We made it!

Well folks, we have finally gotten moved in...YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!! This has definitely been the most stressful move we have ever made...and you know that we are moving pros! I don't know if it was because of the lack of organization that the movers had, the fact that it was Christmas time, because we have all had terrible colds/allergies/crud (welcome home!), the 1000 miles!!!!!!, or a combination of all the above. Anyway with all that, we still made it. We are by no means organized yet, but we are getting there. I can not wait for the kids to go to school next week (without me going YIPEEEEEEEEE) to see what I can accomplish. Also I am dying to catch up with all my stay at home friends that I have missed dearly for the past year!

On to church news. The people here are wonderful!!!!! They absolutely outdone themselves. They had painted the entire house for us, including all the wood trim white! They set up a real Christmas tree for us and everybody in the congregation bought ornaments to "introduce themselves". They put bows and garland on all the windows and candy canes on all the cabinet knobs. They even had a wreath on the front door and an Alabama flag for Brad in the front yard (well nobody's perfect!). Brad preached Sunday for the first time and had 2 baptisms Sunday night, how awesome is that! Tonight we have our New Year's get together with games and finger foods followed by fireworks at midnight. I will hopefully get some pictures up soon, but first I need to find my camera :)! Hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year's!

Sorry it's been so long.

Let me start out by saying that I cannot wait until Friday aka...MOVING DAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that that is out of my system let me first apologize for being so far behind on updating my blog. Just to let you know how crazy my life has been, I just uploaded Thanksgiving pictures today only because I have to make room on my camera for Christmas. I am so anxious to move and go back to my former life as a stay at home mom. I am ready to once again cook supper every night, have all the cleaning done BEFORE the kids get home from school, not minding helping my kiddos with homework because I won't have done it ALL day long, an get to the million crafty projects I have been dying to try. Did I mention I got myself a sewing machine for Christmas that I can't wait to learn how to use! Also we will be living in the preacher's home which is in need of some decorating TLC. I can't wait to get started, but first I must get in gear here. I keep saying I have so much to do, but have no clue where to get started, maybe my inspiration will come soon.

Here are some of the pictures that was taken during Thanksgiving at MawMaw's.

We decided to play football after lunch.

Here are me, Brandon, and Jamie. Notice how short I am and I have heels on!
Jamie striking her Heisman pose!

And our newest member...

Haylie Elise

Yes I do know it is still November!

O.K., I know that it is only November 16 and I am usually very anti about putting up a Christmas tree before Thanksgiving (because let's face it Thanksgiving always gets left out), but due to the fact that we are moving Dec. 18 I finally talked Brad into getting our tree up and wasn't it worth it.......... I Love My Tree!!!! One reason I look so forward to putting up the tree is because Christmas ornaments have always been my collectible. Every year we have a family ornament and a kids ornament. Also that is the one souvenir from all the vacations we take that I get, so I have one for every place me and Brad have went to. We also get a new home ornament for every new home, so lets face it that takes up half of the tree :)! So long story short, I couldn't imagine going through another whole year without my tree because it houses all my memories!

Moving home....

Yes, we are moving to Fairview, Tn (outside of Nashville). I am so happy to be moving close to family and friends again. We are still planning on leaving Breckenridge around Dec. 18, but it will take us a few days to get there. I really was hoping to be settled for Christmas, but that won't be happening. I am thinking very seriously about putting my tree up now and taking it down before we move. I know that sounds CRAZY, but if you know me at all, you know Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year. If I can't have my tree, I may go into total depression! Anyway, onto some other news. The kiddos had their eye appointments this week and they both have to get glasses. I knew it was coming since everyone in both mine and Brad's entire family wears glasses except Brandon...LOSER! Carley is actually pretty excited. Her glasses are sooooooooo cute. They are pink with a little diamond and a flowered pattern on the sides. Her eyes are actually pretty bad (like Daddy's). He said that one eye is pretty weak even with the glasses, so he wants her to wear them for 2 months and then see her again. If it's not any better, he wants to patch 1 eye for 2 hours a day to strenghten the other eye. I know that will go over GREAT! Jacob's is just normal can't see like Momma. He was NOT a happy camper. He had told me the night before that if he had to have glasses, he would break them. I know that this is going to be a battle of the wills, but I hate to tell my hard headed little man that Momma is going to win! He tried on every pair of children's glasses they had with a sullen look on his face, telling me he hated every pair. Finally the lady had a pair in the back that had just come in. They are blue and green and he finally decided to give in and go with those. I am just grateful they both are getting them at the same time, or I might have had to have Jacob's glued to his face. At least this way he is not alone and Carley will be doing the same thing.

