Notes From the White House

2010-10-19T20:18:00.003-05:00

Hello all! I can't believe it has been since March since I last blogged. Facebook has really taken over the blogging world I think! Anyway, I just felt like updating a few things.

The kiddos are all great. Jackson I enjoying preschool 4 days a week now. He is such a big boy. He is truly the size of most of the kindergarteners at school. He loves his teachers and is doing great! He is playing soccer again and this time Cooper is on his team. It is nice to be able to see both boys play during one game!

Holland is now in the fourth grade. Wow! She is doing awesome! We will be getting report cards next week...but from what I can tell from her online grades, she will have all A's and B's. Not too shabby since fourth grade is really tough. She continues to enjoy drawing and writing stories.

Taylor is growing so much! I can't believe she is already a second grader. She is making good grades too...all A's and a few B's. She is in Girl Scouts(Brownies) this year so be ready some cookie solicitation in the spring ;-). Both girls are going to start gymnastics in January.

I am almost done with my master's degree!!!! Dec. 3rd is the last day of student teaching. I already completed my first placement in kindergarten and now I am teaching fourth grade. I love them both so far....

Jason continues to travel and we continue to miss him. We are so thankful for his job though!! He is happy and loves what he does...just not the time away from us. Anyway....all of this brings us up to date and hopefully I will do a better job keeping up! Here are a few new pics from the fall.....

Soccer Time!

2010-03-29T18:17:00.002-05:00

Jackson has had two soccer games so far and is doing great! His team is so cute! Did I mention the coach is cute too ;-) I had class the first two games, so I will take more pictures at the next one. We have 3 more days until our 2 week spring break begins! Disney here we come!!! I will post more after our trip. I'll have the week after to recooperate and get some things done at home.

More Snow Days!!!

2010-01-31T15:29:00.004-06:00

Shiner!

My goal for the new year is to post at least once a month. This month was totally about snow days!!! Oh, and the stomach bug and swine flu. With that said...it is no surprise that I only worked 7 days this entire month!!! Seriously! We did get a lot of painting and cleaning done due to being at home so much. I hope Feb. brings better health...Holland was sick for 7 days with H1N1. She was so miserable. I am now considering the vaccine....I only have 2 sick days left.

The girls both got straight A's on their report cards. We were so proud of them. They each earned some money for all those A's, so we made a trip to Justice to celebrate. They spent all their money on Zhu Zhu pets and accessories. Taylor, Jackson and Jason went to the Circus with some friends and Brian, Carter, Cooper and Jesselyn. Holland was still sick, so she and I stayed home :-( We don't have much planned for Feb. except for Jackson't 4th b-day on the 28th. I will post fun b-day picks then!

Snow Days?

2010-01-12T14:45:00.003-06:00

Snow Angels!

My little snow babies!

I haven't blogged in forever...the holiday season is always so busy. But so much fun!!! I miss it already. Jan-Spring Break is so long, cold and boring. We have gotten off to a fun start with a few snow days, if you can call them that. The kids loved sliding around in the snow and made some fantastic snow angels on the trampoline. We went to visit our neighbors back in GA this past weekend. It was great seeing everyone. It felt like we never left...it is hard to believe it has really been a year and a half. All the kiddos have grown so much! We came back with a nasty stomach bug and are just now recovering(Thanks Bonnie ;-). Today has been good though. Holland went to school, but the rest of us stayed home. Tomorrow it is back to school and the real world!

In other new, we recently found out that Jason's Dad has lung cancer. It is stage 3 because it has spread to 2 surrounding lymph nodes. He begins chemo this Thurs. so please keep him in your prayers. He is not a candidate for surgery at this point, so the chemo/radiation is our only hope. He is keeping good spirits and the Dr. is saying there is hope 50-75% recovery. God can heal him, we know. We are all very scared and worried and really need God's peace in our lives right now.

$1000.00?

2009-10-14T13:02:00.006-05:00

Webkinz Mania!

Are you kidding me? We have $1000.00 invested in these crazy fur balls!!! We counted the webkinz the other day (yes, we are bored on fall break...) and we came up with a grand total of 72! They range from $10 to $14, so the estimate is $1000.00!

Taylor has been enjoying cheerleading for the Upward league this fall. Here are a few pics of her in action.

Say CHEESE!!!!!!

2009-09-02T21:40:00.005-05:00

Taylor had a great birthday this year! She had a party at Chuck E. Cheese with all her friends and family. Papaw and Peg even drove from East TN for the day! She gots lots of gift cards, Bitty Baby/American Girl supplies, Taylor Swift and Hannah Montana CDs, CD player, clothes and craft items...what more could a girl ask for....? Wait...maybe a Miley Cyrus concert ticket!! Whoo-hooo! We are going in November!

Happy B-day Taylor

Emma Grace and Holland Mad for Plaid!

It's all about the cake!

Abigail and Taylor BFFS!

Abigail, Taylor and Claire

Birthday girl with the "Big Cheese" himself!

Beach Trip and the Jackson Five

2009-07-28T18:30:00.004-05:00

We are back from the beach and getting ready for school next week. We had such a nice time with the Givens in Destin, FL. The weather was perfect and we got some good relaxation time. The highlite of the trip for the kids was the adoption of our new pets.....CRABS!! They are actually cute little guys. Their names are Krabby and Sam.

