was green the whole time. So frustrating. Anyway, we had a blast at Mytle Beach. We stayed on North Beach and although there were a lot of people it wasn't overly crowded. There was plenty of beach room and I didn't spaz about the boys. Austin was okay in the sand and one of the many many pools at the resort. I was so ecstatic when Dad and Eric decided to surprise us and come down Thursday night. I was having fun but I was postively having a blast once Eric got there. Our schedule was as follows:

1. Wake-up


2. Go to beach


3. Go up to the resort eat lunch in condo


4. Go to beach


5. Go up to resort get showers and dressed for exploring, dinner, and putt putt


6. get home late at night and start over

This is what we did pretty much everyday! It was awesome. So much fun to be had and so much was had!

As soon as we got back, we got a new surprise, hence calico kitten named Heidi. She was named as such for the simple fact that she hides at any given notice.

Geesh

It's been forever since I last blogged. That's not like me, I usually have alot to say, if not too much.

We had an interesting day yesterday. Yesterday was my little cousin's birthday party. It was supposed to be at a park, but, with the rain they moved it (thankfully). So we are on our way and driving through some torrential downpours. We flip on the Waverly radio stations and they come across with a thunderstorm warning. You know the ones, take shelter, could be hail, blah blah blah. So we drive along and we start looking at the trees and the wind was kickin'. Flip the radio back on (we are in this little town called Idaho), tornado warning in Pike County including towns of Waverly, Piketon, Idaho, blah blah blah. GREAT!!!! We were hydroplaning everywhere and at times couldn't see the hood of the car. We lived. I am so so so afraid of tornadoes but, I remained amazingly calm yesterday.

We got there and everything was okay. It was fun. Pizza, rain, pools, floods, birthday cake, and presents!

We had a huge yard sale a couple of weekends ago and I raised enough money to pay for my hubby's contacts and give me all the vacation money I needed. It was great! I was so glad to get all my vacation money together. I was really nervous that I wouldn't get enough gathered. We should have a good vacation now. Speaking of which, in 7 days!!!! I am going to be packing starting tonight or tomorrow. Just some things not all though.

Well other than that we are working on our boat and our garden and the house. We're boring I know! lol

Down to 5

As sad as is it is, my last blog was about chickens and this one will be too! Our little town was hit by some pretty ferocious storms Saturday night. We left the house and went to my Grandma's because she has a basement. I'm petrified of tornadoes and that's pretty much what they said we were about to get so we hightailed it out of here. We got there before the storm cut loose and I must say I have never seen hail like that before. It damaged the truck, not real bad or anything, and it damaged Mom and Dad's house with about 20-30 holes in the siding. It also picked up the chicken coop, flipped it, and turned it on it's roof! In the process it killed one of our hens. It was so sad. They are getting so big and yet when she was laying there dead she seemed so tiny. Cody is super upset about it. I mean to the effect that every time we go out the door he says no one mention the chicken. He is totally not realizing he's the only one mentioning it.

Well it's going to get out one way or the other so I might as well just put it out there. My mom is not going to get better. She will always have good days and bad days, but, it will never really be any better than this. That being said, we had a sit down and talked things out and we are just going to stay here forever. We would eventually end up with the house and things one day anyway. We might as well just start living in here too. Therefore, HUGE yard sale soon.

Speaking of yard sales!!! This weekend we accidentally found a community rummage sale that benefited the youth league! Um, hello!!!! They gave you bags and you filled them with whatever you wanted for $1!!! I found a ton of stuff for Cody, nothing for Austin or Eric, and me a few things. I was so excited. I got a Bass sweater with the tags still on it and a brand new pair of swim trunks for Cody! Those two items just by themselves I would have paid over $1 for. Then we stopped at a yard sale on our way home and I hit the jackpot for Mom. I wanted to go back today but I didn't make it there.

The whole house is cleaned and I did 3 loads of laundry today. We went to Giovanni's for supper and then drove around the lake and campgrounds. It was a nice day. I had a splendid day with Eric yesterday and he went fourwheeling today and had a blast. I love him so much. He always knows exactly what to say and do to make me feel better, he always knows how to make me laugh, and he is a wonderful father.

