Time for another rambling update

It's been a whole week since I've blogged anything. I guess I should let ya'll know what I've been up to. Let's see.....

~My brother came up for a visit last weekend. He was kind enough to babysit ALL 6 KIDS so JM and I could go on a date. We drove around for over an hour trying to decide what to do. We ended up at Wal-Mart. Talk about romantic. It was my idea.

~My awesome brother also took the 4 older kids camping last Saturday night at the state park down the road from our house. The kids all had a blast with him. I've got lots of pics that I will post later.

~JM also talked me into joining our local Wellness Center (similar to the Y.M.C.A.) with him. So I did. Now I'm getting up every morning at 5:30a.m. to go work out with him. It's nice having that alone time with him every morning, even if I'm still half asleep. I don't care so much for the whole waking up at the crack of dawn thing but I'm getting used to it and it's worth it to spend that time with him.

~We actually had school everyday this week, with the exception of Thursday b/c I was out of town hanging out with my mom and brother (but that's a WHOLE 'nother story). Not that my kids don't learn everyday, we just don't always crack a book or open a workbook on a daily basis.

~My parents sold their house and are moving to Indiana in less than a month. The movers are coming to pack up their house on the 19th of May. I'm still in shock. I'm so not ready for them to move. I'm a 30 year old woman with a family of my own. Would someone please tell me why I need my mom so bad?

~My mom and niece Hannah-5yr. (Chandler's-8yr. little sister) came up for a visit this afternoon. The kids played outside for a while then my mom had the bright idea to take them all to Wal-mart and buy them something. Hannah-5yr. and Shelby-6yr. stayed home with JM because they were to busy playing baby dolls to go shopping. So it was just mom and I and 5 rowdy boys in the toy dept. of Wally world on a Saturday afternoon. Fun. The kids all left that place with something in their hands and a smile on their faces. Mom and I just left with a headache.

I guess that just about covers it. I'm going to bed now. I'm exhausted from all that excitement.

Cool Picture of the Day

The kids came running inside to get me so they could show me this cloud they saw in the sky.

Brooks-8yr. said, "Do you think it's a sign from God?"

I've got a ton of thoughts running thru my head so none of this will probably make any sense to you (you being the one or two people who just happen to find my blog and actually stay and read it) but here I go anyway.

~Blake-10yr. woke up this morning covered with another rash. He said he woke up last night b/c he was itching and rashy and he came and got me and I gave him some benadryl and told him to sleep on the couch and wake me if it got worse (what a run on sentence!!!). I don't remember any of that b/c I had taken a Lunesta before I went to bed. One of the side effects is memory loss. Anyway, we headed to our family doctor about 40 minutes away from us, in another town. Let me just say that I just can't seem to find any doctors, dentists, or veterinarians I like around here so I'm willing to drive to where they are. She puts him on a stronger steroid and tells me that we might need to do some allergy testing but his system needs to calm down before that can be done. I'm supposed to call her Monday and we'll go from there. In the mean time, I have to deal with a very hyper, hungary and itchy boy.

~After we got home from the doctor, hubs was home 'cause nothing was going on at work and he was bored. I was still feeling the effects of the Lunesta and was extremely tired so as soon as I walked in the door, I went straight back to the bedroom, curled up on the bed and drifted off to sleep. I slept for the next three hours. Micah some how ended up in there asleep with me. While I was sleeping, my house somehow self-cleaned. Actually, JM was still home so he got the kids to clean for me. They even put the dishes in the dishwasher and then even started it! Now I'm thinking I might to that more often. It sure makes for a very happy mom!

