Tuesday....the new Monday?

My Tuesday this week began normally enough. I woke up (early, which is not my favorite! I think they should move school to start at 10 so I can sleep till nine). Got the kids off to school rather smoothly. It was another cold morning, so Sam and I had hot chocolate while we watched Curious George. We got showered and dressed, and it was time to go to brunch bunch. Start the car, it isnt wanting to start. Seems not to like the 19 degrees. It cranks, but the oil pressure light stays on. I turn it off, call Blake. He said crank it again, it is probably just too cold. I tried to pop the hood, but it was frozen. Wouldn't even pop. I get back in the car, and crank it again, no lights, no problem. I tried to get the hood to open so i could close it, but it wont budge.

Off we go the back way to a friends house. About 3 miles into the trip, the hood pops open. I knew (or suspected) that would happen. It catches on the latch, that you reach under and slide before it pops up all the way. So i pull over, unlatch it and close it. Man it is COLD outside. We go to brunch bunch. Play, eat and talk. Getting time to go, and Sam mentions he has something white on him. Anyone who knows Sam knows it is not unusual for him to have something on him. Quite the mess maker! I look him over, see nothing, kiss his head and off he goes. I am gathering up my things and he comes and stands next to me. I see something white on the floor next to him. Oh my, the innards of an overly full diaper. Lovely. My kids diaper has just exploded at my friends house. (This happened before at her house, so it was doubly embarrassing!) It isnt that I hadnt changed him. I changed him right before we came over. Evidently, LUVS diapers SUCK!
We clean that up, and I hear my cell phone ringing. It is Blake. "Did you get the messages?"
Me, confused, "no?" Blake "the school has been trying to call, Bryce broke a tooth and is in the nurses office". My heart sank. Please let it be a baby tooth. I call the school nurse. He is up there, still in pain. Was eating lunch and broke a tooth.
I grab Sam, our food, and we are off to the school. I am hoping our insurance is finally figured out, as I have to take Bryce to the dentist. Get to the school, and out he comes. Smiling, nearly skipping. Hmm.... One of his primary molars had broken. We go home, it is 1pm now. I call the dentist at the top of our list. They close at two, but will work him in if I get there quick. We grab our things and go. The office is lovely. Has only been opened for 6 months and has a spa-like atmosphere. They have a free beverage and snack bar. There is also an Internet bar and an xbox room. The office staff are very friendly.
I sit with a magazine after filling out all the paperwork. The receptionist call, "Mrs. Lunsford, can I ask you a few more questions?" Me, "Sure." In the back of my mind, I know this is about to derail. "What was your husbands social again?" I repeat it to her. She looks at her paper, then pauses, "The insurance company is saying you are not one of their clients." I laugh, look at her and say, "Ofcourse. " Ya know, that was just the kind of day I was having. Alot of phone calls and an hour or so later, we figure out they -the insurance company-haven't processed all of our papers, are closed (they are in the VA/DC area) for the inauguration. The office there very kindly agrees to see Bryce and hold the papers till the insurance stuff is fixed, since they confirmed we were covered from Jan. 1. We wait again. The kids have each had a juice, played xbox, drew a picture, and are now playing on Starfall.com. Finally we are called back. They close at 2, so they just saw him after they had finished everyone for the day. The staff was all so nice to him, made him feel really special. He got in the chair and found the TV on the ceiling, remote control, and spongebob and he was happy. Really, he was. They x-rayed and found the permanent molar was growing up under and had positioned itself just under the roots of the primary molar at an angle. When he bit down, it was just he right angle and pressure that the permanent molar acted as a wood splitter does a log, and snapped his tooth right up the middle. They gave me the option of capping it, and still loosing it more than likely in a few months; or just having it pulled. We opted to have it pulled. They numbed him up. He was a little nervous. So the dentist says, "lets get Bryce some nitrous." Boy, that was all it took. He had a ball. The dentist comes in and asks if he is ready to get that tooth pulled, and Bryce said:"This is the best day EVER! Can I stay here forever!?"
The tooth gets pulled without any major drama. We found a new dentist we LOVE! Off we go back home. Kayleigh calls on my way home and mentions the toilet won't flush. I told her to leave it alone and I would fix it when I got home. Weird....the boys must have played with it!
Pull into the house, and in we go. Bryce has his lovely tooth in a cool case from the dentist. It is 4:20. A little over three hours at the dentist. Fun. So, Kayleigh says, "Mom, I hate to mention it, but I have achievement days at 430."
Off to the church. We get there about 10 minutes late. They are making cute fleece blankets. She jumps right in. I leave to run a few errands. Pick her up, and we go to Target so she can finally spend her gift card she got from her Grandparents for her Birthday. Blake calls while we are at target. "Ginger, is there any reason the water isnt working?" Me, dumbfounded, "No, not that I can think of." Off the phone with a hurry request to come home. We go grab some Motrin from the pharmacy for bryce. Stop by Zaxby's and pick up dinner to take home. I had already made some chicken earlier, but was going to make noodles when I got home, but with no water, not happening. So we grab Zaxby's.