We had our tryout last weekend at Fairview (the church in TN) and everything went well. We have not really heard anything formal from them, but they seemed super interested. Next weekend is our trip to Crestview (the church in FL). We leave here Friday, plan to drive to Hattiesburg (about 10 hrs away), then drive the other 4 hrs on Saturday. We won't leave until Monday and should hopefully be home on Tuesday. It is going to be a long weekend. At this point I really don't know what I want to do. I can see good things happening with Fairview, but
it is hard for me to get excited about anything at this point. I am so mentally exhausted that I am just going through the motions. I know everything will work out like it is suppose to, but I really hope it happens soon!

Onto other news. My sweet baby girl niece was born yesterday! They ended up inducing Suzanne Thursday around 1:00. She was 36 weeks and 1 day. They finally ended up doing a c section around 6:00 Friday morning...poor girl!!! Miss Haylie ended up weighing 6lbs 14 oz and 18 in long. I told Brandon she would have been a big baby if she had of waited 4 more weeks! She was breathing on her own, something the doctors really didn't expect with her being early and came out of NICU yesterday morning. She is perfectly healthly!

Complicated!

Where do I even begin. Let's start with Jacob having the flu-regular,not swine-and Brad with a sinus infection-sick man...no fun!!! Then lets move onto Suzanne, my brothers wife to be who is pregnant and due Nov 18. She has been admitted to the hospital with high blood pressure-last I heard 209 over 109! They did an ultrasound and said the baby(Haylie) is weighing in at about 6 1/2 pounds and is in the 91st percentile, so if she has to be delivered early she should be o.k. They are trying to wait until Wed. when Suzanne will be 35 weeks and see what happens. We have another scheduled tryout for next weekend. It is in Fairview, TN not too far from Nashville, close to Franklin. The church is flying us there on Friday and we are coming home Monday. This is where the complicated part comes in. As I said in a previous post, I knew it would come down to living closer to family or being in our dream location-BEACH! We will not make a decision until after our tryout at Crestview(close to Destin,FL) on Nov. 1. Please pray that everything works out, and we make the right decision. I could really use some feedback on this subject. I am feeling a little leftout and am even wondering if any one out there is even reading this. Let me know!

Help/Prayers Needed

Brad finally got to announce Wednesday night that we were leaving. That was actually a huge relief because we have been holding this in for a while. We have already sold our house, I know a major shocker! There was a girl a school looking and I secrectly told her the situation and told her she was more that welcome to look. She did and they made us an offer Sunday night. They have sold there home, but are moving in with her parents this weekend and we have set the closing date for Dec. 18. Now here's the prayer request!!! We #1 need a job. We have 1 tryout set for Nov. 1, but that is all for right now. The tryout is in Crestview, FL, 20 minutes north of Destin. That I know will also cause a dilemma. That is our dream spot to live, but at the same time, we were kinda wanting in the Nashville area so we could be closer to family and we could live close to my new niece who will be arriving in Nov. We do have lots of options in that area, but none have called yet. Crestview is only 5-6 hours from home, which is defifnitly closer than 15. Granted Crestview may not even offer a job, so I may be stressing over nothing and then really be stressing that we get nothing and become homeless on Dec. 18. Please pray that all works out. I know God will take care of us, he always has, but the OCDness in me wants it now. So if nothing else pray for me to be patient and wait for God to lead me down the right path!