~Last night we went to a meeting at our former church. The same church we got kicked out of. Actually we left and then 6 months later they kicked us out from lack of attendance. Oh, and my father in law is the pastor there. But we are all on good terms with everyone (they are all mostly family). The church has been doing missionary work in India and one of the men came over from India to speak about all the work that has been going on. It wasn't anything formal, just dinner and then he spoke and showed us a DVD he had put together. So, I just wore what I had on that day. Jeans and a t-shirt. My hair was in a pony-tail but that is my normal hair "do". I even put on make-up so I didn't think I looked too bad. Obviously I did b/c while we were in the buffet line fixing our plates, my mother-in-law says to me (rather loudly, I think), "Have you been running Amber?". Uh. No. Do I really look/smell that bad? I didn't know what to say so I just mumbled, "No, I always look like this." and walked away. I guess the way I was dressed was a little offensive to some people and my mil felt a need to bring that to my attention. I should mention that one of the reasons we left the church was b/c they believe that the women should alway were dresses, especially to church and my husband and I don't feel that way. Last night I was the only girl (besides my daughter who was also wearing jeans) who had on pants. Everyone else had on a skirt. I guess I'm just a rebel. Actually, I'm not. I'm just me and I don't plan on changing that.

~I'm so glad that Sanjayia got voted off A.I. I'm so sick of that kid. He's got great hair but he can't sing!

~I can't sleep now since I took such a long nap this afternoon. I could be folding laundry but it's more fun to read blogs. If I had a laptop I would sit on couch with my lap top and read blogs while folding laundry. But I don't. There goes that idea.

~My parents are moving away and that is starting to bother me. I have never lived more than 3 hours away from my parents. They are moving almost 8 hours away. It's going to suck. I can already tell.

~Sadie, our new bassett hound puppy is so cute but she STINKS so bad! I bathe her at least twice a week but it seems like my efforts are in vain. It's so hard to love on a stinky puppy. No one wants to sleep with her anymore b/c of the smell so she is forced to sleep alone.

~I desperately need to get caught up on my laundry so I can get out everyone's summer clothes. The kids do have some summery stuff but now their drawers are overflowing with sweaters, t-shirts, shorts, and jeans. Too much of a mix. I need to weed out the stuff they won't need until next winter.

~I'm going to go fold some laundry now. Hopefully that will make me sleepy. If not, I'm going to take some benadryl. :)

What a night!

I was on the computer last night (around midnight), lurking around in bloggityville when I hear one of my children get up to use the bathroom. Then that child came over to me and said, "Mommy, some thing's wrong with me." That child was Blake-10yr. All the lights were off in the house, but from the glow of the computer screen, I can see that something, indeed, was terribly wrong with my child. I turned on the lights to get a closer look at him. He did not look like the same boy who went to bed a few hours ago. His ears were swollen, his left eye was almost completely swollen shut and he was covered, head-to-toe, in big, red,whelps. I knew immediately that he was having an allergic reaction to something so I gave his a large dose of benadryl. I asked him if he could breathe ok and he said yea but that his throat felt funny. I woke hubs up and told him what was going on and that I was taking Blake-10yr. to the ER right away.

As soon as we walked thru the ER door, the nurse took one look at him and whisked us down the hall and into a room. They strapped him to the oxygen machine to see if he was pulling in any air. His sats were at 98 so that was good. But they went ahead and gave him a shot to stop the reaction in his body. After the shot, the dr (who by the way could have been Dr. McDreamy himself!) said he wanted to keep an eye on him for a while, so we tried to settle in for a long night. And a looonnnnggg night it was! We were in a private room that was at the very end of the hall. You would have thought we could've gotten some sort of rest. No. Every time I or Blake dosed off, someone would come in and do something totally unnecessary. Unnecessary as in empty the trash, get supplies that they didn't have in another room, or put clean linens in the cabinets. Surely all of that did not have to be done between the hours of 1:30a.m. and 3:45 a.m. It could have waited. And we could have slept.

So at 4:15 the nurse comes in to take one last look at my boy. The meds were working and the rash/whelps had gone down so she said we could go sleep in our own beds. They send us on our way, but not before collecting my co-pay and giving my a load of steroids to keep my poor child up, climbing the walls for the next week, and an Epipen jr. to use if this reaction thing happens again.

