Sassy Shorts

Disney Christmas Trip

2009-12-31T11:31:00.006-06:00

Merry Christmas 2009

Jarrett had fun trying on hats in every country in Epcot, I sure hope he didn't get lice!

Christmas Eve at Hollywood Studios

Playing in the sand at Wilderness Lodge.

Meeting Cinderella at the Grand Floridian. So Sweet!

Nathan danced with the evil step sister!

Visiting Santa at Saratoga Springs before Christmas Eve Dinner!

Giant Gingerbread house at the Grand Floridian

Watch out drivers her comes Madelyn!

Winnie the Pooh!

Love the castle!

Our family was very blessed this year to be able to take a Christmas trip to Disney World. We were oringinally scheduled to go over spring break but the flights were just way too expensive. So we decided to move our trip up to December and we decided to drive. People thought we were crazy for driving that far, but really our kids are great travelers and flying has just become a hassle. Plus, the flights were $700 a person. If I am going to pay that much I am going to go somewhere much more exciting than Orlando. We had an awesome and very relaxing trip. We took a lot of breaks from the parks, swam, played games, but mostly we ate. I think we all gained some serious weight.

Prayer Request

2009-11-26T05:14:00.003-06:00

I am up and it is 5 am on a holiday. I can't sleep. Last night Nathan gave us quite a scare. He had been outside enjoying his favorite past time, digging in the dirt pile at the construction site next door, it was getting cold and dark so I told him it was time to come in. He was filthy so I picked him up and carried him upstairs. (Yep, I can still carry my almost 9 year old!!) As I was getting his bath ready, he used the restroom and starting gasping. His pee was filled with blood, not just a little blood, but a lot of blood. I am freaking out on the inside. I stick him in the tub and run downstairs to call the Dr.'s office. I know in my mind it is most likely no big deal but I seriously revert back to the mom of a 1 pound baby when he gets sick. I am hoping that by some chance that the Dr.s office has extended hours tonight. It is already 5:15 pm the night before Thanksgiving so I know we are probably out of luck.
Much to my surprise the receptionist answers and is able to get us right in. I had been in the middle of baking an apple pie so I turn off the oven and get Nathan dressed. Part of the reason I was so worried was because for the last week he has been complaining that his body hurts. He has been so dramatic about it and to be honest Jarrett and I were getting rather annoyed by it because it seemed to only hurt when we asked him to do something like get dressed or go clean his room. My imagination is running wild and mommy guilt is setting in. I am thinking, "Did I miss the warning signs of something major??"
After the first urinalysis they ruled out a UTI. The nurse practitioner asked our pediatrician to stay late because of Nathan's extensive medical history. Jarrett and I were very appreciative of that. They did diagnose him with a double ear infection. He never, ever told us his ears hurt. Our Dr. said sometimes when kids get viruses or infections there bodies can react by producing blood in their urine. So it could just be no big deal. They sent us over to the hospital for blood work and more urine samples as a precaution. We are also taking him for a kidney ultrasound on Friday morning and then back to the Dr. Friday afternoon. So as of now we still don't know the exact cause but we are so thankful that God is taking care of our son and helping us get answers quickly. Please pray for Nathan that he is healed of whatever this is. Thank you!

360

2009-11-21T23:59:00.006-06:00

The curtains by sweet friend Taffy made! Jarrett's 35th Bday!

Fall Break 2009-Silver Dollar City, Madelyn gets her ears pierced!

Pony farm!

We got some new trees for our new house!!

Happy 7th Bday Ella!!

BOO!

Happy Halloween!!!!!

My life has done a complete 360. I have gone from being a stay at home mom, to a homeschooling mom, to a stay at home mom while my kids are at school mom, now I am a working mom. I have been MIA the last couple of months while our family has been adjusting to this new way of life. I am shocked at how things have changed in our lives some for the good, some for the not so good. Of course I second guess everything all of the time. I always wonder if I have done the right thing, if my kids are going to be better off or worse off for the decisions I have made. Sometimes I even wish I could go back to homeschooling. I must say though that I love my job and feel complete peace while I am there. It is just the other stuff that stresses me out like, laundry, finding time to pay bills and balance the check book, cleaning and cooking and working out, grocery shopping. I just don't have enough hours in the day or I am just to wiped out at the end of the day to do anything productive. The first few months of school were CRAZY! We would get to school by 7:15 and leave after 5:00 most days. Then I would work after the kids went to bed. Now we keep much better hours! Thankfully my kids LOVE playing in my classroom and helping mommy out. I absolutely love the ladies I work with, God has truly blessed me with a fun team to teach with and a great copy mom. (no more standing and making hundreds of copies each week!!) I love my class and helping them reach their full potential. They are a fun and crazy group of kids. They keep me own my toes for sure! I didn't realize how much I missed teaching until I went back. Jarrett has been amazing by being supportive and by helping out more around the house. Plus, he has lowered his expectations and he even thinks it is great when we have cereal for dinner.

Nathan has been busy with his Occupational and physical therapy, his social skills group and his Piano. In his free time he loves playing legos, wii and ds, reading and doing science experiments.

Madelyn started speech this fall to work on her "r's" She is getting better everyday! She loves first grade, her teacher and all of her new friends. When we get home from school she runs up to the game room and plays "school". You would think she had her fill after being there all day. Two days a week she goes to her power tumbling class where she is working hard to get her back handspring.

Ok, so that is it for now. I just wanted to jot down a few thoughts before they are completely forgotten. I am going to try to do better about posting. If for nothing else as a record of our lives so that some day when I find time to work on my photo albums I will have this blog to help me remember.

The First Day

2009-08-19T20:16:00.003-05:00

Today was firsts for all of us! Madelyn's first day of first grade! Nathan's first day of third grade. Mrs. Short's first day back as a teacher in 8 years. We all had a great day but are exhausted tonight! Both kids have relaxed in the bath tub, eaten pizza and have fallen asleep and it is only 8pm. Well I am off to rest before day 2!

Pictures

2009-08-10T22:56:00.007-05:00

4TH OF JULY AT SKIATOOK LAKE

WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME AT THE LAKE THIS SUMMER! WE WENT WITH COUSINS, FRIENDS, AND GRANDPARENTS. NATHAN AND MADELYN LOVED TUBING AND GOING FAST AND JUMPING THE WAKE.

WE WENT TO THE BROKEN ARROW WATER PARK WITH OUR FRIENDS, THE CLARKS AND MY SISTER'S FAMILY. THE KIDS HAD A BLAST AND WE HAD PERFECT WEATHER.

MOMMY AND TRACI TAKE SOPHIE TUBING !

I LOVE THIS PICTURE OF KENNEDY AND MADELYN. THESE TWO GIRLS HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME PLAYING THIS SUMMER. WE LIVE JUST A COUPLE OF STREETS OVER FROM THEM . TODAY THE HELD A GARAGE SALE IN MADELYN'S BEDROOM. TOO SWEET!

Our new kitchen curtains! I am thrilled with how they turned out!

Ty, Ella and Madelyn at the BA water park.

Almost every night after dinner the kids go outside and play in the dirt pile next store. I don't know what we are going to do when they are done building this house! I love that Madelyn is digging while wearing a skirt!

Jet skiing with dad!

Pushing cousin Ally into the lake!

Cousins!!

Dinner with My girls from my high school Discipleship group!

Jarrett took several Fridays off this summer to hang out with us! We took the kids to the Aquarium and obviously spent a ton of time at the lake and pool!

So two more days until I become a working mom! It is so weird to think that last year at this time I was homeschooling Nathan, stressing about sending Madelyn to kindergarten and never had a thought to go back to teaching. I feel a peace about this but I am still a little nervous. I am having a little mommy guilt and a little jealousy that Jarrett is taking a week vacation to stay home with the kids while I attend meetings and training before the students report to school. Part of me wishes I could stay home and play with them. However, I could not have asked for a better situation. I work with a great group of ladies who love the Lord, have an awesome principal and the kids and I get to be together.

Ok, here are some pics from our summer. I have included a pic of my new curtains that were hung tonight.(Thank you Mitch and Jarrett!) My BFF, Taffy, who is oh so talented, sewed these panels for me. Her family just moved here from Colorado and we have had a blast hanging out with them this summer. I am so grateful to have my kitchen done before I go to work. Jarrett painted this weekend and did an awesome job!! We still have the archway to paint. We are still trying to decide on a paint color for it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! By the way, after school starts Taffy is going to start offering her sewing services to others for a great/affordable price. (She did all my curtains in my last house!!)

Eights

2009-07-30T21:47:00.002-05:00

I have been tagged by Shelly and Rebecca so I guess I should do this:

8 things I am looking forward to:

Fall
Starting my new job as a teacher
Going back to Disney World next March and all my future travels!
Christmas
Watching my children each day
Decorating my house
Going to the lake tom. morning
Being skinny. (in my dreams)

8 things I did yesterday:

Took Nathan to Occupational, Speech and Physical Therapy
Went to my insurance benefits meeting at school
Went shopping at Belks.
Took the kids up to my classroom for 2 hours and worked.
Labeled Accelerated Reader books with Madelyn
Made dinner for my family
Folded Laundry
Went out to PF Changs with my sweet friends from my High School Discipliship group

8 things I wish I could do:

Be more laid back
Eat whatever I want and not gain weight or clog my ateries
snap my fingers and my kitchen be painted (I can't even decide on a color)
Go on a mission trip with my kids
Get pregnant and have a baby
be more consistent with my kids
spend more quality time with my kids
travel all the time

I tag whoever actually still reads this neglected blog.

DANCING WITH CINDERELLA

2009-06-21T14:28:00.003-05:00

Today Madelyn and Jarrett danced during both church services. Along with several other daddies and little girls they danced to Steven Curtis Chapmans, "Cinderella". It was absolutely sweet! A couple of months ago Madelyn asked Jarrett to do a father/daughter dance with her. She has been taking a dance class at our church once a week. He thought it was a dance you went to, you know like a little prom or something. He happily agreed to do it, not realizing that it was a dance in front of the church. A couple of weeks ago he got a call about a practice for the dance. He thought it was strange that they had to practice for a "dance". Once I cleared up his misconception he wasn't so sure he wanted to do this. Getting up in front of people is not really his thing. But he knew he would break Madelyn's heart if he didn't do it. So today was the big day. They were just precious and it is something that Madelyn will remember forever!

We our gearing up for the move but took a break last night and hung out with some friends. The kids had a ball playing outside till dark.

Madelyn and Kennedy spend most of their time together spotting each other in gymnastics. Watch out Olympics here comes double trouble!

We have also been swimming a lot! Nathan has to wear his plugs and band for another six weeks.

Madelyn, what can I say, you look good climbing a tree in your dress!

Oh, sweet little Sophie!

I just couldn't resist taking pictures of her!

POOR NEGLECTED BLOG

2009-06-11T21:33:00.008-05:00

I know, I know, I haven't blogged in FOREVER! Our life has been eventful lately. Our house sold, then unsold, then sold again today. I got a job teaching 3rd grade in Owasso. Here is a little more of what we have been up to:

The above pic is of our friend Max. The kids have been taking swimming lessons this week. They have learned so much and have had a blast!

Nathan has to wear this head band because he had ear surgery last week.

Madelyn and Kennedy, aren't they adorable!

We went to Silver Dollar City!

Nathan before his surgery to remove his T- tubes and patch his ear drums.

The kids have had a blast hanging out at Grammy's and Grampy's house on Skiatook Lake. They are dynamite tubers this year which just thrills their daddy's heart.

I have been trying to keep the kids out of the house as much as possible so it can stay picked up since it is for sale. I am amazed at how by moving a toy outside makes it so much more interesting. Doesn't Madelyn look thrilled!

We have had lots of friends over and a lot of popsicles eaten.

So there you have it, a short update on the short family.

A little of this and a lot of that

2009-05-10T12:00:00.005-05:00

Our lives have been a whirlwind lately. I have been subbing a lot at Nater Bug's school and I have really enjoyed working in the autism class. Beaded Kreations, my little side jewelry business, has been busy lately. I seem to spend my nights stringing bracelets.

Jarrett went with Madelyn's kindergarten class to the Zoo. Her favorite part was riding the school bus.

Nathan and Madelyn went to a roller skating birthday party. It was their first time to ever roller skate. Madelyn picked it up pretty quick. Nathan wanted to give up after the first time around but eventually we got him to try again.

We went to Dallas for my big sister Karen's surprise 40th bday and for my nieces first birthday. It was a fun weekend with family. Madelyn loves her aunt Liz and hardly left her side.

My bro Steve is such a goof!

Before Nathan's piano recital.

Because of all the rain the kids have had to get creative with their indoor play. They made a "Hotel for Dogs". They even had an indoor toilet for their pets. Madelyn made signs and sign in sheets.

Madelyn slept through most of the piano recital.

Nathan did a great job at his recital. We were so proud of his accomplishments. One of Nathan's physical therapist was there to watch her son and just couldn't believe that the little Nathan she used to work with was playing the piano. Next week we are off to OKC for the state competition.

Hanging out with cousins in Dallas. Don't judge me for letting Nater Bug drink Dr. Pepper. I swear he only had 3 sips.

And the best thing that has happened this past month is I have a new nephew, Cash. He is so stinkin cute!!! He is an answer to prayers!

2009-04-12T19:28:00.007-05:00

HAPPY EASTER

We decided that this year we would plant our very first vegetable garden. Grampy came over to help us and give us his expertise. I don't think we could have done it without him. Jarrett planted onions, green beans, cucumbers and 3 different types of tomatoes. We can't wait to see everything grow! Thanks Jarrett for doing this with the kids!!

Nathan was quite the helper.

The kids learned all about soil, manure and the spacing of seeds.

Madelyn liked planting the onions and labeling the wood posts.

I got to hang out with Jakey Pooh! (My friend Traci's little boy) Is he not the cutest thing??

Madelyn had her walk a thon at school.

We went to Kennedy's Spa bday party at Classroom Corner.

Our family had our annual Easter Egstravaganza at Aunt Kim's house. Grandmama helped the kids decorate Easter cookies and Easter cookie baskets. Nathan ate the icing, Ella poured half a bottle of colored sugar per cookie, Ty had fun eating the cookies, and Madelyn, well she just did what she was suppossed to. It cracks me up to see all their different personalities.

The dads were in charge of egg dying. They were smart and had them do it outside. Ty dyed his fingers and mouth instead of his eggs. It was hillarious.

Then it was time for the egg races. Last year Nathan cried the whole time. He couldn't get his egg to stay on the spoon and he lost. Two very frustrating things for a child with aspergers. This year was a whole new story. He did great plus he won, so that helped a lot!

Then it was time for the men to race. Let me just say that there was some serious cheating going on.. I will not mention names because you know who you are. By the way, dad, I was very proud of you for paricipating this year. You certainly held your own.

Next it was time for the Easter Egg hunt. The kids had fun opening the eggs. There was some serious trading going on.

Goofy Cousins!!

Cousins and best friends!

Kim and I have the same camera and we were trying different ISO settings. We had fun taking a ton of pics but we are seriously clueless! We need to take a photograpy class.

The Easter Bunny came and he delivered! The kids each got a new swim suit and water bottles for their lunch boxes along with candy, bubbles, and a jump rope. Our Easter Bunny is very practical.

Nathan and Madelyn and Mia ready for church. Madelyn was very excited that she found a dress that came with a matching doll dress. She carried Mia all around church today. I love it!!

And the very, very, best part of this weekend was welcoming our friend Jorge home! He is still sick and is trached but he is Alive and we are overcome with Thankfulness to our Heavenly Father for that. He is truly the GREAT PHYSICIAN! We pray that he continues to get stronger everyday.

Jorge

2009-04-06T08:17:00.002-05:00

For an update on Jorge go to Traci's blog, www.simplytraci.com Her mom is updating it as she gets news. Please pray for them. They are our friends that we went to Disney World with. Our hearts are just aching for our dear friends. I just had a second, I will write more later, I am off to take kids to school.

I'm a Winner!!

2009-04-02T21:02:00.002-05:00

When I was going through Nathan's backpack today, this is what I found. I especially loved the last line! HEE HEE!

Tonight I went to a women's ministry event called, "Tickle Me Pink". It was a lot of fun and I won a door prize, 1 week of free tanning!! Who Hoo!! It got me thinking of how "lucky" I have been. I don't really believe in luck but instead blessings. When I was a senior in high school I won a TV at the end of the year party, then there was a trip to San Antonio that we gave to Jarrett's parents, a trip to Branson, a Brighton Necklace, a free pedicure, a $500 visa card, and now free tanning. So girls, what have you won??

Busy

2009-03-31T20:32:00.007-05:00

The theme of my life lately: BUSY!! The week before spring break I subbed in a kindergarten class everyday. I had a lot of fun and was reminded of how much I love teaching kindergarten! But by Friday I was not feeling so hot and the kids were dropping like flies. I ended up having the flu and bronchitis just in time for Spring Break. Yuck.

While I was busy being sick, my kids were busy playing their DS's.

By the end of Spring Break we ventured over to Branson with my whole family minus my sister Karen and her kids. We rented a really cool cabin and had fun. However, I was grumpy because I was still under the weather and probably just should have stayed home. Don't get me wrong we had fun and the kids had a blast at Silver Dollar City. We couldn't stay the whole time because we had company coming. We needed to head home to disinfect our germ infested house.

