It is finished....

I know you thought I was talking about the last words of Jesus on the cross but I was pleasantly referring to the painting project in Hannah's room! I seriously painted like all day! I do want to go in tomorrow once the fumes have wore off to check it out one more time before I put the paint away. I might need to put another coat in the corners. I have been thinking of some really great ideas for her room. I bought her a Hannah Montana wall clock for easter and I bought some lavendar circle wall decals off Ebay that I want to put on one wall, the wall her bed is against. I also want to get a guitar wall mount and hang her guitar up. No more care bears or nets full of stuffed animals.....it's only make up and lava lamps and big girl stuff. Today I asked her what she thought of her room and she said, "I don't like white." Too bad sissy!! I think she'll like it when its all said and done.

Today was also story time and they had an easter egg hunt. We also went to McD's for supper and grandma went with us. And we sat out on the porch for awhile and watched the kids play. It has been another productive day!

......Monday.......

Have I already mentioned that I have a headache?! I've been saying it to myself all day, I know that!! I woke up this morning feeling very stressed! I don't normally let things get to me but for some reason I'm feeling very overwhelmed already this week! I have so many extras on my to do list and I just want to get it all done on Monday and I run around trying to do all 10 things first and it just doesn't work so then I end up not really getting anything done. Top on my list is getting Hannah's room done this week. Having all her junk scattered around the house is adding to my stress level majorly. I put 2 coats of primer on the walls were Brad had to put "mud" (the stuff to cover up all the messed up places in the walls) and you can hardly tell. I'm going to put one more coat on tomorrow and if that doens't help I'm jsut going to start painting and see what happens. I also tackled the laundry and did 3 loads in a hurry before going to walmart (I was there by 10) and just threw all the clothes on the bed. Honestly, they eill probably be there about all week! After we got Hannah from school I finally broke down and took some ibuprofen and told them I had to lay down for a little while. Half and hour later I was back up and at it. We had leftovers for supper and then I bathed them real quick so we could go to a birthday party of a girl in Hannah's class at school. I couldn't believe I was letting Hannah go to a party that started at 6 on a school night! But it is the first party that hasn't been on a weekend and we've been available to go to so I thought I'd let the schedule slide and take them. I'm glad I did. They had a good time and there were not many kids there so it wasn't horrible on my alrady pounding head. It was almost 8 when we got home and I folded all the laundry on the bed and scooted it over onto Brad's side. =)

I should be in bed right now!

Today has been a long and fun day. This morning the kids and I got up and went to an easter egg hunt at a girl I used to work with church. They live a good 40 min away but it was worth getting up early and going. We made a fun day out of it. I haven't seen her in almost a year. SHe works sooo much and it is hard to make time to get together. So I made it a point to go to the egg hunt. It was nice. They had a puppet show and a devotion and then egg hunt and even provided lunch. Then we went to a park near there (Barboursville Park, for those living around here) and hung out for the next 2 1/2 hours!! It is a nice park that I've never been to with a big lake and walking trails and nice playgrounds. When we first arrived the big shelter was occuppied with what we thought was a birthday party. So we just stayed back. One of the ladies came over to the playground and was yelling for any kids who were participating in the egg hunt to come get in line. SHe looked at our kids and said it again like she was expecting them to go too. We said we weren't part of the party and she said her and some other ladies she works with put this on every year for anyone at the park! How thoughtful of them! So the kids got to have a second and rather unexpected egg hunt!! And they had eggs hidden everywhere in this big field. It was fun. Then we walking aorund the lake and just hung out until everyone started complaining they were cold, thirsty, tired (that was mainly Hannah!) and then we went to Sonic to get a slushie. We pulled into one of the drive up spots and then we all sat in the back of the truck and ate our ice cream or slushies. It was a good day. It was very beautiful out. The sun was shining all day but the wind was bitter cold! Oh yeah, before we left this morning I told Brad the one thing I wanted him to do while we were gone was to sand down the "mud" he had to put on the walls in Hannah's room where I messed the walls up big time while removing the wallpaper. That way I can paint this week while he's gone. I really wasn't expecting him to do it b/c he was soooo dreading it. But he did that and lots more! When we got home grandma was sitting out on the porch so, of course, the kids had to stay out with her for awhile. I was so tired, and still am. We grilled hot dogs and steaks on the grill for supper and then watched a movie and put the kids in bed. Hannah had to sleep in Ryan's room b/c her room is still a mess. Now it's my turn to go to bed! Good night world.