Get home, and after some research, and me SWEARING i had paid the dang water bill. We realize I have forgotten to pay the dang 35 dollar water bill and they shut our water off! Why is it so easy to forget the water bill! YIKES! How stupid and embarrassing. Blake volunteers to go get some bottled water from Walmart. he has been pretty good through all of this. If I hadnt had a craptastic day, I am sure we would have been yelling at each other, but I was nearly on the verge of tears just with the car, diaper, and dentist stuff.....the water was just a final straw! While he is gone to get the water, Andrew tells me he has his 100 day poster due. In fact, it is now a day late. So we grab some poster board, and get to work. I hadnt eaten yet, so I leave my food on the counter and instruct the other four children to bed. Blake comes home while we are working on the poster. We finally finish the poster, and I go tuck my two little ones in bed. Get my hugs, kisses and say goodnight. Finally, I can sit, eat my dinner and absorb the crazy day. I go to get my food, and it is gone. I am not even kidding. I mutter, "dang kids, they ate my food! I didnt even get to eat dinner."
Blake, in the living room says, "Oh, was that your food?" He has eaten my dinner, thinking it was what was left over. Nice. No dinner either. I pop a bag of popcorn, have that for dinner and put myself in bed.
Nothing alone was really terrible. Just the combination of all twenty million little things sure added up to a really long, really bad day. Thankfully, the rest of the week went MUCH better! Got the water back on Wed morning, after paying the 35 due, plus a 50 fee. Nice.....I immediately logged onto our bank website and set up a autopay even though I dont know the amount until it comes in, at least then I wont completely forget to pay it. I really was SO embarassed. Oh well! Now you guys all know what a ditz I am, if you didn't already!

Is it time to potty train Sam? What do you think???

Disclaimer: Just because this post may make me seem like a lazy, distracted mom....well, never mind the disclaimer.

So this morning was kind of rushed. Our mornings always are. For one, I do not like to get up in the morning. Also, it was freezing this morning. The two of those together, added onto a monday, and things were running a little slow. Got the kids off to school, and I turned on PBS as usual for Samuel. He LOVED Curious George. Quite fitting too, as he is a rather curious little rascal. I usually use the 30 minutes he is watching George to eat my breakfast, check my email, and start a load of dishes or laundry. Very exciting stuff in this house. This morning was no exception, only i added in a glass of hot chocolate to see if I could defrost myself. I let Sophie out to do her business and noticed ice on the deck. It was COLD. Sophie didnt seem to mind, and after doing her business, stretched out in the sun. Every few minutes or so I would check on her to make sure she was behaving. The cows were in the field behind us, and we only have cattle wire across the back. Sometimes she likes to role-play and pretend she is a cattle dog. Those mornings are not fun to talk her into coming home. She too is a curious little dog.

