sushi

Yes... the boy can put it away.



He's so cool.

Gotta love Gravity

A group of us went long boarding at the Dam. I included a video of the shortest hill, only a 1/2 mile. My favorite was the 1 and a 1/2 mile.....so sweet! In the video John and I were in back. John is in the orange hoodie and I am in front of him in the black jacket. At the end I was just sure he was going to take me out with his power slide. Check it out.

Sorry about the quality, it was taken with my phone.

Borrowing Emma...

Little Libby loves Emma! Libby fed her, sang and danced for her, and read books to her. Libby wanted me to ask Beth if we could keep her. When I said "I don't think so" . Libby said "Well, maybe we can just borrow her". I said "I suppose that's what were doing....borrowing her". :)

Opening Day....

What cutie pies!!!

Until then.

Well, one thing is for sure. I have been blessed with some of the best friends ever! Both new and old I thank all of you who have been so wonderful to me. It is because of your love that I know and feel God's love.
Slowly but surly I am becoming more at peace with my life, even though it is not as I had designed I am confident that God is good. And, with that I will trust in His faithfulness with whatever this life offers me. It is my prayer that God will work in the lives of my children in the same way. It is my hope that they will learn of God's unfailing love early in their young lives and trusting in that will give them the hope that will sustain them until eternity. And so... until eternity I will live and love hard and embrace all the joys and the sorrows.

a new day

Well, it is safe to say that this past week has been one of the hardest weeks of my life. Maybe the only one that could rival it would be the one in which I lost my father. I know many of you are curious. I wish I could go into it but as I stated once before on my blog, it just doesn't feel right. Some things are too personal and too hurtful.
For now, everyday is a new day and I am learning to surrender to those things I can't control. And, even though I have discovered how un-deservingly ugly life can get I remain hopeful. The things I grieve today I grieve for three. But, at the same time I have a hope for three too. It is within this hope that I know these things I grieve I will not grieve forever.

The kids and I saw “Bridge to Terabithia” this past weekend. Probably one of the best movies I have ever seen, most likely because the message was perfect in its timing... “nothing crushes us”.

Isaiah 43:1-3

Have you ever felt people's prayers?

I do.

its a beatiful day in the neighborhood.....

I would be soo lying if I didn't say that I wasn't in desperate need for a day like today. Work was hilarious as we had a red bull party in the stock room. I must admit this was my first red bull
experience. And, I loved it. It gave us the energy we needed to play a quick game of “pig”( shooting a paper wad into the trash) and then we went on to tackle the coat wall, a huge wall that had only 4 coats hanging on it....it looked so sad. However, it brought me great joy to cover this barren wall with SUMMER fishing shirts. Can I get a hallelujah! As I left work I was blinded by the sun and I felt real heat for the first time this year. It was 60 degrees! I instantly thought of my long board in the back of my mini (van not cooper). I ran my errands, came home put dinner together (to cook later), and headed for the hill right outside our front door.....heaven!

I'M BACK WITH A MAC!

Yep! and I love it. Thanks to my big sis (and brother in law) I am sitting on my couch posting! Not only that but while I was meeting a friend for lunch yesterday at a restaurant I logged on just for kicks and giggles. That is a luxury that only Tim had before.

I have come along way since I started this blog. In the beginning I was on the slowest dial up ever (it took 20 minutes to post a picture and that was only if it didn't time out) and as of a couple days ago I was tied to the very old and ornery family pc. I feel like a free woman!! :)

If your wondering or just plain miss me....

I haven't been on the blog because my computer is hosed. :(

BURRRRR!

Since my dear friend in Africa can whine about burning up (never mind she’s el’ prego and living in a desert). I figured I can whine about FREEZING! It’s amazingly cold! I think the low last night was 5 degrees and its not suppose to warm up anytime soon. I can’t get the temperature in our home above 63 degrees. Our heater just can’t keep up.

The guys working on the house (putting up siding) have started a fire. I’m so cold in this house I’m debating going out there and joining them. My mom says it’s El’ Nino. Well I say It’s El’ Nun ‘ya! Because I want “nun” of it. As a former Floridian, I am committing today to never live any more north than I do at this very moment! I’m even including the north side of town!! O.k… thanks for listening to my rant. I feel a little better now, not warmer, just better ;)

Strange with a capital S!

Something strange happened to me today at work. I got bit. I got bit by a guy. A coworker. On the cheek. This guy has always been very friendly but that’s just odd. He came up behind me and before I knew it, I had been bitten. Hmmmmm….
It has been a while since I’ve been in the workforce but I wasn’t expecting this.

So... I'm an idiot

Anyway, I found out that my new favorite place isn't Ription lake but Ripshin Lake ;) . I was right about one thing... it is one of the most beautiful places on Earth!! If you follow that link scroll down and you will probably agree with me . If not ....you are no longer welcome on my blog. Just Kidding...I think :)

If you are interested in seeing some of the photos that were taken of the fam. while at Ripshin check it out here.
Click enter then go into gallery , then events, and find Ripshin Christmas tree farm. :Warning: there are A LOT of photos.

Anyway, I may be an idiot but I have more hope for my son. Especially, with the reading that is required of him in only the First grade! He came home with a book of poems by Jack Prelutsky. (Whom I have come to love). But, this was tough reading for the boy AND he was going to be tested on this stuff. This is an example of the first poem.

I Told the Wizard to His Face

I told the wizard to his face,

"You're just a fraud, a phony,

A fake, a sham, a charlatan,

Your spells are pure baloney,

Your hogwash couldn't fool

An unsophisticated child-

What do you have to say to that?"

The wizard merely smiled.

"You see, you have no answer,"

I continued, feeling bold,

"You only use illusion

When you turn balloons to gold.