We returned home just in time for our visit from the Jackson Five! It was wonderful to see our old friends. Baby Drew was precious!!! We had quite an eventful 2 days, complete with an emergency room visit, the zoo and dinner at the Rainforest Cafe! Everyone is fine...Kelsey just had a bad busted lip:(

I will be finishing my 3rd class (Reading) this weekend. I have spent the past few days making a bullitn board, a learning center, and game and let us not forget the 110 page handwriting workbook!! This class has been jam packed with work! I am ready for another break!

Family picture

My sweet Taylor!

They "look" so angelic.....

Sweet sisters!

The Givens family

Summer Fun With Old Friends!

2009-07-12T20:45:00.002-05:00

We have had such a fun summer! We have loved all the visits from our friends! It seems everywhere we go, we bring 6 or more children along.....

We enjoyed a few days with Jennifer, Madeline and Caleb in June. We went to the Zoo and enjoyed a scenic tour of "Nolensville"?

Heidi and her little ones came a few weeks ago. It was our first time meeting their newest addition, baby Andrew. He is the sweetest baby ever, might I add!

Next, we met the Bontrager's half way in Chatanooga. We went to the zoo one day and the Aquarium the next. We stayed at a local hotel and enjoyed swimming and pizza!!! We love and miss all our dear friends!

Our busy summer continues this week with travels to East TN and next week we are headed to Destin with the Givens!!! Finally, we will settle back in for one final week of freedom...school starts Aug. 5.

By the way, grad school is going great! I just finished my 2nd class with an A! (Special thanks to Jennifer and Bonnie for the great lesson plan ideas!) I start a new one this weekend! Love to all!

Nashville Zoo with the O'Connell's

Chattanooga Aquarium with the Bontrager's

Rainforest Cafe with the Hodge's

Happy 4th of July!!

2009-07-08T21:28:00.005-05:00

Here are some pics from the 4th of July weekend. We had lots of fun at the annual Hand family party and fun at the Braswell's pool bash! We enjoyed lots of good food, fireworks and fun times with family and friends!

Tagged!

2009-06-08T08:07:00.005-05:00

I was tagged by Lisa Sanders and now I am to list 6 unimportant things that make me happy.....

1. a clean house
2. making lists and crossing things off
3. rearranging furniture
4.Organizing anything and everything
5.watching/listening to my kids playing in the backyard
6.weather forecasts predicting snow...

Ok. So I sound really boring a and nerdy. I was really trying to list the free things. Most of my other joys involve spending money. For example: buying new clothes, massages, Hobby Lobby, eating at favorite restaurants, Disney, etc.

Here are the six people I am tagging:
1.Jennifer O'Connell
2.DeDe
3.Christi
4.Jennifer Mower
5.Barbara
6.Misty

School's Out!!!!

2009-05-21T07:01:00.002-05:00

Today is our first day of summer break! Jackson still awoke at 6:30 on the dot! What am I going to do with him? I really want to sleep until at least 7:30...is that too much to ask? It is now 7:06 and I already hear fighting downstairs. This might be a long summer.

I plan to do some embroidery today and Cooper is coming to spend the night later on. I also need to do laundry and pack for vacation. I guess it will be a pretty busy day after all!

Two Weeks and Counting....

2009-05-11T20:57:00.005-05:00

Jason has been gone now for two weeks!!! He will not be home until NEXT Friday (5-22). Seriously, this is insane.

Thanks to my Dad, I did manage to have a very nice Mother's Day. He came and spent the weekend with us. I was able to get out by myself for a little while on Sat. and do some shopping. I finally went to Hobby Lobby after an entire year! I think I was there for over an hour looking at every square inch of the place! We went out to dinner that night. Sunday we went to church, had lunch with my cousins, and then dinner at Brian and Carter's. Brian and Jason's Dad cooked for us ladies. It was all very nice. Oh, yea..I almost forgot...Jason and the kids got me a cute, pink IPod! It has been on my wishlist for awhile.

This Mother's Day I have a new appreciation of "single" Motherhood. I know that I am truley blessed to not really be a single mother. Eventhough Jason is not here with us right now, he is still taking care of us every hour of every day. Working hard to provide for our needs (and wants). But, some really are single mothers. I can't imagine being the sole provider and care taker of 3 children. It is very stressful at times and I feel like all we do is what has to be done. I have a wonderful loving family to help and support me when Jason is far from home. If it weren't for Jason's parents and Carter...I don't know what I'd do sometimes. Anyway, Happy Mother's Day to all the great Moms I know! Here are a few pics from our celebration.....

Today was our Field Day and we are all exhausted! I can't even believe I am blogging right now. We had lots of fun and are now counting down the remaining 6 days of school! We leave for our annual Gatlinburg trip on May 23rd, which is the day after Jason gets back. Sooo, if I can just get through the next two weeks, I'll be home free! Vacation and no more work! Prayers please :-0

Easter Fun and Home Improvement

2009-04-06T10:39:00.003-05:00

We went to a very fun Easter Egg Hunt this past Saturday with the Givens family. We felt quite special since we personally knew the Easter Bunny (Jeff). The kids gathered what seemed like millions of eggs filled with wonderful, delicious teeth rotting candy. I can't wait to visit Dr. Templeton next month for fillings.....Here are a few pictures to commemorate the occasion.....

