Not Me Monday!

Well its been a while since I have written a Not Me Monday post so there are tons of things I could talk about, if they had actually happened!

A few weeks back my husband had had a not so great day at work, me and the boys had just finished eating supper. Now I would never consider feeding our four legged friends anything from the table, and would certenly not feed them off of a fork. My wonderful hard working hubby would never have to come in from work and make his own plate to sit down and eat but if he did he surely wouldn't forget to get a fork on the way to the table would he? And he wouldn't think about grabbing the fork off my plate instead of getting up, no way, not him! And I sure wouldn't let him eat with the same fork the dogs had just eaten off of, that is if I had truly fed the dogs with a fork, and then not tell him. I would never do such a thing!

If there is something you would never in a million years do, but if you did and wanted to share you can do it here and I promise no one will ever find out!

To Whom Much is Given......

......Much is required. Luke 12: 48


   This past Sunday was the kick off our church's Angel Tree's Prison Ministery program. Children that have one or in most cases both parents in prison are invited to a dinner at our church and give gifts that were "bought" by the parents. In reality the church was given a list from the parents and we were asked to pick an angel from the tree just like any other angel tree works.

   Normally I would not even think about writting a blog post about doing something as simple as picking an angel from an angel tree but because of something that was said, by a family member no less, encouraged me to do so.

   My husband and I went about picking an angel the same way we always do, I pick one out and he watches! HA HA HA  I almost always pick a little girl, I have two teenage boys who I love dearly but have always wanted a little girl. So I look at all the angels on the trees searching for which ever angel stands out to me and thats the one I pick. Well this year I picked my angel and as I was walking away another angel caught my attention. I don't know why, maybe it was Gods way of saying I needed to do more. I didn't hesitate I just grabbed the angel without even looking at it by this time in a hurry because the service was going to start soon.

  As we were getting seated in the worship center with the rest of the family, we always sit as a group with our family, a family member made a comment to me about how rich we must be if we could afford to get two angels off the tree.

  Now we are by no means well off, there are some months I wonder if I will have the money to pay bills and have money left over but the past few months we have had the extra money but ya know even if I didn't have the money I would do without something so these kids could get gifts from their parents this christmas.

  God has blessed us financially right now. We have a roof over our heads, food in out stomachs, and the bills are payed. He has afforded me the opritunity to go to school to pursue my education, and for my children to grow up in a home with family and extended family who will always support them through the good times and the bad.

  I guess all I'm trying to say is if you feel like God is trying to tell you something maybe you should listen.....no matter what other people may think.....

So Tired

Have you ever had one of those days when you just want to pull the covers over your head and ignore the world?

I'm having one of those days today. Its raining....still...and I DID NOT want to get up this morning, but I did just that cheerfully begrudgingly. It seems like my schedule just keeps getting more and more crazy. I have classes today that I'm determined I'm not missing, and my sons high school Robotics Team has their first meeting this afternoon, which I am now an advisor of. Not that I mind, I very much enjoy every second I get to spend with him.

But....I'm so tired....

Another rainy Day.....At School....

Well its rainig here....AGAIN...if this keeps up I may have to invest in a boat to get back and forth to school, yes I said school. How crazy is that? I finally took the plunge back to the big bad world of higher learning....and I'm loving it. For those of you who don't know I graduated from high school a LONG time ago, infact my 20 year reunion is coming up soon. Both of my boys are older and don't need quite as much attention and this is something I have wanted to do for some time. So I figured theres no time like the present to get started, I'm clearly not getting any younger!


I havn't yet figured out how to manage my time and get everything done that needs to get done, but I'm working on it. So what if the dishwasher dosn't get loaded every night, they will still be there tomorrow.

So good luck to all of you students going to college weather your first time adult students like me, or an entering freshman right out of high school....

Not me Monday!

I havn't done a post in I don't know how long, but Not Me Monday seemed as good a time as any to jump back in with both feet!

Some of you may have heard me talking saw me typing about my son who started his first year of college,out of town no less, this fall. I am trying really hard not to get too involved and let him take care of things on his own. I definatly did not call him repeatedly one morning to wake him up for classes, and I most certinaly didn't leave a threatning voicemail on his phone when he wouldn't answer! I wouldn't think of doing such a thing!