Our dear, dear friends Mitch and Taffy and their 4 kids and Greyhound, Hudson , came down from Denver. They are moving back here after being gone for 9 years. We met them at our old church, Liberty and had a lot of great times together. They came during their spring break to start looking at houses. We had so much fun hanging out, staying up late, and looking at gorgeous houses. They are seriously considering moving to Owasso. I can not wait until they get here!!!! I was worried about where to sleep everyone but we just stacked the kids in Madelyn's room and had 10 people plus 2 dogs sleeping in 3 bedrooms. Nobody seemed to mind and the girls were in hog heaven! They ended up staying 5 days and seriously I wouldn't have minded if they stayed 5 more days. They are so easy and fun to have around.

We have had some big news in our house: Madelyn lost her first 2 teeth at the same time. She was actually born with those first 2 bottom teeth. I was a little sentimental about seeing them go. Her new ones have already come up. When I was putting her to bed that night we had the following conversation:

(How cute is she??)

Madelyn: "Mom is the tooth fairy real?"

Me: "What do you think?"

Madelyn: "I don't know?? Are you the tooth fairy?"

Me: (Trying not to ruin it for her) " What do you think?"

Madelyn: (starting to tear up) " I don't want a tooth witch coming into my room."

Now she is sobbing and shaking.

Me: "Oh, honey I am YOUR tooth fairy. There is no such thing as witches, don't you worry. And whatever you do, don't tell your friends there is No tooth fairy."

Nathan went to the district piano competition and scored well enough to move onto the state competition in OKC in May. He wasn't to impressed with himself that he made it, in fact he didn't want to go until we bribed him with Maggie Moo's ice cream. I am not passed bribery!

We also enjoyed the Spring snow storm! The kids loved playing out in it. Madelyn has stocked our outside freezer with snow balls so she can pound her brother with them this summer.

So there you have it. Please pray for my sweet MIL, she fell off her bike on shattered her wrist. She is having surgery tom. morning. Thanks.

Oklahoma Adoption

2009-03-20T20:50:00.002-05:00

Hey friends, I just have a second but I want all of you to do me a favor. Check out this new blog and help us out. Just click the linky over on the side of my blog about Oklahoma adoption. Thanks!! Love ya all!

Understanding

2009-03-09T14:01:00.004-05:00

I don't understand. I am not meant to understand. But I wish I could. Things happen in our lives that just don't make sense or seem fair. My precious little sister and her family are hurting today. Most of you know their story. They have two sweet babies that passed away shortly after birth within the last two years. They were in the process of adopting baby Tess. The past few months they have prepared for her arrival and got to know the birth family. They brought Tess home from the hospital yesterday. The birthmom changed her mind last night. As an adoptive mom, and a mom who has experienced a failed adoption first hand, I can understand the heartache she is feeling today. It is such a surreal experience. Even though you don't birth the baby literally you birth the baby in your heart. Does that make sense? When I had to give back my first daughter my heart didn't know the difference. She was mine, I loved her. I had cared for her, fed her, changed her diapers. I had a room ready for her. My arms ached for a month afterward. I experienced a literal pain in my arms. This is the risk we take when we adopt. It is an awful risk, one that you just can't prepare for. I hate that my sister is now experiencing this kind of pain, especially after everything they have been through. I am praying that God will comfort them and that His name will be glorified through this. He has a wonderful plan for their family. He loves them and loves Tess and loves her birthmom. The Lord will be the one who sees them through this devastation. We, her friends and family, are called to be His hands and His feet right now. So if you think of them, pray. Maybe drop a line of encouragement on their blog. I want her to feel so loved right now during this time where they feel "forgotten."

I finally got to the place where I could accept what happened even though I didn't understand why. I felt called to pray for my baby and pray for her birthmom. Maybe she didn't have anyone else her life to lift her up. Maybe we planted seeds in her life. We will probably never know on this side of heaven. So for now I will just go on not understanding but trusting God.

3-03-03

2009-03-02T16:54:00.005-06:00

Happy Birthday Madelyn!! My baby girl is 6 today! I can hardly believe it, time has flown by. Madelyn has the coolest birthdate, 3-3-03 and she was born at 3 am. Pretty cool, huh?

I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. Andrea, Madelyn's birthmom, picked us about 2 weeks before she was born. We were thrilled that Nathan would have a sibling but boy this was fast. There was a bad ice/snow storm right after we were picked so there was little time to get ready. When we went for an ultrasound they told us we were having a boy. I got my boy stuff out and ready but just in case I picked up a girl outfit and blankie from gymboree.

After church on Sunday, March 2nd I was in total nesting mode. I cleaned, did laundry, etc.. We thought the baby wasn't coming for another 2 weeks so boy was I shocked when later that evening we got "THE CALL" We happened to be in Tulsa at a Bible Study. As we were leaving our cell phone rang and it was Andrea saying that she thought she was in labor and on her way to the hospital. We quickly took Nathan to my parents (with no supplies) and ran to the hospital. Once Jarrett checked on Andrea and we determined that this was the real deal he ran home to grab the camera and pack our bags. The hospital was great and gave us our own room. He got back around midnight.

We couldn't believe how fast Andrea was progressing. She went through labor with no drugs!! She was amazing. After a couple of pushes the baby was out and boy were we shocked when we didn't see any boy parts!! I started balling!!! I was so happy to have a little girl! What an answer to our prayers, a healthy baby girl.

Madelyn weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 18 inches.

She had to go to the NICU for a couple of hours for her to be monitored because of some meconim. But by mid morning she was in our room and we were lovin all over her. She was a beautiful baby! She even had her first 2 bottom teeth.

Today those sweet baby teeth are wiggly and probably going to come out soon.

By Tuesday afternoon we were home with our precious baby girl. She had terrible colic, if that is what you call crying everyday, all day. It started at 2 weeks old and lasted until she was 1 1/2 years old. SERIOUSLY! I had to carry her in my baby bjorn all day for her to settle down. Everyone would try to comfort her but they couldn't. I was the only one she wanted. One day a lady came and prayed over and her and she stopped. She was happy! Total miracle.

She brings so much joy to our lives and life to our home. When she is gone our house is so quiet. Madelyn has such a sweet spirit and is always complimenting and encouraging people. She is an amazing sister to Nathan. She is a girly girl! But she can also keep up with the boys.

Happy Birthday Baby Cakes!

WHATZ UP??

2009-02-22T20:37:00.003-06:00

Well, we are finally well here at the Short home, two of us are still on antibiotics but feeling much better.

I have entered a new phase in life, working mom. I started substitute teaching a couple of weeks ago with the intention of doing it 2 days a week. Instead I have been doing it everyday. This week is already booked solid as well as 3 days next week. I love it but I am having a hard time balancing everything else that I take care of at home. Jarrett has been amazing and really stepped up to the plate. He has been such a big help to me! I also have been blessed with some great friends that have helped me by picking up the kids from school. I am so not used to having to ask for help. The kids are at different schools so sometimes that makes pick up hard when I am not subbing at either of their schools. This week I am subbing in special ed all week. 3 days in the autistic class and 2 in the MR class. I have really enjoyed special ed but do not think I could teach it full time. We are praying about me going back to teaching full time next year. I never ever thought I would go back. I sold all my stuff. But I did keep up my certification, just in case.

This change is exciting and sad. I am sad that my babies aren't babies anymore. I loved being home with them all day, every day. I am such a homebody so this season really suited me. I really can't believe that part of my life is over. So, it is time to move on and find joy in this new season. It is exciting because my babies are getting bigger and growing into such great people. They are fun to be around and we can do all sorts of things that we couldn't when they were younger. It's exciting because I am getting a paycheck for the first time in 8 years!! There is something rewarding about that. (trust me, it has nothing to do with the amount, because it ain't much) LOL. . Subbing is great for me because I have none of the extra responsibilites that just wore me out in the past, I just get to do what I love, teach! I am learning how to balance everything and learning to let certain things go. So we will see where God leads me as far as a job goes, I want to serve my family only in the way HE wants me to.

When we moved into our house when Nathan was one we used the formal dining room as a play room. We would jokingly call it the formal playroom. It was filled with all his sweet baby toys. We would spend hours everyday in there playing and reading. He learned how to walk in there. I would spend hours in the middle of the night in there with Madelyn when she was a newborn and had her days and nights mixed up. We hosted playgroups in that room. Over the years the toys changed but it continued to be the favorite hangout room for the kids and their friends. Then when we were homeschooling we turned it into a school room. We ripped the carpet out, laid wood, then we could do art and science experiements without having to worry about spills. It was such a great school room. So much was learned and discovered in there. The last few months it has sat empty. I cleared out all of the school stuff and pretty much just left Madelyn's gymnastic mat in there. Ok, I am a dork, I am crying. That room has changed with each season our lives. Today it was painted. The holes patched, the crayon marks coverd, but the memories remain. Today dining room furniture was placed in it. Today formal china was unpacked after 12 years of sitting in their original boxes. Today crystal was carefully placed in a beautiful hutch. Today I have a grown up room that is begging to be decorated. I am blessed. All my pics of baby days are pre-digital camera...

PS I am a deal seeking kind of momma, and boy did we get a deal on this furniture. A lady from Jarrett's office was selling it. It came with a table with 2 extensions, a full set of pads , 6 chairs, and the hutch. They don't have children so it looks brand spanking new. So now I am need of ideas for a rug, drapes and accessories. We are also adding trim to the white part to make it look like faux wainscoating and we will eventually recover the chairs with a more kid friendly fabric. I would love to hear your ideas!!

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-12T20:29:00.005-06:00

This week Kathy's blog will have a guest writer. Hi I am Kathy's husband. If you are a regular reader you know that a week ago both our kids got some kind of bug. We thought it was allergies, but Madelyn started throwing up every hour so I guess she had something a little more. About the time she got better, I had a major allergy attack. I was miserable for a week and Kathy told me I had to go see a doctor. After waiting in the waiting room for 20 minutes and waiting in the exam room for 40 minutes, the doctor came in and basically told me to get $50 of over the counter medicine. Like I have not been doing that over the last week. I told Kathy you know when you are getting old when you think you know more than your doctor.

Enough about my issues. Kathy now has come down with a sinus infection. She looks pretty miserable. Our house has been pretty nasty with people coughing, hacking, snorting, and puking long enough. I am hoping as soon as Kathy gets over her sinus infection we will be clear for the year.

As you can see by the picture she is getting all ready for Valentines Day. For those of you concerned she has grown Clifford the Big Red Dog ears, that is a rice bag you can heat up on her head. Since Valentines Day is Saturday and I still have not gotten anything for her I figured I would start my gift out by saying some nice things about my wife on her blog. God knows I will need the brownie points after she finds out I put this picture out here.

10 Things I Love about my Wife:

1. She is beautiful even when she has a big red rice bag on her head.

2. She is the social outgoing one. (Everyone knows I would not have any friends if I did not have such a lovely wife with a lovely personality).

3. She has been my best friend for 17 years. (6 years of dating and 11 fun filled years of marriage).

4. She is just as anal as me when it comes to a clean house, carpet marks, mowed yard, and clean cars. ( I wish she would understand why it is important to carry that to the garage).

5. The best mom anyone could ask for. She will go the extra mile for the kids.

6. I know ever night within 5 minutes of being in bed she will ask me to scratch her back.

7. Faithful

8. Reliable

9. Godly

10. Supporting

On a even more serious note she does complete me. I cannot imagine going through life with anyone else. It is true behind every good man is a great wife. She is the one that holds this family together. Taking care of the kids, grocery shopping, cleaning, bills, laundry, after school activities, and the biggest job of all taking care of me. My mom should be very proud to know that such a good women is taking care of her son. Honey I know we will have a Happy Valentines Day even if you are wearing your Clifford Ears.

Frugal Living

2009-02-04T17:05:00.005-06:00

This picture will make since after you read my post. For some reason I can't move my pics around.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about living more frugally. I am not sure why really,but I am. Since I have been stuck at home due to the ice last week and Madelyn being so sick this week I have had some time to research ideas of how to be more frugal. I have always been interested in couponing and deal finding but I am just not seeing the savings I would like. Our family has always tried to live below our means and save for things before we buy them. Don't get me wrong, I have so many "Things" that I want. I struggle with being content and thankful for what I have. It seems I always want More. For instance, I really want granite for my kitchen and a King size bed and new bedroom furniture right now. There is a part of me that just wants to run out and buy it now and pay for it later. Or better yet, do 6 months no interest. But I know better. Those are traps and always come to bite you in the long run. Sometimes I believe the lie that what I have isn't good enough, trendy enough, that I will be happy if I just have more or something different. I believe that God wants us to be content in Him. He is Enough, He is Good, He is trendy. He will never go out of style!! Oh, how I struggle. There is a bedroom suite calling my name. But I will wait, I will save, and oh how much sweeter will that new bed be when I pay cash for it.

We went through Financial Peace (Dave Ramsey) a couple of years ago and it changed our lifes and how we think about money. I highly recommend it! Sometimes I hate those envelopes but they do help us stay on track.

Because of our 2009 Financial goals I really need to amp up our savings. The one category that I feel that I can shave some $ off of is groceries/household expenses. I will try to share some frugal tips with you over the next few weeks. Maybe we could call it "FRUGAL FRIDAYS"

Here is one that I came across today:

Make your own dryer sheets.

1. Dip an old washcloth in liquid fabric softener.

2. Ring it out.

3. Let it dry.

4. It can be used 12 times.

**I am not sure if it will work but we will see**

Another thing we are doing is trying to eat more left overs. We aren't big leftover eaters but I know it will save us money on our groceries.

SNOW DAYS

2009-01-28T11:40:00.004-06:00

I love snow days! The kids are having a blast sleeping in, playing board games, playing video games and just hanging out. My house is a pit, the laundry is piling up, the floors need to be mopped, the bills need to be paid but I think I am just going to snuggle up under a warm blanket and read a book.

I made this potato soup that was so so good the other day. I had never made it before. and am actually shocked that it turned out. It is perfect for these cold days!

Creamy Potato Soup
4 slices bacon
3 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
water to cover
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon paprika
In a large saucepan cook bacon until crisp. Set bacon aside, along with 3 tablespoons of bacon drippings.
Add potatoes, onion, carrot and celery to drippings. Add enough water to cover vegetables and cook over low heat until tender, stirring occasionally.
Stir in milk, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
In a separate bowl, stir together sour cream, flour and paprika. Gradually stir 1 cup of hot soup mixture into sour cream mixture.
Pour sour cream mixture into sour mixture. Cook until good and bubbly hot. Top with chopped bacon pieces.

We don't like celery so I left it out. Also, I didn't cut the potatoes small enough so they took forever to soften up.

Keep your lips to yourself!

2009-01-22T19:55:00.004-06:00

Nathan has always struggled with spelling and writing, a common issue with asperger kids. He is an incredible reader though. It was a really frustrating issue for me when I was homeschooling him because I just didn't know how to help him. So far at school he has made all A's on his spelling test but C's and D's on the dictation part of the test. Thankfully it is 2 separate grades. He seems to be able to memorize the words but he can not spell them in sentences. This week his words for some reason are very hard for him. We have studied for hours and he is still just not getting it. I have tried everything I know to help him. Now he is saying ,"I am no good at spelling and writing. I can never do it." It just breaks my heart. It seems like just yesterday he didn't have a care in the world and now I see him stressing. He told Jarrett that he wants mommy to homeschool him. Oh, how I would in a millisecond, but this is what is best for him this year. My prayer is that he discovers his passion at an early age so we can nurture it and mold it. The other stuff just won't matter as much.

We also got an email from his teacher today:

Kathy,

Yesterday Nathan started trying to kiss the girls. I talked to him about it and he said he would stop. These girls must be irresistible because he was at it again today. I told him he would loose his stamp today. I also had him go down to Mrs. Ingram's room to chill out a little. I just thought you would want to know about your little lover boy. :)

Becky

I am thrilled that she has a sense of humor about these things. The autism teacher is getting a video for him to watch. Oh mercy!!

This school thing is a whole new adventure. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

The answer is...

2009-01-19T10:27:00.002-06:00

Ok, none of you were even close. I wish I could have gotten all of those items for under $10. I thought I did really good at the grocery store until I read your guesses. I paid $19. That was a 64% savings. I saved $19.58 with coupons and $11.99 by using the Homeland savings card. That is a total of $31.57. I was so excited!!

How much do you think??

2009-01-18T18:51:00.004-06:00

Ok, I have a little game for you. Take a guess at how much all these groceries cost me. I bought them all at one store.

2 8 packs of juicy juice

sugar cookie mix (don't judge me)

2 arm and hammer baking soda

yeast

refied beans

marshmallows

12 rolls of toliet paper

200 count Dixie napkins

betty crocker icing

Gain Detergent

Mrs. Bairds Bread

Golden Grahams

rice krispies

Family Fun Night

2009-01-18T18:28:00.002-06:00

Once a week we try to have a family fun night. This has become more important to us as the children have gotten older and our schedules have gotten busier. Especially since we have stopped homeschooling I struggle with the fact that we aren't together as much as I would like. We always have a great time spending time together no matter what it is we are doing. I have been running out of ideas lately and wanted to try something new so I made a Family Fun Night Jar. The kids decorated an old Mason Jar and I added strips of paper with ideas on them. The kids close their eyes and pick a piece of paper. Friday night Madelyn picked "Powers Out" We played games in the dark with a lantern and candles. They thought it was great. Nathan wanted to pick a new strip of paper out of our jar Saturday night as well.