Easter Bunny Lovin'

More Bunny Love

Sleepy little buddy

Holland with her loot

Pretty Taylor

Now on to the home improvements. Our washer and dryer both died within a month of each other. They served us well for 12 years and will be remembered fondly. May they rest in peace. Here are our beautiful new babies!!!!!

I finally got around to some more painting. This time I did it all by myself! Jason helped with nothing! I will prob. never do it again though. I don't have the patience....It turned out great! The dots are from the famous Bonnie Jackson of Sweet N Sassy Designs. I added some cute ribbon to some hand towels and voila! Anyway, it has been a few week around here and is about to be even more fun! Heather and the kids will be here in half an hour. They will be here until Wed. and then we leave for East TN to see family and friends there. We love Spring Break!!!

The Zoo

2009-03-15T20:13:00.002-05:00

Last weekend was sooo nice! It was a little preview of spring. We decided to enjoy the day outdoors and headed to the Nashville Zoo. The zoo had a new zebra exhibit which was really cool. Both girls had report card money (straight A's for Holland and M's for Taylor), so they enjoyed spending it in the gift shop. More stuffed animals...just what we needed. Jackson chose a lovely bag of rocks. It was a really nice day. I am so ready for the warm weather.

Tater-Bug

Hollandalope?

Taylorlope?

Mommy and Jackson!

Bamboo!

Happy Birthday to Jackson!!

2009-03-01T14:41:00.002-06:00

It is hard to belive out little one is 3! He is now fully potty trained and learning all sorts of fun stuff at preschool. We had a Cars birthday party, since he is still obsessed with Lightening McQueen ( we had a cars party last year as well...) He woke up from nap to find all of his presents stacked in front of the fireplace. As he began opening them, he said, "Which one is the cake in?" Needless to say, the cake was the highlight of his celebration. His party eneded up being just family, due to Holland being sick AGAIN!!! He had a great time anyway.

Presents!

Finally...cake!

Make a Wish!

In other blog news...Carter and I have our interview for Graduate school on Wed. Wish us luck!

SNOW DAY!!!!

2009-01-28T11:46:00.002-06:00

After waiting all winter for snow, we are finally out for a real snow day. We got about an inch. Woo Hoo! It was still fun! We played outside for a little while and then headed in for some hot chocolate.

Jackson and his first snowball

My 3 little Eskimos!

Our "mini" snowman....his name is Snowfall

Happy Snowday!

It's a Boy!

2009-01-16T08:18:00.007-06:00

After two years of pet ownership of a stray cat named "Zoey", we have found out she in fact is a he. his new name is "Zohan" and we will continue to call hime "Zoe" for short. This realization came to us as we were closely watching her/him clean himself. The kids were laughing at how funny she/he looked with her/his legs up in the air. I took a closer look and a little something was peeking out. We were quite startled! Anyway, many of you know Zoe so, I thought you might enjoy this info. Apparently he was neutered before he showed up at our house 2 years ago and has an extremely small "boy part" if you will. We are out of school today due to cold weather....that's got to be a first! This is our 4th snow day out this year and yet we still have not seen snow....Have a great day!

Christmas Break Fun!

2009-01-05T14:01:00.003-06:00

This is our last day of Christmas break.....sad. Jason and I have both been home since Dec. 19th. We have had so much fun. It was nice being together for the holidays. We finally got some painting done around the house. I have added some pictures of the girls' rooms. They turned out really cute! We are going to do Jackson's room next month for his b-day and as a ploy to get him to start sleeping in HIS own bed! We got lots of fun stuff for Christmas. Here are a few of the favorites:

Wii and 10 games

Trampoline

Biscuit the dog

American Girl Ruthie

Tons of Geo Trax and hot wheels

Cabbage Patch Kids

Santa was too good....

We also had a fun trip to Morristown to visit my family. We wrapped up 2008 with a fun party at the Givens' and went to Ice on New Year's Day! Cooper spent the night with us and he and Jackson were so proud of their new sleeping bags! Thanks Nana and Pa! We hope eveyone had a great holiday season and that 2009 will be a great year for us all!

Sleepover

Taylor's Shabby Chic Room

Holland's Tween Hangout

Tagged!

2008-12-22T14:53:00.005-06:00

How appropriate! My forth picture from my forth folder is me and baby Holland! How ironic that it is Dec. 22nd today and so is the picture I chose! There must be some meaning to that. Also ironic that she turned 8 just a few days ago.....Time flies...The old cliche is so painfully true to me now. I just wish time could stand still for awhile. How precious it is to have three children enjoying the joy and magic of Christmas. I can't bear the thought of the day when they no longer "believe".

Dec. 22, 2000

We are all enjoying some much needed family time. Jason is home until Jan. 5th and the girls and I are off until Jan. 6th. It is so nice to sleep late and piddle around the house all day. The girls are already complaining of boredom however....I seriously do not know how I am going to keep them entertained.

I guess I am supposed to tag 4 more people now....Jennifer, DeDe, Christi, and Misty...You're it!

All I want for Christmas....

2008-12-12T14:08:00.004-06:00

Is my two front teeth!!

Taylor lost both of her front teeth this week. She looks too cute!! We are all doing well. We had another "snow day" today. That is what I love about TN, we actually get to miss school for bad weather in the winter. Although, GA had some good snow last year. Anyway, we are enjoying our day at home. Especially since we are having Holland's sleepover tonight! We have 8 girls plus my two ready to party tonight at 6:00.Pray for me....