My youngest son, whos not really that young, spent the weekend with his best friend this past weekend. They decided at the last min. Sunday that they were going to go to a movie. I wouldn't think of interupting his movie by calling several times to check on him because it was getting late,like 6:00 PM. I wouldn't even consider it. ( But honestly if he had answered the phone the first time I wouldn't have kept calling!)

( Are you seeing a pattern here?)

Hope you all have a great week, I have to finish this up and get back to my class, YES I'm at school and I'm really not doing this on school time!!!


Oh and I want to wish my momma a Happy Birthday.....I really didn't forget, but in my defence you were out of town!

Special Not Me Monday

UPDATE:

It looks like Stellan is going to Boston. Its been a long day for him and his family as we continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers.











Please keep Stellan and the rest of his family in your thoughts and prayers.He & his McFamily have touched so many lives now they need our help.

A Crafty Way To Make A Difference....

I'm Crafty!

I love to craft. I love everything about it.The thought that goes into deciding on a project.Picking a pattern,design, and color scheme. Changing and re-thinking the original project until I get the final masterpiece.

My husband is always pushing to me to sell some of my crafts, either on ebay or some other web site.Or to sell them here locally in a shop somewhere, but it seems so impersonal. I poured my blood, sweat, and tears heart into my crafts. I have donated a couple of my quilts and blankets to charity's to be auctioned off. It makes me feel like I have done something to help even if I couldn't help financially(which I usually can't).

One of my other favorite things, as you may have read about here are my shoes, and whats better than having two favorite things? Combining my two favorite things and being crafty with my flip flops!

My church is doing a fund raiser right now for Hannah House, which is a residential facility for young expectant mothers, mothers that may other wise have to terminate their pregnancies. We have been collecting money in baby bottles, mostly spare change, that will be donated to help with expenses of running the facility. As I was reading through the site I came across a list of things that are needed right now. Flip Flops. Flip flops were on the list, who would have thought it! I thought about it for a few days, OK really its been a few weeks, about how I could take my couple pairs of flip flops and turn them into more.

An idea started to form slowly, I could sell my flip flops on my blog, so I would have the money to donate more to Hannah House.

So to make a long story short I can take something I love to do, be crafty, and put it to good use. For every pair of flip flops I sell on my blog I'm going to donate a pair to Hannah House.


Check out Aunt Nise's Craft Corner and help me help them.

If you have any helpful hints to make it better please leave a comment and let me know!

4th of July

I know its been a few days since the festivaties but I still wanted to post about all the fun we had.

We havn't had a little one to celibrate with in quite some time so this year was special and brought back alot of memories.


We went down town to Freedom Fest and watched the JROTC color guard present the colors to start the day, its always a moving experiance, then headed back home as the rain started, needless to say Kaylah had the melt down of all melt downs was none to happy about that!

After the rain passed we spent the rest of the day outside doing "little girl" fireworks. Kaylah being the middle child in her house and only 5 shes not used to getting all of the attention, let alone getting to pick out her own fireworks AND getting to do them herself so she was over the moon excited, which was great to see after her earlier bad mood.


We BBQ'ed and spent time with the boys doing some "big boy" fireworks before the big show started down town. We are preaty lucky we can see the show from our backyard so we don't have to go anywhere and fight the crowds, and when its over we don't have to spend an hour trying to get back home! This year that was even more of a blessing because the skies opened up again less than 5 min. after the big show was over! Talk about timeing.



Matching flip flops


Storm clouds moving in


Me,Kaylah,& Boggie(the dog)






All in all, even with the rain,it was a great day.

Kaylah is Here

We went to T town Sunday to pick up my 5 yr. old niece Kaylah. Shes going to spend a couple of weeks with us.Kind of a birthday present for me, spending time with a little girl, a girlie girl.You might remember my post about being a girlie girl.

We had a great time in T town, even though it was only for a few hours.We went to my husbands favorite place,Incredible Pizza, and my favorite place,The Thrift Store. I found 2 great purses,and a pair of shoes, and 2 pair of jeans.Oh and we did take a little side trip to my husbands 2nd favorite place,The Hard Rock Casino.