I did get to sleep for about 3 hours before the rest of the kiddos were up, totally unaware of what had gone on last night. We had a very important-or-I-would-have-cancelled-it-and-slept-the-rest-of-the-morning dentist appointment so we were out the door by 9:30.

It's now 12:30. We are home. Lunch is over. The house is a mess. But this momma is one tired gal so she's going to round up the little ones and take a very long nap. :)

Just for the record.....

Brooks-8yr. told me he met his future wife in a dream he had last night. He said her name was Carson and she had blonde hair. Now he can't wait to get married.

100 questions (Part 1)

100.First off, what is your name? Amber
99. Do you talk in your sleep? nope
98.What's your favorite color? pink
97.Ever met anyone famous? I've met our local weather man before.
96.Do you feel that you've had a truly successful life? so far, so good.
95.Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? I twirl it.
94.Basketball or Football? hands down, football. I hate basketball.
93.How long do your showers last? About 10 minutes, but there is usually a kid in there talking to me the whole time, asking me if I'm done yet.
92.Do you know how to drive a stick? yes. I learned to drive on a stick.
91.Are you self-conscious? about certain things I am.
90.Have you ever given money to a bum? yes
89.Can you jog 5k without stopping? not to brag, but I do this almost daily. But there was a time (a few years ago) that I couldn't even run 1 mile without stopping.
88.Where do you wish you were? on a cruise ship with my husband.
87.Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? nope
86.Last gift you got? gift card from Sears for my b-day that I gave to my husband. He needed some tools.
85.Last sport you played? is running a sport? If not, then it would have to be tennis a few months ago.
84.Things you spend a lot of money on? gas and groceries
83.Favorite place to eat? Lenny's Deli
82.What's your least favorite chore? laundry!
81.Favorite Drink? water
80.Do you eat fish? I don't eat meat, but I do eat fish every once in a while.
79.Have you ever come close to dying? not that I'm aware of.
78.Do you wear makeup? I do, but not daily.
77.Would you ever have plastic surgery? maybe. if it were free and painless.
76.If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be? Australia
75.If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? salad. or funions.
74.Do you prefer city, beach, country? country
73.When was the last time you cried? today, I'm such a crybaby.
72.What would you do w/ a million bucks? buy a huge house. save for my kids college. donate some to St. Jude's hospital. go on a 2 month tour around the world with my family. and then save the rest.
71. Do you have a job, if so what do you do? I'm a mom and darn proud of it!
70.What is your dream car? one that self-cleans.
69. Favorite movie? I have WAY to many to name.
68. Favorite item of clothing? comfy sleeping pants.
67.Do you have any siblings? yes, sister that's 2 years younger, who I'm not very close to and a brother that's 7 years younger, who I'm extremely close to.
66.Would you rather text or talk on the phone? neither. I hate both.
65.Would you go back in time to change anything you've done?nope, I've never been perfect. But everything I've done has been for a reason and i either reaped the rewards or faced the consequences.
64. Do you sing in the shower? no
63.Are you wearing socks? yes
62. How does your hair look right now? a mess. in a lop-sided pony-tail.
61.What are your fears? not raising my children right.
60.What do you hear right now? Micah arguing with Shelby over a chocolate cookie. and the Incredibles playing on a t.v. that no one is watching.
59. Do you sing? yes, but only when I'm in the car.
58. Can you do a cartwheel? yes and I can do a front flip and sometimes I even land on my feet!
57.If you could have anything in the world what would it be? I'm pretty happy with what God has given me. But I would like my car and house to be paid for. That would be good enough for me.
56.Do you like 80's movies? I love 80's movies!! (Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Dirty Dancing, Grease, and Drop-Dead Fred are a few of my favs.)
55.What kinda movies do you like? Comedy, and Musicals
54. Hair color? right now it's brownish, but it changes with the seasons.
53.Favorite cereal? Raisin Bran Crunch, and Peanut Butter Crunch.
52.Favorite time of day? Late at night when all the kids are asleep and the house if finally quiet. I can finally hear myself think!
51. Where were you born? Sioux Falls, S.D.
50. Do you like spicy food? yes! I LOVE spicy food!