Finally this morning, after trying to reason with the dog, I decided to just watch her through the window. If she started trying to escape, I'd just call her back, and just like the kids, she'd ignore me, then I would have to bust out the "mean" voice, and unlike the kids, she'd listen and come home. I sat down to check my emails, and Sam came and told me he needed a diaper change. In one ear and out the other. I usually change his diaper after Curious George goes off, before I get in the shower. I glance out of the window and notice Sophie is edging ever so slowing into the field. I get up to go tell her to come back, and notice a sight unlike any other.

ME: SAM, WHAT are you doing!?!?!?!
Sam: I'm changing me diaper. (very matter of fact)
ME: WHY?
Sam: I have poo poo.

I stand there for a second to take it all in. There is Sam. On the Floor. One side of his diaper opened. There is Sam's poop (still in the diaper.....mostly). There is a wipee-in Sam's hand.

He proceeds to try to do what I can only call a baby sit up, as he is looking at what he is wiping. (He is making a mess too!) There is a reason 2 year olds do not change their own diapers. There is a reason 2 year olds have diapers. There is a reason 2 years olds are to be still on their back will an adult wipes the remnants of Poopapalooza.

I un-freeze and disrupt the mayhem.
ME: Sam, you know you can't change your own diaper. You need to let mommy do it for you.
Sam: No, i do it myself.
Me: If you can change your own diaper, you can use the big boy potty.
Sam: No, i poop in me diaper, then change me diaper. It's easy mommy. I not use the potty.
Me: I think you can. Do you want to try?
Sam: (after looking at me like I am stupid) Mom, I just went poop, i dont need to use the potty.

I finish (with him still trying to help and wipe his own butt while laying down...) and get him dressed and ready to go for the day. I decide to hop in the shower. I put the movie Curious George on for him to watch while i shower (yes, i was totally using the TV as a babysitter, sue me-though it didnt seem to work so well). I come back into the living room, and Sam is running through the living room, carrying a diaper, wipes, and his diaper is half off. He had pooped again and was about to change his own diaper again.

Now, I dont know if it is just me, but if you are smart enough to gather all the needed supplies twice, and to unlatch the diaper, is it too far fetched to think he could recognize what is going on ahead of time and use the toilet???? He seems to think it is a unreasonable request. I talked him into wearing a pull up today. That was quite an accomplishment. However, we got to Target, and he proudly announces: Mom, I just peed in my Pull Up, nah nah...... (really, he said Nah nah)

So, how do you convince a 2 (almost 3) year old that using the toilet is the thing to do when he seems to have the diaper thing down pat???

Happy Holidays!

Christmas has come and gone. Our house is finally settling down, and getting back to "normal."

Is there such a thing?

We had a great Christmas! Couldn'T have asked for better! Well, except to have Jess and her family here, and Chris and Crystal too. Other than the few missing family members, it was perfect. The kids were even kind to us and didn't get up at the butt-crack of dawn on Christmas morning! We stayed up far too late on Christmas Eve with Mom and Dad playing Spades. (Blake and Dad won....as usual) The kids all slept upstairs so no one would get up earlier than the others and have a preview. We told them they absolutely could not come down any earlier than 730. They were nice and obliged!

Looks like grandpa had too much Christmas Eve fun......

The kids were all spoiled. Got most of what they wanted. Had a great day playing with all their new fun toys. Luckily, we were able to sneak a nap in while the kids played with their toys. The weather was a bit damp, but warm, so the kids were able to go out and ride the new toys their Grandma and Grandpa gave them. We need to get a new battery for the Gator the kids already had, then Bry, Drew, and Sam can chase each other and Sophie through the yard. We have only had one injury with the kids "cars". Bryce ran over Drew's leg. I am still not sure how it happened, as I was inside(bad mom, yes, i know).