Slow day!

Today started out just like yesterday....dreary, tired, blah and SLOOOOOW! I only managed to get the laudnry put away that I folded last night, get the kitchen cleaned up, and clean the kids' bathroom b/c Ryan was begging me to play with him. So we played with all the great toys cousin Michael gave him and then played hungry hippos and the pinball game cousin Michael gave him. Finally it was 10:45 and time to go to story time! After that it was lunchtime and naptime. Today is the second day in a row that he has actually slept during naptime! So I decided to go in Hannah's room and survey the wallpaper border damage I had started last week and never finished b/c it wasn't coming off very easily. I never should have started on that. It has turned into another make over nightmare! I ended up using fabric softener/water mixture and letting it set for awhile and if did start to come off some but not easily. I've been using a metal spatula to scrap it off! The wall is getting messed up in some spots b/c the wallpaper is so stuck to the wall and b/c I have to scrap sooo hard in some spots. I didn't get it completely finished tonight. Right now I smell like I took a bath in fabric softener and Hannah's room is a disaster! My fingets are so sore too from trying to rip the paper off. The whole house is a disaster b/c I let the kids play too long before taking a shower and didn't have time to make them go back and clean up all their messes before bedtime. Oh well. The mess will still be there tomorrow. I probably won't get much done tomorrow either b/c I am meeting some of the ladies from church for lunch and then I have to get groceries. Blah. But on the bright side, it is supposed to start getting warmer!!

Monday, Monday

The weather today has made me feel blah all day. I finally broke down and took Ryan to the dr for his cold and cough that he has had for like 2 weeks. He said since it hasn't gone away by now, it probably won't go away by itself so he is on antibiotics again. I have been trying so many different meds that I was confusing myself on what was working and when to use the inhaler and when not to. So I think we are all straightened out now! Hopefully this will be the last sickness before a long summer of healthy kids! Ryan yawned the whole way back home so I knew he'd take a good nap for me today, which I was looking forward to b/c I was feeling like I needed a good nap too! So after we woke up and got Hannah, we went and picked up his $30 (stupid insurance) antibiotic and went to a little thrift store and bought a few kids books and movies (Stitch, The Backyard and Narnia). $3.99 for used movies is a lot better than $20 for brand new movies if you ask me and $1/book is a lot better than $3.50/book! We went home and did the normal things and Hannah kept saying how tired she was. At 6 Ryan was begging me to play in the bathtub while Hannah was working in her sticker storybook that I got out of the scholastic paper for $1 from school so he played by himself for awhile and then I decided to just read to Hannah so she could go to bed but then when I said that Ryan wanted out so I got him dressed and all and we read 4 books and then Hannah said she didn't want to hear the last one. SHe was ready for bed. So I told her to brush her teeth and she could go to bed. Poor girl. She gets so exhausted being at school all day. As soon as I walked out of Ryan's room I went and put my jammies on! I folded the laundry that I did today and now I'm not doing much! Thinking about a bowl of cereal.

Also, Brad's g-ma had to put her dog, Megan, to sleep today. She was like 15yrs old and getting sick, not eating or drinking much, having a hard time getting around. She was really suffering. Having put 2 pets to sleep, I know exactly what she's going thru and I feel so bad for her. Her situation is different in that, she is all alone over there now. She says she won't get another dog but I'm sure she will. She won't be able to stand it over there by herself. We spend a lot of time together, especially during the summer but there is a lot of other time when she is alone in her house. Anyway, I just feel bad for her right now. I told the kids that Megan died b/c I didn't want to explain to Hannah what being put to sleep was and I didn't want her to think g-ma killed megan. She told Ryan but he doesn't understand really. They haven't said anything about it since so....we'll see what happens the next time we go over there. But we're going to give g-ma her space for a day or 2.

