This too shall pass....

This morning, I fought tooth and nail with Elizabeth to get her to swallow a gas pill about the size of a large pinhead.

Tonight, Amy Hope swallowed a googly eye a little bigger than a quarter. Could these children be any less alike? HAAHA

Jason came and asked me about it. All I could think was "This too shall pass"... hehehehehe

Vacation 2009!

We left on Saturday, July 18. We were headed to Knoxville. We had a good drive over, stopping at Toys R Us in Bellevue to walk around for little while. Of course, you can’t go to TRU without a little something coming home with you. They had a deal where you bought a back pack and you got a lunch box for free, so Amy got a back pack and Elizabeth got a lunch box. I also picked up a couple of little coloring books for the road. We grabbed lunch at McDonalds somewhere. There are a few between here and there, you know. We introduced Elizabeth and Amy to counting the Caney Fork Rivers, AH HA HA, as we drove. We got to the Smith’s house mid afternoon, and ordered LOTS of pizza for dinner. We had 6 Smiths, 3 Gaitskills, and 4 Wiles in the house until Monday! Thankfully, Adam and Jannette have a big house and were nice enough to share it with us. On Sunday, we went to the zoo in Knoxville. It was nice. We all enjoyed being together. Elizabeth had a major nosebleed, but that’s nothing unusual for her. She and Rachel were big buds—but they have always played well together. I think if we lived closer they would be really good friends. Elizabeth slept on the floor in Helen and Rachel’s room and Amy and I slept in the spare bedroom. Jason slept on the floor in the playroom. Clay and Laurie were kind enough to give me the spare room b/c of the whole kitty allergy thing. Thankfully, I didn’t have a problem with my allergies. Maybe they’re getting better in my old age.

Amy LOVED the cats. The cats did NOT love Amy. Even after two of them let her know it, she still wanted to pack them around. I had made a no holding, only petting rule. At one point, I heard Amy on the stairs yelling, “Maaaaaaaaaaamaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…….” I walked around the corner to find her on the stairs holding a kitten. Then she said, “Mama, I got a kitty…..” Needless to say, the no holding rule didn’t work very well.

We headed out to Gatlinburg early afternoon on Monday, after Laurie and I went to McDonalds for us all. We made three trips out of McDonald’s with food. LOTS of Happy Meals. We made good time until we got off the interstate, then it slowed down a bit. Still, it could have been much worse. When we got into town, we checked into the condo. It was quite nice!!! 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, living room, big kitchen, and table big enough for all of us, a rec room with a pool table (which E called the pogo table), decks upstairs and downstairs, and a hot tub. We took a room upstairs, as did the Gaitskills, and gave Sarah and E the other upstairs room. Jon and Joy took a room downstairs, and Hannah and Matthew took the other. It was really a good setup for us. Monday night, we went to Bennet’s for dinner, and then walked down the strip a bit. E’s nose bled again, so we just stood on the side of the strip and smiled at people.

When we got up the next morning, it was evident we had had a visitor. The trash can had to lid ripped off, and there were big claw marks on it. Excitement! We didn’t see the bear, but he was evidentially there.

Tuesday morning, Amy and I went to Pigeon Forge to Kroger. Then, we went to the pool. It was quite chilly! We were very thankful for the nice weather, but it did not make for a fun pool day! They had a nice kiddie pool that the kids LOVED. It had an umbrella sprinkler thing in it. It was fun. We decided to pack it up when other people started commenting on Amy’s blue lips. HAHAHA The Smith’s were supposed to come and hang out with us, but they decided to wait and come the next day. After the kids went to nap, the guys went to Pigeon Forge to ride go carts. Laurie, Joy, and I stayed with the kids. We talked and cut up the whole time the guys were gone. We had a large time. That evening, we made spaghetti for supper. It was quite good. Becky came down to see us. Then, we went to Ober to hang out and ride the Alpine Slide. I ended up taking Amy, Matty, and Elizabeth to see the bears while everyone else rode the slide. It actually worked out well, as I didn’t want to ride the slide, and did want to see the bears, and the little ones were too small for the slide, and I was worried about E freaking out once she got up there. After that, we hung out for a while. Amy and Hannah rode a quarter horse (like you put a quarter in it) and then we went to the arcade. Gotta have some skeeball, you know!!! The girls won some Hawaiian bracelets, and there were four of them and four girls, so everyone got a bracelet.

