Isn't She Beautiful!

My niece, Savannah Mae

It might not be fancy...

We bought our home 4 and a half years ago. It was new. No custom painting. Carpet throughout, including under the table area (!!!!), and not fancy carpet at that. Everything about out house screamed "builder." We were totally OK with that.

Four and a half years later, builder grade carpet doesn't look so pretty.

Four and a half years later, builder beige in flat finish is looking a little, OK a lot, dirty.

Four and a half years later, our home needs a little help. OK, a lot of help. Thankfully nothing too expensive, like a new roof or AC.

We have been tackling some projects around the house, SLOWLY!

A year and a half ago, we painted our kitchen. A year ago, we put knobs on our kitchen cabinets (see, told you it was SLOW!).

Manly Man and I have been wanting to make the boys room special...something fun for them. About three weeks ago, I bought paint and painted their room. We finally finished putting it all together yesterday.

(Frank's extra helmet and old mask)

(Frank's shield, patch, and life saving medals from his time with Greensboro FD, yes something is falling in the shadow box!)

(Model fire trucks the boys got, and their baseball trophies)

We are also cleaning out, decluttering, and try to make our home a little nicer.

We really would love to rip up the carpet and put in hardwoods or laminates, especially with Jonathan's allergies, but that costs too much right now and we just aren't going to do it.

Our home might not be fancy. It might not (OK, definitely won't) win any awards for home designs. The carpet might look tie-dyed. And smushed. But it is our home. It is lived in, a lot. And we live in it well. We homeschool in it, which means more people are in our home more hours a day than if we didn't homeschool. So even though our home isn't all cute...I am learning to accept it for what it truly is...our haven. Our safe place to fall. Our sanctuary.

Need A Laugh?

Thought I would share a couple of funny things this dreary Labor Day morning. My boys are still in bed. Guessing they need their sleep, but we are still having school this morning, apparently a little later than planned!




First, for all you Twilight fans out there, I saw a bumper sticker on a car the other day. Here it is:

This cracked me up for some reason. Perhaps it should really scare me, but since the car was parked, I wasn't too concerned:)



Second, we let the boys watch Star Wars (Episodes 4 - 6) about a week ago and they are totally into it now. To quote Jacob, with light saber in hand..."I'm Obi Two Kenobi." Now I am sure that every kid makes that statement, it just makes sense to them. But when it is your own saying it...hysterical!





Have a great Labor Day!

We've Been Busy

After recovering from the worst June ever (since having mono right after I graduated from high school....caught from my ex boyfriend....I know!), we went on a little vacation (only 30 minutes from out house) to house and dog sit for my in-laws. It was wonderful, but I don't have many pictures!

We spent some time in the boat, fishing, at the beach, and eating yummy food. The highlight was the 4th of July festival in Southport. We invited some dear friends of ours to come to the parade with us and the kids had a blast! We ate some lunch, checked out the arts and crafts and then went back to the house to rest and cook some supper. We went back into town for the fireworks and they were great! The kids handled them really well...Jonathan really does not like loud noises, but he just covered his ears and did fine. Our friends stayed with us that night and then we all headed back to Wilmington for church. We had a pool party and Jonathan took a jump into the pool from a deck that was about 8 to 10 feet above the pool! He wanted to do it and did great! I have two almost swimmers...they are in lessons again, since we had to bail on the first session because on illness.

We are wrapping up school too. Jacob can write his name all by himself and that is too cool! Jonathan is reading up a storm. He reads everything put in front of him. I pray that he never loses his love of reading. Getting my curriculum order ready. We start the new school year in September and will have 3 weeks of school and a week off for the year. We will have a couple 2 week breaks in there also, around Christmas and Easter and once in the summer. I am getting excited about this year, but I am still trying to figure out a daily schedule so that I can still make it to the gym. Being able to exercise is really important to me. I am setting an example for the kids, taking a break from them, doing something good and healthy for me plus they get time with other kids. And, we are paying for it. School will be Monday to Thursday with Friday being a catch up/ field trip/ play date/ library day.

So there is the last few weeks in a nutshell. I am hoping to get back to regular postings now. I want the boys to have something to look back on one day and be able to see what life was like for us.

Oh, best of all, I am having a niece!

Finally!