Shot till you drop....

.....that's what I did today! Yesterday I found out that Brad's uncle had called, wanting Brad to go fishing up in the mountains with him today. Brad told him no b/c he is gone all week and he didn't want to leave me and the kids again (how thoughtful of him!). I was so appreciative of that that I told him if his mom wanted to watch the kids all day, he could go to the mountains and I would just do whatever I wanted! He was so excited. I missed the time we would have all spent together on such a beautiful day but I know how much he wanted to go fishing and I was really needing a day by myself. So, I'll run down the list of all the places I went today. Target, AC Moore, Marshalls, Hobby Lobby, Kohls, the mall, Cato's, Elder Beerman, K Mart and Dollar General. I didn't spend much money. It was just nice to be alone. Boy, did my feet ever hurt after all that walking! I started out in tennis shoes and after buying 9 pairs of flip flops in Old Navy (4 for me, 3 for Hannahand 2 for Ryan) I changed into one of my pairs and I think that's what caused me to start aching. Anyway, it was a good day. The kids had so much fun out at mamaw's too. Now that it is warm they can get out. Popaw took them on plenty of 4 wheeler rides, they walked in the woods, ran around in the yard, played in the mud, all that fun stuff. Brad still isn't home from fishing yet so I probably won't see him until the morning!

the weekend is here!!

This was another LONG week! Brad has started a job in Columbus but since the weather is starting to be nice enough that we can get outside, it hasn't been too stressful. Now the stressful part is Ryan begging me to go outside constantly and me having to balance all the housework and playing outside. I have a hard time doing that b/c I'd much rather be outside but every time I come inside it's like a slap in the face! Thsoe slaps start to hurt after awhile!

So anyway, Brad and I finally decided to get a flat screen tv....42" to be exact. I was the one talking him into it! He's such a tight-wad! But I'm glad for that most of the time. I said we have all this tax return money that we haven't spent any of! We are using some of it to pay for our beach house this summer but we haven't paid for it yet. I've been itching to spend some money! It's burning a hole in my pocket (as I remember my parents saying a lot around Christmas time)!

There are some important things happening at our church that I would greatly appreciate prayer for. The Lord knows the problem and he already knows how he is going to fix it! I'm so thankful that I'm not in charge of all that stuff. So just pray that he gives all us members strength and patience and wisdom in dealing with the things to come.

Brad is home today so I've had somewhat of a break from Ryan. I even got to take a short nap! He has been following daddy around while he works outside today. Brad pulled the camper out and has been cleaning the outside of it for the past hour! We did take the dogs on a bike ride with us earlier. So far we really like the bikes but we need better seats, that's for sure! The dogs love going with us and I wish we had thought to get bikes sooner in their lives. We are hoping for good weather next weekend so we can go camping.

That's all folks!

Day one, over....well, the hardest part, at least!

Today has been a pretty sucessful day. I had originally planned on hanging laundry out on the line but the weather had other plans! It drizzled off and on all day and was pretty chilly. So I did a couple loads and used my trusty drier. I also managed to get all the clothes folded and put away! That usually happens days after the washing part. I also got the kids bathroom cleaned. I ran out of cleaner so I didn't get to clean my bathroom. I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher and finally started peeling the wallpaper border in Hannah's room. While doing that, I went 6 yrs down memory lane to when Brad and his g-ma were putting up that border, I was pregnant with Hannah and taking pictures of them. I was 20, newly married and getting ready to have my first child. I'm not afraid to admit that I was scared out of my mind! But I'd never have it any other way. I remember going in that room in the middle of the night, searching high and low for the paci that had been in the crib earlier that had since disappeared. I remember going in while Hannah was supposed to be napping only to find blue kids sun screen all over the floor and her bed. I remember slowly over time, taking out all the baby stuff. First went the crib, which was replaced by the toddler bed. Then went the toddler bed, which was replaced by the twin bed. Then went the changing table and rocking chair, which was replaced by way too many toys! Now we are finishing removing the baby stuff by taking down the net in the corner that holds all her stuffed bears and removing the care bear wallpaper so we can paint the room white. My how fast things change. But I love seeing the girl she is becoming. Her personality is shining thru. I am kinda sad but happy at the same time.