Here is what I came up with but I am wanting to add more ideas. Leave me a comment with your ideas and we can compile a fun list for us all to use with our families.

Game Night
Movie Night
Go out for Dessert
Watch Family Movies
Sleepover in the Family Room
Card Night
Wii Night
Art Night
Powers Out (play games in the dark, flashlight tag)
Puzzle Party
Hiking (summer time)
Spend the night in the backyard in a tent (summer)

Ode to the Rooster

2009-01-11T20:26:00.003-06:00

Well our family must say a sad goodbye to our Rooster. He has been watching over our kitchen for 7 years. Certain people who shall remain un-named never liked Mr. Rooster. I really don't know why they would have a problem with him. He is a lovely green, he never talks back, he loved my cooking, he never ever had a bad hair day. He is low maintance and truly an assest to our family. But He thought it was ugly and could never understand why we would need a rooster in our kitchen. That certain person painted our kitchen and trim this weekend so out of gratitude I will bid a fond farewell to Mr. Rooster. I hope that the next owners of Mr. Rooster will treat him with the love and respect that he deserves. If you know anyone who would like to adopt him let me know. We are an equal opportunity rooster adoption agency.

Donald Trump Jr.

2009-01-08T19:01:00.005-06:00

This picture doesn't really need any words does it?

Madelyn gave Nathan Monopoly for his birthday last month. We started playing it last Saturday and have just had the best time ever playing it. We have left it set up on the coffee table and ever night after dinner and baths we have been playing. Nathan is Donald Trump Jr. He has hotels on all of his high dollar properties and is about to bankrupt all of us. He did feel sorry for me when I couldn't afford to pay him $1400 rent so he gave me one of his lesser valuable properties. I am glad he is a compassionate land lord.

Nathanism: The other day Nathan told me that he has a girl that he has his eye on in his class. He then tells me that she is just "Too beautiful to ignore!"

I think that may be a really good pick up line later in life.

2009-01-06T12:20:00.002-06:00

Madelyn after the dinosaur ride. She screamed the whole way through. It was truly a very scary ride. Nathan buried his head in his lap.

All smiles before the ride!

Ok, are you tired of the Disney Pictures yet?? Oh well, you will have to endure a few more!

I don't know what happened here but I can't move the pictures around so they are all out of order. Today we enjoyed seeing all of the animals on the safari and riding Expedition Everest. The kids loved the Finding Nemo and Lion King shows. The Bugs life 3D show freaked them out though! It was a fun day and a beautiful park.

Magic Kingdom Day 2

2009-01-04T16:29:00.005-06:00

Friday morning we had to be at MK by 8:15 am for our reservations for Cinderella's Royal Table. All the girls were headed there and the boys were going to Crystal Palace for a breakfast buffet.

I had to call 6 months in advance for these reservations and was so excited to get them. I think it is every little girl's dream to go to Cinderella's castle. When we entered the castle the girls got to visit with Cinderella, get her autograph, and take a picture with her. Then we walked up the winding stair case then entered the dining area. I love the pic of Madelyn with her dress hiked up. (Notice the tennis shoes.)

Grampy surprised the kids and said he would buy them each a souvenir today. Madelyn picked out Minnie ears and Nathan picked a Mickey Sorcerer hat. They pretty much wore them the rest of the trip. Since we knocked out MK the first day we just hit a few of our favorites again, saw a show, toured Minnie and Mickey's house then headed back to the resort and went swimming. The weather was absolutely amazing during our trip! We headed to Downtown Disney for dinner and to walk around all of the shops. Max slept through most of dinner.

Epcot, oh no, not the characters!!!

2009-01-01T19:28:00.007-06:00

After a good night sleep and better luck with the bus we got to Epcot bright and early. We were excited to see the big white golf ball!

We headed straight to Soarin' along with everybody else that was there that day. However, we walked straight on and were one of the first groups on. This ride was incredible and I can totally see why it is Disney's #1 ride.

We hit the boat ride and then headed over to Nemo and Friends and Turtle Talk with Crush. They were all great.

We had a fabulous Chinese lunch then after headed toward Test Track. This ended up being the kids favorite ride. All five of the kids were shrieking about how cool and great the ride was after they got off and this GM lady came up and said she loved their enthusiasm and gave us VIP passes to the GM lounge. We went up a secluded entrance then enjoyed the fabulous views of Epcot. There was also a window we could look out onto the ride. Then to top it off we got to get straight onto the ride again without going through the fastpass lane. We felt like Disney Royalty. Yea for Disney Magic.

We made a stop at the Character Spot. All the kids wanted to get the characters autographs. The line was really long but when the cm saw Nathan's pass she let us straight to the characters. This is the one time I really noticed some mean looks from the mommies that had been waiting in line forever. I felt bad. But then they got a show. Nathan changed his mind and started freaking out. (Another autistic moment) I tried to calm him down and told him he did not have to go up to any of the characters just hold my hand. It made me sad that he was so un-nerved by the characters.
When we got to Donald Duck Nathan said he wanted to get his autograph. I was shocked. So he went up to Donald and when Donald turned he whacked Nathan in the head with his bill. Nathan smiled in the picture then ran over to me and started bawling and said in the saddest little voice, "I am done, get me out of here." The poor kid was just traumatized. We made a not so graceful exit, bypassing the rest of the characters and called it a day as far as characters go.

Trying different Coke flavors from around the world.

For Dinner we had reservations a steak place in the World Showcase call Le Cellier. It was by far the best steak I have ever had, I would say it is even as good as Mahogany's. They also had to die for cheese soup and pretzel bread and whiskey chocolate cake. Jarrett thinks next time we go we should make ressies there for every night.

After dinner we were going to go enjoy the Christmas Candle Light Processional but the kids talked us out of going and we hightailed it to Test Track one more time. A ride in the Space Ship Earth ended our night. Nathan and Madelyn loved Epcot way more than I thought. The crowds were very managable and the weather perfert.

We called it an early night and hit the hot tub and headed in for a good night sleep.

MAGIC KINGDOM

2008-12-30T21:55:00.007-06:00

Wednesday morning came quickly as the kids were excited to hit the first park. We were at the bus stop by 8am. We must have just missed the MK bus because we had to wait a while. Our goal was to get there early and go to customer relations and apply for a GAC card for Nathan (GUEST ASSISTANCE CARD) then watch the show right before rope drop. Finally our bus came around 8:20 then we made our way around the resort and the bus was busting at the seams. Traci called right after we got on the bus and said they were there. I asked her if she could scope out where I needed to go to get Nathan's card because it wasn't looking good for us getting there before rope drop. A few minutes later she called me while she was talking to the cast member (disney employee)about Nathan's GAC card. Unbelievably he gave her the card without us even being there and to top it off when he asked how many were in our party she said 11 and he gave all of us use of the card. I was told beforehand that the card was only good for 6 people. That would have totally messed up our entire trip. The card makes accomadations for people with disabilities. Nathan has autistic tendincies and adhd and sensory integration dysfunction. Waiting in crowded lines is a nightmare with him. I know all parents think their kids have this same problem but just multiply it by 1000% for our sweet boy. The accomadition the card gave Nathan was alternative entrances so that he wouldn't be pushed in with a ton of people and get overstimulated. We really appreciated this touch of "Disney Magic". It was such a blessing that our whole group could stay together and not wait in a single line. It also helped with character meet and greets and shows.
Thank you TRACI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know what you said or did for that guy but it worked!

Traci and Kennedy before rope drop.

So we get to MK right before rope drop and are ready to go!

We had a plan and at that point we didn't really realize what a gem the GAC card was. Quickly walking back to fantasy land we headed straight toward the Pooh ride, Peter Pan, Snow white, It's a small world, the carasol, and the mad tea party. We got all those rides done before 10am and the park opened at 9am. By following the touring plan we cruised through all of those rides. Now, I know it is un-American but we did not ride Dumbo. If you choose to ride it you need to do it first because it is the slowest loading ride in the entire park. If we had known what the GAC card would actually do we probablly would have riden it. Next we rode a little roller coaster in Toon Town then caught the train to Frontier Land. When we got to the roller coaster Big Thunder Mt. there was a huge long line. So we asked the CM if we could use the fast pass entrance for Nathan. We showed our card and then walked straight to the front of the line. It probably saved us an hour wait. We could not believe it!!! The rest of the day we used his pass. Our group was able to do the entire park and see everything we wanted in one day. We had allowed two days for MK. Traci and I were laughing because Nathan always seemed to have an "autistic moment" just at the right time. For example, we were walking up to the front of Splash Mt. and he was repeating over and over, " I don't think I want to do this, I don't think I want to do this, I don't think I want to do this!" Luckily we didn't get too many dirty looks.

Here is the group that braved the mad tea party! Jorge and I decided that we would be sick the rest of the day if we went spinning.

Jarrett and Jorge on Winnie the Pooh!

We ate dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern with the characters. The dining plan was awesome and allowed us to eat at a lot of places we would have never eaten at. We made it to the spectromagic parade and castle lighting. Max fell asleep, it was too cute! The rest of the kids made it but crashed as soon as we got back to the resort. We didn't stay for the fireworks but the kids and Jarrett were exhausted. There is always next time! It was a long day but we got more accomplished in one day than most people do in 2 or 3. Next time we go I will not be so comando and take more time to smell the roses. Now I know what to expect. It was an awesome first day!!! Up Next: Epcot or bust!

We made it!

2008-12-28T21:37:00.004-06:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to update. I know you all are just dying to hear the rest of the story! LOL!

When I left off, the kids weren't happy that they weren't going to spend the night at Aunt Kris's and the parents weren't happy that the kids were ungrateful and unexcited. (Is that even a word?)

After a time out in their rooms and after the tears had stopped we showed the kids a map of where they were going. We pointed out all of the fun things they would get to do. They started getting more and more excited. I made a quick call to Aunt Kris and she was thrilled beyond belief that the kids wanted to spend time with her more than going to DISNEY WORLD. We made plans to spend the rest of the day with their family. The kids were happy that they would get to play with their cousins.

On the way to OKC we let the kids watch a video of Disney World. They could hardly contain themselves. They were squealing and talking ninety to nothing of all the things they dreamed of doing. This just thrilled our hearts and certainly turned our moods around.

The next morning we left the hotel at 4:30 am for our flights. It was soooooo cold. Madelyn and I were on one flight and Jarrett and Nathan were on a different flight that left 30 minutes later. We had to do this because of our free frequent flier tickets. My flight left just fine but Jarrett and Nathan sat on the runway for over an hour because the de-icer broke. They ended up missing their next flight because of the delay and didn't make it to Orlando until 6pm. It was a long day for them. Thank you mom and dad for the Nintendo DS. It saved Jarrett, Nathan hardly looked up from it all day.

Madelyn and I made it to Orlando around the same time as Grammy, Grampy and Ally. So we all rode the Magical Express to our Disney Resort, Saratoga Springs. The kids were so excited to get there. Ok, I was too! I got a little giddy when I saw the sign!

We still hadn't told Madelyn that our friends, The Foreros were going to be there. I couldn't wait to surprise her. I was hoping that this surprise would go over better. After we checked in and got a bite to eat we went to Downtown Disney which was just a short boat ride away. Oh, by the way it was in the 70's and 80's in Florida. Not to rub it in or anything. We went shopping and looked around then when I took Madelyn outside she saw Kennedy and Max walking toward us. It was priceless! They were so happy to see each other.

Jarrett and Nathan finally made it and met us for dinner at Wolfgang Puck. After a yummy dinner and exploring the LEGO store we went back to our resort for an early bedtime.

We will be hitting Magic Kingdom first thing in the morning for rope drop. Our resort was beautiful and peaceful. I hardly saw other people. Jarrett and I think it would be fun to go back there and just hang out at the resort. We had a two bedroom home with a kitchen and family room. It was perfect for us! There was even a washer and dryer that came in very handy several times. Traci and Jorge stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and they said they loved it! We wished we could have all stayed at the same place but it just didn't work out.

Ok, I have a confession, I Kathleen Short, am an obsessive compulsive planner. I love researching and planning itineraries. In my defense I am also flexible. (within the plan of course) For this trip I made a 4X6 card for each day of our trip. I made a chart for park times, our dining ressies, parade times etc on one side and on the other side was a list of rides and the most efficient order to ride them in. I laminated them and put them on a ring. I gave each family that was with us a set. I got so much flack from my traveling buddies over these cards. But I know, that deep down, they loved them. Some guy at Disney Hollywood Studios saw my cards and said if I was that "Type A" about Disney World he would hire me in a minute to work at his company. I took it as a compliment, my family and friends just took it as one more thing to make fun of me about. I will admit that some trips lend themselves to being planned and others don't. If Jarrett and I go away some where alone, I do not plan. But if I am taking the kids I generally plan. Our summer beach trips are a lot less planned. Lisa and I just make menus and grocery list for those trips. It really helped Nathan to see a schedule. He read it all the time.

Up next:

Will we follow the "plan" ??

PS If you have any ideas of how I can use this obsession for planning and turn it into a paying job let me know. Now that the kids are in school I need to do something.

Surprise you are going to Disney World!

2008-12-20T16:12:00.001-06:00

Monday morning we decided to surprise the kids with an early Christmas present. We sat them down in front of the tree and gave them each a present.
(I have been looking forward to the reveal for a year! I had it totally built up in my mind. They saw me packing and I told them we were going to Aunt Kris’s house in OKC to spend the night. Which was the truth but then we had a change of plans. We weren’t going to surprise them until the morning of our flight but with the extreme cold and ice storm we decided to get a hotel at the airport instead of spending the night 30 minutes away at my sister’s house.)
As they were opening them we explained that this present was a clue to their big present. With much anticipation they opened the gifts and they seemed pretty excited to see the Minnie and Mickey T-shirts. But they didn’t seem to get the clue. We told them that we were going to visit Minnie and Mickey where they live and then they got “it”. They were happy and Nathan sat there bug eyed when I told them we were leaving in the morning and flying on an airplane. Then Madelyn asks, “Are we going after we spend the night at Aunt Kris’s house?” I said, “No silly, that was just a joke so mommy could pack without spoiling your surprise gift. We are sleeping at a hotel. But we will see Aunt Kris for dinner tonight.”
Then the unthinkable happened. M started shrieking and crying and saying she didn’t want to go to Disney World, she wanted to go see her cousin Megan and Aunt Kris. Then Nathan chimes in, “I don’t want to go until January, I want to see Megan and play at her house.” Jarrett and I stared at each other in total disbelief. I started listing all the fun things we would do but they would hear none of it. We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???? WHAT KID WOULD NOT DIE TO GET A SURPISE TRIP TO THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH?? Our surprise did not go at all how we dreamed it would. I am still glad that we didn’t tell them a year or even a month in advance but I should have planned the reveal better.

Up next, Will N and M have a change of heart? Will mom and dad still want to take them?

PS Sorry there are no pics but we were videotaping the moment. I will try to post the video later.

8 Things

2008-12-14T06:23:00.006-06:00

What a week! We have been busy preparing for our trip, getting ready for Christmas, Nathan's Christmas program, and Nathan's birthday! The whole second grade did a really cute Christmas show at school. Nathan was a cousin and had to say, "Oh, my goodness, what was that!" He did awesome. We were so excited that he participated in the entire show singing and doing the motions. He can be a little unpredictable when it comes to these kinds of things. My parents and Jarrett's parents came over after the play and celebrated Nathan's birthday a night early. Nathan has some really great reactions when he opens gifts. When he opened his gifts from his Aunt Kim and Uncle Micah he starting shrieking, "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness how did she know! I love it, I love it!" It was too cute! My parents got him a Nintendo DS and he just about fell over! He was super excited. I swear he hasn't put that thing down since Thursday night. It will definitely keep him occupied on the airplane. Steven and Liz~~ He loved the Lego set! Can you tell what he is into??

I seriously can't believe he is 8 years old. I am just reminded at how Incredible God is during this time that we celebrate the day He gave the world Nathan. Our little Nater Bug is such a testimony to the Lord's unfailing love and healing power.
Here are 8 things that I love about you Nathan:

1. You are so loving and sweet!
2. You loves Jesus and love telling others about HIM!
3. You are a mamma's boy! I love it that you want me to sing you to sleep every night. I love how you still cuddle with your daddy!
4. You are a fighter! You have never let your challenges get in the way of accomplishing your goals.
5. You love to read books!
6. You are an awesome big brother.
7. You have a kind heart and a sensitive and giving spirit! I will never forget how you were worried about all the hungry and hopeless people of Tulsa and wanted to give your money to them.
8. You are a black and white thinker. Therefore you are honest with your thoughts and just say what you mean.