Good news this week:

-Nana's cancer had not spread anywhere!
-We have someone who wants to rent our house in GA!
-My 6 month skin cancer check up was good!
-Jason and I will be celebrating our 12 year anniversary tomorrow night. Our real ann. is Dec. 15th, but we are going out tomorrow.

Surgery Update

2008-12-06T22:02:00.002-06:00

Janet's surgery went well yesterday. THe tumor was the same size the Dr. thought and did not appear to have spread. They have sent a lymph node off to pathology and we will know Monday if it had any cancer cells in it. She will see the Dr. again in 2 weeks to discuss her radiation therapy. Please continue to keep her in your prayers!! Thanks!

Prayer Request

2008-12-03T18:22:00.002-06:00

I just wanted to send out a quick request for prayers for Jason's Mom on Friday. Her surgery will be that afternoon. We are all hoping for good news afterwards. Please pray that the cancer has not spread and the tumor is really as small as the Dr. thinks.

Congrats Kristin and Travis- Pray for Nana-Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-23T08:27:00.002-06:00

Travis and Kristin tied the knot last weekend! It was a beautiful wedding. We all had so much fun getting dressed up and celebrating this long awaited day! My pictures of Kristin and many others are on my Dad's camera. My battery died pretty early on, of course. I'll post more pictures later.

Dad and the girls

A kiss for Papaw!

Wedding party girls

White family (You'll see this again on the Christmas card...)

In other news, we just found out that Jason's mom has breast cancer. Her surgery is this week on the 25th, so please keep her in your prayers! The Dr. says it looks really small, so it is early which is excellent. He says there is a 91% cure rate. We will not feel good until it is removed and the lymph nodes have been checked. Anyway, please pray for her!!!

Heather came to visit this weekend and we had so much fun! We went to the Kelly's Kids Warehouse sale and got some amazing deals!!! Everything was $9.99 or 14.99. We also did some other Christmas shopping. But most of all it was just great seeing each other and catching up on things. The O'Connell's are headed here on Tues. and Mom and Barry on Wed. It looks like the White House Hotel is back in business! Make your reservations for spring now before we fill up! Ha! Ha!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! Here are some things we are thankful for:

Salvation!
A home (actually 2) to call our own
Food to eat
Our precious children
JOBS!
Seeing Nana and Pa almost everyday!
Seeing Brian, Carter,Cooper and Jesselyn almost everyday!
Wonderful old friends that we miss so much...
Wonderful new friends we have made!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-05T10:03:00.002-06:00

Here are a few pics from Halloween. I was trying to go with The Wizard of Oz theme, but Holland wouldn't cooperate. So, we have Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion and....Minnie Mouse.
We had a great time trick or treating in the new hood. We went around with Thomas, Kirsten, Max and Eli. Later that night Cooper and Jesselyn came over to play and eat treats!! We hope everyone else had a fun night as well!

Pictures!

2008-10-29T17:22:00.005-05:00

Here are some pictures of the new house. We have finally unpacked the last box! We love the house, but most of all, love being in our own "home". Here are some pictures of my favorite rooms. The kids' rooms are not pictured due to lack of paint and organization....Bonus room also not pictured due to excesssive toy overflow.....I am still working on it.

The master bathroom

The laundry room

eat-in kitchen area

kitchen

master bedroom

den

Pumpkin topiaries!

back covered porch

front of house

Finally!!

2008-10-15T18:55:00.001-05:00

Yea! We closed on our new house today! I will take some pictures tomorrow to post. We will start moving things in on Friday afternoon.

Here we Go Again...

2008-09-13T07:14:00.005-05:00

Ok. So we are under contract on a new house again. I am not going into much detail for fear of what could still happen. If all goes well, we will be closing on the new house on Oct. 9th. Please pray that it works out this time.

Jason is loving his new job! I am sure he misses us those 3 nights a week, but he likes what he is doing. I am also still enjoying my job. Second grade is my new favorite grade! It is what I want to teach when I finish my masters (I start on that in Jan!!!) I am in a sort of "Dibels"coma right now. I tested the entire 2nd grade this week. Side note-we have approx. 140 second graders
For those of you who don't know what Dibels is, it is a benchmark test to measure where children are with their word fluency, oral reading and comprehension. It was really cool to see how they all did. I had someone else do Holland to get a better reading. She did very well (yes, of course I peeked at her scores) Enough about that.

Jackson had a wild week. He was sick with a fever and runny nose for a few days. The worst part was when he opened a childproof bottle of Tylenol and proceeded to drink half of it! Yes, we ended up at the ER. After a blood draw to test his toxicity level, we found out he was fine. The boy is crazy I tell you!!

Thank You Lord!

2008-08-30T07:25:00.000-05:00

Jason got a new job on Thurs! Oh, how long I have dreamed of uttering those words.....We are so thankful! He starts on Wed. He will be traveling about 60-70% of the time (yuck) and working from home the rest. He is really excited about the job. Anyway, now we can start looking for a place to live. Thanks for all of your prayers.

The girls and I had another good week at school. It was Taylor's first real week. Her teacher is so sweet! We love her already. I do not have a picture of her yet. Believe it or not, my camera battery died right when when I tried to take it.