On Wednesday, we met up with Becky and the Smiths again and went to the aquarium. It’s no big secret that I LOVE aquariums. So, needless to say, we had a good time. Then we went to Wendy’s for lunch. Afterwards, I suggested we walk around the mall. I have given Jason full permission to slap me silly should I ever again suggest walking around a mall with 9 tired children. On a lighter note, Jon decided to try some hot sauce in the hot sauce store. He went numb. He cried. It was pretty funny.

After we got home, Becky, Laurie, Joy and me went shopping. We had a GREAT time. We only went a few places, but we were gone forever. While we were out, Jason called and asked us to bring an onion. As luck would have it, Becky’s hubby Brandon was also coming to meet up with us at the cabin, so he got the onion for us, as well as a tomato. We had so much fun with that. Since Brandon didn’t know where he was going, or who he was looking for once he got there (he was going to beat us back) we decided that we should have dressed him up in a bear costume and have him walk up and say “Roar! I’m a bear! With a tomato and an onion!” It was hilarious at the time. Guess you had to be there. We bought Jason, Jon and Clay shirts that said “This is what awesome looks like”. Then, we decided that they all needed cigars, and we could take their pictures in the hot tub. So, we stopped at a gas station and Joy and I ran in and bought the biggest cigars we could find. The results were quite funny. The Smith’s had dinner with us as well, and we all had a great time.

Later that evening, we decided to try out the hot tub. By the end, we had five people in the not so hot hot tub. It was actually rather chilly. But, we had a large time. Jon dropped his cigar ashes in the tub, and that was an adventure.

On Thursday, we had to leave. We got packed up and headed out around 1045. We checked out, and then we stopped at the little river and took some pics of the girls. Note---it is much easier to get to the river on the side going into Gatlinburg that on the side going out of Gatlinburg. WE stopped at a pancake house to eat before officially hitting the road. Becky was kind enough to show us a shortcut out of town, so the trip was a bit quicker. We stopped in Knoxville and dropped off the playpen, and then we drove and drove and drove. It is a very long stretch from Knoxville to Nashville!!! We stopped at the Russell Stover outlet, and were going to stop at the Lebanon outlets, but the kids were asleep, so we skipped it.

We stayed at the Drury in East Nashville. We had both stayed there before, but never together. We got a suite, and it was well worth the extra $20. The girls got stayed on the couch bed, and Jason and I had our own room. When we got her, we went swimming for a bit. Then, we got cleaned up and went to eat. We went to a place called Fat Mo’s. It was owned by the Nashville Chapter of the Muslim Mafia, who are evidentially kin to the Martin Chapter that owns E&A. The food was GREAT, and CHEAP! We were the only people there. Well, besides the mafia…. We then decided to go to the Opryland hotel for a while. The girls and I had never been. It was beautiful!!! We walked around for a while, and then it got dark. It was inside, but since the ceiling are glass, we couldn’t see!

The next morning, after a great breakfast at the hotel, we headed out again. We went back to the Opryland hotel, cause I wanted to take more pictures. It’s just so pretty!

Afterwards, we met up with Jon, Joy and the kids at Opry Mills. We wandered for a while and had lunch together. We had a good time.

Then, we headed home. Amy slept the entire way, and then passed out at bedtime. I think they are still tire.

We had a great time, but it is nice to be home. Not saying I wouldn’t jump at the chance to go back! I think the best thing about the trip (besides being with our friends, of course) was the fact that we had no time table. We didn’t have to hurry. That was so nice. I hope that we will all be together again very soon.

July 4th!!!

Hi! Just a quick update. We had a good 4th, went to Clarksville on Friday night and then spent Saturday Morning with my family. We had a really good time. It has been so long since we have been able to do anything together as a family. Saturday night, we had some people over and cooked out and blew stuff up. We also had a pretty bad thunder storm that resulted in a 1.5 hour power outage and blew up our computer! After it was over, we finished our festivities.

