Decisions, Decisions...

So we are about a month out on finishing the house, and I've been coasting along thinking things would just fall into place. After talking with a friend this week, I've since realized that I was supposed to be doing homework, having organized binders of ideas, and buying things like fans and faucets for future installations!!! yikes!! Today I spent the afternoon composing spreadsheets breaking down light fixtures by price and kind per room according to our allowance. I also read the contract 10,000 times to make sure I was following this rule and that. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to have some say in what gets put where. I just didn't realize I had ALL the say. back to excel...

Soon to Be House

The house is moving along. Electricity was added this past week; insulation and sheetrock this next week. It looks like we will be in before February at least...it's been a long haul. We are very much looking forward to having a home again.

Not much going on-hustle and bustle of the holidays-christmas letter coming soon.

Certified Sub

So I attended the sub training. Not much has changed in the last 5 years-administrators still live in LALA land, and I still get excited at the idea of presenting to a classroom of eager learners. We discussed district ideals, student success, classroom dicipline....all things so familiar. As I sat and listened so attentively to the presentation my mind began to wander to my "career" in general. Since Grady's hospitalization this summer I've tossed around the idea of Nursing School. Something so unfamiliar and seemingly exciting. It's something I am genuinely interested in, and yet am pulled back because of the logistics in schooling as well as the shiftwork involved with Nurses. Nursing School, school nurse, science teacher, sub...all possibilities...all taking up space in my mind.

Goal!!

My Tanner, he is so sensitive, so sweet, and so athletically challenged. He is in his second season of soccer and he really does try. It's just that the ground is so uneven. It's so hard to keep a sure footing, ya know? How could anyone not fall? one. thousand. times. And when we fall, don't we all cry? I mean, it hurts, right? In any case I have literally prayed for him to make a goal. I just knew that tasting that sweet sense of accomplishment would give my Tanner the little boost he needs. daily.

Today it happened.

It may very well have been an accidental goal, as Tanner was still down field due to yet another injury when the ball literally ran into his feet. BUT STILL!! IT WAS A GOAL! I jumped up and down like a crazy soccer mom. His look of amazement was completely priceless, and my heart swelled to 3 times its normal size.

Wicked Awesome

In these days of child-filled chaos I have found that "scheduling mom time" takes an effort but is well worth it. In that endeavor, I joined a book club-this month reading (almost finished with) Wicked-The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. I have to say I was super pumped to read this book having heard awesome rantings about the musical. I also have to say I struggled through this book, and sadly had not finished by our book club meeting tonight. BUT, our discussion was so super fun. I knew as I was reading the book that there was vivid symbolism, imagery, political nuances, religious undertones....on and on. I just had a really hard time defining what they were and how they fit together. It was interesting to see the story of Oz portrayed in this way, and I have to say I want to be a friend to the Wicked Witch. If everyone were as real as she is then we'd live in an honest and peaceful world. I do plan on finishing the book, but am not married to the idea of seeing the musical. As difficult as this book was for me to read, I would recommend it to others-especially if we sat down with a bottle of wine afterwards. There's no place like Oz.

Boo

Happy Halloween-I'm whupped. We just got in from a marathon run to the local nursing home for tricks and treats-accompanied by a dash through a friendly neighborhood for more treats.

Here are my little goblins:

A queen, superman, and Jeff Gordon

Next Year I will be drinking heavily.

Sex Ed

**Herbie Movie: blah, blah, blah "sexy"**

Madison: "uuummmm....they said a baaaad word."

Me: "what word?"

Madison: "sexy."

Me: "why is that a bad word? what does it mean?" (holding my breath)

Madison: "it means to have sex."

Me (holding it together): "what does that mean? when were you talking about having sex?"

Madison: "it means to go off by yourself and kiss and stuff. hannah said so at recess."

o. my. god.

here we go.