First Week of School

2008-08-13T16:53:00.001-05:00

Our first week is going great so far. Holland and I are loving the 2nd grade team! I am the teaching assistant for the whole 2nd grade (7 classrooms). All of them are awesome ladies and I am enjoying getting to know them. Holland's teacher is Ms. Cartwright. She just graduated from Austin Peay in May, so she is very excited to begin her career. Holland just loves her! See below.... Taylor said her first day was boring. They just did testing. They will place them the next few weeks and she will start full days on the 25th. Kindergarten gets out an hour earlier than the other grades. Anyway, we are all doing fine. Just coasting along, waiting for something to happen! We are thankful for such a loving and patient family. Nana and Pa have been so good to us while we've been here invading their home. I am sure we will all look back on this someday fondly. Ha! ha!

Holland and Ms. Cartwright first day of school!

Taylor's first day of Kindergarten! What a big girl! She went for one half day for testing. She will not go full time until the 25th. Weird....but that is how they do it here.

Tightie Whities!

Going Pee Pee!

Aloha! I just liked this picture, so I thought I'd post it too.

Strike a Pose!

2008-08-07T19:22:00.000-05:00

I FINALLY had Jackson's 2 yr. pictures taken today. He is actually 2 1/2 at this point, but that is OK. He had so much fun during his photo shoot. We went to Portrait Innovations as usual. I especially love the close up with the football. It is always amazing how calm children appear in pictures. Between the camera flashes he was throwing balls, smacking the photographer's leg and running from me! Not to mention his fascination with the back drops. I was seriously afraid that he was going to pull one of them down!! Anyway, we got a few cute shots and made it out alive.

A Week to Forget

2008-08-02T15:12:00.000-05:00

I am glad last week is over! We lost our sweet doggie, Peyton, the house we built and an old friend, Steve Elmore. Wow! Not to mention I turned 34! It is all over now. We will start out this next week with hope of a new beginning. Please continue to pray for Jason's job search. Pray that God will make it clear to us where we need to be. Our family is really stuggeling with all the changes that we have been through and all the plans that have been shot down. We do know that God has a plan for us. I just hope it is revealed soon. Patience is not a virtue that I posess.

Congrats to all the surprised newly pregnant friends out there! Something must be in the water! Apparently vasectomies don't work anymore. I know 4 people personally that had a post-snip baby. I am a little nervous...Just kidding. It would never happen to me, because I would want it to.

This is our last week of summer break! The girls and I start school on Aug. 11th. Many of you already know that I have accepted the 2nd grade teaching assistant position at Holland and Taylor's school. Weird, Huh? I haven't worked in 7 years!!!It will be cool to actually make some money though. Nana and Pa will be keeping Jackson on MWF and he will go to a Mother's Day out on T&R. I will miss my little buddy....He will be spoiled rotten hangin' out with Pa all day! Oh, and he is potty training! He is doing quite well. I will attach a cute tightie-whitie picture later.

Goodbye Peyton

2008-07-29T15:54:00.000-05:00

Peyton, our sweet dog, died today at about 12:00 noon. We are so sad to lose him. He was the best dog ever. So smart, sweet and loving. He was almost 10 years old and we will miss him terribly....

Just Checking in....

2008-07-27T20:01:00.000-05:00

Hey all! We are still hanging out at Nana and Pa's. This week should tell the tale...Please keep our family in your prayers. This will be a stressfull week. Anyway, we have some fun stuff planned to keep us busy in the meantime.

Monday- I have to do some exchanges at Homegoods. I talked Taylor into the quilt set that I liked best (I know, I am so mean...) Just look at how cute it is though! The one she chose was missing a pillow sham, so I needed to take it back anyway.

Tuesday-Shrek the 3rd at the free movies

Wed.-Registation for school
-Swimming at Riley's house
-Sumner County Fair!!
-Oh, and Happy B-day to me!

Thurs.-New house? or No new house? That is the question.....

Anyway, we will be staying busy as usual. Lots of our friends here start school this week, so we will miss playing with them. Summer is just way too short these days.

Happy 4th of July!!

2008-07-07T15:19:00.001-05:00

We hope everyone had a fun holiday weekend. Ours started Thurs. with a cookout with Brian, Carter, Cooper and Jesselyn and fireworks at Drake's Creek park. Friday we went to the Braswell's annual pool party, Saturday the Payne's annual pool party and then another one Sat, night at Mark and Brandi's. Needless to say, my kids never want to see another hotdog! I however, have loved every minute of all the good food!! We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends here in TN!

Pictures from May

2008-06-27T10:35:00.001-05:00

These are a few pictures from the Knoxville Zoo with our Knoxville friends, the Schugarts and the Hodges.

We had a great time on the White family 5th annual trip to the Smokies!

Jackson enjoyed a little arts and crafts time at the cabin....

Congrats to Taylor! She is now officially a kindergartner!

Pictures from June

2008-06-27T10:25:00.000-05:00

Here is the finished house. There are a few tiny things left to touch up inside. 4 more weeks is more than enough time to take care of that!!!

Here I am with my precious little niece Jesselyn on the day of her baptism.

Happy 3rd b-day Cooper! The kids had so much fun running around and playing in the water!

Hello out there.....