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

We celebrated Nathan's birthday at Fire station 22 in Tulsa. Grammy and Grampy bid on a party package at a silent auction and won. It was the best birthday party ever! The firemen made dinner for all of us and we got to eat with them. They took the kids on a tour and let them ring bells, push buttons, and participate in a drill. They even let them spray the hoses! To top it off they took the kids on a ride in the firetruck with the lights and sirens blaring! It was a total blast! We think Grampy had more fun than the kids and we are going to plan his next birthday there! LOL! Thank you Grammy and Grampy!

A little of this, a little of that...

2008-12-07T20:20:00.004-06:00

It has been a fun week at the Short home. Several of you asked me why in the world would Gracie need to wear the lamp shade on her head. Well, she has a sore on her paw that she was licking. It got really bad so for the next 6 weeks she has to wear this or have a $500 laser surgery.

Madelyn was honored as student of the month at her school. She was very excited and we were very proud!

Nathan played Christmas songs at Barnes and Noble with his piano teacher. He just started taking lessons in July and this was his first public concert. He was so excited and I loved the fact that he was confident. He thought they might pay him and he would become famous. Maybe someday! Both sets of grandparents and my sister Kim came to hear him play. We were all so proud of him. There were times, years ago, that I could have never imagined him doing something like this. God reminds me daily of what a miracle he is.

We went to Utica Square for our annual visit to Santa Claus. There was no line this year, usually we wait for 30 minutes or more. Santa asked Madelyn what she wanted and she thought for a moment then said, "Ask my brother first." Nathan's response cracked us up, or maybe it was more the way he said it, "Santa, the things I want this year are quite popular items. I would like a zero gravity car, a punching bag and gloves, a Nintendo DS, and a Star Wars Clone War Wii game." After walking around Utica we went on a light tour around mid town. I love those older homes!

Madelyn had some dental work done before school one morning. She wore a sticker to school saying "watch me my lips and checks are numb" When I picked her up from school that afternoon her lip was swollen and had a nasty looking sore on it because she chewed it up. She also stuck a marker cap on her chin and pushed so hard it tore her chin up. It looked like someone beat her up. She didn't realize she was hurting herself.

Our garage door broke this week and for the whopping price of $170 we got two new springs. When Jarrett came home one night he put the door down and came in and thought it shut. The next morning when he went out he saw that the door was up. Both of our cars were unlocked, the back door to the house was unlocked, my purse was in the car, Jarrett's laptop was in his car. Miraculously nothing was stolen. Our house is the third house from the main street so anyone could have seen it open. We were just praising Jesus that nothing was taken and more importantly that no one came into the house. Ok, so that was our week. I will be busy getting ready for our SURPRISE trip to Disney this week. We leave a week from tomorrow. I really can't believe I have kept it a secret for a year.

Fabulous!

2008-12-02T16:12:00.003-06:00

Oh, Thanks a lot Kim for this lovely and might I say prestigious award! So you think my blog is fabulous, I ain't buying that for one second! I will however, participate just because I love you. So, in order to give this honor the respect that it deserves, I have to follow some rules!

I must list 5 of my favorite addictions and then pass this along to 5 friends

1. COKE/Pepsi, I am bi-cola!! HA, HA!!
2. TV: The Bachelor, Greys, Desperate Housewives, John and Kate, etc, etc
3. The Twilight Books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4. Cheese Pizza
5. Traveling and planning trips!! I just need a job to fund all the places I want to take my family. I really should turn that passion into something that makes me some$$$$. Maybe I could be the next Samantha Brown.

Ok, So here are my 5 friends that I am bestowing this award upon:

(I have no clue how to link these)
**See I didn't deserve this award!

Dawn:Because, girl you are the blogging queen!
Traci: Just because I think it would funny to see your answers.
Karen: Because you need one more thing on your plate right now!
Sherri: Because you haven't blogged in a while and maybe this will motivate you
Shelly: I stalk your blog, rarely comment, but I promise I mean too.

Look what I bought!

2008-12-01T16:18:00.009-06:00

The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away! Look what $200 bought me!

Look what $10 bought me: A super cute hair cut! Madelyn got six inches cut off!

Look what a couple of dollars bought me:

Decorating Christmas cookies!

Look what was free: Family Time decorating the Christmas tree,reading books, hiking and spending time together!

Black Friday Blessings!

2008-11-28T20:23:00.003-06:00

My dear friend Lisa and I have a tradition of hitting the sales on Black Friday. This year we started at the insane hour of 4:45 am. I picked her up and we headed for Best Buy. Usually we start at Kohls but we didn't have any "must haves" there and frankly we didn't want to hang out in that line that wraps around the store for 2 hours. It's just not worth it!! I don't believe in luck, rather in God's blessings. So my first black Friday blessing was getting a close parking spot at Best Buy. Then they had exactly what I was looking for and the line moved quickly. We were out of there by 5:20. Target didn't open until six but we decided it would be worth it to be in line to get what we needed and then get in and out. This led to my biggest blessing of the day. There was a lady walking along the line that went all the way past Belks handing out entry forms to a contest. I filled it out then turned it in after I got my loot and check out. Never gave it another thought! Lisa and I hit several other stores and were plum worn out by noon. So with our trunks full and checking accounts emptied we called it a day.

When I got home I noticed the answering machine blinking. You see where this is going, don't you. Jarrett said while he was in the shower some chick called me. He never listened to the message. So I click and can hardly believe my ears, "Mrs. Short you have won the grand prize at the giveaway at Target this morning. Give me a call and come pick up you $500 dollar Visa gift card."

Are you kidding me? I never win anything! I started screaming, squealing and jumping up and down! Jarrett thought it was a hoax until I called the lady back and she told me to meet her at Baja Jacks where she was eating. So we load up the kids and go pick it up! I am still in shock and just so thankful for this blessing!

So, what are we going to do with it?? Jarrett needs to get his air fixed in his car so it could go for that, or selfishly we want a blue ray player, Nathan said we could make his jaw drop and get him a DS. I even thought maybe we should give it away. Then I remembered our Disney Trip in two weeks and decided to put it toward our Disney Dining Plan which we have to pay for when we arrive. I have been whining to God about how we have had this vacation planned for a year and had saved the money but now it is all bye bye because of the lovely stock market. Oh, why does it surprise me that he cares about the little details of my life and always provides. He is so awesome!!

Edwardo

2008-11-25T16:49:00.002-06:00

Edward, AKA Edwardo to Jarrett, has been my life for the last week. I am totally hooked on the Twilight books. If you haven't read them, run to the store and get them!! They are addicting! I saw the movie on Friday morning!!!!!!!! Not as good as the book but I will say it helped feed my addiction. I hope they are making a sequel. I gotta go read, see ya later!

Blogworthy

2008-11-17T03:32:00.004-06:00

I have been a bit neglectful of my blog lately. It is 3:30 am and I can't sleep so I will give mammacakes a little attention. Nathan has been adjusting to school well. When the teacher told him to write a paragraph he told her he didn't need to write it because he only writes once a year and he has already written this year. I was cracking up!

Last weekend I went out running with a friend and when I got back Madelyn was waiting for me at the back door all dressed up. As I exited the car she exclaims, "Welcome to Casa de la Short!" Then she takes me by the hand to the kitchen where the table was set all fancy with candles and everything. There was big band music playing. Jarrett and cooked a delicious pork loin, twice baked potatoes, rolls, and green beans! It was so yummy!!! Madelyn took me back to my closet to fix me up for the dinner. She picked out a fancy dress and high heals and a bunch of plastic necklaces. Nathan danced with me and insisted on twirling and dipping me. It was so sweet! Thank you Jarrett! And yes, it was blogworthy.

We were at our friends house last Friday playing cards and all the kids fell asleep and this is how we found Madelyn.

Dear Nathan

2008-11-05T20:51:00.003-06:00

Dear Nathan,

Today you flew, no you soared! Today was your first day of second grade at Hodson Elementary. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you! When you woke up this morning you said, "Hurry mom, get my clothes, it's my first day." I have never seen you get dressed so fast in your life. This was just one small victory for you today. Usually mommy has to tell you at least 10 times to get dressed then I end up helping you each step of the way. Daddy went to work late this morning just so he could see his boy go to school. When we pulled up to the school you saw your buddy Max. His mommy brought him early just so you boys could walk into school together. Wasn't that sweet?? You were so brave Nathan and you never looked back. We got to walk you to your classroom and see where you would be spending your days. There was already a desk with your name on it. Your teacher is really nice and made you feel very welcomed. I knew I would miss you terribly but I knew this was what was best for you. You were ready! Daddy drove mommy home then my tears started. Sometimes Mommy's just cry not neccesarily because we are sad but just because. Someday you will understand. God has opened so many doors for you sweet one and He has an awesome and mighty plan for your life! Mommy and Daddy did not take the decision to send you to school lightly. We prayed and prayed, prayed, and prayed some more. We really try to trust the Lord with each aspect of your life.

I drove to the Y and tried to stop my tears. It was really weird going without you. You have been my Y buddy for the last 2 years. It was even stranger going home afterward to a completely silent house. Mommy all of a sudden has this new found freedom, ok, that is weird too. I decided I would spend the day cleaning and doing laundry which have been neglected that last couple of weeks so I could focus on spending time with you. My thoughts kept drifting and wondering to what you were doing? I would start to worry then I would pray. As I was praying the phone rang and it was Mrs. Ingram. She is mommy's friend from church and is on your IEP team. She will make sure you get all the support that you need at school. She just called to tell me that you were doing great and were participating and didn't even need the para's. I am so thankful to the Lord that He cared enough to have Mrs. Ingram call me and reassure me. Then at lunch time we got an email from your teacher saying that you were doing great but were very quiet and maybe a bit overwhelmed by it all. Baby, I would have felt a little overwhelmed too if it was my first day at a new school. Let alone going from "homeschooling" and peace and quiet to lots of kids, new noises, new smells, new people, new rules, etc. Nathan, Jesus is always with you and will help you each day.
When I picked you up you were happy and you even shared with me bits and pieces of your day. You liked recess and music and were excited that you got to go to the Library and motor room. We want you to remember that when things get hard or uncomfortable to keep trying and never give up!
Nathan we are so excited for you as you start on this new journey. We are proud of you sweet one!!!

Hugs and Kisses,

Mommy

MORE FALL FUN!

2008-11-01T17:48:00.005-05:00

Is it really November already?? October flew by! My sweet ones had a great time dressing up and going to our church's fall festival then trick or treating around the neighborhood. Madelyn was Sleeping Beauty and Nathan was Bat Man! We had fun during the last week carving pumpkins, going to fall parties, and reading fall books. Today we went hiking around Skiatook Lake. The kids walked several miles and did a great job! Nathan brought his backpack just in case we got lost. Guess what was in it? A spiral and colored pencils. Umm, I'm not sure how that will help us if we get lost. After we got done hiking we went on a boat ride and each of the kids got to drive the boat! It was a great day!

Nathan's meeting went great. He qualified for an IEP and will be getting services at Hodson Elementary. He starts this Wednesday. I really just can't believe we are doing this. I am both excited and nervous. But I have a peace. We are thrilled that they will be providing a para for him that will assist him with transitions and during any difficult parts of the school day. He will also have access to a motor room for those days that his sensory issues are a problem. He will be in a regular classroom of course. He tested way above grade level and everyone that worked with him was quite impressed at how smart he is. Next Tuesday we will have another meeting where we write the IEP and meet with his classroom teacher. We are praying that God will put him with just the right teacher. Nathan is so excited!!! Which is an answer to prayer!

He is ready to Fly

2008-10-22T21:21:00.006-05:00

Thank you for all of the great advice!! I am happy to report the pee smell is gone! Or maybe my nose just got used to it. LOL!! Jarrett has been out of town on business this week and we miss him sooooo much. I have been busy decluttering our school room, the room is almost empty except for Nathan's table and the stuff we will need for the next week.

For the past two months Nathan has been undergoing a bunch of testing through the school system. In July his Occupational Therapist and Speech Therapist asked us to consider putting Nathan in school. They think he has all the head knowledge but needs more situations to put things into practice. (Because of Nathan's extreme prematurity, 24 weeks, he has some autistic tendencies and some add tendencies) I see their point on one hand but don't on the other hand. We prayed and decided we would go through the testing to see if he qualifies for an IEP (Individualized Education Plan). We felt like if the school could provide some services that we can't at home we would consider putting him in school.

So next Wed is our big meeting where we will find out if he qualifies and what services he is eligible for. We will be making a final decision after the meeting but we are pretty sure he is going. He wants to go, which is a first. Please pray that our sweet boy will make a smooth transition, make friends, and that his sensory issues will not resurface. I have truly loved homeschooling Nathan, it has been such a sweet time with him. The Lord has given me more and more peace as the weeks have passed about sending him to school. We are submitting to God's will for Nathan's life each step of the way and if that means this year he goes to school and next year we homeschool we will do it. It might mean he goes to school the rest of the time, I just don't know but we will keep taking it a year at a time or should I say a month at a time, who am I kidding, a week at a time. We will just keep seeking His face for our children's lives. So here is to letting our kids FLY!!!!

THE MYSTERY PEE

2008-10-19T20:20:00.002-05:00

There is a strange smell lurking in my kid's bathroom. I can't figure out where it is coming from. All I know is that it smells like boy pee. The grossest, most offensive smell I have a smelt in a while. Boy pee just smells different than girl pee. The smell reminds me of the way Jarrett's old bathroom in college at the house he shared with 3 other guys used to smell.

I have scrubbed the inside of the toilet, the outside of the toilet, washed the floor rug, scrubbed the tile and grout with clorox clean up and yet it is still there. Ok, boy moms out there, how do we get the smell out.

Fall Fun

2008-10-17T16:34:00.002-05:00

Since we weren't able to go away for Fall Break this year we decided to just have some fall fun at home. The kids wanted to make pumpkin sugar cookies and decorate them. We had fun making faces We also went to the Y to swim and the pumkin patch in Owasso with our homeschool coop. Tonight we are going to have a picnic at the park.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-11T15:48:00.004-05:00

We have been so busy lately and I just haven't time to blog. I will catch you up later on what is going on but here are a few pics to enjoy from my friend Lisa's 40th surprise party, Emily's b-day dinner and from the pumpkin patch today.

Thankful Thursday

2008-10-02T19:13:00.005-05:00

1. DVR Oh my goodness, how did we live without it all of these years. We just got it and we are already spoiled.

2. Kisses from my children!!

3. My savior, Jesus Christ!!!!!! He is awesome, amazing and really cool. If you don't know HIM ask me and I will introduce HIM to you!

4. My amazing husband, who after a hard day at work came home and helped with dinner then took Madelyn to gymnastics and told me to just lay down. He is just the best!!

5. My laptop with wireless Internet. Thank you Jarr bear!

6. I appreciate that I don't have to work outside the home.

7. My Friends! I love doing life with each of you. You all make it so much more fun!

8. I am thankful for my health, even though I am sick today, I am thankful.

9. Pepsi, with crushed ice!!!!!!!!!!!

10. Traci telling me I looked 5 pounds thinner today. You Rock, even though you are a liar!!

11. My mom and dad!! I really appreciate them more now that I am a parent. I still can't figure out how they did it with 5 kids and manage to keep their sanity.

12 Homeschooling on my couch today. Adding double digits is a lot more fun under a cozy blanket in your pjs.

So, it's not a boil after all!

2008-10-01T19:56:00.002-05:00

I need to clear something up. I do not have a boil! I went to the dr. today because what I thought was a boil was causing me severe pain, to the point of tears. My eye was swollen shut this morning and I had the worst headache in my life. I have a sinus infection and possibly shingles. They are treating me with 4 different meds and pain killers. My head feels a ton better but I am dizzy, tired and vomitting from all the meds. Jarrett, thank you so much for taking care of me and the kids and the house this week. You are truly amazing and such a precious gift to me. I appreciate you and love you!!! You are the best.

Please pray for a family at my church. They lost their 4 month old baby yesterday to SIDS. Baby Abigalyle was in my nursery class at church. Just a couple of Sundays ago I rocked that sweet baby to sleep. Our God is soverign and he will walk the mommy and daddy through this. My heart just aches for them tonight.

CATCH UP

2008-09-29T22:05:00.004-05:00

So, I am going to copy my sister Kim and catch you up with my week in pictures.

First, Nathan and Madelyn were pretending to go to Disney World last weekend. (Little do they know that they are going in less than 80 days) So Nathan emptied out all of his drawers looking for his Hawaiian shirt. I am not sure why he thought that shirt would be a good choice. This is what I found when I walked past his room.

It was pretty funny and I was able to organize his drawers when we cleaned up.

My parents had a party for my brother and his new wife Liz. We had a great time and great food. Jarrett stayed home with Nathan who had a 103 fever.

Madelyn started gymnastics and ballet/tap. She loves them both! She even got moved up to the next level in gymnastics after her first class. She is now with the 3rd and 4th graders. I was a little worried if they would accept her and if she would feel comfortable. I shouldn't have, she knew everyone names within 5 minutes. The big girls were great to her.