Anyway, I better change the subject now! When I went to pick Hannah up from school she came out looking a little sad. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was just tired. Not long after she finished her snack, I saw her climb into bed. I knew she'd be asleep in no time. I only let her sleep like half an hour. The kids played happily until we ate supper and then we played twister and Hullabaloo. Then I had Hannah write out her numbers and letters and read me two of her books that she brings home from school before I read to them. I read "The Rainbow Fish." There is one sentence right at the end after the rainbow fish finally decides to share his glimmering scales with the other fish that I just love. "His most prized possessions had been given away, yet he was very happy." I used that opportunity to talk to Hannah about what that meant. She said some of her prized possessions are, of course, Teddy, and mommy and daddy. I tried to explain to her that our stuff isn't what makes us happy. It was a nice conversation but I dont think she was fully convinced!

over already?

I can't believe Monday is just a night's sleep away. The kids are asleep and daddy is next door hooking up grandma's new stove for her. I can hear the frog outside in our "river," which is annoying but also a welcome sign that spring is coming! We got soooo much rain this weekend. The rivers are way up, and so are a lot of the creeks around here. Which means our yard is amess too! Brad pumped water for hours straight over the weekend and would have the ditch about dry and it would just fill back up.

Tomorrow he starts a job in Columbus that should last him 4 wks or so. He thinks he will get to work 12 hr days, which would put him back in town early in the afternoon on Thursday.

Hannah is feeling lousy again this weekend. On Fri night she woke me up several times saying she didn't feel good. I kept telling her to make sure she went to the toilet if she needed to vomit but she never did. Then the kids were up bright and early at 6:45 Sat morning. She had a fever and still wasn't feeling good. She complained of a headache several times and said her chest hurt when she would breathe in. But that girl always has something hurting on her so I never know what is really sick related and what is just another hurt on her. So I haven't done much for her, just some tylenol when she cries b/c her head hurts. Her nose has started running also so I think she just has another virus of some kind. We had to go pick up a big dog kennel on Sat AM for Brad's mom and I didn't feel like hanging around the house all day with a sick kid and an over-active kid so we all went. I took Hannah's vomit trash can just in case! Still she never vomited! By the time we picked up the kennel and took it to Brad's mom and hung out there for just a short time, it was after 2pm when we got home. The kids had no trouble falling asleep for their nap. I forget what I was doing while they were sleeping but I know I was thinking I wish I was sleeping too! I never let Hannah sleep very long b/c that always makes it hard for her to fall asleep at night. So I went in her room to wake her up and I laid on the bed next to her and the next thing I know, I'm waking up and it's after 4! Ryan was still sleeping too! I thought we were in for a long night of not tired kids! Daddy and Ryan cooked supper for us and then we played a game pf Hullabaloo. Thanks Steph! It is a lot of fun. I figured that would be a good way to spend time together and run down their energy. Then we watched a movie that Ryan had picked out from Food King and then put the kids in bed. They had no trouble going to sleep! I was surprised but glad.

Today Hannah seems to be doing some better. Still kinda mopey and she said her throat was hurting this morning but we went to church and then she went to Miss Nancy's afterwards to play with one of the granddaughters for awhile.

Tomorrow is back to the old grind. I've got lots of cleaning to get cought up on before Ryan and I head outside to get work done. Brad finally finished the building so I can start putting all our stuff back in it this week! We have tubs of stuff in his g-ma's garage and lots of stuff in her building and stuff all over the porch and lined up down the fence and junk everywhere it seems! I told him we were starting to look like real hillbillies!! Hopefully I'll be able to fix that this week!

We were going to sign Ryan up to play football, which starts this week. I called to see how it works and it was going to be $155! It doesn't seem like a lot when you say $25 to become a member and then $10 for every class (once a week for 13 wks). But we don't think it is worth it for a bunch of 3 & 4 yr olds to just be running around not really caring or doing what they are supposed to . So we are going to wait awhile. I was really looking forward to it. Maybe I'll be able to find him something cheaper go get involved in.