2008-06-27T07:27:00.000-05:00

Have you missed me? I am still alive...barely. Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. As many of you know, our lives have been turned absolutely upside down!! I really don't have a lot of news on the matter. We should be moving in the new house at the end of July. I don't have a confirmed date yet. I should know in the next couple of days. We seriously need your prayers.

The past month has been hard as vagabonds, but we have managed to have lots of fun along the way. I will post pictures later today. We have gone to 2 different zoos, Fun Expedition, VBS, and several of our friends pools. We have seen lots of old friends and even made some new ones. A special thanks to Nana and Pa for putting up with us for the past two weeks and counting.....

Today is the last day of VBS. We will be attending the cookout tonight and see the kids perform all the songs they have been practicing all week. I hear that Taylor is lovin' the stage and volunteers to go up anytime she can! Anyway, I'll post the pics later. Have a great day!

P.S. I have minutes again...so call me everyone!

Crazy!!

2008-05-30T10:06:00.000-05:00

Hey all! We are officially in crazy mode around here. Nana is packing the upstairs, Jason is packing the garage and Taylor and I are headed to Holland's end of the year party. Not to mention I also had my surgery follow up apt. this morning. Doogie said that the scar looks great for one month. He taught me some massage techniques and recomended laser treatments to help with the redness. Anyway...we are having a busy day! I will post all kinds of new pics. next week. We are about to head out tomorrow for a month long tour of TN! Gallatin for 2 nights, Dad's, Mom's, Heidi's and various other stops along the way! We will move in the new house on June 27th. We are so going to miss this place...

Here We Go!

2008-05-21T15:37:00.000-05:00

Hey guys. I just wanted to let everyone know that we are moving on May 31st. We have found some wondrful people (The Crosby's) to rent our house! They are such a blessing and we are hoping to be a blessing to them as well. Anyway, they needed to move in a little sooner than expectied, so the race is on! I have to pack up my whole house next Wed, Thurs and Fri. We will load the truck on Saturady and be on our way to TN. The new house should be ready for move in by June 30th. So, the kids and I will be traveling the first couple of weeks in June to see my family and friends and then end up at Jason's parents house until the new one is done.

I regret that I will not have much time to tell everyone good-bye, but I promise to keep in touch and visit often. Our past 7 years in GA have been incredible. We have built 3 house now, had 3 children and made some wonderful friends that we will love and cherish for the rest of our lives. Thank you to everyone who has listened to me whine and complain throughout these past 6 months without Jason. I have learned some hard lessons, but God has pulled us through once again!

Dance Recital

2008-05-11T15:24:00.000-05:00

Friday Night was another great recital! Both girls did a great job and looked super cute! This was Holland's 4th recital and Taylor's 3rd. They are pretty much professional dancers by now...right? Nana and Pa & Papaw and Peg were all there to cheer them on. It made for a really nice Mother's Day weekend.

Not much new...

2008-05-05T13:23:00.000-05:00

I am finally feeling better after strep and sinus infection last week...We had a nice weekend at home. It was good to get some things done around here for a change. Jason cleaned the mini van like it has never been cleaned bofore! It is like new! I am sure that will last until tomorrow...
We also planted flowers and did some other yard work. We had someone look at the house for the first time in a month as well.

Here are a few pics of the new house.

Here is a gorgeous picture of my new scar!! On the bright side-at least I now have a reason to wear cute hats!

Fun at the Zoo

2008-04-28T13:00:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to posting some pictures from our visit to the Zoo with Brian, Carter, Cooper and Jesselyn. We had so much fun! The kids loved the pandas and the monkeys! We rode the train a few times as well as the carousel. Holland and Taylor were brave girls and climbed the rock wall too! The weather was perfect that day. Not too hot yet, but very comfortable. It was great hanging out with the family. We will be doing it a lot more in a month!

Glad That's Over!

2008-04-22T07:14:00.000-05:00

My surgery was yesterday morning at 8:00 am. It went really well. They got all the cancer cells on the first cut. Praise God! I was only there for about two hours. The stitches seemed to take forever!!! My scar looks really yucky right now, but as time goes by it will get better and better! At least it is over now. It is still hard to believe that something the size of a freckle on the surface, can result in this! Thanks for all the prayers! I know they helped!

Had a Blast!

2008-04-13T17:38:00.000-05:00

Hey all! We just got back from Disney yesterday and are missing it already! We had such a wonderful time! We went to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios (MGM) and Animal Kingdom. The girls enjoyed a day at the Bibbidi Bobbity Boutique! They turned into "real" princesses! After their magical make-over, we all had dinner at the castle with Cinderella, the Fairy Godmother and the mice! It was great having Papaw, Peg and Aunt Kristin with us! Our rooms at the resort were connecting, so the kids enjoyed taking turns sleeping with Aunt Kristin. We are happy to be home and are looking forward to our next Disney trip!! I have also added a current picture of the new house...

Doogie Houser

2008-04-04T12:53:00.000-05:00

I met with the Moh's Surgeon today, Dr. Friedman (aka Doogie Houser). Seriosuly, he looked 12. He was actually 37, I later learned. He made me feel so much better about everything! He said his wife has had 2 basal cell spots removed as well. For some strange reason, that comforted me. Skin Cancer is the most common kind of cancer, but the most easily treated if found early. Anyway, my surgery will be on April 21st.

Drama Queen?