We have finally all recovered! Praise the Lord!
I had pneumonia. Jonathan had double pneumonia. Jacob had strep. Manly Man...he went out of town, came back early because we were so sick and then had to nurture us back to health! But, we are finally feeling well!!!! We are spending a little time away from home this week and are really trying to enjoy the time away, because we really need it. We learned on Friday that the bank that took over the bank that owned Manly Man's mortgage office closed them down. That means that he was laid off from his part time job. We are taking the week to regroup...to pray and seek God for His direction. After all, His plan is so much better than our own!
The boys have been swimming a ton in the last week. They are both making great strides and I am so proud of them! They are also learning how to boogie board! Absolute pure joy of their faces when they ride a wave in...pure joy!
We are hoping to do some boating, fishing, beaching and sleeping while we are away. I need the sleep...last night's sleep was terrible!!! Manly Man snored, so I was headed to the couch when Jacob called for me. He and Jonathan were sharing a bed and they had already woken up fighting about kicking each other in their sleep. I crawled in the double bed and slept like a mummy in the middle of the two! I say slept. I didn't sleep. I tried. I failed. I hate failure. Especially when it comes to sleep! I feel a nap coming soon. But, being that almost the whole month of June was taken off from school, (I'm so mean aren't I...having school in the summer, but when it is 95 with a heat index of 105, I think being inside and learning is much better. We will take time off in the fall when the weather isn't so miserable!), the boys have some learning to do.
What is the worst illness you have had in the middle of the summer?

Start Your Engines!

Because the gates (aka Jacob's hands) are open!

Kicking Off The Holiday Weekend

Enjoying the beach and the tidal pool!

Cherry Point MCAS Air Show

On Saturday, we went up to Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station. They were having their annual air show, featuring the Canadian Snowbirds (a flight demonstration team). We weren't sure how the boys were going to do, since they don't really like loud noises. We brought some ear plugs and they actually did great! The weather was iffy on our way up to Cherry Point...major rain showers! But the rain held off for us, and we were even blessed with a nice breeze. The boys got to climb on a C-130, an osprey and a refueling plane, just to name a few. Here are a few pictures to enjoy. (I even made it a point to get in the pictures with the boys too!)

We finished our trip with dinner in Morehead City at the Sanitary Fish Market. We were very underwhelmed with the food there...oh well. We had to find out what all the fuss was for. Still not sure. (Sorry about the picture quality...there were taken on my cell phone!)

A Word to Moms

Mother's Day wasn't very celebrated in my home growing up. My mom was there. She still is and I love and adore her! She is a great mom! However, we didn't celebrate her except with a card. When she was 8 years old, her mom died. The funeral was the day before Mother's Day. I am sure that you can imagine the loss my mom remembers on Mother's Day.
I have been a mom since 2003. I don't think that I have ever really allowed myself to be celebrated on Mother's Day, for fear of betraying my mom. Last Mother's Day, I realized that it is OK to celebrate it. I am not sure of what our plans are for Sunday. I do know that Manly Man doesn't have to work. Super excited about that! Sometimes I think it would be fun to spend the day being waited on...breakfast in bed and everything. But that won't happen, Manly Man has to be at church too early for that. But that is OK. I will be with him and my boys all day, and maybe even some special friends!
Being a mom is really hard. I was encouraged today when I heard a message that was broadcast on Family Life Today. You can listen to the two part broadcast here.
Enjoy. Be Blessed. Happy Mother's Day!

A Lucky Mom!

How blessed am I?

April Break

We have been on break from school, and apparently blogging too, for the month of April. It has been a busy month!

My nephew came to stay for 6 days while his parents when to London. What a blast that was! We loved every minute of having him here! I think he enjoyed himself too!

Jacob turned 4 in the middle of the month, and the horrible mom that I am (just kidding) didn't even mention it here! We had a joint birthday party with his best bud who was born 10 days before Jacob. I made a Spiderman cake and it was yummy!!!

My mom came over Easter weekend and we stained a TV hutch that we have had, unfinished, for almost 5 years. Mom was a huge help and the weather was perfect!

Manly Man has been extremely busy and we are grabbing every minute of family time that we can. That included a trip to the beach for some fun!

The boys and I went to Georgia for a family reunion. It was wonderful to see some of my mom's family that I don't get to see very often.

I am looking forward to getting back to a routine with school. My life seems more structured then and I function a LOT better. My house is a wreck! Jacob will be starting to "do school" everyday too, and he can't wait! I am setting up some goals for the boys to accomplish over the next three months. Perhaps I will share them here...I may need some advice.

I am also excited that I can post entries to the blog from my phone. Sorry for the cheesy test post Tracey and Anne! I am still working on posting with a picture. Anyone done that yet?

For now...blessings! Write more soon!