After all that fun she had to have a nap


We have been super busy painting our nails,doing our hair,playing with bubbles,coloring pictures, and playing with sidewalk chalk.(I'm wore out!)

Visit With the Allergist

Yesterday was Ryan's appointment with the allergist.(Cute kid huh?)Well he wasn't so cute yesterday!He had been off his allergy meds for six (6)days,per doctors orders,in preparation for his testing yesterday so he started out the day with a sore throat and it just got worse from there, starting at 6:00AM because he had to be at the doctors office at 7:45AM. That not be a big deal to most people, but it has been summer vacation at our house for a month, and for those that don't know with a house full of teenagers this means up all night,sleep till noon, and do it all over again the next day!

I knew it was going to be a tough day when the first test up was a lung capacity test, which he failed by the way. After spending some time talking with the doctor, and Ryan getting a lecture about how important it is to use your inhaler, the testing started.He had the usual skin test done which consisted of 48 "pokes" on his back, and 8 actual needle sticks on each arm.

As it turns out(and we kinda already knew this)hes allergic to everything! Okay not everything, just grasses,weeds,trees,pollen,mold,dust,dust mites,and some foods.(Especially wheat)Since he tested positive for some food allergies he may have to have more extensive testing done that focuses specifically on foods.



Right after test was started

5 min.into test

After 15 min.

He wouldn't let me take pictures of his arms,by then he was having other reactions(headache,itching,hives)and was not much in the mood to share the experience.

After all the testing was done we had another long talk with the allergist and decided to make some changes to his meds. He will stay on his current meds.(Alegra & Singulair)change his dosage is his Albuteral inhaler, and add another inhaler with steroids to help his lung function.He also added Nexium to treat the heartburn and acid reflux, which by the way "may" be cause by his allergies (EE).He will also start with some shots in a couple of weeks, but we were warned with his type of allergies they don't have a great success rate.

Thanks to everyone who took time out of their day to pray and answer some questions for us!

CONFESSION....OBSESSION

Confession!


I'm a >gasp< girlie girl. There, I said it, out loud, I'm a girlie girl. This is a concept that everyone in my family thinks is outrageous. Let me start by saying I'm the only girl in my family, well except for my mother, my grandmother, and the occasional aunt, but I am the only girl. I have no sisters,no cousins,not even a female neighbor to play with as a child growing up. If it weren't for my grandmother I don't know that I would have survived! From an early age, although she wasn't a girlie girl, she gave me her make-up she only wore to church on Sunday, she would paint my nails with her clear nail polish, and let me put her foam rollers in my hair on Saturday night so my hair would be just right for church the next morning. She would let me carry around her old purses,make me dresses(back then hundreds of years ago in the 70's that's what happened, our clothes got made, of ugly polyester) I even have the pictures to prove it.

I have since grown out of the hand-me-down make up,clear nail polish,hand made polyester dresses, old purses, and foam hair rollers. Graduated on to bigger and better to different things like red nail polish (for both my finger nails and my toe nails), my own make up, hot rollers, and actual store bought clothes (even if the store was a thrift store), and a wide variety of shoes, and purses.



Obsession!

Thus brings me to the afore mentioned obsession. SHOES. I love shoes. All kinds of shoes. Tennis shoes, running shoes,pull on , lace ups, high heels, flats, stilettos, pumps, boots, hiking books, biker boots, high heel boots, knee high boots, ankle boots, sandals, flip flops. Shoes, you name it I LOVE THEM. I don't think anyone could ever have too many pairs of shoes! Black shoes, white shoes, brown shoes, red shoes, blue shoes, pink and orange shoes.You name it I'll wear them. Name brand shoes (from the thrift store of course),no name shoes. I LOVE SHOES! Can you tell I love shoes?

My four year old niece will be here in about a week, and I can't freaking stinking wait! She too is a girlie girl. Why am I so excited about this you ask? Well you see like me, she is the only girl, and being a girlie girl we will have SO much fun doing all the girlie girl stuff that I other wise don't get to do seeing how I have not one but TWO teenage boys! Don't get me wrong I love my boys to death, but the opportunity to spend two glorious weeks hanging out with another girlie girl, OK so its a four year old girlie girl but I'll take what ever I can get, and the best part, she shares my obsession passion for SHOES!!