2008-04-02T13:05:00.000-05:00

Hey all! I just wanted to give you an update on my drama. I went to the Dermatologist yesterday because I was still freaking out and wanted my WHOLE body checked out! I think he thought I was crazy, but he did so and found nothing else to be concerned about. Praise God! He also pretty much told me to quit freaking out that this was very common and I would be fine. Finally....just what I needed to here! I do, however, want to encourage all of you to have a full body skin check sometime soon. None of us are getting any younger and it is a good idea to do it once a year. Skin cancer is very common and easily treated if caught early. Please continue to pray for me. I am still nervous about my surgery. I have the consultation on Fri and we will schedule the procedure then.

We are so ready for our trip to Disney! We leave Sunday morning and will be back the following Sat. We will be away from houses to sell, crazy jobs, Dr. apts. and all of the stress we have been under!

New House Update

2008-03-27T17:58:00.001-05:00

Hey all! Jason had our pre-drywall walk through yesterday. Here are some updated pictures below. It is starting to look real!

In other news, my Dr.apt. for my surgery consultation is next Friday. I am anxious to see the Dr. and hoping he will put some of my fears to rest. They surgery is called Mohs surgery. They will take my skin layer by layer until they get all the bad cells. This is the best way to remove the bad spot without taking more skin/tissue than they need. Anyway, I am still very worried, so please keep me in your prayers.

Prayers Please

2008-03-25T13:45:00.000-05:00

I just got my biopsy results from the dermatologist today and my spot was basal cell skin cancer. It sounds like this is fairly common and treatable, but anything with the word"cancer" in it scares the daylights out of me!! I will be having it completely removed as soon as they schedule my appointment. This is a wake up call to all of us "Sun Worshipers". Everyone I know needs to have a full body skin check. This spot was a tiny little red freckle. The only reason I noticed it was because it bled a couple of different times after I washed my face. Anyway, I am still very scared. I will keep you posted about my apt. If anyone has any experience in this area or knows someone who has had it, I would love to hear some reassuring words. (Sally-You were awesome today when I talked to you! Thanks so much!) Apparently , my father-in-law has had a couple of these removed as well. It is just something I will have to watch closely for the rest of my life. Today I am not worried about 2 house payments so much. I 'd rather work 3 jobs and not have skin cancer!! Funny how God puts things in perspective.

Taylor's Big News

2008-03-24T09:57:00.001-05:00

Taylor lost her first tooth last night! We had no idea that she even had a loose one. She and Holland were playing tug-of-war with a blanket in their mouths and all of a sudden a tooth flew through the air! The Tooth Fairy left a dollar under her pillow!

Verse for the day:

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" Matthew 6:34

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T12:48:00.001-05:00

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter morning! What a blessing to be able to celebrate Jesus' resurrection! We enjoyed an awesome Easter service at church today as well as a fun morning with the kids. They were so cute searching for their Easter baskets! This was our first Easter at our own house. We usually travel to Morristown and spend it with Dad and his side of the family. I have only missed one Easter at Aunt Shelia's in 30 years! Some of my favorite memories are Easters at her house with all of my cousins. Anyway, this year is different for us. Jason has traveled so much lately, that he (and we)
needed a relaxing weekend as a family at our house.
We will be back at Shelia's next year.

Our new house is coming right along! Jennifer is in Hendersonville this weekend and she went by to check it out. She said they have already started the brick! Wow! June is coming quickly. The picture below was taken last weekend.

Sausage Pie

2008-03-18T18:57:00.000-05:00

Prep time: 13 min
Bake time: 25 min.

1 lb hot sausage
1 c. chopped onion (I don't use)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. Bisquick
1 c. milk
1 egg
1 C. shredded cheddar cheese

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 9 inch pie plate/pan. Cook sausage and onion until brown. Drain. Stir in salt. Spread into pie plate, sprinkle with cheese. Stir remaimning ingredients until blended. Pour into pie plate. Bake 25 min. or until knife comes out clean.

Ciao!

2008-03-14T06:34:00.000-05:00

Seven days and counting...no sickness yet. We may have dodged the bullet! Thank you God! Jason will be home from Italy tomorrow. I am so ready to see him, even if it is only for one day...
Not much new happened this week. We had one person look at the house. He was number 10! That was my mental magic number. I guess I was wrong.

The kids and I have plans to go the the Holly Springs Easter Egg Hunt tomorrow and see the Easter Bunny! I hope it doesn't rain until afterwards at least. We have had a couple of perfect Spring days in a row. Definitely enough to give us spring fever! Hopefully Sunday after church we can go see Horton Hears a Who. It should be a fun weekend!

Weekend Fun

2008-03-09T19:22:00.000-05:00

Hey All! The kids and I have had a fun weekend all on our own. Jason left for Italy on Friday afternoon, so we had to keep busy somehow. Holland and Taylor's friend Alyx spent the night on Friday and we watched movies until everyone fell asleep. Unfortunately, Alyx got sick in the middle of the night, but whe made it throught till morning anyway. Saturday we went outlet shopping for Easter outfits. Gymboree and Children's Place came through as always! The girls will look splendid in their matching (to their dismay and my pleasure) white skirts with flowers embroidered and hot pink tops. Jackson will be soooo handsome in his linen slacks and white button down, topped off with the cutest little suede bucs ever!! I even found a cute hot pink strapless dress to match at the Gap. I will add a white sweater to tame it down for church. Ha! Ha! When we returned home, Jackson napped and I introduced the girls to the world of Scrapbooking! They worked for 2 hours! Today we went to church, lunch at Wendy's and ended the weekend with a trip to Wal-Mart! We are now stocked and ready for the week.