It's Me Again

I haven't posted in a while. I abandoned this little hobby for a bit since it seemed there was always something else to do. (and since noone else reads this, it didn't seem all that sad) I hence realized that there is always something to do, and while it might not be as productive as some things-well, it's just a good way to get some thoughts out there, and fun to use my brain in the process.

So, on that note...we are still in the process of building our house: Looks good so far, right? We hope to be in by the first of the year. In the meantime we are still living in my parent's house, but they have actually moved out. They recently bought a condo on the lake and one day *poof* we had this house to ourselves. I'm not sure if we caused them to buy an additional home or if it was in the plan already. In any case, they are there and we are here. It's still all too surreal in a way...living in my old room and all.

My eldest has started first grade and is reading on level bajillion:

(seen here reading to the Babe-of whom is the most vocal of the 3 at this point)

Seriously though, She is going to be the end of me. She is so very different than me! While I would choose NOT to do something for fear of consequence, she CHOOSES the activity IN SPITE of a consequence. If I'm supposed to "stretch my spirit", She helps me in a major way. Everyone has always told me she was smart, but now that we are in school I guess I believe them. At our parent conference this year her teacher informed us she was "in her own reading group". Well then, at least I'm not crazy for thinking she was just a bit high maintenance. :) We shall see how the rest of the year goes....

My Boy is now in Preschool, and will be ripped from the safety of my Arms in just a few short months when he starts kindergarten. KINDERGARTEN. He's so big-and just. like. me. Tears and all.

My Baby is now 18 months old, and turning into a little boy:

(seen here holding the newest member of the family-Chrissy)

He's a handful now as well, but it's good to see. This summer we spent the better part of 3 weeks in the hospital for an E. Coli infection. There aren't words to describe the despair those weeks held. Although he has no lasting effects, his personality has definitely changed-as did his ability to clamp on to my left hip for hours upon end. I know he won't be on my hip in 10 years, or really in just one year-so for now we are still moving on and letting him know his world is safe.

At least I hope it is.

And at this very moment, my darling husband is chatting my ears off with some delightful conversation:

while I tutor online, giving each student my undivided attention (except for a few words here and there on this blogish type thing)

until next time....

The Graduate

Tonight my little girl walked across the stage for the first time in her life. She graduated kindergarten-complete with cap (no gown just yet). In my usual sappy way I teared up as they sang their graduation song. I teared up when her name was called and she confidently took her diploma and strolled across that stage. Just as I teared up when she did her first dance performance...when she swam underwater for the first time.

A graduate-for the first time. DHS class of 2019.

Live, Work and Play in the Same Town

So recently we were able to make our lifelong dream of living, working, and playing in the same town a reality. It took almost 11 years for all the pieces to fall into place. It sounds simple, right? Just get a job in the town you want to live, find a place to call home and be on your merry way. Not so much.

Here's how it happened: Todd landed a super accountant type job at the hospital here in town about 2 years ago. At that point we put our house on the market and snooped around the Decatur House Market-the twilight zone of all housing markets. I loved the idea of buying an old house "in town"...but not to the tune of $300,000-yep, totally serious. So, we looked at things from a different angle and bought some land-a whoppin' 2 acres and hoped to build someday. In the meantime, we realized that in the big city, houses sell for about $5 since you can build one brand spankin' new for $1. That kinda sucked. We had the house on the market for a year-no takers. When The Baby was born last March, we cried Uncle and took the house off the market. We settled into our big city lives for the next year and slapped the house back up this past February. Six Days Later we sold the house.

At this point we of course have no house built on the 2 whoppin' acres. The metropolis that is Decatur has zero rental property (Which, by the way you find "word of mouth"). So, with great hesitation, I approached my parents and asked to move back in while we sorted out the details. They, also with great hesitation, agreed. They have moved out to the garage apartment (we'll call it The Loft), and we have taken over the "big house". When I say taken over-I'm not exaggerating.