Anyhow, the day after Christmas all the family descended upon us. It was great. It is always nice to have everyone here. For one, since it is our house, i don't have to stress if the kids make a mess or brake something. It's ours anyway.
There may be some blackmail video somewhere of Blake and I singing and dancing to "Another one strikes the dust". Yeah, that was a moment that should not have been recorded for posterity. We got the game "Lips" on Xbox for Christmas. It is a karaoke type game. It is quite fun, though I think we have done all 40 of the songs about 100 times now. I had never heard the "song?" Lipgloss until that game. Interesting.....the power of lipgloss...who knew? Wish I didn't. It is a fun game, and even those of us who have not been blessed with amazing vocal talent still have fun playing it.

Here is a little funny for you. My kids will kill me for this when they are grown. For those who don't know. Our back yard backs up to cattle field. Our back fence line is just cattle wire. We love it. The view is great, and the kids enjoy seeing the cows. Well, while everyone was here, one of the kids (i think it was my nephew, but cant remember) came in and said the cows were jumping on each others backs. Next thing we know, we look out, and all the kids have gotten chairs and are sitting or standing by the fence watching the cows "jump on each other's backs." A little farm education never hurt anyone, right? It was quite funny, if only they knew what the cows were really doing. Thankfully, the older ones, who probably do know what the cows(and Bull) were doing didn't announce it or educate the little ones. Sophie (the dog) was itching to get out there and nip the heels of the cows. She loves to go under the wire and get in the hay field or the cow field. We hate it, as it means we have to chase her....

The kids had a great time playing football, riding bikes, playing on the Wii and Xbox, and eating. There was lots of yummy food! Scott and Melinda made us a YUMMY standing rib roast, garlic mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, broccoli, rolls, and gravy. It was delicious! I think I gained 10 pounds from that meal alone! It sure is nice to have 2 former chefs in the family. Sure beats the little Caesar's hot-n-ready i feed everyone.

We played lots of games: Apples to Apples, Ticket to Ride, Lips, and others too i am sure. Apples to Apples was a new one for us, and quite fun/funny.

Everybody has gone back home now, and the kids are back to driving me crazy since they have no one to play with! I get to go take down the "Easel Tree" at the church. Our pole was missing for the center of the tree, so our tree was improvised and the branches were wrapped around an easel from the church library. It worked quite well! Do you think there is a market for Easel trees?????

Off to take the kids to the park. I hit Target yesterday for the 75%off Christmas Clearance. Just trying to do my part to keep the economy afloat.

Jobs...they come; they go.....

Two weeks and two days ago, Blake and Jeannine (his co-worker) were called into their company's Alabama HQ. Evidently, even though the contract was not at its end, the Pentagon ended the contract to move it up to DC. In fact, they had already, unknown to anyone here, had a bidding process and hired 5 contactors (at DC wages...?) to replace the 2 here in Alabama. How does this make sense to anyone? Anyhow.....they were told to come to HQ at 1030 and not be late. They get there and the dude that tells them not to be late....well, he was 20 minutes late. So they sat with the VP and chatted for 20 mintues waiting for the "dont be late guy". What did they chat about? Oh, you know Christmas, shopping, trips......all light hearted things. Never saw what was coming.....
Late-man shows up...the meeting begins. On the way to the meeting, Blake and Jeannine rode together. She kept reassuring him, if something was up the company would take care of them. They always had. They'd work them in the HQ office till a new contract would start or a job came available. But, the contract wasnt even at its end, the government LOVED them both. No worries.

WRONG.

The VP informs them that effective in one week, they would no longer have a job. Yep, thats right folks. 20 days before christmas. 10 days before Kayleigh's birthday. Oh, and there was no severence package offered. They did agree to pay out all vacation and sick leave.....all three days of it...woohoo. They also have us on their insurance until Jan 1. Can you say...we are ALL getting new glasses and any other thing we can think of on this great insurance that had absoluetly NO deductibles for anything. They said there is just no projected work, and with the way things are, they can't afford to keep them on without work in the future. :( Whatever folks.....