Update

Sorry it as been so long, but once school is back in session my life becomes consumed. School for the kiddos has been good so far. They are at different schools this year because the schools are split PK-1, 2-3, 4-6, Jr high , and high school. I was a little concerned how that was going to work, but so far so good. School for me has been a little different. JR high kids are definitely a new bred. Also I have so much more responsibility this year, but I have made it 2 weeks LOL! As for everything else in my life it is CRAZY as usual. We are struggling with the church and not really sure what to do next. They have all of a sudden decided that they believe in marriage, devorce, and remarriage and really don't want Brad to "hurt anybody's feelings" when he preaches. Well my opinion of that is if your feelings get hurt, your guilty! We also have a youth minister that is as liberal as they come and we have expressed our concern to the elders, but they do not seem to care. I know Brad won't make it here much longer, so just pray everything works out. We would like to be closer to family and friends, which when you're 15 hours away pretty much anything is closer. We will just have see what happens. I really don't want to move in the middle of the year, but I am not under a contract with the school so if we HAD to it wouldn't be too bad from that aspect. We also need somewhere we have a support system. We feel a little lonely here in the Lone Star State(now I know where that name came from LOL)!
On to other news. The carseat law here was 6 years old or 36". Carley has been 36" since she was 5, so we took her out of her booster at about 5 1/2 and got rid of the booster seat. Well the law now states 8 years old or 4'9", so today we have to shop for 2 booster seats. One for my car and one for Brad's. I take Carley in the mornings and Brad picks her up in the afternoons, so we need 2. It is a good thing Jacob is 8, because he is only 45", so he is still too short but luckily meets the age requirerment. Sister was not a happy camper, but I talked it up and told her she could pick out a "cool looking carseat" and so far that has worked, but we will see when we get to the store today!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Yesterday we went to Abilene to go to Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, and just get out of the house some before going back to school. Jacob and Carley were in the backseat having a conversation about God and what he looks like and how he acts, that sort of thing. I hear Jacob say "Carley you don't know, you haven't seen him" and Carley responds "yes I do, I seen him before he sent me down here". I start to laugh and told Brad that we have told them their entire life that God sent them here to live with us, so I guess she was actually listening. Too Cute!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACOB BRADLEY

I can't believe you are 8 years old! It seems like such a short time ago I welcomed you into my life, yet I cannot remember a time without being your mommy.
You have always been my sweet boy, who acts just like me. Poor thing, you inherited my "OCDness" and have to have everything just the right way.

But you also have a silly side just like your daddy and your uncle!

You have made it so far, so fast and are turning into an awesome "BIG" boy!

I Love You Jacob!

The Very Best Vanilla Ice Cream!

I found an awesome recipe for my fellow ice cream lovers:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 T. vanilla
2 c. half & half
2 c. whipping cream
Mix all ingredients and place in ice cream maker.

This ice cream is unbelievable. It has the texture kinda of like frozen whipped cream. I am sure it's not fattening at all LOL! I have also added many things to mine such as bananas, chocolate chips,etc. I am pretty sure you can't go wrong with it!

As Promised

I told everybody that we redid we floor in the family room and that I would eventually get some pictures up. This is a before photo (no, not a very good one but it at least gives you an idea of the carpet and the wall color... PLAIN!) This is an in progress picture. Remember I said we had to sand the concrete first. No it is not snowing in the living room, that is dust flying everywhere!

Here is the finished product!

Here it is from another view. Hopefully a corner fireplace will soon be filling up the empty corner.

And my tile job. I was pretty impressed with myself since this was the first time I had every laid tile, and I did it all by myself!

To catch everyone up

Well I feel as though I have been out of commission the last couple of days. On July 4, me and Brad woke up and decided to rip the carpet out of the family room. This has been something we have wanted to do for a while, but always assumed we would have some sort of plan. After taking the carpet up we decided to stain the concrete. The family room use to be the back patio and they closed it in and made a room. It has a step down going into it (what use to be the porch step) and we decided to tile that. It took us a week to get everything done, including sanding the concrete before applying the stain. My house was turned absolutely upside down for a week! We finally got everything done yesterday and I will get some pictures up soon so everyone can see how it turned out.

