A Change in Heart

OK...here's another rambling post about the whole schooling issue. As you can tell, this is a BIG deal to me. BIG. HUGE. ASTRONOMIC. Sigh....I think that I have added another wrinkle or two this week...and probably put another gray hair or two in Cody's head (I joke about Cody getting grays, but I soften it with the fact that I am getting the wrinkles. At least he can color!).

ANYWAY. I am a one-track-mind kind of person. When something is there...it's there. To stay. Until it gets settled...and I have a sense of peace about it. This is me with the smallest of things, so when something BIG comes along, it's that much worse. Enter the case of "my children are going to school and I am uncertain, unhappy, guilty, worried and concerned about my decision." Yep....that's not an easy one to just let lie....work out on it's own.

As the beginning of the school year is drawing near, I began to get this knot in my belly and this heaviness in my heart. It went beyond the fact that Faith and Cameron are growing up. I actually started questioning my decision. A. LOT. The plan was to take them with me to Headstart, but I wasn't feeling great with that decision any more....for several reasons. Something told me that I needed to trust my gut. Pray about it. I have. We are now planning to send the kids to a three day program at First United Methodist Church of Greensboro. I think that it will be a good transition for them...less children, shorter hours, fewer days. They are THREE. They are my babies!!!....I think that this is what's best....and I feel good about it. Relieved. I am no longer scared about them going to school. I am excited.

There is the problem of taking them and picking them up. Also, someone will need to get them ready! I won't be able to do none of these...which I AM a bit irritated/guilty/feeling sorry for myself about. So, I just hope that one day the kiddos will understand it was a matter of doing what was best for them...and mommy had to get over some of her selfish reasons of wanting them to go with her :)  HOWEVER, we have a great support system....our family and one heck of a sitter! Together, I think we have it all figured out. I am truly feeling blessed right now...well...ALWAYS....but particularly this afternoon. I thank God each day for the people that we are surrounded by....couldn't be any better in the world. We can't say thank-you enough to them.

So, there you have it! The kids are starting school....YAY!!! NOW, if I could get pumped up about MY going to school! ;)

Squeaky Clean

So, amongst all of the stress and worries that I have about Faith and Cameron entering school, add the requirement of their seeing a dentist before school starts. Don't judge. NO. I have never taken my kids to a dentist...I was prolonging that visit as long as possible. However, circumstances forced me to take them....which I guess is a good thing. :)

Mom of the year, here, really didn't comprehend that I HAD to take the kids to the dentist BEFORE the first day of school.....I mean c'mon it's not like they are going to spread tooth decay or something!!! How crucial is this??? Nonetheless, it was a must, so I went into panic mode of getting them in to see a dentist. All pediatric dentists were booked for quite a while. GREAT. So, we ended up at Lake Oconee Dentistry....AND. I. THOUGHT. THEY. WERE. GREAT. WOOHOO!!!

When I started talking to the kids about taking them to a dentist, Faith and Cameron were all up for it...actually excited....what a difference a couple of months make because it used to be an adamant, "NO." We even went to the library to get some books about our upcoming trip! Cameron was excited about sitting in the big chair and claimed that the dentist would find an elephant in his mouth. They even had the conversation...almost argument....about who would go first. YES!!! Poor Mallory said that she wanted to go, too!

As we arrived at the dentist, I knew that the kiddos' feelings had changed a bit. We went right on back and their faces turned very solemn. Cameron, who I can usually depend on at doctor's visits, refused to sit in the chair. They both backed up against the wall. I was beginning to wonder, "What on Earth am I going to do!?" The hygienist was wonderful, though, letting them play with the gadgets and showing them each one. Finally, we compromised on having them sit in my lap. They were both very cooperative. After the cleaning we had to wait a bit for the dentist. That's when they became all TOO familiar with the place.....climbing all over the chair, wanting to press all buttons, and really exploring things. By the time he finally came in, they were bouncing into the chair by themselves and VERY cooperative...even giving him high fives! WOOHOO!

My mom and dad were nice enough to come along for the ride, and they kept Mallory in the waiting room. I was very proud of her, too. It was a long wait, and she was SUPER!!!

I'M ONE PROUD MOMMA! Here are some pics!...and by the way, Faith and Cameron were the photographers! Pretty good, huh?

 YAY for Faith! She did a good job following directions!

 I think that Mallory was a little bored in the waiting room...lol!

Cameron was a bit slower to warm up, but he did a great job being brave!