Nathan has had a TON of testing at the school during the last week. So we have been back and forth to the school constantly. The nice lady testing him told me to just come back in 2 hours on the first day. Wow, free time!! At first I was excited then as I walked out of the school I started bawling like a baby. It wasn't like I was dropping him off for the whole day, it was 2 hours people! What is wrong with me?? I am so used to "being there" and being a part of his therapy, testing, schooling etc. I am about to cry again. Ok next some mom bragging. The psychomotrist commented that she had never had such a smart 2nd grader. I can't wait to see the results of the testing. We have one more day of testing then we should have our BIG meeting. Then we will be making the decision about schooling. Please pray for wisdom for us! And, if we happen to send him to school, I need you people to plan a day for me or call Laurate for a reservation. Either one will work.

Sorry Mom and Dad, I just couldn't resist! My parents came over the Sunday after Steven and Liz's party to visit and within 5 minutes of sitting down they were both sound asleep and snoring. Poor babies were exhausted.

This weekend we boycotted the FAIR and went to the ZOO instead. We met Kim and Micah and their kids and had a great time.

In other breaking news I am battling a boil, yes you read that right, a boil. (at least that's what I think it is) It is right above my eye. When I woke up this morning my eye lid was so swollen. It looked like I was giving everyone the evil eye. It hurts sooooo bad. I am not, I repeat, not sharing a picture of it. Actually, it doesn't look like much, just a red shiny spot that is killing me.

Jarrett and I went and saw the movie, Fireproof. I would highly recommend it to all you married folks.

In other randomness, Madelyn cried when I picked her up early at school today for an eye dr. appt. She was sad that she was missing centers, music, and snacks. Who would have ever thought?? Remember the first week??

Ok, I am done rambling. Goodnight my sweet friends.

Sweet Carter

2008-09-18T08:24:00.002-05:00

Dear Friends,

3 years ago today we were blessed to meet Carter Lane Bevins, my nephew. Kim and Micah's precious son lived only a short time but he will forever be a part of our family. His sweet life has touched many and none of us who hear his story will ever be the same. All the moments of his life and the days surrounding it are forever etched in my memory. He had the sweetest little features and the most precious spirit. I am so thankful to God that he allowed me to be a part of his birth, life and death. I will never forgot the nurse telling me it is ok to keep shooting pictures. I think she could sense that I felt like the camera was intruding on this unexpected moment. "Someday," she said, "They will want to see them." It somehow felt so wrong, yet so right. So I kept shooting. Jarrett was able to put together a little video right after his death for Kim and Micah. Please, please go to my sister's blog today and leave a comment, even if you don't know her. It will mean so much to their family to know that we are all thinking and praying for them today. Her blog is www.bevinsfamily.blogspot.com or just click on the link on the side of my blog that says "KIMS BLOG" Thank you for your prayers for them today! Thank you LORD for holding my sweet sister in the palm of your hand during these difficult times. I praise your powerful and mighty name today and all the days of my life!!!

Nathan's Story

2008-09-15T21:27:00.002-05:00

Here is a video that Jarrett made a long time ago about our sweet Nathan. It is such a reminder of how great our God is. It reminds of how far Nathan has come and what a miracle he is. So thank you Lord for this sweet child you have blessed our lives with!

Nathanism/Walgreens deals/Old Friends

2008-09-15T20:33:00.006-05:00

Our homeschool coop went on a field trip to the Fire Station. The kids had a blast!

Tonight during our family prayer time Nathan prayed that daddy would make a wise decision about who to hire and that he would work hard so that he could retire soon. I think I heard an "AMEN" from Jarrett. I was laughing so hard, I am sure God was too!

Sunday afternoon I met my friend Dawn (Dawnsdiversions) at Walgreens for a little training session. She did great and saved a lot of money and will be getting rebates back on her Walgreens gift card. We had a lot of fun and will be hitting the store again next Sunday. We did make one older gentlemen in line a little anxious because our transactions took so long, but everyone else was a good sport about all of our coupons. I didn't do as good as last week because I stocked up on pull ups which always drives up the bill. I got them for 7.99 plus a 2.00 rapid reward. At least it is better than I used to do. I got the Kashi cereal for 50 cents a box!!!! You can go to their website and print of $2.00 coupon of any Kashi product.

My total savings:$42.80
Rebates I will get: $6.00
My OOP: 23.34

Our dear friends, Traci and Jorge finally moved back home this weekend. We are so excited to have them back. The kids are in "Paradise" to quote Nathan because Max and Kennedy are back. They have had fun playing together.

WALGREENS 101

2008-09-10T08:50:00.003-05:00

Several of you have asked for more info. on how to save money at Walgreens, so here is where I started. My first and most important piece of advice is to start clipping coupons out of the Sunday Paper. Cut everything, even if it is a brand you normally may not use or a product you don't need right now. Start stock piling coupons. Yesterday, I saved over $20 a Walmart with little effort just using coupons! My best purchase was a pound of bacon for 50 cents. It was a brand I have never used before but for 50 cents I am willing to try it. I put my coupons in an accordin style thingy and put them into catagories. I carry it in my purse wherever I go. You never know when you will be out and can snag a good deal.

Dawn, The reason you do separate transactions is so that you can take advantage of the RR (register rewards) They are tied to certain items and will only print out once per transaction. So then you use it to pay for the second transaction, etc. Each week their ad will tell you the items that get RR's.

When I started this a couple of months ago, I found this website and she explains everything very articulately. (is that a word)
Here is her section on Walgreens.

I copied this off of my favorite money saving website,
www.moneysavingmom.com (can someone help me fiqure out how to make a link active?)

Besides just the normal store sale, Walgreens has three different types of deals to take advantage of:

1) Rebate Booklet - This is most commonly known to most deal shoppers: The Walgreens EasySaver catalog. These are usually located next to the weekly store flier displays at your local store. You'll want to make sure and grab one on your next shopping trip. Actually, grab three or four while you're at it (I'll tell you why in a minute).

The monthly EasySaver catalog usually includes a few free after rebate items for the month and also a number of other rebates they are offering for the month. Some of the items listed in the booklet which are not free after rebate at their normal price will usually go on sale one week during the month and will then be free after rebate at the sale price.

In order to take advantage of the rebate deals, you'll need to go to the store and buy the items listed, paying out of pocket. Then, you'll fill out the simple rebate form and send it in along with your receipt with the price you paid circled.

You can choose to have the rebate sent back to you in the form of a check or a gift card. Unless you are not planning on shopping at Walgreens more than one time, you should always choose to have your rebate put on a gift card. Why? Well, for one, you get 10% extra for choosing a gift card so this will usually cover the cost of the stamp to send in the rebate, plus any tax you paid on the items.

Best of all, once you've sent in your first rebate request and gotten your gift card with the rebate plus 10% on it back, you will never need to spend a penny more out of pocket at the store! You can just use your gift card to buy the rebate items, send in your rebate form and they'll recharge your gift card with the rebate amount plus 10% and you can roll it over and over month after month.

It usually takes around 4-6 weeks for your first rebate to be processed and for you to receive your gift card. Once you have the gift card and just need them to recharge it, it normally takes 2-3 weeks. They'll send you a postcard saying your rebate $$ have been added to your gift card. You can also always log in to their website at any time to check on the status of your rebate.

In order to take advantage of the other great deals at Walgreens, you want to try - as much as possible - to "grow" your dollar amount on your gift card. How do you do that? The best way is to use a manufacturer's coupon on the free after rebate items. Using coupons, plus the 10% you get back each month, you'll slowly be able to grow your gift card to where you can do the rebates every month, plus take advantage of some of the other Walgreens deals, and never pay a penny out of pocket except for the initial money you paid the first time you bought the rebate items.

The EasySaver catalog also includes a number of store coupons which are good all month (see next point). You can see the October Easy Saver catalog here.

2) Coupon Stacking - The EasySaver catalog and the weekly store fliers always include a number of store coupons which are good all month or all week, depending upon which flier they came from.

Since these are store coupons, they can be stacked with manufacturer's coupons. Often, you'll be able to get a really great deal by stacking a store coupon, a manufacturer's coupon, and a store sale.

This is the reason I told you to grab more than one of the EasySaver booklets. You'll want to have extras of these when you plan your shopping trips. That way, you can plan out your transactions and put all of the coupons you'll need for each in an envelope along with your shopping list.

3) Register Rewards - The Register Rewards program is a brand-new program that Walgreens has recently started. Similar to the CVS Extra Care Bucks Program, when you buy a certain item, you will get a printed coupon after you checkout called "Register Rewards" which you can use like cash on your next purchase. They usually only have a few of these items per week, and many times it is not completely free. However, by adding on a store coupon and/or a manufacturer's coupon, you are often able to get the item for free or almost free after the Register Rewards.

Unlike CVS, the Register Rewards (RR) are not tied to a store card. Instead, they just print out for everyone who buys that particular item or items that week. Because of this, there is no limit on how many of one deal you can do. That said, they have recently tightened their system so that you usually cannot roll the same RR over and over again on the same deal.

For instance, a few weeks back, they were running a Proctor and Gamble Buy $25, Get $10 in RR promotion and they were also running a Unilever Buy $20, Get $10. With store coupons, manufacturer's coupons, and the Register Rewards, I was getting most of these items for almost free (and paying with the out-of-pocket from my gift card, of course!). However, I couldn't do the P&G deal over and over using the $10 RR to pay for my transaction after coupons, since the computer is programmed to not print out another $10 RR on P&G products if I paid for with the $10 RR I got from purchasing them last time. Make sense?

So, you can either just do the deals once, or you can do the deals multiple times and pay out of pocket and then save the RR's you collect each time and use them on groceries or other items later. Or, your best option is to do what I did: Do multiple transactions and alternate between the P&G deal and the Unilever deal. This way, you can keep rolling the RR's over and over and paying very little out of pocket (well, out of your gift card!).

Very Important:

From what I've found, the Walgreen's cash register system is set up a lot differently than CVS. So for those who are used to shopping at CVS and always paying less than a $1 for a few bags of groceries, you might find yourself frustrated at first. I've spent some time figuring out what works best and here are my tips.

Please note: Read the comments for some varying experiences. It might depend upon your particular region or store as to their coupon policies. These are just from my experience and if you are having trouble getting the system to work, these tips might help you.

1) You must have as many items as you have coupons. The computer is programmed not to accept any more coupons than you have items. So, make sure and tally up your items and coupons before you check out. The Register Rewards count as a coupon as do any of the store coupons, so count those, too. If you have more items than coupons, add on a few cheap items so that you have the same number of items as coupons. I always play it safe and try to have at least one more item than coupons. This just guarantees the register doesn't have issues.

2) In order to get your total down to the lowest amount possible and for the register to accept all of your coupons, the order you give your coupons in is very important. So far, I've never met a Walgreen's cashier who knew how to manually push a coupon through. So if you're coupon won't go through, it won't go through. That's why it's important that you have as many items as coupons and that you hand your coupons over in the correct order.

After lots of trial and error, here's the best coupon order I've come up with:

-Register Rewards first
-Then manufacturer's coupons
-Then store coupons

Doing it in any other order than this seems to cost me at least a few dollars more or it causes the system to jam and not allow my coupons through and means I either have to add on some extra items or it means that I pay extra money out of pocket.

I give my coupons to the cashier in batches split up in the groups mentioned above. This keeps things simple and ever since I started doing it this way, I've never had a problem with the register jamming or a coupon not going through.

3) If for some reason they cannot get a coupon to go through, request that they void the item right then off of your order. It's much easier to just void it off right then and not pay for it, then to try and mess with it later. And voiding it off is a very simple process.

There you have it! I'm sure I missed something and didn't explain everything very clearly so please feel free to ask concerning any questions you have.

I hit the mother load!!

2008-09-08T17:07:00.003-05:00

Today I did so well at Walgreens that the cashier was clapping and cheering for me. She is going to start couponing now!! Yea!! I love helping people save money!

Transaction #1

3 bottles of Robitusin 3.99 each, I used 3 $3 off coupons

Total price: $2.97

I earned a $10 Register Reward, so I made $7 buying cough syrup, which I am sure will come in handy this winter.

Transaction #2

1 Shout $2.49, .75 coupon (from newspaper)
2 Scrubbing bubbles shower foam $3.79, I used 2 $1.00
1 scrubbing bubbles $2.49, .75 coupon (from newspaper)
1 windex $2.49
2 scrubbing bubbles action scrubber 3.79, I used 2 $2.75 coupons, which made them $1.04 each

I used my $10 RR from Transaction #1 to pay for all of this and only owed $6.31 OOP
I also earned another $10 RR for buying 7 SC Johnson products, So really I made $ on this!!

Transaction #3

$.99 Chex Mix. Coupon: $1 Net Price: FREE (printed online coupons)
2 Motts apple sauce $2.50 each (store coupon and online coupon) Net price: 2.34
paper clips .25 (on clearance, I needed some and I needed a filler item, since I had more coupons than items. Walgreens registers won't work if you have more coupons than items.)
Glade spray $2.99, I used $1 off store coupon, $1.50 mg. coupon, Net price: .49
Chemistry Root boost: $7.99 (Will get $7.99 rebate)
crest toothpaste $3.79, used .75 coupon, and will earn $3.79 Rebate

I put $2.47 on my Walgreens gift card.
Paid $3.35 oop
Total: $5.82

My Savings was $66.45
My Out of pocket: $13.65
My rebates that I will get: $11.78
GRAND TOTAL: $1.87 AND THAT IS WITH TAX AND EVERYTHING

YIPEE!!!

It is really not as confusing as it looks! I promise, it is worth it!

What's Up?? (Warning Randomness below)

2008-09-04T20:28:00.005-05:00

(Nathan's mixing molecules to see reactions experiment)

We have all been adjusting to our new "School" schedule. Jarrett has been traveling the last two weeks to Denver and Tennessee. It is nice to have him back home. I have been staying up way to late watching the RNC. I am getting old. I must say that Sarah Palin is one spunky woman and really knocked it out of the park last night.

Today Madelyn's friend Jaiden, who she rides to school with, was sick. So I had the pleasure of taking her to school. I should have known this was going to be bad when she told me that she couldn't go to school without Jaiden. I had to turn some papers in at the office so I told her I could walk her in the building to that point, then she could walk to class. I thought she would be fine since she walks in without a problem when Jaiden's dad takes them. Oh, no, she did not. She went to give me a hug and wouldn't let go and started crying at the top of her lungs. The kindergarten assistant saw what was going on and came to retrieve Madelyn. As she was trying to get her Madelyn accidentally hit her, stepped on my toe, and punctured some poor parents eardrums with her high pitched screams. I kept my composure as Nathan is yelling, "Don't leave her mom, she needs you!!" I grabbed his hand and headed out the door then turned around to make sure Madelyn was ok. There was another mom there and she totally gave me the look of death. I was like you are NOT looking at me like that! I already felt bad enough but then to get that look and head shaking was not cool. That chick has no idea what is really going on. We moms need to stick together and support one another, not judge each other, especially in moments of child melt downs.

No sooner was I out of the parking lot than I get a phone call from the school counselor. "I heard Madelyn crying by my office, she is fine now, and has wiped away her tears." This was not my first phone call from her. She called me the third day of school as well when I left her at school screaming.

I called Jarrett this morning and asked him why we are doing this. Maybe we are supposed to homeschool her. Trust me it is nice just having one to homeschool but for some reason I still feel this desire (for lack of a better word) to keep her here. Nathan has been able to cruise through his school work with it being so quiet at the house. He has blossomed in his Piano and had time to nurture his passion for art and science. I thank God for this sweet time with him.

I started Bible Study this morning, Beth Moore's Jesus the one and only. I just love ladies Bible study and I think this is going to be another great one. They have childcare for the homeschooled kids and they can bring their work.

Last night we started a class at church called "The Truth Project" It is incredible! It was put out by Focus on the Family and is about a Christian worldview. There is no homework which is great since I have a lot with the Beth Moore study and it is a DVD series. If any of you in Owasso are interested in this class, it is open to the public. It is Wed. at 6:30 at First Baptist.

Ok, If you are still reading I warned you that this is a bunch of randomness.

Please pray for Jarrett and I as we are working on getting Nathan on an IEP. We are doing the testing through the school as well as some private testing. It is a lot of work gathering medical reports from all of his specialist, going to meetings, etc. Nathan's OT and ST think that it would be best for him to go to school. We are not so sure. Once all of the testing is done we will meet with a team from the school and see what they can offer him. At that time we will decide if we accept their services or continue to homeschool.
When you have a special needs child you become the biggest advocate your child has. I fight for him, cry for him and pray for him. I want the best services for him. I about lost it today when I got the report from his developmental pediatrician of Nathan's last visit in July. To see the words in black and white was devastating for some reason. There were words on there that I had to google to understand. As I read it I thought surely this is not My son he talking about. When I look at Nathan I see the handprint of my heavenly Father not some big fancy diagnosis. This is a child that was never supposed to walk, or talk or have a "normal" life. He is doing great right now and he loves God and that is all that matters. The labels don't matter, the big words or the diagnosis, don't really matter.

Ok, this post is getting too long.

One more thing, if any of you that have Kindergartner or first grade little girls that were 5 by April there is a new ballett/tap class that a lady at our church is teaching. It is FREE. If you want more info. let me know.

Oh my goodness, are you watching the John McCain. Those hecklers need to get out of there!!! The next two months sure will be eventful!