I have also been trying to get ready for VBS which is next week. I am teaching the 2-4 year olds. Last year this was one of the biggest classes with as many as 35 kids some nights! I am decorating my room in a zoo theme, which I'm sure is totally appropriate.

On to funnier news. Last night we had told the kids to go brush their teeth and go potty to get ready for bed. After a few minutes, Carley came in and said Jacob was crying. Me and Brad went in there to find out the problem and you will never believe what he said. He told us that he was sad because he wanted to live with us forever and never wanted to leave home. I was totally floored; this came so out of the blue. Of course his crying lead Miss Drama to crying and we spent 30 minutes trying to explain how life was suppose to work. I couldn't help but laugh. I told Brad I wish I could record that conversation and play it back in 10 years when they hate us and are dying to move out! Leave it to children to say the craziest things!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARLEY BROOKE!!!!

It is hard to believe that you are 6 years old today!
When we welcomed you into this world, you let everybody know right from the start that you were here and it was going to be your world! Your personality has always been so different from Jacob's. You have always been my girly girl.

You have also been a daddy's girl from the get go. You and daddy are so much alike, it is scary. Y'all have the same way of doing everything. You are carefree and never get in a hurry to do anything, just like him, a trait that drives this OCD mommy CRAZY!!!

You have always been my beautiful little girl. Hardly a day goes by that I don't get told how gorgeous you are, and of course I agree!

Your life has had to change so much over the past few years and you have always taken everything in stride.

You are no longer my baby girl, but my big girl! I wish all the best as you continue to grow and change over the years to come, and just hope that we both survive!

Happy Birthday my big girl, momma loves you!!!

We're Back!!!

Well we are back from Disney World and we had an awesome time! It was an exhausting trip, but it was so worth it. The only problem now is we are dying to go back, everyone for except maybe Brad. The kiddos did pretty good considering that we were getting up early every morning, it was very hot, and we were on the go most of the day.
We also got to meet tons of characters, including my main man Mickey. It was a great experience getting to see the kids face as they seen all of their favorite characters.
We also had a great time with JoJo. I loved getting to spend that time with her. Dropping her off at the airport Sunday was the hardest thing I've had to do. Carley cried for 45 minutes after we dropped her off. It was heartbreaking!

I have tons of more pictures, but there was no way to get them all on here, so if you would like to see them you can check out my facebook page.

On to other news, yesterday Brad turned 32!!! I want him to know that I love and appreciated everything he does! I hope you had a great Birthday!!!!!!!!!

Finally Here!

Well the vacation I have been planning for literally a year is finally here. We are going to Walt Disney World YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am just a little excited, can you tell. For those of you who don't know, I love Mickey Mouse! Jacob's nursery was done in Mickey, the original not the baby mickey, I am anal like that. Anyhow, we leave here Thursday to go to Dallas to pick up JoJo(my sister Jamie)from the airport. Then we are going to spend the night in Dallas and our plane leaves Friday morning at 7:30 and we will be back the night of Friday the 26. I think me, Brad, and Jamie are more excited than the kids are! I will definitely update you on our trip when we get back and will post lots of pictures!

Ch Ch Changes!

Yes, my blog is different! As most of you know I hate to have things the same old way all the time (note all my different hairstyles). I decided this time to not go my usual way and go for something fun. Afterall I do live in a house full of monkeys! Hope you like it.