After all this, the VP asks if he can have some feedback....hahahahah!!!!!!! Not sure what he was going for here. "Sir, you did a fantastic job firing us. The way you talked about Christmas for 20 minutes and put us at ease before the meeting started really made the "you dont have a job in 7 days that much more dramatic...Kudos to you!" Jeannine, who is a bit of a firecracker, evidently had feedback for him. I was told something to the effect of: "you just fired us 20 days before christmas. I've worked here for 8 years, and this is what I get. What kind of feedback do you want. THIS SUCKS"

The company really is upset that this has happened to (supposedly), and did not know it was going to happen. They really do love Blake there.
So, after the meeting they head back to the base......they get to the office and tell the people in the office what has happened, and they are floored. They had no clue either. Shock, Disbelief. Fear. Sick to your stomach. Dread.

However, the people in the office...like I said, they LOVE Blake and Jeannine. They got their resumes and before Blake left work that day, it appeared he had a new job. The Project Lead got Blake's resume from another lady, and came to see him. He is supposed to retire in a little over a year, and told blake he would hire him to replace him right now if he could! In the end, they hired Jeannine on as a Config. Manager (dont know what that is, but she did, and now does it) and hired Blake on as Asst. Project Lead and as the Program Manager. He is positioned now to take over as Project Lead when the guy retires.

It has been a blessing that 20 days before Christmas Blake lost his job. We kind of kept it a secret till we knew for sure he had this other job. We felt like we had JUST done this..oh yeah, we had....and were hopeful the unemployed time this time would be much shorter! The job offer came officially on Wednesday. He started work Thursday at 7am! With his generous vacation/sick leave from his old job, we went exactly one day without pay! Oh, and this job comes with quite a raise (he went from being the low guy on the ladder to the boss of the whole schibang). They will also be paying to send him to some PMP boot camp and pay for his PMP certification! (Dont know what it is, but it is supposedly pretty expensive and impressive? as long as I get a paycheck....who cares!) Here's the thing....they told Blake that if he hadn't had that other job....he never would have gotten this one! THey had applicants that already had their PMP andMaster's Degrees completed. But, they knew him and his work ethic. They know he is a MASTER politician, is a quick learner, and is an effective leader.

When he got the first job, we were frustrated because it was nowhere near the level of responsibility (or pay) he was at in the AF. We wondered why it was all he could get when he was qualified for so much more. We know now that it was a way in for a much better job!

We are so grateful right now for his new job (we know this economy is scary!) and for the people he worked with that saw his value and who also took care of "their own".

Anyway, that is our news....

We read a statistic that after leaving the AF (or military) it typically took three jobs to get the "right one". So, if that is the case, we should be set!

Boring but busy....

Nothing exciting going on here. We have been busy, which is pretty much a constant with five kids around.

This past weekend was the Interfaith Nativity. It turned out beautifully! Blake and I, along with the Backus', got to host/hostess for a couple hours. That was lots of fun. I am still amazed at how many different kinds of nativities there are. Everyone around here seems to be getting a cold or flu or strep throat or something. We'll be making our way to the dr today.....fun times. Jonathon is the only one who went to school, though admittedly, Andrew could probably have gone. He is coughing, but no fever and seems to have enough energy to fight with Sam.....constantly.

Jonathon had his second temple trip this weekend! He got to spend the night with his friend Hunter and ride up with the youth. I had a Christmas Craft Show this weekend, so Blake was home with the kids. It was a SLOW show....everyone was either in Birmingham for the big Prattville-Hoover State Championship football game (Prattville won...makes 3 state championships in a row! Hoover is the school that was on the MTV series 3 A Days....I believe.) Anyway, between that big game and the Alabama game....sports took priority for the day. I still did enough sales to make it worth it for me!

I can't remember if I shared it on here or not, but Restoration Mercantile (http://www.restorationmercantile.com/) is going to be carrying my things! They also have several vendors who are interested and are wanting to carry a line of LDS themed products! I'll update on how things go!