I CAN'T WAIT!

Amazing God

We had a huge storm last night, lots of damage. Power lines down, house fire, tree damage.Distruction......and then this....





Beautiful....Only God can make something that amazing!


Wish the picture had been better, I tried with my camera but couldn't get it, used my husbands phone. Finally got it but by then we were losing light and the rainbow was fading.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.


Well once again its time for Not me Monday!

I normaly dread Mondays,getting my two teenaged sons up and off to school on monday mornings is not fun. But it is officially summer here deep in Bulldog Country. My oldest having graduated and working full time, and my youngest out for summer break,two days early I might add because hes so stinkin' smart! Mondays aren't so bad.

We didn't do a not me monday post last monday because if the holiday but my holiday was painful great. I did not fall down the wet deck steps while working on the pool pump. By the way we finally got it fixed, when I say we I mean I took it to the pool place and they fixed it.

I most definatly did not wait until the last minute to make 700,000 copies of paperwork that my son has to have for a meeting this afternoon, and I certinly did not get into an argument discussion with my sons doctors office about getting copies of medical records, I wouldn't do such a thing.

Hope you all have great a great week with lots to tell in next weeks Not Me Monday!

Best Smell in the World

You know that smell,the smell of rain, on a warm afternoon. Not a down pour kinda rain that ruins the entire day, but a cool rain shower where the sun is still shining, and there's a light breeze blowing. The smell of the rain the first few minutes of that afternoon shower in the BEST smell in the world. It instantly takes me back to my childhood, playing in the backyard with by best friend, which at the time was my dog Bandit, a giant st. bernard. Birds singing in the trees and those big metal wind chimes playing their song,my parents and grandparents sitting on the back patio talking about "big people stuff" and laughing at my antics in the yard. Its days like that, that I cherish the most from growing up.


Things were so different for my boys, I hope and pray that they can look back on their childhood and remember the good times, and put the not so good ones behind them. I also hope and pray that when they have kids of their own,a long long.....long time from now, that they can make good memories with their children and not repeat the not so good ones.

That fresh, electric, smell in the air during a summer rain shower is the best smell in the world for me.....









Whats yours? Leave me a comment and tell me all about it...please....

I Blame the Schools

I just got off the phone with my son...for the third time....in 5 minutes....yes I said 5 minutes.


The child called to ask me "Mom, I'm at the bank depositing my check,where do I write down how much my checks are"? I swear tell you he really said that. Then he called me back to ask "Mom,what do I put where it ask net deposit"? The third time was just to make sure he did it right!

The child has been doing algebra since grade school, has had 4 years of advanced math in high school,a high school he just graduated from I might add, and he doesn't know how to fill out a simple bank deposit slip!! Whats the world coming to people?

I remember when I was in high school, I realize it was 700 years ago, but come on. Basic math class we ALL learned how to do all that stuff. Deposit slips,check ledgers,paying bills, and if that wasn't enough we got a second dose of it in economics, which back them was a required class, but not any more!

I blame the schools. Yes we live in a town deep in Bulldog country that's school system is ranked nationally in the top 10 and 1st in the state. BUT my child can't balance his own FREAKING checking account. The schools are so worried about teaching the hardest classes so they can keep up with the bigger schools and educate our kids to be able to get into the best colleges. I totally understand that but what about teaching these kids some basic life skills as well?

Don't get me wrong,I take part of the blame as well.I could should have been teaching both of my children these things. And I definitely would have been teaching them these things if I had known in ALL their many years of required advanced math classes they weren't learning ANY basic skills to go along with it!

I guess that's just one more thing I will have to add to the list of skills my son will have to learn to do before he can leave for college in the fall..

1) get up when alarm goes off
2) take meds ON TIME
3) keep up with schedule
4) wash own clothes
5) AVERAGE CHECK BOOK
6) FILL OUT DEPOSIT SLIPS
7) PAY BILLS ON TIME
8) DON'T SPEND MORE $ THEN YOU HAVE

This is going to be a long summer < sigh >

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Ok NOT ME MONDAY is here again, and I'm happy to tell you all that the past week was pretty quiet for a change. The sun is shining AGAIN can you believe it? Two days in a row!