I'm Crawling Under the Table

It's really funny how/when things happen. Of course, my kiddos are busy and a bit mischievous. However, I was JUST thinking how they have never really embarrassed me before. I had that thought listening to someone talk about how kids can downright embarrass you in public.  Although I agreed, I was thinking, "I don't think my kids ever have." I mean...SURE...there have been countless times that they are loud or do things that make me claim that I wanted to crawl under a table, but, for the most part, they are just kids. Kids are kids. They are going to do things. I usually just have a good laugh....just shrug it off.  ANYWAY. Just as you think or say things, you are usually jinxed...and I guess that I was. Tonight, I was a bit embarrassed by some behavior of my dear, little ones. It's a good thing that it was a family function. I don't really mind their forming opinions.

Tonight, was Cody and Kenny's birthday dinner. As soon as all of the nieces and nephews piled in, Faith, Cam and Mallory geared up. They ALWAYS do this...I think that they have to show off a little bit and make people laugh. Well, they took it a bit too far tonight. Recently, Faith, Cam, and Mallory have gotten on this kick of trying to think of every nasty word possible...they think that it is really funny. So, they started in with calling people "poop heads," "poops," "poot," and even "sissy." I don't even know where they got that last one. Most of my family members were given one of these names. My kids also prefer to run around naked. It's not something that we do routinely around here, trust me. Nevertheless, they ended the night with a bang....stripping down and running through the house. OMG!!! That did it. I was so irritated.

We had to have a little talk after company left. They looked so innocent and bewildered that their actions were so wrong. When told that running naked was not something that we do, Cameron asked, "Why?" Faith followed up with, "Well, can we just shake our booties?" Yes, dear. If you have your clothes on...shake away. AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If anyone has any advice on how to handle streakers, who love to talk of bodily functions please pass it along. I would be very much appreciative!!!

Back to School Battles

I had a moment the other night. As I lay watching Faith sleep, it hit me...only two more weeks before I head back to work. No more snuggling until after 8:00 am. No more jumping in the car to find something to do. No more pool dates with the family. What hit me the hardest? Faith and Cameron are heading to school, too. Yep, I had a moment. An overwhelming, I can't breathe because I'm crying so hard moment....and it was for a variety of reasons. Sure, it's sad that they are growing up, but that isn't the only reason that I had/have this lump in my throat...this heavy heart. I have this overwhelming sense of guilt and sense of uncertainty. First of all, their entering school has confirmed the fact that I will NOT get to stay home with them during their early years....hence the guilt. I REALLY hate the fact that they will be heading out SO EARLY with me (6:30 am)...hence the guilt. I also feel bad that I am placing them in a program five days per week for a full day.....enter the uncertainty. I'm not sure that I have made the right decision, here....and I will be honest in saying that having them enter Headstart was not my first choice. I would much rather have them at a church program to ease them into school....but then we had the problem of transporting them and affording it. So, I think that's what is worse......feeling guilty and being uncertain. Then, I have this looming concern ahead: What will we do in the near future?! Where will they go to school in years to come?!.....enter the guilt and uncertainty AGAIN. Should I be searching harder (or actually searching) for another job? Why didn't we think of education when we built a house?!  The list goes on and on.  UGH!!!

ANYWAY, I literally have tearful moments everyday, now. On a lighter note, Cameron seems quite ready for school. I teared up in front of him after he told me that he would be "brave" at school. When I did, he said, "I be back, Momma. I come back." Yep, I'm gonna' cry typing!!! We have purchased bookbags and tennis shoes. Faith has a princess book bag while Cameron went with camo.  I think that Faith will miss our summer adventures. She woke up the other day and said, "I want to do something special!" She is such a mess! When we did a painting using an egg dipped into paint, I thought that was something special. Faith claimed, "We shoulda' just used a paintbrush. I wanta' to something willy special." Can't win for losing! As for Mallory, she is talking more than ever, and she thinks that she is going to school, as well. We are trying to make her understand that she will not. :(  I also feel guilty that she will be here by herself.

Although I  know that there are far greater troubles in this world, I am still a bit upset by all of this...no matter how minor it may seem to some. Praying that all will work well and that I won't let my emotions get the best of me. :) 

Not sure if I have posted these before, but I ran across them when frantically trying to catch up with developing!

How Do We Get a Word In?

Well, I've noted this something to blog about for months, but I always forget. It wasn't until tonight, that I was reminded.....

Dinner. Dinner is one of those experiences with uncertain outcomes. Will they eat? Will they look with disgust at their plate and say, "I not like dat,"? Will they all be happy or will one cry? Will they argue or will they not?  Regardless of the circumstances, however, you can always count on the dinner table being loud...whether it is a good loud...filled with laughter and all of the kids talking at the same time...OR a bad loud....filled with kids screaming and crying arguing back and forth. Honestly, it's mostly a GOOD loud....my kids really are great (I don't think that I give them enough credit).