Also, we tried keeping Ryan in church with us this evening.....that lasted about 5 minutes!! Long enough for him to eat his snack! I brough a truck and dinosaur for him to play with and that probably was most of the issue because he was playing loudly and dropping things and running up and down the pew. He doesn't like to color or write like Hannah does. So we are going to hold off for awhile longer!

waiting on Brad

Today has been a fun day. I knew the weather was going to be extra nice so I planned on doing several things around the house before taking Ryan out to play. I paid bills, cleaned the kitchen, did 3 loads of laundry and took them out to hang on the line one by one and swept the floors. I just love hanging clothes out on the line! All the while Ryan was following me around wanting to help and asking me if we could go out now. But I noticed he was kind of moping around, moving a little slowly. He's been coughing again so I've used the inhaler twice today and his nose has been running so I think he's just feeling alittle down with a cold. Around 10 I was finally done with my stuff and ready to take him outside. He saw that Megan was out (g-ma's dog) and immediately went over and knocked on her door. Normally he just wants to give her a hug and then go play. Not today. He went in and didn't want to go back out! So we hung out at her house until noon when it was time to start thinking about a nap. I went home to get another load out on the line and fix our lunch and took it back over to her house to eat it. She's been sick for a week or 2 so we've been staying away snd it was nice to go over and visit today. She noticed he was acting like he didn't feel good or was being lazy or something too. He took a good nap (another sign that something wasn't right) and I had to wake him up to go get Hannah. He was definently perkier after his nap. So we went and got McD's and went to a park in Eleanor and were there for 2 hours. When we came home the kids finished eating and played outside awhile longer while I got all the clothes off the line and washed the truck. It was long overdue for a bath! Then while they took a shower together (Hannah likes to wash Ryan off) I folded all that laundry and when the kids were done they helped me put their stuff away. I let them do the socks and undies b/c I dont care if it is just thrown in! Then we read and it was off to bed! I was ready to sit down tonight! And thinking about a bowl of cereal now.

my new flowerbeds

By looking at these pictures, it doesn't look like I did that much but I worked hard and long on these flowerbeds today! With some help from Ryan, of course! I forgot to take a before shot of the big flowerbed but it is like the first pic of the smaller bed on the right side of the porch only the landscaping timbers were about 3x as long and 2 high. I had to remove all those timbers, take them out back to the burn pile, loosen up all the dirt with a hoe and remove a huge root system that was growing throughout the top layer of mulch. In the process I killed several flowers (if you look closely in the long bed you should be able to see my tulips blooming). I put down the edging and everything. I think it looks pretty good. I can't wait for Brad to get home tomorrow and see it. Now I just need some pretty flowers to put in there. That will be the hard part for me.

I had to get Hannah from school around 10am. They called and said she had a fever (99.1-big whoop!) and didn't feel well. It didn't take long for me to see that there wasn't a thing wrong with her. So we had a long talk about how she can't just come home for no reason so in the future if she comes home, there will be no playing outside or anything. I kinda let it slide today but she got her warning! I'll have to ask the teacher if I have to come get her for instances like today, in the future.

Tomorrow is supposed to be even better! I need to get some work done in the house before we head out tho. I'm trying to think of something fun to do with the kids. Maybe we'll just spend the evening at the park. I wish we had awesome parks like the ones we used to go to when we were little!

irritated...

Ok, so you all know Brad has been working out of town since Tuesday. He got home late last night. We were all in bed already. He is on call this weekend and, of course, he just got called out! It is so irritating. The kids and I haven't seen him in like what seems like forever and he's going to work again. I am so afraid that 10 yrs down the road we are both going to regret that he is spending so much time at work while the kids are young. But what can you do? I am thankful he has a job (as I've said tons of times before) but enough is enough already!! Sometimes I wonder if it would be better if he didn't even have a job! Or at least one that isn't so demanding. That's all. I just wanted to get that off my chest. I guess the kids and I are going to get dressed and find something to do today....by ourselves.