I am NOT sitting around the house waiting for my sons doctor to call in the hopes that I don't have to take him in AGAIN so he can tell us the same thing, its an allergy flair up take these pills and wait until your appointment with the allergist, which by the way isn't until late JUNE for cryin out loud.

My dogs do NOT have fleas and I'm most defiantly NOT using ALL the chemicals I can find to treat them and the carpet. (Anyone have any suggestions please help!)

I did NOT bombard my oldest sons therapist with emails over the past few days trying to get his final paper work that he needs for college next year,I would never do such a thing I might have actually done this one.

I did not screen my phone calls all day yesterday because I didn't want to listen to my crazy loving mother complain about how bad church was (although it was pretty bad).

And for those of you wondering if I ever got the pool cleaned the answer is NO...the pump was broken so the beautiful pool I so long to swim in is still the green lagoon.

Have a blessed day....

Graduation....and a look back

My baby son graduated from high school this weekend. I really, I mean REALLY, expected to be sad,distraught,upset, or at the least freaking out, but as it turns out I wasn't. I was AM proud,excited,happy,impressed.

Proud because hes my baby, my first born. He's had to work so much harder than most to get to where hes at today.

Excited because he has so much to look forward to next year, going away to college and starting a whole new life for himself when there was a time I didn't if he would be alive to see it, let alone graduate.

Happy for him because hes accomplished something he set out to do even though it WAS hard work.

Impressed because he stuck with it no matter what was going on in his life and how much he wanted to give up at times.


You see my baby son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was young. I always knew he wasn't a "typical" child. I just didn't know how hard things were going to be for him.

Hes always been extremely smart, always got good grades, and loved going to school. That is until he started high school. High school was an entirely different experience for him, and for me. I started to notice things about him that just were not "normal" even for him. His grades started to drop, and before we knew it he was failing most of his classes. It was at this time he was diagnosed with depression. My child was depressed, not MY child. He started treatment for the depression and this is when we learned about co morbid illnesses. Children with ADHD usually have other psychological illnesses. This was just the beginning for my baby son. It took the better part of a year for him to recover from this particular bout of depression with the help of therapy and medication he pulled through. He was later diagnosed with having ADHD with OCD
tendencies, Depression,GAD (generalized anxiety disorder), and a sleep disorder.

He's had a long three years of high school. Fighting his own demons and dealing with the stigma of being mentally ill all while trying to graduate high school, and not just graduate,but graduate with high enough grades to go to college, and work a full time job.

He was accepted to not one college but to THREE major universities and was offered scholarships to help pay for his education.

He'll be leaving in a few months for college and I know he will do great because hes a fighter and I'm proud to call him my son.



My baby holding his cousin


After a spring band concert



Sr. Band night where Sr. band students are honored,with their parents,for all of their hard work through out the years.



Christmas concert at GHS 2009



Graduation

Beautiful Day

Today is a beautiful day here in Bulldog country. The rain has finally stopped...for a few hours anyway...severe storms in the forecast for tonight.I'm going to take advantage of the enjoy the sunshine and warm weather while I can though. I took 2 of my babies for a long walk this morning. I think they're a little tired!


Next...THE POOL! If it ever stops raining we might get to enjoy the pool this summer...if I ever get it clean when I get it clean.


I'm trying to remember to take one day at a time, enjoy the time I have with my family and my friends. God has a plan for me and just because I don't know what that plan is doesn't mean there isn't one.


Remember Kayleigh's family in this heart breaking time.


Enjoy this beautiful day...I'm going to...

Not Me Monday!

Its that time again people...NOT ME MONDAY
Where we can all unload about anything that has happened in the last week and no one will judge you...but we may laugh at you laugh with you about things that didn't happen over the past week....