Jacob's Hospital Stay and What I Learned

I have finally caught up on sleep, am feeling fairly normal, and have had a chance to process the happenings of the stomach bug in our home and the havoc that it wreaked. I am going to share our experience here and a couple of lessons that I learned in the process. Be warned that this is a long post!
If you read this post, then you know that the stomach bug started on Wednesday with Jonathan, spread to me on Thursday around noon, and hit Jacob on Thursday evening. By Friday morning he was starting to keep fluids down. He didn’t have an appetite, but I wasn’t concerned about that…I still didn’t have one, neither did Jonathan. Jacob did well on Friday. Friday night was good, and then Saturday, he woke up happy and feeling fairly well. We decided to take the boys to a birthday party of a friend of theirs and they were so excited! The boys did not eat at the party, not even cake! Wasn’t concerned. They had a bottle of Gatorade and we were good to go. Manly Man got them a little ice cream that afternoon, but they barely ate any. Still, not worried. They went to bed great, slept great.
Sunday morning, Jacob calls me from the bathroom and I run in there just in time for him to throw up again. Manly Man is off to work and I just try to make the best of things. I called the doctor and, since he didn’t have a fever and had stopped throwing up, and was keeping fluids down, I didn’t take him to the doctor. That afternoon he slept for about 3 hours. It was kind of hard to wake him up actually. When he did get up he looked pretty lethargic and I got worried, but pushed the fluids again. At 11pm, he threw up again and then two more times. I knew he was going to go to the hospital on Monday. I really believe the Lord prepped me for that one, and I was so thankful for it. He didn’t sleep soundly that night, nor did I.
When Manly Man got home, he took him to the walk-in clinic at the peds office. It was packed! The nurses even came out and asked that anyone that didn’t have a major concern should come back or call and make an appointment because it was going to be a long wait. Manly Man stayed with a limp, sleepy Jacob in his arms. He got there at 8:20am and didn’t get called back until 10:30am. Then it was another 30 minutes before the dr got in there. I was at home, trying to get some laundry done, spend time with Jonathan and rest, because I knew what was coming. At the doctor’s office, they checked Jacob’s blood sugar and it was down to 45. Normal is 60 to 120 and, if it had gone much lower, he could have had a seizure! Manly Man called and told me they were probably going to admit him so I called my mom in Charlotte, and jumped in the shower. Manly Man called back and said they were admitting him. I called him mom while shaving my legs in the shower and told her and asked her to come to take care of Jonathan. I called my mom back and told her I didn’t need her, but I wanted her. She left work within 30 minutes and got on the road. I explained to Jonathan what was happening and that I wanted to be with him, but that Jacob needed me and he said it was ok. My mil got here and I left and headed to the children’s hospital.
When I walked in Jacob’s room, I was prepared to see him looking so small in that bed and he did. Last year and very dear friend’s son was put in the hospital for dehydration from rotavirus and I had gone to see them. I was so thankful that I knew what to expect. He was sipping a little bit of juice, in hospital pjs, lying in the bed, looking so frail. He was barely awake and I climbed in the bed with him to snuggle. I didn’t want to be any where else. They had put some numbing cream on the back of both hands to numb the IV sight. They let it stay there, taped on, for an hour and then do the IV. It didn’t work for Jacob. Poor thing. But they got his IV in and splinted his arm so that he wouldn’t bend his wrist and mess up the IV. He cried, but was so brave! They drew some blood and his blood sugar was back up to 65, thankfully! They started pushing fluids in him…they push them hard and fast to shock the cells for the first hour and then slow down the drip. He slept some and then started to perk up a little. Manly Man went home to relieve his mom and bring Jonathan back up to the hospital. I stayed with him and when they got back; my mom had just gotten there too. His color started coming back after about 3 or 4 hours of the IV fluids. We had many friends stop by with snacks, toys and books for us. Many others called to check on us. I felt so blessed and so loved! Jacob slept really hard that night. The nurses came in every hour to check his IV and vitals and that was exhausting for my mom and me. They even checked his blood sugar and he slept through it! It was up to 125 by about 9:30pm. So very excited about that! The doctor came in and told me that the plan for Tuesday would be to push fluids orally and see how he did. Here, the Lord prepped me again that he wouldn’t be going home on Tuesday. Don’t ask me how I knew, it was just the Lord.

(These pictures are about 3 or 4 hours after they started his IV fluids on Monday. Notice the splint? That was Jacob's favorite part...he even brought it home!)