Warning—TMI alert!!!! E has really been having a time with her allergies lately. She had five, yes, FIVE nosebleeds on Saturday. Thankfully, she is so good about them, but they really took a toll on her. She was a little spacey Saturday night, and then we couldn’t get her to wake up for church on Sunday. So, I stayed home from church with her. She slept until noon!!! I guess all the blood loss really wore her out. I know you dont' loose much blood with a nose bleed, be when you think of five of them at appx five minutes each, that's a good bit of blood loss for a six year old!!! I have been slacking about her allergy meds, so we are really going to focus on that this week, and if she is not better by next Monday, we are going to the doctor. I mean, Jason and I both have nosebleeds, but five in one day!!! I was really worried about her. But, thankfully, we had none yesterday. Last night at church someone gave me some more natural suggestions to try, so we are going to do those as well. I don’t consider myself “crunchy” by any means, but I would much rather give my kids something natural than pump them full of drugs and chemicals!!!!

Amy has been full of cute phrases lately. While we were getting ready yesterday morning, I asked her if she wanted to wear shorts or a dress. “Dwess” she said. I asked her “Blue or green?” “Gween, because Amy likes gween.” She also came into the room and announced “It’s ok! Me is here!” This morning, Jason had to shave off his goatee b/c he is back at Terminex today (YEAH!!!!). She said “Your face is empty, Daddy!” One more—last night at church she over heard someone say “I’m from Lexington”. She fired right back, “Me, too. Amy is from Lexington.”

Well, that’s all for now. Hope you all have a GREAT day!!!

:)

Well, Elizabeth went to creative arts camp at Northbrook last week. She had a great time. Here’s a video of her interpretive movement and boomwhackers classes. I made it with my digital camera, and the quality is not the best, but you get the picture.





We got some AMAZING news today. Jason got his old job back at Terminex!!!!!!! I am SO excited, and so is he. Today will be his last day delivering bread. He’s going to take a few days before starting back killing bugs on Monday. This will be the first weekend we have been able to spend together as a family since October. We have been praying, praying, praying, and those prayers have been answered. God even gave him his good route back, so the finances won’t be as difficult. We had decided that we didn’t care if we had to eat Ramen noodles; we were going to do whatever it took to get him off that bread route. Whenever I think about it, I can’ decide if I want to dance or cry. I think I may just do both when Jason gets home tonight. We’ll be the crazy family hooting and hollering in the back yard on 22nd Avenue. Come and join us.

It’s HOT!!!!

~written 6/20/09~
Man, is it hot outside! The heat indexes have reached 100 plus for the past 3 or 4 days. I think someone forgot to tell the weatherman that it’s JUNE, not August! How hot is it going to be then? June is supposed to still be cool enough to wear jeans and be comfortable. Not this year!!! The kids are playing in the pool, and I brought the camera out to make some pics. I had to wait before I could take the pics b/c the camera fogged up so bad I couldn’t see through the lens. I was actually a little concerned about turning on the laptop in this heat, but I figured Toshiba had already thought of that. HAHAHAH!
Elizabeth went to another VBS this week, this time with Jason’s grandmother. She really did enjoy herself. I had some reservations for a lot of reasons, but thankfully they were unfounded. This coming week, she will go to Creative Arts camp at our church. She is excited about that. I won’t have to buy Elizabeth any more shirts this summer…she’s getting them from every VBS she goes to!
We were finally able to coordinate with Aunt Nancy and get her extra twin bed brought to our house for Amy. It’s odd to look in that room and see a real bed! It was sad taking the crib down completely, but she was SO ready for this. She was a little apprehensive the first night, but it was the first time she had ever slept alone in a bed without rails on three sides. She looks so TINY in it.
Oh, funny story… the other day we were out and E was playing on the redneck water slide. (See previous blog for video footage). Anyhow, she was going down on her belly. She starts yelling about being stuck. We honestly just blew her off…Elizabeth can be a bit dramatic, in case you didn’t know. Anyhow, she finally went down the slide and her one piece swimsuit had suddenly become a two piece. I wasn’t mad at her, of course, she couldn’t help it, but I was a bit perturbed to have to throw that brand new swimsuit in the trashcan! This morning, we decided to try one on from last year. I can’t find her one at WalMart that fits. The little girls are too little and the jr’s are too big…and too hoochy! So we decided to see what we could do…maybe use a top we had from an old tankini and get some new shorts or something. Well, low and behold, Elizabeth has shape-shifted again. The suit that was too tight last year fits great now. Guess those six inches she grew in the last six months made a difference!
So, today is Jason’s birthday. He’s 31. Of course, he’s at work. He was pretty bummed about that. Hopefully, he won’t have to work ALL DAY. I still maintain that my husband is the only part time/temp employee in the free world that works 75 hours a week. We are going to grill out some steaks tonight for birthday/father’s day. He also requested a chocolate cake, so I’m going to make one for him later. Occasionally, I do nice things for people, but I try not to make it a habit, you know.
Elizabeth and I worked an open house last weekend. She had a large time. It was a nice house, and she was fascinated. She kept saying, “Take my picture, Mama, so they’ll think we live here.” She wanted to know why we couldn’t have the house. I told her next time I had an extra 300K I’d buy it. And yes, the tub was clean...it was an empty house. ;)