Ryan and I spent the morning out at mamaw's house because she was watching the newest grandbaby that I haven't seen yet. He is so cute and much smaller than either of my kids ever were. Ryan wanted to hold him several times and feed him when it was time. He also wanted to take him in the kids' bedroom to play. =) After we got Hannah from school we hung around the house for a little while then went to pizza hut for supper. They are having a special, any pizza any toppings, any size for $10. Then we had to get a few things from walmart and by the time we got home it was time for the kids to take a bath and get ready for bed. Brad thought he might get to come home today but turns out they ordered a wrong part so Brad has to have the right one overnighted to them. I'm starting to feel like a single parent. At least when it warms up we'll be able to spend the whole day outside and it won't seem so bad!

Another day gone by

Today has been a long day. Before 10 am I had already done some laundry and played lots of things with Ryan and he was begging me to fix lunch. I tried holding him off as long as I could but finally around 10:45 I gave in. Honestly I was hungry too! Usually after lunch, the rest of the day goes by pretty fast. We take naps, go get Hannah, eat a snack and go thru Hannah's folder and then the kids play until supper and then it is bedtime shortly thereafter.

I love receiving mail on days like today! I got all the papers for the beach house we rented. Only 3 months to go! Mom, I need to know what the make of your car is. I'm assuming you'll be taking dad's but I can't remember what it is. (We don't have room in our truck for aboth of you so you better take dad's! ) =) We have to get passes and pay $3 a day for each car. I also received a movie that I bought off ebay for Ryan. It isn't a "fun" movie. It is one that is supposed to teach kids there letters in like a month, and sometimes 2 weeks. I'm sure he'll be a one-monther (at least)! I have tried and tried and tried different ways to teach him his letters but he just isn't getting it. So I thought we'd try this way. I'll let you know how it goes. We put it in after we got home with Hannah but we only made it to J before he said he didn't want to watch it anymore. It certainly isn't very entertaining!

Which brings me to my next point.....Hannah broke her "green at school" streak by getting blue today. Her teacher said she didn't follow directions all day. I didn't get mad at her because, let's face it, how many kids can say they got green for a whole month!?! But I did make sure she knew that it wasn't acceptable and I expect her to listen to her teacher. I can't figure out what sets her off. So she doesn't get to watch tv or play on the computer today.

Tonight is church.

Oh yeah, and today is the 7th anniversary of my grandpa's death. Most of you who read this already have read that more than once today but I can't leave him out! He was the best grandpa a girl could ever want. I have so many fond memories of him and I often wonder if he can look down and see what I've become today and the great grandkids that are missing out on him. I have learned so many things from him since his death! I wish there were more people like him on this earth. One day we'll all be together again, worshipping our Maker for eternity.

blah...

Brad went back out of town today. This time to Indiana. Sometimes it depresses me more than other times and this is one of the weeks when it depresses me! I don't know why. I think I am getting tired of him being gone all the time. Don't get me wrong, I never liked him being gone, but this week is harder than all the other weeks. Ryan and I are getting so tired of each other too! We need to get outside and get some fresh air. It is supposed to be warmer this weekend so hopefully we'll get out then. I think I have gained some weight this winter also. Brad completely stopped drinkng pop so I have been feeling the pressure and have had more desire to quit myself. I am down to a small glass each day. I have a headache today and I think that is why. I find myself filling that pop void with candy, which really defeats the purpose so I am trying to work on that too. I owe Hannah something special for getting green the entire month of Feb. I was going to take them to the bouncy place but I am thinking of going to DQ instead. They will like that just as much and it is a lot closer and cheaper and won't take up a whole evening. i think I am finally over my sickness. I still don't know what I had but over the weekend I was blowing lots of thick, chunky, green snot out of my nose so I am thinking I might have had a sinus inf. If so, the symptoms were definitely different from all the other sinus inf I've had! I also haven't been tired like I was. Last week I felt like I just couldn't get enough sleep. Every time I sat on the couch I wanted to go to sleep. Not anymore!