Its been raining here,deep in Bulldog country, for oh about 3 weeks now with occasional breaks for the sun to come out so it can heat up and get even more humid just in time for the next round of storms to come through. Sounds like a great time to do some spring cleaning right? My ceiling fans were NOT growing fur from lack of cleaning lack of use. The vacume cleaner is definatly not still sitting in the front room while I'm writing this blog. And I did NOT spend almost an hour surching the internet just to learn how to do this because its FUN when I should have been folding clothes!

So what things have you NOT done in the past week? Come on share with us!

Not Me! Monday

I'm new to blogging and even newer to Not Me Monday but I figured what the heck why not? Don't forget to go check out Mckmama and her many small children at http://www.mycharmingkids.com/ and read all of the other "not me" moments from the past week.

The past two weeks have been crazy for me starting the weekend before last with the Classic Truckers & Cruisers car show that started out with a kick off party, street dance, and BBQ. We had such a good time that I did not sneak off to sit and listen to the band while I should have been working!

Then I had not one but TWO children that went to their high school prom Saturday night who I certainly did not stay up half the night worrying about.

The rest of the past week has kind of been a blur with so much going on and I most definitely did not show up late for a worship service at church last night! I would never do such a thing .

Oh by the way we raised about $13,000.00 for the Gregory Kistler Treatment Center. You can check them out here http://www.kistlercenter.org/home.html

Things have finally started to calm down a little but and I might get my house clean sometime this week! But I won't hold my breath.

Until next time......

Different....But the Same...

Its raining...again.....still.....rain....thunder....lightning...quiet.....


Both of the kids are out for the weekend.....quiet.....


I wonder if this is what its going to be like? What its going to be like in the next few months when my first little bird flys away from the nest. Taking his first steps into adulthood. Leaving for college away from home, away from me. Can he do it? Can I do it?


He's so ready to go, so independent. I think hes been grown his whole life, but hes still my baby. I understand now how hard it was on my parents when I grew up, because in a lot of ways me and my first born son are so much alike. Independent, self sufficient, at least on the outside.....but different in so many ways....


He's so grown up, but when I look at him I can still see the little boy he used to be. I'm so proud of him, but so sad that my baby is growing up right before my eyes. I love you....

Paralyzed.....Hope...Fear.....

Theres so much going on today, tomorrow, this week. So much I need to be doing and I can't seem to make myself move. Its almost like being paralyzed by.....something.....but I don't know what. Fear maybe......hope.....both......is that even possible? I don't know. I don't know anything at this point in my day, in my life....except that I love my family and I am loved by Jesus, and even though I don't know whats going to happen, HE does. I wish I could say that brought me some kind of comfort, but I would be lying. I think I have OCD when it comes to my kids, I can't seem to let go, I have to be in control and know whats going on at all times. I'm faced with a situation now where I don't know whats going on, what's going to happen and I don't like it, not one bit! At the same time there is so much going on in the world that I kinda feel guilty for the way I have been acting and treating the people around me.

For example...Baby Stellan http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ is having surgery today to try and fix his little heart. ( I pray that everything is going well and his doctors are able to do the best they can to help him )
Or baby April http://www.littleoneapril.blogspot.com/ I can't imagine what her parents are going through right now.


In comparison my problems don't seem nearly as bad..........at least that's what I keep telling myself as I sit here, unmoving, for what seems like hours.... I pray for peace , I pray for knowledge and understanding...won't you pray too?

Busy Week

This week is going to be such a crazy week. The Classic Truckers & Cruisers car show is this weekend. Don't get me wrong I LOVE the day of the show, the craziness, the chaos, the buzz in the air, all of it, but the weeks leading up to the show are, well, CRAZY. Between trying to get all the last minute paper work done, permission to close the streets, notifications to all businesses, advertisements blah blah blah....its never ending! In the end it is so worth every second of craziness. All the money raised from the show will be donated to the Kistler Center . What is the Kistler Center you ask? Check out the link.
http://www.kistlercenter.org/home.html
To make this week even more crazy both of my kids are going to the GHS prom, the same day as the car show! So on top of all the car club stuff I have to get done I have to fit in prom stuff too, I just wanna scream!!
Come out Friday night to the kick off party. Listen to some good music and have fun with friends, then come back Saturday and make this the best car show ever, and raise some money to help the kids.