ANYWAY. Tonight, there was a lot of the good loud, which brings me to the two things that are "blog worthy." First of all, dinner is usually the first chance that Cody and I have to talk to each other. So, of course, we are trying to squeeze in some conversation time. Usually, this consists of us having to talk over the kids....which results in our voices being louder than normal. That's when the kids start in with, "HEY. DON'T FIGHT!!!" When this first happened, I was a bit stunned. Why were they thinking that we were fighting???!!!...and I certainly didn't want them to think that. Then, it hit me. We are having to talk VERY loud!....so we find ourselves explaining A LOT that mommy and daddy are just trying to talk so that we can hear! Bahahahahahaha! :)

Secondly, little Faith does NOT like when she is NOT the center of attention. We get this a lot when we are in conversation at the dinner table: "Um, let's talk about me. Can we talk about me?!" Faith will repeat this over and OVER until we stop and say, "Okay, Faith. Let's talk about you. What would you like to say?" Her response varies, but tonight, it was a rambling story about a wasp that was in the house and drank her juice. I'm not so sure what we will do with this girl!

***On a side note, we had a great day. I decided to load the kids up and go to Chuck E Cheese....yes...by myself. My sister thought that I was crazy (I think that she even called me that-or maybe that was my mom), so she decided to come give me a hand along with Caleb and Kolbe. The two comments that I got from strangers today (some people are SO bold!)? "Are they triplets?" You came with THREE kids by yourself?!" Ha. Gotta' love it!***

Here is a pic that I just converted to black and white for a collage in my bedroom (it's old but good):

PCB 2013

Each year, vacation gets a bit easier and a lot more fun. We have been truly blessed (and maybe a little crazy) to be able to take the kiddos to the beach every year since their births. I LOVE VACATION AT THE BEACH. I think that it is because I have a lot of great memories from my own childhood. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. We have also been very blessed to have a lot of helpful hands each year on vacation. We've been with my parents twice, and this year marks year two of going with Cody's parents. Did I mention how lucky we are? Anyway, this year, our destination was Panama City Beach...for a whole week. That's the longest length of time that we have braved a vacation with these busy, little ones, but I was super excited...no need to feel rushed to pile everything in...we would have plenty of time to do anything that we wanted!

Vacation 2013 was great with great weather. The kids did awesome. The ride was practically uneventful, but there were funny moments and funny things that they said (which I was steadily making notes in my phone to remember). Two preferred to stay in the ocean while one would rather play in the sand (although we had ZERO wanting to hit the beach by the last day). The pool was a hit. I realized that I have some daredevils (oh...but maybe I already knew that). Dinners out were NOT unpleasant. The kids were FABULOUS....for the most part. I realized that they were growing up. Here are some details that I don't want to forget:

The ride:
We woke up bright and early (but not as early as intended) to head out on  a Sunday morning. I had dressed the kids the night before in t-shirts with the idea of waking them, placing them in the car, and heading out! The planned worked out very well. The kids took turns dozing back to sleep and we were able to drive a couple of hours before stopping for breakfast. We only stopped one other time to get gas! The kids snacked on the way, and we were able to make it to PCB by 2ish....and we had a late lunch. Like I said before, Faith, Cam, and Mallory did well for such a long ride. There were your typical cries, requests, and occasional fights. Here are some of the funny things that we heard/did on the way:
  ~"Is this the beach roaaaaaddddd???? Is this the beach roaaaaaddddd???? OVER.AND.OVER.
  ~ "Are we going to the beaaaaaach?????"Notice how they drag that last pleading word out.
  ~"Can we go hoooooooome????" After many hours of riding they began repeating this.
  ~"We can't hear!!!" I love the movies for the ride, but c'mon!
  ~Fights over their favorite colors....sheesh.
  ~Watching Christmas movies on the way to the BEACH....gotta' love that! :)
  ~ My request for listening to music because I was "tired" of watching movies was met with, "Well, just go to sleep." If you now my kids, you will certainly know who came out with THAT smart comment.

Gotta' LOVE my kids.....