Sweetness

2008-08-29T21:15:00.002-05:00

Today was Nathan's first day of homeschool coop. He loved his classes and he did great!! Most of all he was excited to be with his friends. There are ten 2nd and
3rd grade boys and no girls in his history class. It is going to be a fun class!! They are all so into history, especially the gory stuff. After coop Nathan and I went to Walmart to pick up a few things for the weekend and he had the idea that we should plan a special surprise family fun night for Daddy and Madelyn. So I told him it was all his to plan.

He picked out everyones favorite candy and said he wanted to go rent movies. When we got home he made some "Snacks for $1" signs. I guess he thought he should make some money on the deal. When Madelyn got home I heard him tell her to put on a pretty dress. A few minutes later they came out into the family room, him in plaid shorts and a dress shirt with his tie clipped onto the front pocket and her in her favorite "Bailey" red dress with hot pink tights. They did a formal dance for me. I was cracking up so hard. I just love how they love each other, it is just pure sweetness. He set up the family room with pillows, blankets, and got all the candy organized. Then we went and picked up a pizza. We got home at the same time as Jarrett and surprised him with "Family Fun Night." Nathan got a few strange looks at his choice of outfits but I didn't dare make him change. It was just too sweet. We had a great time watching movies and stuffing ourselves with candy and pizza.

Nathanism

Last night as I was singing Nathan his goodnight song, he told me in the sweetest way that I might need to work on my tempo and how loud and soft I sing. But other than that I had the best voice ever. (Bless his heart, he doesn't realize I can't sing at all) He was so serious as he critiqued each part of the song. I could hardly keep a straight face.

Reasors Field Trip

2008-08-25T19:56:00.004-05:00

Today was our first homeschool field trip of the school year. The kids got to go on a behind the scenes tour of Reasors Grocery store. When we arrived there were name badges with each child's name printed on them. Nathan was so excited to wear his. We got to watch how they cut and package the meat, see where they store all of the extra inventory, explore the milk and ice cream freezers, etc. They let the kids pretend that they were cashiers and scan food then the day ended with a cookie and juice from the bakery. It was a great field trip, very informative, FREE and most of all fun!!

Walgreens Deals

2008-08-24T17:36:00.002-05:00

Here are todays deals that I got at Walgreens. Jarrett is really getting a kick out of my enthusiasm for getting "Deals". Ok, the funny thing is that we are stocked up on Kleenex, deodorant and toothpaste for the next year but I seem to always be out of milk, fruit, OJ. You know the stuff you need everyday, but by golly we will not run out of toliet paper or air freshener.

1. Puffs 89cents walgreen coupon, paired with a 25 cent MAG coupon
TOTAl 64 cents per box
2. Glade scented oil plugins: BIGI Free paired with a $4.00 off/1 coupon,
Total: 79 cents for 2
3. Dawn Dish Soap: Walgreens coupon for 99cents, paired with a 50cent MAG coupon
Total: 49 cents
4. Deodorant: 2.99 paired with a $1.00 MAG coupon, plus received a $1 Register Reward
Total: 99 cents

My total: $4.80
My savings: $15.04

Second Transaction:
1. Pullups: $2.00 coupon, plus received a $2.00 Register Reward
Total:6.49, with RR $4.49
Savings: $7.49

Third transaction
1. Chalk $1.00 (I needed it to have the same #items as coupons.)
2. Rimmell Mascara: Buy 1 get 1 free, I used a $1 coupon on each mascara
Total paid for 2 mascaras $4.79
3. Pull ups: used $2 coupon plus recieved another $2 RR (but the kid forgot to put it in my bag.)
My total: $12.28
Total savings: 14.79

My total spent today: $22.57
My total savings: 37.32

PS Yes, both my kids are STILL in PULL UPS, Pray for us!! We could have fully funded their college funds with what we have spent on pull ups!

FREE SANDWICH

2008-08-20T12:26:00.002-05:00

Try a McDonalds southern style chicken sandwich for free. You just have to buy a drink. I am sending this with Jarrett for his lunch! Just go to www.facetheglory.com

Walgreen Deals

2008-08-17T20:16:00.002-05:00

My coupons and I hit Walgreens this afternoon. I got some decent deals. T-paper is expensive but it is just one of those things we all need, that is what drove up the cost this week. I paid $14 for 2 big packs, used 50cent coupons of each, then earned a $3 coupon that I used to pay for the cereal.
Here is a picture per Dawn's request. Ok, I spent $20 but my bill would have been over $40 without the walgreens coupons and manufactures coupons. One of my favorite deals this week was the cheerios. It seems cereal prices have gone through the roof so when I can get a deal I get pretty excited. (sad, uhh) The boxes were on sale for 1.99, then I used a $1.00 off 1 coupon for each. 99cents for a good size box!! YIPEE!!!! I forgot to include my 39cent m&ms in the first picture. My goal for this year is to really stretch our grocery/household budget. It is actually kinda of fun. So if you are a frugal shopper, deal finder, etc. I would love your ideas or websites that help you out. Just think the more $$ we save the more vacays we can plan, the more we can bless others, the more we can save, tithe, etc!!

My Little Scientist

2008-08-17T19:59:00.003-05:00

For Nathan's second grade science we are using a new curriculum called "Real Science-4-Kids Chemistry". (There is also Biology, etc.) For my homeschooling buddies, the author is Dr. R.W. Keller. We have loved it! Don't let the Chemistry thing scare you, it did me at first. Nathan loves science and within the first 3 days did 2 chapters and 2 experiments. It was designed to do 1 per week for 10 weeks. So we will have to order the Biology pretty soon. The experiments have been cool so far and are really teaching the "scientific method." He has learned about atoms and molecules so far. Here are some pictures of his molecule models. He learned that when atoms form molecules they have to follow "rules." The other picture is of my kids wearing overalls they made out of walmart sacks. Cute! Madelyn doesn't want to go back to school tomorrow. She had trouble leaving me on Friday and threw an all out screaming and crying fit at school. They had to peel her off of me. I wanted to just cuddle her and take her home, but I didn't and I never let her know that. Pray that tomorrow morning goes better. Going to school all day compared to 3 days for 2.5 hours is a huge adjustment.

My Bike Accident

2008-08-14T15:50:00.003-05:00

I am known to have some weird ailments and strange accidents but this one may take the cake. Yesterday afternoon the kids and I were going to go on a bike ride, usually I just walk along with them but they asked me to ride. My bike hangs from the ceiling with those hook thingys. It is basically right in front of my car. So I carefully grabbed each tire, I was on my tippy toes with hands raised above my head, then lifted the tires at the same time. All of a sudden the bike flipped over my head toward the car and the metal bar by the seat hit me in the back of the head, hard. My hands were in some strange position at this point and my head was throbbing. I couldn't let go of the big because it would hit my new van. I wanted to release it so bad, it was killing me but I took one for the team. Painfully I shimmed over away from the car and I let go of the bike. It hit me all along my back side. I collapsed on the ground just crying out in pain. I couldn't get up, I was so dizzy and felt like I was about to pass out.

Madelyn watched the whole thing. She took my house key, unlocked the door, got my cell phone and called Jarrett. I am so thankful for her! She stayed calm and did what needed to be done. She is such a whiz with phone #'s for a five year old. Nathan watched too and then saw some big kids playing and left on his bike. (We don't let them just go like that yet!)

I still couldn't get up so I told Madelyn to go find her brother and bring him home. Anyway, I stayed in bed the rest of the night. I was very dizzy and nauseous. Today I am better but I have a sore head, sore hand and a bad spot on my head. Later that night we asked Nathan why he left Mommy when she was hurt and he said that she is a grown up and can take care of herself and that we were supposed to go on a bike ride so that is what he did. I told that to his speech path. today who works with him on social stuff and she said that was typical of kids with aspergers and that they would work on that.

Kindergarten

2008-08-13T14:38:00.004-05:00

I didn't sleep well last night and was up this morning by 6:00. Jarrett totally called that one and was prepared for an all nighter. He is such a great guy! We watched the Olympics, ate pringles, and talked and I cried.

It is amazing what you can get done while the kids are still sleeping. I showered, got ready and then made my family a nice sit down breakfast. By 7am everyone was up and eating breakfast. I wrote the kids each a little note that was waiting for them on their plates and sang them the "school days" song that my parents sang to us on the first day of school every year, even the college years.

We took pictures and off we were! When we got to the school there were no parking spots and that's when Madelyn's tears started. We reassured her and she put the tears away and walked in with a smile. I didn't want to get left in the car so I sucked it up and walked her in tearless!! Thanks for the prayers!

She did great and was so excited. She gave us hugs and kisses and a see you later alligator. That was it. No hesitation on her part what so ever!!! One of the little girls that she knew from the "Y" was crying her eyes out and Madelyn went right over to her, grabbed her hand, and tried to comfort her. That gave me such a peace! She is so compassionate! We quickly exited, I think Jarrett was trying to prevent me from having a "moment" or "meltdown" in public! I cried a little in the car and then bust out laughing when Nathan said, "Mom and Dad you are freaking me out! It is JUST School!" You see Jarrett was egging me on, trying to video me crying. Gotta love Nathan's comments!

We got home and got busy starting Nathan's first day of school. I showed him where the cafeteria is (the kitchen), where the bathroom is and where the classroom is. He told me to call him the "new student". I was just being silly. One thing I love about homeschooling is that I know where he is academically and we just start there. We bypass all the beginning of the year getting to know you stuff. We stayed busy all day, learning, cooking and going to Piano lessons. He did an entire weeks worth of science today. So if I calculate this we will be done with chemistry in about 2 weeks. I think I may have my work cut out for me. I keep looking at the clock, wondering what she is doing now? I wish that they had video monitors so I could just peak. You know, just to see that she is happy. Is that weird??

Ok, it is time to pick her up! YEAH!!!!!!!!!

Update: When she saw me she had a mean scowl on her face. I thought oh, no she hated it. I was planning on how to tell Jarrett that she was NOT going back. When she walked up to me I was expecting a HUGE hug and "Mommy I missed you!" Nothing, I got nothing. She barely gave me a side hug. I handed her teacher the fresh homemade cookies and note thanking her for the first day...she told me that Madelyn was a great helper and had a wonderful day. I was totally confused by Madelyn's demeanor. When we got to the car I asked her what was the matter and she said that she was HOT and had been outside for like 18 hours. Then I got a big hug and she said she loved it. Her favorite thing was eating in the cafeteria and "rest your brain" time. Ok, so I guess she is going back tomorrow. I am glad she had a wonderful day and am excited to see what this year brings.

Kindergarten for Madelyn/ The psych ward for Mommy

2008-08-12T21:05:00.004-05:00

Ok, maybe not the psych ward but maybe a counselors office instead?? Tomorrow is the BIG day. I am not sure I can handle this. My baby, my sweet, precious, adorable, smart, friendly, funny, silly, kind, big hearted, did I say precious?, baby is leaving the nest. She is going to KINDERGARTEN. Ok, so it is less than a mile from our nest, but to me it seems like half way around the world. I know every mom has a hard time with this new chapter in their children's lives, but that does not make me feel any better about it. Oh, I know this sounds like such an over exaggeration. I will look back on this some day and laugh at myself.

So I posted awhile back about how we, or should I say I, was on the fence about homeschooling Madelyn. It seriously made me sick thinking and stressing about it all summer. At the end of June I told Jarrett that he just needed to make this decision because I couldn't. I can totally see the positives to both options. So after like a milli second after I said that to him, he told me she was going to school. I cried like a baby for the next couple of days. I keep telling myself, "I am being submissive, I am being submissive!!!" I will trust his decision for our family, but I will be honest it is hard.

I am happy and excited for Madelyn yet sad and nervous all at the same time. It didn't help that the school handbook said," Due to the increased violence in elementary schools...". I about pulled her out right then. It freaks me out that she will be with this "other women" more hours during the day than with me.

When I went into Madelyn's room this morning, she started crying and said she didn't need to go to kindergarten because there was homework that would be too hard, no babies to play with and no snacks to eat. I comforted her and reassured her that she was going to be fine. Yet on the inside I was DYING! I wanted to do what any self respecting mother would do and tell her that she can just stay home with her mommy and not go to that evil place that doesn't let you play with baby dolls. But I resisted temptation.

So today I took her to "meet the teacher." I have been praying since June that God would place in her just the right class with just the right teacher. So now my job is to trust HIM. Madelyn knew four other kids in her class which made us both feel better. (No surprise, she knows more people in this town than we do.) She loved her teacher and her classroom, especially the computers and kitchen area. Nathan just stood next to the CD player listening to some cute songs which he later recited to us. I wish I had his memory. It is pretty darn incredible!!

Ok, one funny Nathan story. While I was signing up for the PTA, Nathan walked around the table and stood right next to the PTA lady and told her that he knows all about personal space.

She said, "Ohh, that's great!"
Nathan, "Yea, you have your bubble, and I have mine. If I get too close I will pop your bubble."

I was cracking up!! I guess social therapy is helping. (for those of you that don't know Nathan has "autistic tendencies" I think most of the time his tendencies are pretty funny!

Jarrett just told me that if I can't hold it together tomorrow morning that I was not allowed inside the school, oh pray for me!

The Tooth Fairy Needs a Loan!

2008-08-11T14:39:00.003-05:00

Nathan lost a tooth yesterday at church and then another today. That is 3 in the last couple of weeks. He looks so cute!! I think this means that when we go to the Dentist this fall we will be getting the expanders put in. Yuck!

My Walgreens Deals

2008-08-11T08:31:00.002-05:00

I have started couponing and trying to get good "deals" lately as my grocery/household budget has been blown through the roof. I have always couponed to some degree and price matched but thanks to some cool websites I am learning really how to maximize our budget, especially on household products. Last week I got $40 worth of products at Walgreens for $14 dollars plus a $13 rebate gift card is coming my way. It is fun saving that kind of money. The biggest thing I have learned is cut all the coupons out of the Sunday paper. even if it something I don't need right away, because usually that item will go on sale sometime during the month. I have been putting a manufac. coupon with a store coupon and a lot of times will get that item free or close to it. (Especially at Walgreens and Target) Here are some of my deals this week, not great, but helpful non the less!

Walgreens:
Aquafresh kids toothpaste: Buy one for $2.19 get one free + .75 cent coupon = 1.44 (2)

Kleenex: 89 cents Wal. coupon, save 50cents on 3, $2.17 (for 3 boxes, which is .72
per box)

Scott t-paper: 1.99 Wal. coupon + $1.00 off =.99

Bic pens: 2 for $1 + $1.00 off = FREE

My total Trip $4.66 (Not too bad for 2 tubes of t-paste, 3 boxes of Kleenex, 4 rolls of t-paper and 2 packs of pens!)

Wedding

2008-08-05T22:19:00.003-05:00

My baby brother, who is 10 years younger, got married this past Saturday in Dallas. It was the hottest day of the year reaching 109 degrees and it was an outside wedding. The heat didn't bother us one bit. They had these big blowing things under the tent that kept it bearable. It was an absolutely beautiful wedding and reception. Steven and Elizabeth were so happy. We had an eventful weekend with the Bridesmaids luncheon, which my sis's and I hosted, the rehearsal dinner, the wedding, then a Sunday morning brunch. It was fun visiting with my relatives and spending time with my family. The cousins always have so much fun playing together. Madelyn was so cute at the reception, she followed Liz around the whole time telling her how beautiful she was, how cute her dress was, and how pretty her hair was. Thank you Liz for being so sweet to her! The highlight for Nathan was swimming with his cousins and spending the night in a hotel. We even got to visit with Jarrett's sister and family in Frisco and go swimming with them. My kids have really become little fish this summer. Madelyn is now swimming with no floaties and is diving off the diving board. Nathan had fun practicing his dives too. It is so fun to watch them. My goodness they are growing up. Here are some pics from this weekend.

2008-07-29T21:14:00.002-05:00

Ok, don't worry you can keep reading, no preachin' today. The big news from our house is that Nathan lost his first top tooth. He looks so stinkin cute!

This weekend Madelyn got her first mani/pedi at a "real" nail salon for her friend Olivia's birthday. She told her daddy that she get could used to "this". Oh, boy we are in trouble. However, she was devastated when the paint on her fingers started pealing off as soon as we swam.

We were going to start "School" this week because it is so crazy hot here. But we all woke up Monday and decided that it was just to crazy hot to start school. So we went swimming with some friends instead. That is the one of my favorite things about homeschooling, we can do what we want. I always like to start early so we can take time off throughout the year. So, our new plan is to maybe start next Monday unless we get a better offer. Oh, yeah Madelyn is starting Kindergarten at public school. I am not dealing with this well but I am being "submissive" to my sweet husband who thinks that this is what is best for her. I may need therapy after Aug. 14th. when she starts. HA HA! She is super excited, today we drove by her school and she started jumping up and down and said, "Mommy, please let me go, please!!"

Ok, so I thought I was doing a good job of acting excited about her going to school but I guess I can't fool her. I just wish it was still 1/2 day instead of all day. She has never been to school for 7 hours a day. That seems like such a long time for a 5 year old to be at school. I have slowly been buying her school supplies and I got her a really cute backpack with her name on it from Pottery Barn. So I am not totally in denial.

Tearing down idols!