The Little Boys and Mommy

Yesterday the kids and I took an unexpected trip to Columbus (where my parents live and where Micah's dentist is, which is a little over an hour away). Micah-3yr. had a tooth that was hurting him so bad that he wouldn't touch his breakfast or drink his chocolate milk. I called the dentist and she said to bring him as soon as we could get there. We found out his tooth is absessed so they will fix it after he is done with the antibiotics she put him on. After that we went to my mom's and hung out there until she got home from work so we could get some much needed haircuts.

The older kids (meaning Blake-10yr., Brooks-8yr., Chandler-8yr., and Shelby-6yr.) went over to the neighbor's house to play so it was just Tyler-5yr., Micah-3yr., and me. We swang on the front porch for a while and messed around with my camera. I showed them how to take pictures (which I now regret, they won't keep their hands off it!) We had some good uninterupted boy/mommy time. It was nice to spend some time with just the two of them. Here are some of the pictures we took:


Micah-3yr. on the top and Tyler-5yr. on the bottom.










I love my boys!!!

Running and Urges

I've been in such a funk lately.

I haven't been in a grouchy or bad mood. I've just felt like doing nothing. The last few days I have done as little as possible. We've done school work but by the time we are done with that I just want to lay down and sleep the rest of the afternoon. I think it's hormones.

Anyway, yesterday was much of the same. Me, moving ever so slowly. The kids running circles around me. I felt like I had to push, push, push myself to accomplish anything.

So I got some dinner fixed and decided that I was going to go run. I hadn't left the house in 2 days (I had only stepped outside once, I think) and some fresh air and exercise would do me good. But as I was getting my running clothes on, I got an incredible urge to go shopping. I didn't want to run, I wanted some new clothes. I started scheming a plan in my head. I was going to act like I was going running, but then stop at the atm, take some money out of savings and go shopping for myself, by myself. Surely that would make me feel better. Who cares if I spent money I was NOT supposed to spend, I would have some cute clothes and maybe a new pair of flip-flos to show for it.

I headed out the door and down the road. But as I was driving, my car went into auto-pilot and I drove straight to my usual running spot. So I got out and started running. I ran and ran. I ran for 4 miles.

It's amazing what some fresh air and exercise (and prayer, which is what I do while I run) will do for your spirit. I feel a lot better today than I would have if I had caved into my urge to spend money I didn't need to spend.

We're getting out of the house today. I think we need a park day!

Gheez, I don't even know where to begin..........

I'm new to this whole blogger thing. Not blogging just blogger. I have switched all my 2007 blogs (all 11 of them, whoo hoo!) over from homeschoolblogger. So please just bare with me while I get my page the way I like it (although that may never happen).


I guess I should give an update on things since I, again, have neglected to blog about anything in almost 2 months. It's not that I don't like blogging, cause I do. I've just felt yucky-blucky lately. Not sick, just gloomy and stressed out half the time. I'll be fine. I have my days just like everyone else.

I'm going to update the entire month of March using pictures. I mean, who doesn't love pictures, right?




Blake-10yr. tested and got his red belt in Taekwondo. He is now only one more belt away from becoming a BLACK belt! Brooks-8yr. also tested and got his Sr. green belt. He has gotten a little burnt out on karate so he's now taking a break.






This is Sadie, the latest addition to our family. She is a 4 month old bassett hound. My husband called me on day while he was at work and told me to come a get her. She had been hanging out at his work for over a month, but kept running out into the road (Main Street, one of the busiest streets in Tupelo) and he was afraid she was going to get hit. As you can see, she fits right in!





John Mark and I also celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary this month! I swear, I'm more in love with this man today than I was the day I married him!

Then and Now:


We look so young! I don't know what is up with this picture on the right. My hair is not really red, and JM is not really bald!