In fact, your poor pathetic act

Is practically a crime-

What do you have to say to that?"

He smiled a second time.

I escalated my harangue,

And blared triumphantly,

"Your prestidigitation

Simply can't bamboozle me!"

The wizard smile a wider smile,

"Piff poff" was all he said-

Since then I've been but two feet tall

And have a hamster's head

I've been told that after having this certain teacher( whom I love) we ( I mean he) could easily skip second grade. I might be beginning to believe it. Anyway if you have some time on your hands look up some of Jack's poems....I really enjoy them (never mind he's a child's poet). He's good.

Just in the nick of time!

Wheeewwwh! Libby pulled out of her funk just in time to be included in our family photo shoot. It's a good thing because I swear she was the cutest thing! We (the fam) were asked to take part in our state’s new advertising campaign. We went to one of the most beautiful spots I have seen. There is an amazing Christmas tree farm hidden behind Ription lake. This lake is the best kept secret in East TN. It is a quaint little lake that edges right up to a small country road. It sits there very still with parts covered with ice and snow.
Despite it being incredibly cold the kids did great. No whining and they did whatever the photographer told them to do. We're promised some cool photos out of this. I took some scenic shots with my phone because we forgot both of our very nice cameras ( why do we have them??).
Luke is thinking he will be famous…after all he did get out of school for half the day for this. This has to be a big deal! Not really….just a neat experience for our family and a chance to do something cold ….I mean cool ;)

"hush little baby don't say a word momma's gonna...."

Well, I was wrong when I said Libby is on the mends. We are home again today and the Libster is still not better. We are on the 5^th day with a fever (not including Luke’s 3 days last week). Thank goodness its low grade, but unfortunately it’s enough to keep her out of school. I’m starting to get a little nervous. We have a photo shoot on Friday morning. A lot of people are depending on us to be there and healthy with no snot chapped noses, I’m sure. Hmmm….everyone can start praying now. I know it is out of my control but I don’t want to let anyone down.

I’m beyond these four walls making me crazy. I’ve upgraded the nervous tick to a full on body rock while singing a lullaby under my breath….ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Another one bites the dust...

Well , over the weekend Libby came down with whatever Luke had. She is feeling better and her fever has past but I think now she is suffering from a broken heart. Unlike Luke she is deeply sadden because she is missing school today. Every few minutes she breaks down in tears. She being my healthy child hardly ever gets sick. She hasn’t taken it very well.

And, the weather outside is frightful. It is wet and cold mixed with a fog that looks like its going to stay with us for a while. As for me I can feel my mental and emotional well being deteriorating as I sit her. With the exception of going to work for a few hours yesterday I haven’t left the house since Friday. So, next time you see me if I have a nervous tick ….well, now you know why.

On a very cute note…. (At least what I think it is cute, but who know at this point….) As Luke was walking to the neighbors this morning for school (car pool) I watched him stop to pick up every earthworm he saw in our driveway and toss it in the yard (attempting to save their life). He has such a sweat heart.

shine down on me....

I took this picture while driving around town this morning (with my camera phone no less). It was amazing. The boldest sun rays I have ever seen. And, remember I grew up in Florida. My phone takes less than bad pictures so know it was actually far more spectacular than this photo. Just, thought I share.

And …. Yes, the power ball is at 205 million. Tim and I have actually been trying to talk our financial class small group into going in together to win that thing. We haven’t any takers yet.

My God , my God why have you forsaken me....

Just kidding …its not THAT bad. I’m taking a break from bundling 75,000 dollars of F.City receipts. They need to be shipped out tomorrow to make room for 75,000 more. My job on the PTA board is to get these receipts to the proper people so that our school gets credit and can buy extra educational tools for our teachers and students. Fortunately, I haven’t had to count all of them but my hands have touched each receipt as I have had to have them in a certain order and shipped according to F.City standards. Yuck! To add to the Yuckiness I have a sick kid for the second day and I can’t get my I tunes to play music. So, I am sitting in a cold silent kitchen (except for the sound of Legos Star Wars in the distance) with endless amounts of paperwork surrounding me. I might try and escape these four walls later and treat my sick boy and me to something yummy but that depends on the boy and his motivation to get off the couch….not likely. Sorry to put you through this dull read today. Sadly, updating the blog is my highlight.

**EDIT** Never mind about the previous highlight. Just as soon as I posted this the Teilhet's walked in the door. They had a few minutes to kill over lunch so they stopped by. Never under estimate the positive effect of adult communication. Only downer I couldn't hold baby Emma because of Luke being sick... bummer.

Now What?

Okay… today a new day and a day with both kids in school. Well, Libby only has half days but it was long enough for me to design my cabinets for the entire house. And, meet with my exterior designer. That’s not her official title. Really, she just sells siding but I made her my exterior designer because I had to have some serious help picking what the house was going to look like. She has definitely gone above and beyond for us. Now that I think of it we have been blessed by some awesome sub contractors that have helped us quite a bit. I guess it obvious we don’t know what we are doing and people have been very kind to us. Everyone except the evil concrete people that we are in litigation with. Anyway, the house is going to be gray (really its called spice. It’s a warm gray) siding with white trim and black shudders to match the roof. And we are going to accent with shake and stone. I’m so excited to have that behind me. We have had samples of siding and shake all over our kitchen.

Yesterday, I had to go pick up some medicine and even the pharmacist was way more helpful than expected. It was some EXPENSIVE cream for Luke’s planters wart. It came with a rebate that will cover almost a third of it. While I was waiting for the prescription the pharmacist found me and wanted to double check that I understood what the price was going to be and we talked about the information I needed for the rebate. I was in there for a while and talked with several people about the medicine. Only to come home and read that this medicine is generally used for external genital warts. GREAT! This is a place I frequent often. Now What.?