The Beach:
Cameron and Mallory loved the ocean for the first two days. Cam loved jumping the waves. Mallory liked to float around. Faith was a bit fearful and only let the waves wash up on her feet. She finally got brave enough to go down and fill up her bucket to make castles. I felt a bit guilty and rather boring because I didn't want to step foot in the ocean, either. I am continuing to take physical therapy for my knee, and the PT continues to note progress but points out that my knee tilts greatly (hence a good chance that it will dislocate again). A small pivot could cause it to happen....so...NO. OCEAN. FOR. ME.  I was also scared to walk in the uneven sand, down the stairs, etc. I think the kids noticed that I was a wimp because they practically ignored me the whole vacation and asked anyone but me to help them! :) They had too many other exciting people around! ANYWAY, Cam and Mallory did not like the sand so much. I can't blame them!

The Pool:
The pool was a hit for the kids! They didn't love the kiddie pool like I had thought. They preferred the zero entry side of the large pool. They called the shallow end the kiddie pool, which they misinterpreted as the "kitty" pool. Faith noted, "I have a kitty at home." Mallory even wanted to go to the "cat pool." Isn't that the cutest? One of our darlings often mispronounced "kiddie pool," calling it the "titty pool." Isn't that hilarious???!!!...slightly inappropriate, but I had them say it over and over again. It never got old to me. :) I cracked up each and every time. They enjoyed MANY snow cones poolside and lived the dream! :)
One embarrassing moment was when my dear Faith noticed a friendly man's hair. We were sitting their talking to a nice man, who happened to have a pony tail. Faith looked at me and not-so-quietly said, "Mom, boys don't wear ponytails!!!" GAH!

Nights Out:
I am so proud of my babies. They were super sweet during long waits for dinner. Often, one fell asleep on the ride, but they always woke up ready to go again. Two nights, we took them to some kiddie rides. WOW....they really ARE daredevils. I was shocked that they liked to ride things that go high, spin around, etc! All three jumped right aboard every ride that they could....WITHOUT us! I think that watching them ride would be the highlight of my vacation. Too bad I didn't have my camera to get some shots. We will definitely be heading to small fairs that come around here in the future!

So, we had a blast. The kids say that they are ready to go back. Me? Well, you always feel that you need a vacation from vacation.....so.....maybe we will just wait until next year!

Here are some pics:

Faith in the sand.

 Being a brave girl

 Stuck to her best buddy, YaYa

 Floating with her "gobbles"

 Cam was so excited

My two boys



Summer, Summer, Summertime

Once again, I've fallen behind on the blogging. I really should post each day....there is AT LEAST five hilarious happenings per day. My excuse is that we have actually been pretty busy...which makes me pretty tired....which results in my falling to sleep as soon as I hop into bed with the kiddos. I've also done a poor job with the picture taking. I have snapped a few here and there, but I must say that the thought of piling MORE pictures on top of hundreds that I have not printed is not appealing. I. KNOW. I need to get it together....and I am vowing to do so beginning tonight!!! I have a schedule. I will upload a certain number of pics per night, edit a few here and there, and blog at least once per week. Hmmmm...wonder if I will stick to it? We shall see.

So, the summer is flying by. I can not believe that we are in the month of JULY! It makes my stomach churn. Work is drawing near. Faith and Cam's first day of school is drawing near. I really do feel nauseous...and I'm not exaggerating. I guess that it is true...time flies when you are having fun, and that is exactly what we've been doing! Our weekly plans are nothing spectacular, but I am enjoying our little time. We usually have a pool day with the cousins, my sister, mom, and dad. We have also tried some of the library events and free movies at the theatre. I've tried to get more time in with my grandparents since we don't see them often during the school year. We took swimming lessons for one week, which was great....but I was literally exhausted by the time I frantically fed them, clothed them, lotioned them, packed them loaded them, begged them to utilize their time, change them, load them....well you get it, right?  The kids have also enjoyed VBS. Faith and Cameron were awesome about going each night. Mallory decided to hang back here with us at home....I think that she really loved the one-on-one time. Overall, it has been great. Tiring...but great. Being a stay at home mommy is a full-time job, but it sure beats having TWO full-time jobs!

Our most recent events are our taking our family vacation to PCB (which I will write a separate post about) and our cat having SEVEN kittens. The seven kittens are worth blogging about for the simple fact that the kids have named them (with very little help from us). They LOVE these kittens....especially Faith and Mallory! Here are the names...I think that they are HILARIOUS: Koozie (that's the best), Pete the Cat, Charles, A.K (this is Faith imaginary friend), Simba, Nala, and Puddintain. Yep...isn't that cute?! They do not understand that we have to give them away. They want to keep them all.


Nothing extremely interesting here.....I am sure that I have let many funny memories slip from my memory, which I will try to make up for in the weeks to come. Will post soon about vacation...and I will have pics, too.