So Tuesday morning he woke up and was full of spunk and energy. They disconnected the IV fluids, leaving in the hep lock, and he was able to eat some cheerios, drink some sierra mist, and go play in the coolest play therapy room ever! He played really hard and was so happy to be out of the bed! Manly Man brought Jonathan back to the hospital and they had such fun playing together. After about 30 to 45 minutes, we went back down to the room and Jacob wanted to lay on the pull out couch. He was looking a little pale and tired and a little bit later, he threw up again! The doctor was in the room for that one and it bought him another night in the hospital. They hooked him back up to the IV fluids.

(This is in the play room Tuesday morning, right before he got sick again.)

My mom took Jonathan home and I went home for a few hours to spend some time with Jonathan. I could tell that he was being affected by all of this. It was so hard to leave Jacob there, even though Manly Man was with him. It broke my heart! I had fun with Jonathan though….we played a game and watched a little TV and snuggled some. I was so empty and exhausted! Mom and I went back to the hospital with Jonathan and Manly Man brought him home for the night.
The second night in the hospital was a little quieter. The nurse didn’t come in as often, per our request, and she charted his info on the computer outside instead of inside his room where the monitor would glow for what seemed like forever. They stopped his IV fluids at 6am. He ate a little for breakfast and we pushed the fluids. He played, but not as hard, on Wednesday and they discharged us from the hospital about 3pm that afternoon. The boy walked out of the hospital! He didn’t walk at all on Monday, we carried him every where because he was so weak.

(Right after he found out he was going to go home!)

What I learned through all this is...
1. Don’t force them to eat…their appetite will return and they know their bodies better than we do.
2. Do make them drink and monitor their fluids for a few days after the bug; Jacob weighs about 37 pounds and he needs about 45 ounces of fluids a day! Shocking!
3. When your blood sugar drops, it can cause nausea and vomiting…your get caught in a vicious cycle
4. When friends offer to bring something to you, accept it or ask for it…granola and fruit are good options
5. Chap Stick is a must in a hospital…the air is so dry!
6. Slip on shoes like crocs or Birkenstock are great because you can climb in the bed with your child and slip your shoes off very easily and put them back on easily when you need to get up (read: no germies on the bed)
7. Get out of the room and get some sunlight on your face if at all possible…it makes a huge difference!

So, there your have it. If you made it this far, thanks for taking a few minutes. And thank you for your prayers as we went through this.

And as s side note...next February, I have every intention of finding a cave to hibernate in with my family for the whole month! Remember what last February was like?

Dessert Please!

We here have a sweet tooth. We, this time, really means all four of us. I was reading an article in Family Circle that had a great idea about kids and dessert that I wanted to pass on to you. One doctor allows her children to have dessert ONLY if they have had 3 servings of fruits and/or veggies during the day. BRILLIANT!
Do your kids get dessert and are there conditions attached?

Weekly Review

I have been struggling with what to write. Who out there in blog land hasn't? I keep thinking that I need to do what my friend Ainsley does...short fun posts. She is so good at them! For some reason I feel a pressure to have fun things to say, great photos to post, and other self-inflicted standards! I have even told myself that if I had a phone that I could blog from, that would help! How crazy am I???



I am going to try to post each Monday with a "weekly review" to show what we have been up to that week. Maybe I will post more often than that...who knows! I hope to, but I have to get rid of the pressure I put on myself.

Without further delay...



Monday...getting over colds, so no yoga for me!



Tuesday...weigh in day, lost .2 pounds



Wednesday...Manly Man home ALL day, we played in the park....a blast!



Thursday...God answered my prayer for giving me what I needed to care for the babies at Bible study in the morning with three sleeping babies...He amazed me that He knows what I need, even when I don't! Jonathan read a story that had 14 sentences! Not three word sentences either! My three boys each got me one rose for Valentine's...too sweet!



Friday...the kids had a Valentines party at our house and it was a great time! 8 kids, 3 babies, 5 women...one big blessing! I got the Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga DVD and did it this morning too...it was WONDERFUL!



Saturday...the day of love, Manly Man at the fire station for the second half of a double shift; a little sore from Friday's yoga...but a good sore!



Sunday...yoga in the morning, great sermon at church and dinner with some great and fun friends!

Snow Day

We all had a blast playing in the snow yesterday! We had a snow ball fight with our neighbors and built a snowman. The boys named him "Frosty." What else do you name a snowman? They were wide-eyed when the snow started and kept begging to go outside more. They are getting ready to head out in just a few minutes to play some more in the snow. We are thankful!
You can click the photo to enlarge it!