Quick Quip from Amy Hope

Last night, we went to a church function featuring a water slide. Amy would not go down the slide (which Elizabeth LOVED, btw), but she did get to get in the pool a little bit.
As we were driving home, I asked the girls if they had a good time. Elizabeth said she did, and Amy responded, “Well, the ‘wimming’ pool was nice.” SO FUNNY!!!!! I think it was even funnier b/c that was such an Elizabeth comment, not an Amy one. :)

SCHOOOOOL’S OUT.FOR.SUMMA’!!!!

Well, we officially have a second grader! I took Elizabeth to school yesterday and the principal said she didn’t have to stay if she didn’t want to. So, she went in with her teacher for a minute to get her report card, and then she was DONE!! I cried a little bit. It’s just so hard to believe that she’s in second grade! I still look at them sometimes and think, “Who ARE you little people???”
I am so thankful that Elizabeth had a great year. What a difference from last year!!! Awards day was Wednesday, and Elizabeth got 5 of the 7 awards for her class. She missed one day, so no perfect attendance award, and she wasn’t qualified for the honor roll award (A’s and B’s) b/c she got the Principal’s Award (all A’s). You know, I always said I just wanted my kids to be NORMAL, AVERAGE kids. I was the smart kid, and it’s NOT as easy as everyone thinks it is. But, then…she got those awards…and I saw a pic of HHS Gradation…and the Valedictorian… and..well, you see where this is going. :) I get excited thinking about it. When she graduates from law school in 15 years (I didn’t get to go, so one of my kids has to), we’ll laugh about how I just wanted average. When have I EVER settled for that where intelligence was concerned. HAHAHAH! I got so tickled. Jason brought her to work after the awards program so I could show her off. My boss asked her how she got so many awards, and she innocently said, “I just tried my best.” That’s right baby, you just do your best, and you’ll go far.

We had some good old redneck fun the other night. Check out these videos. Believe it or not, Amy wouldn’t do it. Terrified her! She’s funny about slides, though. Sometimes she loves them and sometimes she won’t have anything to do with them. On another thought, why does my voice sound so different when I hear it on tape?

This week is VBS at our old church. We are all enjoying being with our old friends and Elizabeth has almost learned the Lord’s Prayer. I asked her about it and she said, “Mama, it’s in the song. How could I NOT learn it?” Goober head. Heheh! Amy is having a good time, too. She even went to story time last night and seemed to enjoy herself. She said , “I sit wif Mista Jas-n”. Last night they played a game where they had to throw a ball into a pool. Elizabeth made almost every shot she took, and even made the tie breaker shot to win the game for her team! I joked that that may be the closets anyone in our family ever gets to winning an athletic event…