Swimming Lessons

Well we attended our first session of swimming lessons on Monday. They spent most of the time just getting the kiddos use to the big pool. They had them hang on to the side and kick and they also took each child and held them and had them practice the swimming motion. They tried to get each child to put their face in the water(you can imagine the reaction from my son!). When we got there we realized Carley's best friend, Taylor was there. Of course the two of them didn't get much accomplished for the constant talking, gotta love girls! Jacob just kinda made himself a wall flower and tried to disappear. He kept telling me he didn't need swimming lessons, they were boring. The fact is he is scared too death and doesn't want to admit it. At the end of the lesson all the kids got to put a life jacket on and have "play time". The pool has a really cool built in slide(kinda what you would see at a water park). I told Jacob to go down the slide that Jessica was at the end to get him(a lifeguard that we go to church with, whose family has become some very dear friends). He went on over, but you could see him shaking with fear. Carley and Taylor both jumped right on, so Jacob finally decided to give it a try. His head never even went under the water, so he was good to go after that. In the meantime, Taylor goes over and jumps right off the diving board without any hesitation, so guess who follows. She climbs onto the board and looks at me and says she scared. I told her she was already there so she might as well jump, and she did. Of course she went under the water, but came right back up. I was amazed! I am sure she would have never done that if Taylor wouldn't have, but nevertheless she jumped! Tonight after church we have Taylor's party at the pool and then swimming lessons again on Friday, so hopefully by the time we leave for Disney they will both be pretty accustom to the water.

On to other news, I couldn't finish my antibiotic because it was making me sick so I called yesterday to tell the doctor and see what he wanted to do. I told him I was still not feeling great, so of course he wanted to see me. He ended up doing a mono test which thankfully came back negative and gave me a penicillin shot to hopefully clear everything up. May I add that thing HURT!!! Anyhow hopefully now I can get better and get on with my summer vacation. Although last night before bed sister said her head hurt (the main symptom my children have when they have strep throat). I gave her some medicine and she is still sleeping at 9:00. I hope and pray she is not sick! If she has to miss Taylor's party I may have to buy her a pony to get over it!

SCHOOL'S OUT!!!!!!!!!!

Need I say more! I am so glad that we made it through another school year. It is somewhat bittersweet since my baby will now be a first grader, but life does go on. I did miss my students last day of school being out with strep throat AGAIN, but at least I am recovering a lot quicker this time. Baseball also ended for Jacob last night, Hallelujah! I am glad they won 2nd place for the season, but am even happier that we don't have to play today. I love it when my son wins, but am so ready for the break. The kiddos are starting swimming lessons Monday. I am not real sure how that will go. I think sister will do fine, but Jacob on the other hand??? He told me this morning "but you and daddy usually just hold us in the pool". When they tell that child to stick his face in the water, I am sure we are going to show all of our true colors.(Remember the death grip from the beach Becky?) Only time will tell. On to better news, Disney is only 20 days away!!!!!! I am so ready for this trip, I've only been planning for a year(you know the OCD kicked in a long time ago!). We are also in desperate need of a vacation. We missed ours the last 2 years due to moving!

Finally, Easter Pics

I am ashamed to say, this was my kiddos 1st time to dye eggs!

Notice Gracie hoping for an egg to eat!
Aren't they sweet, sadly it won't last!

Just to let everyone know...

Brad made it through surgery great and without a problem. He was even cracking us up afterwards coming down off the drugs(I wish I had a video of that). Then they got him up to go to the bathroom. While in the bathroom I had to hold him up when he nearly passed out. I pulled the nurse call button and they came with a wheel chair to get him. He lost all color in his face(even his lips turned white). They got him back to the room and turned him basically on his head to get his blood flow back and when he regained some color, took his blood pressure. Of course it was 80 over 50 and then the longest day ever started. We spent the next 7 hours trying to get his blood pressure back up. The nurse even called the dr trying to get him admitted, but there was not a bed available. So finally at about 8:00 with a blood pressure of 99 over 76, they decided to go ahead and send us home. Keep in mind this was suppose to be day surgery. The dr had told Brad to stay off his feet for 3 days because the swelling was going to be bad. I knew this was going to be a challenge, but never dreamed that I would have to threaten to duct tape him to the bed at 5:00a.m. Tuesday morning. Tuesday was a little better. He only got up a few times and managed not to pick up anything-shocker! Well I took Jacob to his baseball game Tuesday afternoon(which he scored 2 runs!) and my throat was a little scratchy- I figured just allergies, no big deal. Well in the middle of the night I noticed I was sweating and running a fever. I got up at about 6:30 and took my temp and it was 101, which is very high for me. I took Jacob and Carley to school then went straight to the dr. Of course my strep test came back positive. The dr said I had a horrible case of strep with tons of pus pockets in my throat. So after a quick stop by the pharmacy, I went home and went to bed. Now we were a sight to see, Brad hobbling around after surgery and me feeling like death! So to make a long story short, today is Friday and the the first time I have really gotten out of the bed besides running the kids to and from school. I still don't feel great, but feel a lot better than I did. Brad on the other hand went to work today, so that should tell you how he is doing. Please pray that my life gets better! I know that may sound petty, but I am really about to reach my breaking point!