2008-07-27T06:08:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday we decided to take a break or a "fast" from TV, computers, and WII. We had several reasons for the break. I won't bore ya with the details. I will say my house has been much more peaceful. We usually don't watch a lot of tv during the day but the kids were wanting it more and more. Nathan and I had the hardest time. Everyday he would try to talk me out of the electronic break. I held firm. We did let them watch a video on Friday night because they each had a friend over spending the night and something funny happened. They couldn't sit through it. After a few minutes they were back up playing. I also noticed that a lot of forgotten toys were played with this week. Unfortunately, it was too hot to be outside for very long unless we were swimming, which we did a lot of this week. The hardest part for me was the computer. I really love my laptop! One night a couple of weeks ago, I reached for my laptop as it was sitting on top of my Bible on my nightstand, God convicted me that I had made that laptop an idol. WHAAATT! The computer on top of my Bible was such a visual for me. I started thinking about that, I was constantly reaching for my computer to research stuff instead of going to my Heavenly Father's counsel, HIS WORD. It is what I should be reaching for. I have a long way to go. I pray that the Lord will help me tear down the idols in my life. I want to be an example for my children and my hearts desire is for them to always reach for the Ultimate idol rather than all of the false ones in our world. What idols do you have in your life?

In the United States, when someone thinks of idols, he may think only of statues that people worship in certain parts of the world. He may not consider that a television can be an idol. He may not consider that an automobile, house, certain possessions, a hobby, a person, a political party, a cause, a job, a sport, an addiction, lusts, pleasures, or some other thing, can become an idol.
A person may not consider that stubbornness is as idolatry in the eyes of God. Covetousness is also considered idolatry in the eyes of God. A person seldom considers that his own selfishness can be an idol, as "self" is more important than God.
Very few consider that anything, which is more important to a person than obeying God, may be considered an idol.
Astrology, money, gold, silver, investments, success, popularity, pride, and many other such things, are also idols to people.
Idols are an abomination to the Lord. God is a jealous God.
Those that make, possess, or worship idols are cursed.
To put anything before God, or to esteem any created thing more than God the Creator, is wickedness and a form of idolatry.
God’s warning is clear: do not do it.

Break

2008-07-21T14:30:00.003-05:00

I am going to be taking a break from blogging and the "computer" this week. So if you need to get in touch with me, just give me a call!! I will be back soon!

Fix it Up Friday!

2008-07-18T21:02:00.004-05:00

Ok, so some of my blogging buddies have been doing "Tackle it Tuesday" where they tackle a household project and show before and after pics. Tuesdays tend to be busy so I did a "Fix it up Friday". We stayed in our pj's until 4:00 today and seriously did not go outside until after dinner. The only reason we got dressed was that daddy would be coming home soon. It was kind of nice after a busy week. I paid bills, then we fixed up our school room, AKA the dining room, AKA the play room. The kids and I went through every nook and cranny. We even tested every marker and threw away the ones that didn't color pretty anymore. This room was in need of some serious attention. Nathan and Madelyn helped rearrange the room. It is always fun to make it different before we start back to school. The kids are ready to start back again but I am not so sure if I am yet. Ok , here are some before pics.

Ok, here are the after pics which might I add don't do justice for all the bins and drawers that we cleaned and organized.

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Madelyn's Eyes

2008-07-16T21:40:00.002-05:00

Today was Madelyn's big eye appointment in OKC. Daddy took the day off to go with us. Nathan stayed home and went to music camp at our church then Grammy and Grampy took him to Piano lessons. Madelyn loved having us all to herself. We went for a nice lunch in Bricktown then headed to the eye institue. A couple of weeks ago at her annual eye appointment Dr. Groves found something that didn't look right in her optic nerves so he wanted us to take her to get an eye ultrasound. When we got home that day she told me that when we go to the appointment she was going to hit the dr. with two big popsicle sticks. OHHH Scary!! She even put the sticks in my purse. Since then she would make silly threats every so often. Madelyn has not had a very glamerous reputation with "medical procedures" (Just read last years post about her MRI) I was a little worried that she would be uncooperative for the procedure as well. I prayed that she would do great and she did. She was a trooper!! They stuck a miniture ultrasound wand on her eyes and all around her eyes. I could not stand that one bit. I can't even put a contact in my eye. Madelyn didn't even flinch. We were so proud of her!!! They found calcium deposits in her optic nerve which is a congenatal defect and shouldn't cause anymore problems. She will have to wear glasses the rest of her life but that is not so bad.

We got better with age!

2008-07-13T22:55:00.002-05:00

I had to post a more recent Miller family picture. I am just thankful Kris didn't wear the pearls in this one! Ok, people who do you vote is the most improved??

There are no words!

2008-07-13T22:46:00.002-05:00

I am not sure what year this was taken. I just can't seem to find adequate words to describe this picture. I think we should roast my sister Kris, she is the one in the blue dress that goes up her neck. Kris, were you going for the pilgrim look or the Amish?? I thought it was Easter, not Halloween! I am not saying that I am any better looking in this picture. Who in the world would cut a girls hair like that? I look like a boy. Kim, isn't Karen's dress the one we both wore again our senior year in highschool? At least Steven and Kim look cute. Karen, all I can say is WOW that is some Hair!

1990's Hair Flashback!

2008-07-13T22:23:00.003-05:00

I just had to post this picture Sisters!!! Jarrett is putting together a video for Steven's wedding and we came across this picture. Can you belive the hair? Could it get any bigger??? Karen, how much aqua net did it take to get your hair like that. I laughed so hard when I saw this I almost peed my pants! Just wait I think Jarrett found another one, oh my goodness it is worse.

Baptisim

2008-07-13T21:57:00.004-05:00

Madelyn got baptized tonight. She has been excited all week looking forward to her big day. Right before we left she asked if she could wear my diamond cross necklace since she was a Christian now. Absolutely sweet girl! The last couple of weeks since she asked Jesus into her heart she has been telling everyone about it; random people at the grocery store, Nathan's occupational and speech therapist, everyone at church, etc. I wish I had her boldness. She wanted to get baptized as soon as possible, Nathan on the other hand told us that, "some kids just need more time, and he is one of those kids." We only want him to do it when he is convicted to do it, so his logic works for us.

All her grandparents were there as well as Aunt Kim, Uncle Micah, Ella and Ty supporting her. I am so thankful for the legacy Jarrett's parents and my parents have given us. I appreciate that they took us to church every Sunday and told us about as well as showed us the love of Christ. I am thankful that my kids get to live close to their grandparents so they can learn from them as well.

Saturday

2008-07-12T21:07:00.003-05:00

Today was one of those rare but great days that we had no plans. Yesterday I got the house cleaned, laundry caught up and even the yard mowed. So today we slept in and rolled out of bed around 10. It was so NICE! We decided we needed to do something fun with the kids and get them out of the house so we headed for the lake. We called some new friends of ours that have kids the same ages as ours and they weren't doing anything either so off we went. We ate lunch at the new marina restaurant. Our kids had so much fun tubing. Madelyn was a little scared at first and only wanted to go slow but her friend was screaming "faster, faster!" So Jarrett cranked it up and she laughed the whole way. Nathan and his buddy were bouncing so high but amazingly never flipped out. Jarrett did flip Brent and Jennifer luckily the only sustained minor injuries and should be healed within a couple of weeks. In Jarrett's defense they did tell him to go fast! I wish I had brought my camera to catch the two of them flying across the water. We had a great day!

Blogs

2008-07-09T22:01:00.002-05:00

Hey girls,

I had made a page element of Blogs that I read so that it was easy for me to get to them and so I wouldn't have to remember your addresses. I want to apologize for not asking permission to do so. Please let me know if you want me to remove yours. I know we live in a crazy world and we just need to be careful. Please accept my apology. ~Kathy

Green hair

2008-07-07T23:24:00.003-05:00

My sweet Nathan's beautiful white blond hair turned an interesting algae green color today after swimming in my parent's pool. They had added some extra chemicals last week because of an algae problem due to all the rain in June. He was pretty excited about it until I rinsed his hair with lemon juice.

Ok, one more Nathan story. We were cuddled up on the couch tonight watching the Bachelorette (can you believe she choose Jesse over Jason?) and I asked Jarrett to take Nathan to bed. Nathan looks up at me and says, "Mom why don't we just go put him to bed so we can cuddle more." Also, if you ask Nathan who is girlfriend is he says it is Mom. How long do you think that is going to last? I am enjoying it while it does.

Summer

2008-07-06T21:47:00.005-05:00

I can't believe how fast summer is flying by. The kids are in swimming lessons right now and Nathan starts Piano lessons this week. He is really looking forward to learning how to play. I am not sure what to expect but I know it will be interesting. We have been swimming and enjoying playdates. I have been busy planning our surprise trip to Disney World for Christmas. I got the airline tickets purchased, our park schedule planned and restaurant advance dining ressies. We are NOT telling the kids so don't spoil the surprise. We are flying out of OKC because it was cheaper. We are going to tell the kids we are going to visit their Aunt Kris in Edmond. We will spend the night with her then get up early to catch a 5:50 am flight to Orlando. I haven't figured out exactly how we are going to tell them but I want to come up with something creative. So if you have any ideas of how we can tell them let me know. I think we will break it to them right when we get to the airport. I haven't been to Disney World since middle school so I am excited to say the least. We were even fortunate to get the coveted reservations for Cinderella's castle breakfast at her royal table. This will be a big surprise for Madelyn. She seriously cries when she sees "THE CASTLE" at the beginning of a Disney movie. I teared up when we got the reservation. That sounds so stupid but hey it was a childhood dream of mine as well. I know many of you have been there so I would love any and all Disney advice! I really need a job now to help out with all of these vacations this year. If anyone needs me to plan there vacay I would LOVE to help.

We went to the Lake to visit Jarrett's parents for the fourth of July. The kids had a great time shooting of their own fire works this year. There were only a few burns from the sparklers. Traci- Nathan just couldn't understand why we weren't going to Max's Nannies house this year. He is holding out for July of 2009.

Today at church Madelyn went to the front of the congregation to share that she wanted to get baptized. She did such a great job and we were so proud of her. She will be getting baptized next Sunday evening. We would love for you all to come. Email me and I will give you the details. We went up front as a family and the encourager guy asked Nathan if he had asked Jesus into his heart and Nathan replied," Yes, many summers ago (Actually it was last summer) but I am not ready to be baptized. Some kids just need longer and I am one of those kids." Jarrett and I were cracking up!

2008-06-26T15:58:00.003-05:00

Today the kids and I decided to make our own playdough. We had fun! And much to my surprise it actually turned out.

Madelyn explains, " We made playdough. We used flour,salt and water. My mom added lemon so it would smell good. I helped stir it. We thought we had messed up because it was gooey and lumpy and stinky. We took it off the stove then we grinded it. It got better. Then we played with it."

Yeast

2008-06-25T16:47:00.002-05:00

Today Madelyn was helping me make bread and she asked me,"What is this?" I answered, "That is yeast." Her eyes got big and she replied, "Ohhh, just like a yeast infection!" Umm, how do you know about those. And she said she heard about them on tv. UH OH!

Madelyn and Jesus

2008-06-20T22:46:00.005-05:00

Sorry for the ranting yesterday. Thanks for not holding it against me!

Today our sweet Madelyn accepted Jesus into her heart!!!! It was the sweetest thing. We were reading books and she blurted out that a girl in her VBS class had to go talk to Mr. Kolby's wife (He is our children's paster) because she asked Jesus into her heart. So I told her, like I have many times before, that when she is ready to talk about that just tell mommy or daddy. She said she was ready so I talked to her and she said she needed Jesus in heart because of her sins. Jarrett took a half day off today because we were speaking at the Crisis Pregnancy Outreach workshop. So he came in the room and we walked her through some illustrations and she said she was ready. Nathan helped talk to Madelyn about Christ as well. It was precious. He could tell her things so she could understand. Sometimes us adults just try to make things way to complicated. We all got on our knees and Daddy led her in a prayer. We realized that it was exactly a year ago today that Nathan asked Jesus into his heart! She was so excited! She called her grandparents and told my parents in person when we got there this afternoon!! We are going to have both kids talk with Kolby and then schedule Baptism.

As a parent this was one of the best days of my life. I know she is young but I think her child like faith is amazing. She isn't jaded!

ANTS

2008-06-20T12:56:00.001-05:00

I forgot to list in my ranting that yesterday the kids spilled our ant farm, the lid popped off and 50 harvester ants were crawling around my playroom floor. They were thankful for the freedom.

We are home! (Beware complaining below)

2008-06-19T20:45:00.003-05:00

I have been in a bad mood since I returned from vacation. I don't really know why, maybe post vacation blues... I have never had that before though. Maybe it has something to do with the fact we had a 17 hour drive home that we did in one day. We were going to sleep in the next day but our kids woke us up at 6:30 am. So much for sleeping. I think we had gotten to bed sometime after 1:00 am. Then it was yard mowing, grocery shopping, unpacking, laundry, and going through the mail time. We spent several hours that day at urgent care because Nathan's ear was draining puss and blood and he felt terrible. The next morning VBS started so I had to get there early to set up my room and get the crafts ready. The dog ate Nathan's peanut butter tortilla and barfed on my new carpet, Madelyn left gum in her pocket and it got all over my dryer, milk has been spilled, two sets of sheets have been peed on, so that is why I wish I was back in Florida. I am whiny and complainy and I know I need to put things in perspective. Maybe it is just PMS!

Another day in paradise!

2008-06-11T21:44:00.004-05:00

Yesterday we hung out with Jarrett's sister and her 2 kiddos that just so happened to be vacationing a few miles down the beach. We had fun swimming and hanging out with them. We got to go to Water Color and see their house and let me just say it was GORGEOUS! We needed a break from the sun so we headed to the outlet mall in Destin then to San Destin to visit Baytowne Wharf. It was the coolest place. There were some unique shops and restaurants that are along the bay side of the Gulf of Mexico. We ate at this cool Oyster restaurant. We had some great seafood, ok, well I got a hamburger, but it was a really good hamburger. After that we went to Seaside, which is the town that the movie, "The Truman Show" was filmed in and just looked around. The kids have been exhausted at night so there is no trouble getting them to bed.

Today we went to the beach early but had to leave because of a thunderstorm but it quickly passed. We also celebrated our friend Chris's birthday today. He and Lisa are out on a birthday date right now. Nathan started having a stuffy nose yesterday and now he has an ear infection. Thankfully we packed a pharmacy with us and in it there were some antibiotic ear drops from his last one. Tomorrow we are going to Shell Island on a catamaran. We are surprising the kids with this first thing in the morning. We are hoping for good weather.

Just a funny: Last night Madelyn asked if we could eat cow utters. Where do they come up with this stuff??

2008-06-09T22:34:00.004-05:00

I love vacation! We are all feeling so relaxed and rested and definitely well fed. I have really enjoyed watching my kids swim, collecting shells, play in the sand and just hanging out. I know I am with them all the time but they are just different on vacation. I love this type of vacation because there is no schedule, no time tables, no rushing. We can just do whatever we feel like and spend fun time together. Jarrett is actually reading a book and I am on my second. Our house has a deck off the kitchen that is nice and shaded and has a couple of those Adirondack chairs. That is where I love to read.

Today we had fun building a giant moat in the sand. Madelyn and Nathan boogie boarded again. (For those of you who asked, I did boogie board yesterday but there is no pic of it. The only pics that Jarrett has taken of me are from behind (not nice!), or of Nathan wiping his snot on my boob, or of me eating.) Madelyn was funny at the beach this morning. I started taking pictures of her playing and then she just started posing. It looked like she was at a photo shoot.

Tonight we hung out at Rosemary Beach, ate ice cream at the Sugar Shack, and then let Nathan and Madelyn run through this water park thing. (It is a mini version of the water, lights, and music show that the Beligio has in Vegas.) At 8:00 every night the music starts. It was beautiful. I haven't added a Nathanism in a long time but tonight he said something that was funny. We were outside of the Sugar Shack eating and this kid and his mom walk up and the kid is telling his mom that he wants an ice cream cone, an ice cream sandwich and some candy. Nathan looks up from his ice cream and in the most matter of fact way says, " Hey kid, you shouldn't be so GREEDY." I was mortified. Where is the filter?? Ok, well not much more to report.

Boogie

2008-06-08T19:55:00.010-05:00

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The kids woke us up at 6:30 this morning ready to go! Jarrett made them all pancakes, however there wasn't a griddle so he had to make them one by one on a small skillet. This house doesn't have the well stocked kitchen our last one did. For instance, there is no cheese grater and we need one for several of our meals. So Lisa and I sent the guys out to get one. They came back with a grater that you use for zesting lemons and oranges.

The weather was gorgoues this morning so we walked to the beach. The waves were pretty good so the kids strapped on their boogie boards and headed on out. Nathan ran out of the water crying because he had sand in his pants. Jarrett dragged him out into the water to empty it but that just wouldn't do. So I trekked back with him to the house to get his other swim suit that was a little smaller so the sand couldn't get in. Here is a pic of Nathan trying to get some relief!

Madelyn likes the ocean much better this year. She and Daddy have had a blast boogie boarding.

Well, she loved it until she wiped out and got a face full of sand and salt water.

A little snack made it all better!

Jarrett spent an hour body surfing. He is a bigger kid than Nathan and Madelyn.