Photo Tag

Heather tagged me a few weeks ago for a photo tag. I had to pick the fourth picture in the fourth folder, and in my case, in the fourth folder again of the "my pictures" folder. Here it is!
From the left: my only nephew, my cousin, my step-grandma, Jacob, my grandfather, Jonathan

This was the first time my grandfather met Jacob and he was already 8 months old. They live in Georgia. I love these pictures of generations, so I am including the one from a little over a year ago (4 generations), at my grandfather's 79 birthday party. He is 80 now...young to have 3 great grands don't you think? There is something really cool about that for me because I have great memories of two of my great grandparents...they didn't go to heaven until I was 19 and 25! I am not sure how much longer we will have Papa around, but I know that my boys will at least remember him!

A Hunting We Will Go

Jonathan got to go on his first dove hunt on Friday! Manly Man took him and he had a great time! He even went into the field to "fetch" (his words) two doves that Manly Man shot. Jonathan said, "they are bloody!" But, he did it! He picked them up and carried them back to Manly Man. My little boy. Just a year ago, he went deer hunting for the frist time. (He isn't carrying a shot gun or rifle, just his toy gun!) Jacob got to go to Waffle House with Manly Man, get a new toy gun, and go to the park. Then he got to hang with me. Stay tuned for details!

Boys and Girls

I have really been struggling with understanding boys lately. They are so much more aggressive than girls, louder than girls, I think more talkative than girls too! I have one sister. No brothers. I love my boys, but I don't get them!

A few nights ago the boys were playing Nascar on our rug. Manly Man got under it so that he could be the hill...

After his turn was up, he asked me if I wanted to do it. I looked at him like he was crazy. I told him that I would lay on my tummy and let them drive cars on my back so I could pretend that I was getting a massage!

See boys and girls are different. Very different. I need to work on my "playing with the boys" skills. Thinking about getting the book Bringing Up Boys also, so I can understand them better.

Have any fun stories about boys and girls?

My Kids NEED Your Help!

My boys are "sandwiched out." They can't take another sandwich for lunch. We've done the nugget thing too. Cheese quesadillas. Apples with peanut butter and crackers. Please help me come up with something new and maybe even fun to feed my kids! They would love it! Know that I don't really want to "cook" a lunch...heat up quick is OK but no major cooking allowed. So my question...
What do you feed your kids for lunch?

Humbling

Today is Manly Man's birthday! Happy Day Manly Man!

I arranged for Grandma and Papa to keep the boys last night so Manly Man and I could go on a date! He was so surprised when I asked him to get the stuff out of the back of the van (their pillows and suitcases)! We had a wonderful date...we went to dinner and a movie and then for coffee. It felt really weird not trying to rush home. It felt really weird getting ready for our date and not having children around. It was VERY quiet in our house yesterday afternoon. It was the first time in almost 4 years that we were in our house and the boys were not...almost 4 years! We so needed it!

We have been wanting to see Fireproof since we knew it was coming out, but actually making it to a movie is very hard! We are always interested in movies that have firefighting in it. From Manly Man's perspective, they did a good job, overall. There were a few things we noticed, but all in all, the fire scenes were good. We chuckled at the firehouse humor, and were grateful that the language was MUCH better than it tends to be in a "real" firehouse. Manly Man has to deal with hearing the foul mouths every time he is on duty. It is hard!

We wanted to see the movie for other reasons...it is a Christian done movie, and as a few folks have said, it was well done and not "cheesy." We have also had our fair share of hard things to deal with in our marriage over the last seven years. We learned about the movie when we were going through one of those patches. We have been having honest conversations a lot in the past few months, which have been good, but hard too. Manly Man asked me if I thought that I loved him well. My answer was immediate, "No." I thought that I didn't love him well because I wanted him to meet expectations that weren't fair, especially since he wasn't made to meet them, or even told about them from me! I have been struggling with that the past couple of weeks. While watching Fireproof, I felt the Lord stirring in my heart. I didn't love my husband well because I didn't love the Lord well. It was such a resounding chord in my heart, that I knew it was from the Lord, not the enemy trying to attack me. I cried through most of the movie. I cry thinking about it now. I think that the Lord has been using the past few weeks to soften my heart so that I could actually hear from him! How wonderful that He knew what needed to be done, so that I could be ready to hear the message that I needed. Me loving my husband doesn't come from me...it can only come from an overflow of the love of the Lord. I am humbled now at my need for Him...I always knew that I needed Him, but I thought I could do much of it on my own! It is my prayer that I can lean wholly on the Holy One, instead of just saying that I do.

I am waiting for some answers from the Lord. Perhaps as I do lean wholly, I will start to hear a few more answers!

Are you leaning wholly on the Lord?