Sorry no pictures again the stinking camera is on the fritz again.

we are now chicken farmers....yeaaahh

Today started just like any other day. I hit the snooze button twice because somehow that makes me having to get out of bed okay 12 minutes later...lol. Then I commenced to getting Cody ready for his tedious day at school. Eric called me and said that they had no work and he was on his way home...boo (need money)...yay (Eric was coming home). I have missed him terribly the past week and a half. I loved him being on layoff. I didn't love the financial hardship of it but I loved spending all day everyday with him. By everyday, I mean when he wasn't working on something. lol. Anyway so we decide to go do our Mother's Day shopping and some running around town. We made a grocery list, and a list of everything we wanted to do. Suffice it to say it all got done, but, we went to 4 of the 5 places twice, and one of them, three times....lol. We started off by going to storage to pay this months rent, then we went to gas station. Someone has nicotine issues (that's me). Then we went back home because we forgot his paycheck from last week...lol. Then we went to the bank and deposited it and paid our rent at the same time. Then we headed to TSC. Okay, this is how this went down. Austin was a little fussy (didn't want to sit in the cart) and Eric takes him towards these heat lamps. Yep it was Chick Days at TSC and we are oohing and ahhing over these baby chickens and baby ducks. And I say (half joking) let's get them a chick. And Eric says okay but you have to call your parents and ask them...lol. I get out the old cellular and make the call and Mom says okay get 2....lol. So we talk to the sales associate and she says you have to buy 4 to get them to survive. So we decide we'll come back later. She also told us that out of this one tub they were all females and would lay good eggs. So, that's what we do. We leave there and hit up Menard's. Mom wanted hanging baskets and Cathy wanted a bathtub (she got a gift card towards her bath tub...lol). So we leave Menard's and go to the Sprint (it is important that you know that it is 11 am). Oh yeah, by the way, we let Cody skip school today...shame on us. I pay the cell phone bill to the tune of $180. Yeah it was a little behind by the way. That pays the entire bill though...so whatever. Then we decide to go to IHOP. We ate and blah blah...that's all I can say cause it was neither good nor bad. We went to Wal-Mart next and got everything on the list and then some. It wasn't my fault. They had reduced ALOT of their infants and kids clothing to $1. I mean this is summer clothing to people. So I bought a ton of stuff for Austin. They only had 2 shirts left for Cody so I snagged those and I bought Miss Kylie McCoy Hatfield 4 things. Anyway we ran into Jessi and Sophie and hung out a little bit. Then we had to go back to Menards. Mom and Dad called and sent us to buy a screen door for the back porch. The one on there now is a piece of crap that is over 12 years old. So Eric runs in cause Austin fell asleep in line at Wal-Mart. Then we went BACK to TSC and bought these chicks. Eric's Mom said we needed 6. Now why she would tell Eric that I'll never know....she should have known what was going to happen next. Yep you guessed it. We ended up with 6 chickens....lol. Oh well, the more the merrier I suppose. So we got the feeder, the feed, the bedding, the chickens, the waterer, and an info sheet on how to raise these chicks. We know for a fact that we got 2 girls no matter what, we're pretty sure the loud one is going to be a rooster. They are cute though. Anyway, so we leave there and go BACK to Menard's for the third time for a tub and a heat lamp (stupid TSC was out). Anyway, we go trekking back in there and when it was all said and done we spent about $80 getting things set up for freakin chickens. So much for saving money this week. lol. Oh well it was worth it, to see Cody THAT happy. We head home.

This whole time I think I receive 5 phone calls from Sprint and a stupid company that keeps calling me about a vehicle warranty....don't have a vehicle in my name STOP calling me. Any vehicle that we do have is SO NOT under warranty anymore...lmao. So we finally make it home and are sitting on the back porch eating supper and my stupid cell phone goes off again and it is sprint again saying that they are going to shut off our phones. It's 7 o'clock now and there is no reason why they haven't posted my payment when I went into the store to pay it and had to pay an extra $5 just because I gave their EMPLOYEES something to do other than talk about employees that were off today. Anyway, I'm mad by now and I call the number back and they told me to call this other number, it's out of service and I'm screaming pay your own phone bill and leave me the hell alone at this point....lol. So I finally get ahold of someone and it's all I can do to understand him. I'm not convinced that he was even in the United States. Anyway I told him to make the phone calls stop and he says but you just pay a little while ago right and I say Uh NO, that was at 11 o'clock this morning it's now 7 p.m. Plenty of time to post the stupid payment. He says blah blah is that all I can help you with and I say NO as a matter of fact I have blocked all text messages from my phone yet Sprint keeps sending them to me and then when I receive them you guys keep charging me for standard text messaging rates. Block the freaking texts from EVERYONE, not just everyone besides Sprint. Ugh I was so mad. He said they shouldn't charge me for it but if it's on my next bill to call back. Yay!!!!! lol

Anyway so that was how my day was. Very busy and eventful. Did I mention that I am going on the second real vacation in my life this summer? Nope I didn't I just checked. We are going to North Myrtle Beach. We are staying at the Baywatch. I am so excited. Eric and Dad are not going to go. Eric has NO desire to go to a beach. So they are going to work and me and Mom and the boys are going to go with my Aunt Renee, Uncle Rob, and Nathan!!!! I'm soo super stoked. MY mother's day present is going to be a tanning package....can't wait for that. Then at least I will have a honey glow by July. I hope.....lol. That also gives me time to lose weight and save up enough money to really enjoy ourselves. WOOOO HOOOO