The rest of our day was spent between the pool and the beach. Around 5pm a short t-storm passed through while we grilled out hamburgers. We topped the night off with smores and board games. We are a having a great time.

WE MADE IT!

2008-06-07T21:29:00.002-05:00

We made it to Seacrest, Florida and it is beautiful. We arrived around 2:30 and couldn't check into our house until 4:00 so we drove around looking for a surf shop. We found one in Panama City at this new shopping area which looked really cool. If it rains we may go there and spend some more time. The kids all picked out new boogie boards then we were on our way to the grocery store. I am glad we had a list and had done some pre-planning. There were a lot of people just walking around saying, "So what do you think we should make this week?" I wish I could operate that way but I just need to be a little more organized than that.
We got the last 2 packages of hot dog buns. I guess we aren't the only ones planning on cooking out.

Our house is really nice but the guys aren't too happy that the kitchen is upstairs. They had to lug coolers, groceries and cases of pop up the stairs and that's when the grumbling started. They wished we had rented the one story we did last time. Maybe we will just let them do all the planning next time.

We headed down to the beach before dinner and the kids had a ball. There were pretty good waves and the kids loved jumping in them. We found a blue button jelly fish that was really cool looking. Luckily they don't sting. Our house is right next to the pool so we let the kids take a quick dip before dinner. They are exhausted and looking forward to a day with no car rides and a lot of time for swimming.

2008-06-07T08:03:00.001-05:00

Are you kidding me??

2008-06-07T07:49:00.003-05:00

Good morning from Hattisburg, MS! We made it here by 6pm last night and we were able to have a nice dinner at Olive Garden. The adults have voted and decided no more Mickey Donalds on this trip. Thank you Jesus! Once was enough. We had a very uneventful drive which we are all thankful for. Especially after our last trip here and all of us developed a case of a nasty stomach virus and I got a sinus infection. It took us forever and a day to make it here last time.

Once we crossed over to MS I started to feel sick. No lie. I have developed another sinus infection. I was like "Are you kidding me?" Why is it every time this happens? I had packed our entire medicine cabinet so I quickly started a regiment of decongestants, steroids, and a nasal spray. I may have to call in a favor from my brother in law who is a family practice doc to get an antibiotic today. It wouldn't be the first time and I am sure not the last. It has become a joke that if you travel with us you need to know where every Walgreen's on your route is. I think I know why this happens. The day before vacation I usually am the one who mows the yard so that Jarrett doesn't have to mess with it then I get sick. I have decided I must never mow again, especially right before vacation.

Ok, we are off to breakfast and then Seacrest, here we come!!!!!!!!!!!

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE VACATION

2008-06-05T19:53:00.002-05:00

Twas the night before leaving for summer vacation,
my family was bursting with anticipation!

Mom grabbed the graham crackers,and the stuff for smores,
We carried our goggles, towels and sand toys.
"Remember my blankie, my dollie, my book,
Plus, Nathan's leapster and Daddie's new look."

The car is gassed up ,all nice and clean
filled to the brim and ready to burst at the seam!

The mail has been stopped,the bills have been paid,
the yard has been mowed, and Maddie even got herself a new hair bow!

Tomorrow at six we will leave this great state,
driving to Florida to meet our vacation date!

Thanks for reading our sorry attempt at a poem!!!!

WHAT PART OF "STAY OUT OF THE MUD" DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND??

2008-06-03T19:59:00.003-05:00

My sweet, precious and adorable children decided they would cool off from the heat by covering each other with mud. Oh, yeah and while they were at it they thought it would be a swell idea to plant a garden in their crocs. (They filled their shoes with wet mud that they had made themselves then pulled out grass from the ground and stuffed it in the shoe) Nice uh?? The slide is no longer yellow, it is totally covered in mud chunks. I will admit that I saw them doing this and I just let them. It kept them busy and productive for over an hour plus I am sure there was something educational or therapuetic about it!

LITERALLY ON THE FENCE

2008-06-01T17:09:00.001-05:00

Ok, an explanation is owed on the matching outfits. They are completly an accident! I told the kids to put play clothes on as I was changing and all 3 of us put on old vbs shirts and black shorts. We got a good laugh out of it!!

On the Fence

2008-06-01T15:15:00.004-05:00

Have you ever been on the fence about an issue in your life before? I am right now and it is so frustrating. I am pretty much a black and white kind of person so this is tough for me. (Not that this is a moral issue or anything.) People keep asking me what I am going to do about school next year with Madelyn since she will be in kindergarten. I keep saying I am not sure. Jarrett says she is going to school. Honestly, my thoughts on the issue can change from moment to moment. I want to be so sure of our decision and not vacillate back and forth. Once the decision is made I never want to look back, say "what if" or second guess myself. I have been praying and seeking guidance, I just don't feel like God is leading us one way or the other yet. Maybe by writing my thoughts down it will help me sort through stuff.

We have committed to homeschool Nathan next year for 2nd grade. Here is a little background on why we started homeschooling in the first place.

~Nathan was born at 24 weeks and had a major brain bleed. We have been his teachers at home since the beginning. He didn't just learn the simple things on his own like most babies. We could never take for granted the little things like rolling over or holding a spoon or drinking from a bottle, etc. Those skills had to be systematically taught at home and with therapy. Praise God, Nathan was able to reach all his milestones plus accomplish the ones the doctors told us he may never. I won't get into all the details of those preschool years but we quickly figured out that "traditional" school would probably not be a good fit for him. We tried kindergarten at public school and realized that after a few months Nathan's fire and passion for learning had been put out. This child who was eager to read and learn now dreaded going to school. He got a sad face sent home everyday because he couldn't get his name written 10 times in the allotted time or couldn't look the teacher in her eyes. I understand how that can frustrate a teacher who has 20 kids on 20 different levels all coming to school with different backgrounds. Let me just say I have taught kindergarten in public school so I truly understand that it is hard when you have children that don't "fit". I think that a kindergarten teachers job is to help all kids fall in love with learning and with school. That did not happen for my child. I was sad. I loved elementary school and I loved teaching it now I here I sat with a child who didn't "fit". God was calling us to bring Nathan home and I was kicking and screaming. I thought those homeschooling people were weird, had 100 kids each, baked their own bread, sewed their own clothes, live on communes, wore matching outfits, etc . God has a funny way of shattering our stereotypes. I met several homeschooling people at church who were"normal" and picked their brains about homeschooling. I thought I could do this until Nathan would "fit".

We finished kindergarten at home and he blossomed. But still I struggled deciding what to do for first grade. Our goal was to send him to public school at some point. Most people start homeschooling for different reasons than we did. From my perspective, (which is probably not right) it seems the decision to HS is easy for other people.

We prayed and felt like he wasn't ready. He could handle the academics it was all the other stuff you have to handle at school that he wasn't ready for. Plus, I discovered that we could move at his pace. We finished the entire first grade reading curriculum in 2 months. We moved slower in areas he was less interested in or struggled in. Our community has a ton of social opportunities for homeschoolers so he was getting art, PE,history, and library all with other kids his age. We attended several field trips as well. Another HUGE benefit was that I could include God in everything we did. I could instill little lessons all through out the day about what we believe and why. In addition any sinful behaviors or attitudes that were being shown could be dealt with right away. I also have control with who he hangs out with at this point. Jarrett and I want to lay a solid foundation so when he leaves us he will be set apart and be able to stand firm on Biblical truths. We learned that people matter to God and sometimes taking care of people is more important than a math or history lesson. (Mom had a harder time with this than son!) So, I guess my point is, is that I am now homeschooling for more than just the reasons we started with. It is not all about Nathan's special needs anymore. It is so much more!

On the flip side, there are times I fantasize about sending them to school and having me time. I dream about going back to work so I can help save for college, pay for gymnastics and piano lessons and braces. Why does that sound so selfish to me? I tell myself the lie that they would be getting a better education in government schools. I tell myself I am not qualified to be doing this. I tell myself that I am not doing enough with them. Oh, how Satan attacks our minds. I so desperately want to do what is best for my kids, for the children God has entrusted to my care.

Back to Madelyn. So here we are June 1st and I can't tell her where she is going next year because I am on the fence. She is the type of child that would love "traditional" school. She is so outgoing and loved preschool. She was sad the days they didn't have it. She acted better for the teachers than for me. Part of me wants her to go. Why is that? I am a little afraid to be totally responsible for 2 academic educations. I am afraid that I can't give her everything that she "should" have for a great kindergarten experience. I am afraid. I am afraid I will fail her. But I am also scared to send her. I still want to be her primary influence in her life. I want her to love God with all her heart before I send her out into the "world". I want more than a "school" can give her. They will have her for her best hours of the day. I will have her at home when she is tired and grumpy. Ok, I am sorry I am rambling. I have so much more to say, but I will save it for later. Please pray for clarity and peace on this issue.

Famous Homeschoolers

2008-05-28T11:14:00.001-05:00

I thought this was interesting! Some good, some bad!!!

Homeschooled Celebrities:
Alan Alda
Louis Armstrong
Charlie Chaplin
Hillary Duff
Dakota Fanning
Whoopie Goldberg
Hanson
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Vanessa Hudgens
Lindsay Lohan
Yehudi Menuhin
Moffatts
Frankie Muniz
LeAnne Rimes
Jordin Sparks
Taylor Swift
Raven Symone
Elijah Wood

Famous Parents who Homeschool(ed):
Will Smith
Michael Card
Mike Farris
Robert Frost
Kelly Preston
John Travolta
Lisa Whelchel

Famous Inventors:
Alexander Graham Bell
John Moses Browning
Thomas Edison
Benjamin Franklin
Elias Howe
William Lear
Cyrus McCormick
Guglielmo Marconi
Eli Whitney
Sir Frank Whittle
Orvill and Wilbur Write

Famous Scientists:
Pierre Curie
Albert Einstein
Michael Faraday
Oliver Heaviside
T.H. Huxley
Blaise Pascal
Booker T. Washington

What about Presidents of the United States? Yes, them too...
John Adams
John Quincy Adams
Grover Cleveland
James Garfield
William Henry Harrison
Andrew Jackson
Thomas Jefferson
Abraham Lincoln
James Madison
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
John Tyler
George Washington
Woodrow Wilson

Famous Writers:
Hans Christian Anderson
Margaret Atwood
Pearl S. Buck
William F. Buckley, Jr.
Willa Cather
Agatha Christie
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)
Charles Dickens
Robert Frost
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Alex Haley
Brett Harte
L. Ron Hubbard
C.S. Lewis
Amy Lowell
Gabriela Mistal
Sean O'Casey
Christopher Paolini
Isabel Paterson
Beatrix Potter
Carl Sandburg
George Bernard Shaw
Mattie J.T. Stepanek
Mercy Warren
Phillis Wheatley
Walt Whitman
Laura Ingalls Wilder

Snapper

2008-05-26T18:18:00.002-05:00

Madelyn is so excited because she has learned how to snap. She hasn't stopped since she started the other day. We spent the weekend at the Lake with Jarrett's parents and we asked her if she was going to get in the water and swim, she said,"No because I will lose my snapper." We laughed so hard.

Oh, by the way it is 6:22 pm and both my kids are in bed. They aren't asleep yet but they have been tucked in, read to and prayed over. I will just say it was for their own good that they are in bed this early! Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day!!

The End of an Era!

2008-05-21T21:23:00.002-05:00

Today was my sweet Madelyn's last day of preschool. Can you believe that??? I realized today that I will never again be taking a child to preschool. I'll be honest it made me a little sad. Madelyn really wants a baby sister or brother but her daddy will not hear of it. He says we are done!! What is up with that? My honest opinion is that he is used to only 2 kids because that is what was in his family but there were 5 kids in mine so the only logical thing would be to have 3. That would be fair. Right?? Sorry, I didn't realize that her last day would lead to a rant. So, as far as more kids go, I am leaving it up to God. He can either change Jarrett's heart, change mine, or He could fix my tummy. I will be content with whatever HE chooses.

Back to Madelyn, she has really blossomed the last two years at Yellow Balloon. When she first started she did not want me to leave her. There were times I stayed the first hour with her and mind you it was only a 2 1/2 hour program. They like you to stay until your child is comfortable with you leaving. I wasn't so sure about that at first but it worked. Now she walks into school with a smile on her face and full of confidence. She is a leader in her class and has a lot of friends. Madelyn has the most caring spirit. She is the one that comforts people when they are hurt and knows every one's name, their mom's name, their sister/brother's name, etc. Jarrett and I joke that she will either be a nurse or the person that stands next to the president of the United States and tells them who everyone is and what they do. This time has just flown by. I am not sure I am ready to give her up all day to school. Please pray for us as we decide weather or not to homeschool Madelyn or not. We want to do what is best for her.

Today after school several of her classmates went to the splash pad and ate lunch and played. It was a great day!

Florida or Bust

2008-05-18T22:44:00.004-05:00

19 days AND COUNTING until our vacation to Florida!!!!!!!!! I can't wait. I am ready for some R and R! We are driving to Seacrest, Florida with our good friends Chris and Lisa and their kids. I asked my kids what they are looking forward to most about our trip. Nathan said watching videos in the van and Maddie said sleeping in bunk beds. I just craked up that we are driving 15 hours away to a beautiful beach house and THAT is what they are looking forward to. Oh, gee. I, on the other hand, am looking forward to white sandy beaches, refreshing water, watching my kids have fun, building sand castles, sleeping in (Oh, who am I kidding), relaxing, laughing, spending time with Jarrett, reading, eating,swimming, and walks on the beach.

Holding On

2008-05-16T19:38:00.003-05:00

Lucy's service was absolutely beautiful. God was glorified and you could most certainly feel His presence. It was gut wrenching to watch Kim, Micah and Ella walking up to Reflection pond carrying Lucy's casket. I held it together as best I could because Nathan and Madelyn were with us. We chose for them to come because they are at an the age that they understand what is going on and we wanted them to have closure and understand how this was a celebration for what Jesus has done for all of us. Sometimes I think they seem to understand better than we adults do at times. I wish I could have the child like faith that they do. Nathan was so sweet at the service, he stood with his head bowed and hands folded and tears streamed down his face. I think he gets it. I praise God for his tender heart.

It started raining after the service and it just seemed so appropriate for some reason. It was like the angels in heaven were weeping with us. When we got to the church for the luncheon the sky was clear and the sun was shining only on the church. Everywhere else it was cloudy. Wow! At the lunch they showed the video of Lucy that Jarrett and I had made. We did this for Carter 2 years ago and it just seemed plain weird to be doing it again. We spent 4 hours looking for the perfect song to put all of her pictures to and just couldn't find her song. Jarrett was on his computer and I was on mine desperately searching. Last week a friend of my mother in laws sent Kim a comment on her blog about this other lady that had recently gone through a similar situation. She gave Kim the link to her blog. So I spent Saturday night reading it and getting to know this precious family who lost their daughter Audrey. Her husband is the singer in a christian band, Selah. After their loss they wrote this beautiful song and I thought that would be the perfect song for Lucy. The only problem was the song will not be released on his album until fall.

Fast forward to Tuesday night around 10pm and we are stressing about what song to use for the video. I remembered that song and I knew Kim had heard it as well and we both thought it would be the perfect song. I told Kim there was no way to get it and the Lord knows Jarrett tried everything to get it. So I decided to email the lady, Angie, and tell her the situation and ask if we could borrow it for the funeral. I am not kidding, within 10 minutes she emailed us back with the mp3 for it. God is so good!!! Only He could have worked that out! It was the perfect song for Lucy. Take a look at Audrey's blog, you can hear the song there. (I will carry you) The link is on the side of my blog.

I kind of fell apart this morning. The grief kind of rushed in like an unwanted visitor. I know Lucy is in the place we long to be some day and is dancing with Jesus. I take comfort in that. My heart just aches for Kim. I hate that she is hurting and it hate that so many other mothers have faced this same loss and will face it in the future. As a mother I can't even imagine the pain. I am holding on to God's promises today.

Lucy

2008-05-14T20:45:00.002-05:00

Dear Lucy,

May 9, 2008 was a miraculous day Lucy, it was the day you were born. It was also the day you went to be with Jesus. But your story doesn't end on May 9th. Your story has only just begun Lucy. Your story has touched so many peoples lives and will continue to do so. Some people who have lived long lives haven't had the impact that you have had in such a short time. When I first saw you in your mommy's arms I couldn't believe how beautiful and peaceful you were. Your mommy and daddy are amazing people and demonstrated such an incredible attitude during this difficult time. When most people enduring the loss of a second child would be questioning God and asking "Why Me?" your mommy was saying "Why not me?" She she saw that your life, however short, had a purpose. She was honored to be chosen to be your mom. You have brought classes of children to their knees, you taught people to pray without ceasing, you taught people that God's ways are higher than theirs,you taught people to be the hands and feet of Jesus, your life and death have brought people to the throne of God. I asked God to show up "Big" the hour before you were born and although he didn't answer my prayers how I would have liked, he did show up "HUGE" He was praised and honored. Tonight on the eve of your celebration service I rest in the fact that our God is in control and He loves us. Tomorrow our family will gather to praise our Heavenly Father for your precious life. I love you Lucy!

Love,

Aunt Kathy