And my sweet Ty-Ty celebrated his 5th birthday ,too!


I cannot believe he's already 5. I don't know where the time has gone. He's already reading, learning to tie his shoes, and has a loose tooth. Before I know it, he's going to be graduating from college! I'm not ready for this!
I

Well, there you have it. There are a few things I left out but I will blog about it later. I need to get the kids moving and started on some schoolwork!

The Big 3-0

I felt Oh-So-Loved today. And it had nothing to do with the fact that it was Valentine's day. It was my birthday. My 30th birthday. I've been dreading this day for the past 2 years. I don't know what I was so worried about. Here's a recap:

~I got to sleep in until 8:00. I could have slept longer but I heard my hubby's car start up and I got up to tell him goodbye (but he was already gone).

~My mom called me at exactly 8:24 a.m. (the time I was born) to tell my happy birthday. She loves me so much! Thanks mom, you made my day!

~The kids all made themselves breakfast so I didn't have to do a thing (actually, I don't do breakfast even when it's not my birthday but this makes for a good story). Chandler decided to heat himself up a pancake in the microwave. He cooked it for 5 minutes. I guess he wanted to make sure it was done. Pancake was just fine but the plastic plate melted all over the mircowave. But not to worry, he cleaned it up so I wouldn't have to. It's my birthday, after all.

~I had to get my driver's licenes renewed. Actually, I had to get a new MS license. I still had one from Tennessee. We moved from TN in 2001 but I kept it b/c it didn't expire until 2-14-07. Yup, I waited until the very last day to get a new one. But the nice people at the DMV got me in right away and then they all wished me a very happy birthday on my way out the door!

~While I was in the DMV, digging thru my purse, I see that my sil Rebecca had slipped me $50.00 for my birthday!!! I had seen her the day before and she had given me some money, but I didn't realize how much until I was paying for my driver's license and saw the money. Talk about being speachless! Thanks Rebecca! I love you!

~Hubby called me to tell me happy birthday. He waited until later to call just in case I was still asleep, which I wasn't, but he's still so sweet!

~I took a 2 hour, uninterupted nap (with Micah). I wasn't actually that tired but I figured, hey, what the heck, it's my birthday!

~After I woke from my nap, I saw someone had slipped an envelope under my door. It was a sweet handwritten letter (the best kind) from Brooks telling me what a great mom I am and how much he loves me. He also enclosed $2.25 so I could buy myself something. If you know Brooks, you know he was giving up a lot to give me that much money! Money means a lot to him and it ment a lot to me that he was willing to share it with me. (He later asked me if he could have it back "just for a little bit" when he heard that I might be going to Wal-Mart) That kid! :)

~I checked my e-mail after my nap and see a gift card to amazon.com from my other sister-in-law Beth. I had talked to her earlier in the day when she called to give me birthday wishes, but she never mentioned it. It was a nice, very thoughtful surprise. Thank you, Beth!

~The kids were all extra sweet and nice to me all day long. I got lots of extra hugs and kisses. They didn't argue or fight too much with eachother. And they all wanted to be my "helper".

~I got so many calls and emails from family and friends wishing me a happy birthday. I didn't realize I even knew that many people! Again, I feel so loved!

~I still had to make dinner, which was fine with me. But I made what I wanted for dinner, not what I thought everyone else would like. (Black beans and rice with a salad, in case you were wondering)

~Hubs brought home a huge chocolate cake, complete with 30 candles! The kids all sang Happy Birthday to me and then helped me put out the fire that was on top of my cake. I haven't had cake in over a month so this was definately a treat!


~My two favorite shows were on just for my birthday. Actually, American Idol, and Medium come on every Wednesday night, but again, who cares. It's still my birthday and I enjoyed watching them as the kids went to bed a little early. It was just hubby and I. Nice.

And there you have it. I had a wonderfully, simple, 30th birthday with my family. I couldn't have asked for anything more.