We had a great Thanksgiving....We went to Lake Martin again. It is becoming a tradition it seems. We all had a great time. Though Scott and April (my brother and sister) were feeling a little under the weather. We played badminton, ate, played Ticket To Ride (a really fun board game), and of course at more. The kids rode their bikes....only one major bike accident. Of Course, Kayleigh (and Julia) were involved......seems Kayleigh has her moms skills on the bike. A little ice, motrin, and lots of attention made things all better. The weather was perfect until Friday where it began to rain and rain and rain! We woke up Saturday with a stream of water running through our room.

Mom and Dad came back to our house, and we had a fun night of card playing....where if i remember correctly, Mom and I beat Blake and Dad at spades.......Ok, maybe not, but we probably won at least one hand?

Biggest news for our extended family is the birth of little Peter Sands M. My sister, Jessica's third baby. Mom and Dad are there now getting lots of baby love and helping take care of Kylie, Alex, Jess and probably Ryan too.

So that is it in a nutshell for now....lots of field trip, Christmas Parties, and fun coming up!!!!!!!!!!

Blog MIA and a classic story.

I have been taking a blogging holiday. Or not...I've just been so busy, this has not been on my radar.
I do, however, have an excellent story to tell.
For quite a while, April (my sister), Yahnira (my best friend) and I have planned to go to Wrapper's Delight. It's a 36 hour Scrapbooking Crop. Heaven to a Scrapbooker. No kids. Uninterrupted time. Chocolate. Scrapbooking. Make and Takes. Games. Prizes. Fun!

So, we head up to Birmingham early Friday morning. April was having a rough week. The water heater decided to go out in their house on Thursday, and we were supposed to be staying there. No biggie. We ended up getting a hotel room. Hot showers are a must when you are staying up until 2 am. Friday was fun. I actually got stuff done, which for me is amazing. Usually, I am too busy running my mouth, and accomplish very little. I also had an advantage in that i was alone on one side of a table while April and Yahnira had to share a side. I guess I got lucky. Anyway, all day long, they pulled door prizes. WE DIDNT WIN. I mean, there are only like 62 names in the bucket and they couldnt find ours. April eventually won towards the evening. So, Saturday was going to be our day.

Saturday, we are having a great time. I think maybe overtired? Getting into this game. They have these sheets of paper with sponsors names on them taped to the floor around the room. When they play the theme song, you are supposed to run to one of those squares.We'd been doing this for almost 2 days now. We knew where all the squares were. Had paths mapped out to the ones around our area. We were right by the Accucut (big die cut machine for you non scrapbookers) machine, so often there were extra people in our area, forcing us to find alternate squares and routes.

This is how my luck had been going. For an entire day I stood on the same dang square. The time a lady gets there before, IT WINS. So, we are playing. Yahnira had nearly taken a fall, and determined, since she was having NO luck, she was not going to endanger her life any further and was going to refrain from running like an dog after the mailman for these prizes. I should have taken her cue.

Picture it: the music (which of course had to be Rappers Delight for the theme song since that was the name of the crop) plays. I go to stand, and turn to my right at the same time. Some one (me) had placed my obnoxiously large scrapbook bag on the floor just to the front right of my chair. As I turn, my foot is caught under my chair, behind the front right leg. I can feel it, I am going down and it is not going to be a gracious fall.

I try to salvage my standing, and attempt to step over my gargantuan bad, but to no avail. Instead, my shin scrapes across the top of the bag, my right leg comes free at just that moment. Launching me like a spit-ball out of a straw. I go gliding across the isle, head first into a large pink tackle box. My bag erupts across the floor like a volcano, and I come to a landing, skidding across the carpet on my left knee, right elbow and forehead. It was like a game to twister played by an airplane in a crash landing. I can only imagine the sight it must have been as my delicate (fat) frame came billowing gently (crashing violently) across the isle (through my stuff and some lady's rather large and rather pink GIANT HARD PLASTIC tackle box).