Update!

Well to update everyone on the recent situation. We went Friday and picked Josh up for his first visit home. On Saturday he wanted to go to his Aunt and Uncle's and see his half brothers, not a good situation. These are the people he went with last time that got him in Cherokee in the first place. I told him no and after an hour of arguing decided to call the home. The director told me to let him go then go back in 1 hour to pick him up. If he didn't come let them know and at 3:00 Sunday afternoon he would be considered a runaway and they would deal with it. I agreed and let him and Josh know that if that was the case me and Brad were through. Well you guessed it. It is after 3:00 on Sunday and he is now a runaway. Me and Brad are finished helping him and no longer consider him a part of our family. I know it sounds harsh, but we can't keep putting time and energy into a kid who don't care. He is now the homes problem and hopefully they can straighten him out. Me and Brad both feel that we did the very best that we could do.

On to other news. Brad's hernia surgery is tomorrow at 11:00. It is suppose to be out patient, but with Brad's blood pressure issues, they told us to pack a bag "just in case", so we will see how that turns out. Please pray that all goes well and that we don't have to stay in the hospital. I am really tired of those at this point. Also hopefully my next post will include some Easter pics of the kiddos!

Living a Crazy Life!

Does anyone else out there feel like they are running in a constant circle? Just wondering if I am all alone. When I was a stay at home mom, I felt like I was constantly busy with cleaning, bathing, feeding, etc. That I never had a moment to catch my breath. Now that I teach school 8:00 to 4:00 5 days a week, have 2 kiddos in school, 1 kiddo playing baseball, the wife of a very busy preacher, and now live 14 hours from close friends and family, I feel like I am gasping for air. Not to say I don't love my life, but just to question when did things get so hectic! If any of you have advice that would help me sort it all out, I would greatly appreciate it. I know this is not my typical blog entry, but I really need to just vent and take a moment to meditate on this crazy world that i am now living in.

Finally Getting Better!

After a very long week and a lot of crazy diagnosis, Brad is finally getting back on his feet. They have narrowed the problems down to a blood clot in his arm, asthma, strained muscles in his chest, and STRESS! Who knew. Today he actually went to work for the first time in over a week, and for anyone who knows my workaholic husband knows how hard that is to believe. We thank you all for all the prayers and please don't stop. It is us we are talking about and you know how prone we are to all kind of problems! We love and miss you all!!!

Cut Me Some Slack!

Well Brad went to preop Monday afternoon. He wasn't feeling real well, but after a stress test and an EKG they finally cleared Brad for surgery. They did say however that they were going to have a cardiologist stand by in the surgery room "just in case" and that they would most likely keep him overnight instead of sending him home that same day. Well Tuesday morning I wake up to Brad throwing up. He had taking some medicine that made him sick. That early evening me and the dr. decided to go ahead and take him to the hospital to get hydrated. After a long night, a chest xray proved pneumonia. So at 2:00a.m. Wednesday morning we were admitted. Wednesday was a horrible day for Brad. His blood pressure at one point was 49 over 40! I don't think he even got out of the bed until Thursday night. Friday the dr. comes and says it sounded like he was getting bronchitis. So they kicked up the antibiotics a bit and started breathing treatments around the clock every 4 hours. Finally by Saturday they said he could go home. He is still not up to speed, but is at least up and talking a bit. I don't think he spoke a word all day Wednesday. Of course his hernia surgery has been cancelled until he is on his feet. He goes in the morning to see the dr. and see what kind of progress he is making. Please keep us in your prayers. Brad always says the devil isn't after you until God has you and this year is proving that true!