My family of Five has taken over the house I, for the sake of argument, grew up in. It's not that I spent my entire 18 formative years here. Hardly-just the 4 years of High School. There are more memories in this house for me as a visitor than an inhabitant. Still, sometimes I turn a corner and flashback 15 years and feel like I'm supposed to tease my hair super big or study for a super big test. A couple of friends from high school have since visited and agree with the flashes. Must be the house.

So, this brings us to today. Our architect is on the way over with some house plans, and we are moving forward with Project House. It's been an interesting 3 months, but I have to admit not as scary as I had envisioned. I still feel like less than a grown up in this town, and I'm wondering when the change will take place to full grown-up-status.

although-is that something I want to sign up for??

Where's your bike mommy?

Naptime used to consist of just that-napping children. I knew I had about 2 hours in the afternoon for "me time" to recollect myself before gearing up for the marathon evening hours. I loved naptime. I treasured naptime. Sometimes I would scrapbook-my favorite guilty pleasure. Sometimes I would attend to the "business of our lives. Sometimes I would frantically search for necessary parenting knowledge to make it through the rest of the day. Now that the children are growing up into whole kids-that precious time is becoming a thing of the past. The Baby still naps of course, but the elder hoodlums not so much. I have however cleverly convinced My Boy that some days are "napping days" which, when adhered to, allow for "not napping days".

Today was a not napping day. Now, as I discussed earlier, I'm going through a bit of a mourning process with this whole naptime upheaval. BUT-today I embraced that one-on-one time with My Boy. I love that time-just still getting used to using that way cool naptime for it. While gearing up for some outside festivities, he looked up at me with great concern and almost pity. "Mommy, you never get to ride your bike-it's ok, you can have a turn with mine." Wow. What a moment. I instantly found my bike, aired up the tires (it's been a while) and we raced around the driveway for the better part of an hour. Sometimes I won the race, sometimes he did. When he did, he always noted that it was ok-I might win next time.

So much more restful than a nap.

but when will I scrapbook this?

&%$...#@&%...#@%&

There are many changes taking place in our lives with the move to Decatur, but a rather unexpected change is the more than occassional use of the four letter word by our sainted and sweet son Tanner who is not quite 4 years old. I guess these are the hazards of moving in with an ex-marine for an extended stay. Just this morning over breakfast Tanner pounded his fist on the table and exclaimed "Shit...Shit...Shit!". It is hard not to laugh. Do you ever wonder why kids really pick up on these words? I guess at the end of the day the occasional four letter word is fun to say. You have to especially appreciate the moments they use the word in the proper context and with the proper inflection, like the other day, when Tanner and I were fishing and a fish fell off of his line at the bank and he explain "Shit". All of us fisherman know that there really is not a more simple and understood word under those circumstances. And how did I handle it...I did what every good father should do...i turned my head and had a private approving chuckle.

Example #1

Now in the nitty gritty of life, it seems we are always figuring out schedules, calendars, appointments. We sat down just last week and planned out the entire summer. THE ENTIRE SUMMER! Every Single Weekend has something going on. When did that happen? I swear it was just last week (a.k.a 9 years ago) that Todd and I spent a month roaming the western US armed with a tent, a cooler and a few pillows in the backseat of the Taurus. Our biggest decision was which CD to listen to and where to make camp. We floated through the days noting the landscape, marveling at the history, and picking the route for the next day. Someone actually asked us one day if we "lived in our car". Our decision to head home was made for us by the dwindling funds and a nagging need to enter society as a functioning member-for the first time.

Now as functioning members we plan, organize and schedule every moment. In fact, the entire reason we sat down with the calendar was to SCHEDULE FUN. Who has to do that? What happened to "summertime and the living is easy"?

Sometimes being a grown up is just too hard.

First Post

Here it is-the first post. I'm not sure Todd is on board with this whole blog thing. Seems fun enough...like an online scrapbook. Here goes.