As I skidded to a stop, I took inventory of the damage. One bag, totally emptied across the floor. Check. Major Rug burn knee despite wearing jeans. Check. Pretty nice raspberry on elbow through long sleeve shirt. Check. Bruised forehead from tackle box across the isle. Check. Shattered pride and utter humiliation. CHECK CHECK.

I am laughing, but it is one of those "if i dont laugh i am going to cry and then it will only draw more attention to me, so i am going to laugh with all the other people who are laughing at me. Please make them stop laughing so i can quit laughing, cuz i might crylaugh and that will be quite ugly. Then they will be able to say, did you see the lady trip because she didnt know how to stand and now she is crylaughing and she looks like a freak." So I laughed. Everyone did. Some people checked to see if I was ok. Which I ofcourse laughed (as stated above) and said ofcourse I am ok. And you know, I still didnt win. Though, I dont know if I could have made it to the front of the room at that point. I was still picking up my scrapbooking supplies and pride off the floor.

there is one thing i can just about guarantee if you go somewhere with me. I will either say something really stupid, do something really stupid, or attempt a combination of doing and saying something stupid. As I stood up and dusted myself off, I realize I had just fallen big time in a room full of 60 something people. I think (though I am not quite sure) it is a new record for me. I think this is probably my 2nd best large group clutzy moment, following behind my bicycle boardwalk crotch crash of 4th grade. You really dont want to know that story. but there is a campground full of people from Saint Joseph's peninsula in Florida that can tell it. I'll just say I have no coordination, and should not attempt to ride a steep ramp that makes a 90 degree turn on a bike. I met a wooden support pole to the boardwalk banister and thought it was a firemans pole. I still have a scar. Can't show you, but I do. (yeah, sorry about the TMI there....readers and former guests of the campground...)

Anyway, I have added two new scars to my poor 29 year old body (i dare anyone to correct my age!). It is 11 days later, and I STILL have a nasty scab on my knee. I had to take motrin for a week I was so sore and bruised up! Seriously, who knew scrapbooking....no standing up and walking could be so dangerous.....??????

Is there anything better than Fall!!???

I forgot how much I enjoy Fall! Today, I sat on the back porch, watched Sophie chase bugs and bark at cows, and enjoyed a cup of apple cider! Alabama isn't known for its fall foliage, but from our little hill, i can see trees off in the distance changing colors. From green to red, orange, gold and brown! (and I smile knowing we dont have trees in our yard I have to rake!)
Something about fall is cozy to me. I think my mind knows once fall arrives, the holidays are near. That means lots of family, fun and good food! It means the kids have time away from school, and lots of togetherness here at home (which is sometimes not a good thing).
I think this year I am able to relax and enjoy it for the first time in two years. It was this time 2 years ago that Blake was in Kabul and the kids and I were adjusting to our new life without him. Those were times filled with fear, pride, joy, anxiety, and fall was an expression of sadness. This time last year, we were yet again anxious, wondering what was to be. Embarking on this new journey, quietly wondering..... Fall was an expression of change, and change that wasnt seeming so great. I felt much like the withering leaves about to fall, but I was desperately trying to hold on. Luckily, hold on we did! And this year, the colors of fall are very vibrant, the cool crisp air is welcomed, and change is greated with enthusiasm. My focus has changed, as have my worries. (Having a job will help you not worry so much about looking for a job!!!) I am so grateful that we have a beautiful (though at the moment messy) home, that right out our backdoor is a big backyard that my kids love to wrestle in (just watch our for dog poo!), beyond that is a fantastic view of God's landscape. I am grateful that my husband has a great job that enables me to be home with my little ones, to see them off to school, and greet them when they come home. This week, I am grateful for fantastic medical insurance! (6 out of 7 tested positive for strep throat.....the 7th is being tested this afternoon!)
Not sure why today it hit me. Perhaps because yesterday, wondering who would be our next president and what effect it would have on my family and this country led me to realize today that no matter what, I have everything that matters already. The past two years have really taught me that!