If it ain't one thing...

Well to update everyone on the Josh situation, we have talked to him a few times and he seems to be adjusting well. The house mom says the school has been very impressed at how well he is taking to the school and making friends. He is not real excited about his room mate. To quote Josh, "He talks till about 1:00 in the morning and never shuts up." But that is the only complaint I've heard so far. Just keep him in your prayers and hope for the best in this situation.

On to other news. Brad is having hernia surgery on the 25 of March. He has had this for a few years now, but is hurting to the point that he has trouble standing now. If he would have taken care of this when it happened, he wouldn't be in such pain now, but that is a man for you! He is suppose to go for pre-op today and get all the details of the surgery. Once again keep my family in your in prayers, you know it is always something!

A Very Hard Week!

I am not even sure that I still have any fans out there that take the time to read my once a month post (sorry I will try to be better),but here is a little update from the past week. As you all know we took on Josh about 2 months ago and things were going great until this past week. Josh called Tuesday night after he was suppose to be at some friends house that we knew and trusted and said he was with J.T., an absolute nightmare of a kid. Not really his fault, his mom is a total crackhead, but that is besides the point. Josh said he wasn't coming home because he was "messed up" and he knew we would kick him out anyway. I told him to get here now or I was calling the police. After some persuasion, he gave in. Sure enough he had been smoking pot with J.T. and said he was ready to give up being a Christian and go back to his old lifestyle. After a long meeting with us, a deacon, and an elder he decided he was wrong and he would not give up.

Well the next day at lunch, he wanted to go see his mom, which is also a crackhead (what's the deal with these parents?) and Brad agreed. Josh told him to pick him back up at 4:00. Well you guessed it, 4:00 no Josh. We got in touch with him and he was with J.T., said he was moving out and couldn't take it anymore. We were so mad we said fine come get your things tonight. Me and Brad at that time felt as though we were through. We went to church and a deacons family came home with us, so we wouldn't be alone when he came by. The more we thought and worried about it, we knew we couldn't give up that easy. We knew that was what everyone else had done to this once upon a time innocent child, and I knew we were better than that. We went with the police found him, once again high, and brought him home.

The next morning we arranged for him to be placed in a Church of Christ children's home about 3 hours from here in Cherokee, TX. We went that day not really telling Josh exactly what was going on. We talked with the counselors and toured the entire place and after a very long talk with a very angry child, he decided to stay. That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my entire life! It was like leaving my own child down there. I cried that entire day. Josh said he knew we were just dumping him like everybody else had and he knew he would never see us again. Talk about breaking your heart. We know we made the best decision for him, because he needs out of this town with all of his old influences, and needs a chance to have a real life. If he stayed here things would never change and he would never have a chance.

The home there is super nice. They have a game room, weight room, pool, indoor basketball court, and all kinds of activities. He is in a house with a set of house parents and 7 other teenage boys. He gets to call us once a week for 15 minutes, and gets to come home once a month, holidays, and some in the summer. We went today to take him some of his things and got to take him to eat. He says it's OK, but he hates all the strict regulations like no phone, no computer, dressing up for church (no jeans), and the little school. They are super tiny like 120 kids K-12. He is use to 120 kids in his class. It was still super hard to leave him today. We miss him terribly, but know this was his only option.

What a Week!

Well it all started with my dentist appt. on Monday. I have my very first cavity. I guess I really can't complain since I managed 29 years before I got one. Josh (not sure who that is, see a few posts down) came down with strep throat and bronchitis on Wednesday, which also happened to be mine and Brad's 11th anniversary. He missed school Wed., Thurs., and Fri. and is just now getting back to speed. Thursday me and Brad had a doctor's appt. They took some blood to check my iron levels and to test my thyroid. He said he could tell by looking at me that my iron was a little low. And remember I've been on 2 iron pills a day since Carley was born. He scheduled Brad an appt. with a surgeon to fix a hernia he has had for a while now. Jacob woke up yesterday with a fever of 102. I called our doctor and he was at the local hospital doing rounds, so told us to come up there. They did a strep test and a flu test, both of which came back negative. He finally concluded that the only thing left to be wrong with him is some sort of viral thing. He is still running a fever today and now has added a cough to that about 30 minutes ago! Carley has also developed a croupy cough over the last few hours, so who knows! Just please keep my poor little sickly family in your prayers, we seem to be needing it right now!

A Day in the Life....

Just wanted to let everyone know that things are still as crazy as ever. Josh is still doing well and we have still managed to steer clear of any major problems. They(Josh, Brad, and people from church) have been working the last couple of weekends to get his bathroom added on, so that seems to be a work in progress. School is still school and Jacob and Carley are still as wild as ever! The weather here has been CRAZY!!! It was near 80 for an entire week, then ice storm on Tuesday and Wednesday with highs in the 20's, and now back to 70. When we moved here someone told us if we didn't like the weather to give it a day or two and it would change, I didn't know they meant literally!!! I hope this finds everyone well and we miss you all terribly!

It's a Boy!!!

This post is so not what you are thinking. For those of you that know me, we know that ship has sailed! We have on the other hand taken in a 16 year old boy to live with us. His name is Josh Brown. He came from a horrible situation and after many late nights of discussion between me and Brad, we decided to give this a shot. So far it has only been a week, but things are going pretty good. It is definitely a change going from raising a 7 and a 5 year old, to attempting to raise a teenager. He is very clean and respectful at this point and he minds us very well. He actually makes his bed most mornings before school (maybe he could give me some lessons). I hope things continue to work out for his sake. Just keep this work in progress in your prayers!

Just thought I would also mention it has been in the upper 70's the last 2 days and is suppose to reach 80 tomorrow! I know your jealous LOL!!!!

My Chldren!

Well today Carley got her first set of stiches. She somehow managed to cut her eyelid playing on the swingset. The doctor attempted to steristrip it, but that didn't work and ended up with 2 stiches. A nurse had to wrap her in a sheet and hold her down and mom did really well until the doc. decided it was going to have to be stiches and broke out the needle. At that point I was done, and told Brad he was going to have to take over. I do not do well with shots anyway especially when it is in my childs face! Then Carley screams bloody murder and told the doctor he was killing her. He said he has never had a child to say that to him before. I thought just leave it to mine! Anyhow for those of you who are counting that is stiches in Jacob's right eyebrow and now stiches in Carley's right eyelild(must be something about that right eye) and a broken collarbone. That totals 3 emergency room visits in my 7 1/2 years of being a parent. Not too bad I guess but I did ask Brad how Becky had manage no visits in 5 years with 3 kids! You must have better luck than me sister. Anyhow Happy New Year, and I sure hope that the year manages to get better.

New Year, New You!

Well for starters I would like to wish everyone a happy 2009! As we begin this new year I would like to reflect on this past year and make some challenges for the new one!



2008

1. celebrated my 10 year anniversary with my honey!

2. watched my baby sis graduate high school

3. watched my big boy finish kindergarten

4. watched my baby girl graduate preschool

5. watched my kiddos fly on a plane for the first time

6. visited Texas for the first time

7. moved 850 miles away from my home and my friends to Texas!

8. started a new life in Texas with just my hubby and kiddos

9. watched my last baby start kindergarten

10. got my first real teaching job

11. watched my baby girl get her ears pierced without even shedding a tear!

12. watched my big boy as he is slowly turning into a little man!

13. watched Brad find his goal in life with a total of 29 baptisms!



2009

My goals for this next year is to live everyday to the fullest. As we all know I am a realist instead of an optimist. I would love to try and improve on that and make the most of everyday God gives me. I want to be a better everything including Christian, wife, mother, and friend