A special thanks to Jennifer O'Connell for our new favorite recipe...Sausage Pie! Believe it or not, my evil, picky children ate every bite! Maybe it was because I told them it was Madeline's favorite...if so, I'll be using that line more often! Needless to say, I am happy to add one more thing to our very short list of meals.

Also, Jason is alive and well in Bologna, Italy. Yes. I said Bologna. It doesn't sound like a very exciting place. He is making his way around just fine. He ate at a nice Pizzeria today and watched some movies in his room. He is really living it up! Please pray for his safe return and that the kids and I don't get Alyx's stomach bug....I can't imagine much worse than 3 sick kids, one sick Mom, no Dad and a house on the market....

Happy Birthday to Jackson!

2008-03-04T15:52:00.000-06:00

Believe it or not, Jackson just turned 2! We celebrated at the Bounce House with all of our friends and family! Nana, Pa, Papaw, Peg, Aunt Carter and Uncle Brian, Cooper, Jesselyn and Aunt Kristin were all there to celebrate! Mamaw and Barry are coming to visit in 2 weeks. Jackson had a wonderful time bouncing off the walls...literally! He received lots of cool gifts, which included a tool bench, some spring clothes, a see-saw, table and chairs. geo trax and many, many CARS!!!! He is a real boy. His favorite phrase right now is, "I am speed..."(Lightning McQueen)

Busy Week!

2008-02-24T20:57:00.001-06:00

We just got back from a whole week in TN. Holland was out of school for winter break, so we got to go see Jason and the rest of the family. On Friday, Jason and I went out for a belated Valentines Day dinner with many of our Gallatin friends. We ate at a great restaurant in Nashville called the Boundr'y. It was quite yummy!!!

Our good friends from college, Sally and E, were also in town. We met them for lunch on Sat. and got to meet their newest little one, Ty Preston. He is just as precious as his big brother and sister.

We got to spend lots of time with baby Jesselyn and her big brother Cooper. Jackson loved holding the "Bebe". Apparently he is twelve now....and French.

Our new house is officially under construction! The foundation was laid by the time I left town. Framing will begin next week. We also got to go see a model of our floor plan in another neighborhood. It was cool to actually see what it will look like when it is done. While we were gone, our house was shown 3 times!! Proof that the market is not dead!

Thirty-One Gifts

2008-02-16T07:33:00.001-06:00

Hi all! Many of you already know that I have started a new business endeavor...Thirty-One Gifts. It is a company that sells beautiful personalized products, such as purses, cosmetic bags, backpacks and many home decor items. I hosted a party for a friend back in the fall and really loved the products. Anyway, I loved the starter kit so much that I decided to buy it! In doing so, I became a consultant. It is a wonderful, biblical based company. It is based on Proverbs 31 in the Old Testement. This passage describes a virtuous woman who worked in her community for her family with no personal reward. I put a link to the website under my favorite websites. When you have time, please check it out! The new spring catalog was just revealed to us the other day. It should be available for viewing on the website starting in March. Right now it is still showing the fall 2007 catalog. Those products are still available, but they have added many new items for spring! If anyone would like to host a party, just let me know!!

Just Kidding!!!

2008-02-07T12:16:00.000-06:00

Ok. So we are back to square one...the lady is not buying our house. This feels like a creul joke. She decided she wants to sell her current house first. One would think she would have thought about that before going under contract with us...but who knows! Anyway, we are trying to be optimistic. We still have time and spring is a good time for people to look at houses. Here we go again!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

2008-02-06T13:40:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! After doing the Hodges' family shirts, Iwas inspired to get started on ours. We are gearing up for our Disney trip in April!! They turned out really cute. I am thinking about putting a few on e-bay (my new favorite hobby).

God is Good!

2008-02-05T12:51:00.000-06:00

Thanks for your prayers! I just put the "Under Contract" sign in our yard!! The lady (Mrs. Kemp) who looked at our house the other day made an offer and we accepted!! Closing will be on March 7th and she has agreed to let us stay here and rent back from her until school is out! I still can't believe that it is really over. I can leave my beds unmade once again!

February 3, 2008

2008-02-03T19:08:00.000-06:00

We just finished a very busy week with lots of company! Heidi and her 3 sweet little ones came to visit. We had so much fun! We went to the American Girl Boutique and Bistro to let the girls have a look around. We also did some embroidery. Tom and Heidi are headed to Disney in a few days and I made the kids some cute Mickey and Minnie Mouse shirts to wear on the trip. They turned out super-cute!

They left on Friday around noon and Dad and Peg arried that night! It was great to see them. We had fun just hanging out around the house and watching movies. We had a little excitement went someone came to look at our house for the 2nd time!!! The lady really loved it and our agent felt very hopeful! We are still hoping to hear something from them....Say an extra prayer for us tonight!!!

Let's Try Again

2008-01-21T21:06:00.000-06:00

I did something wrong with the previous post....the pictures disappeared! Anyway, here they are! My children in our winter wonderland!

-E

My First Blog Entry!

2008-01-21T20:20:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone! I have been thinking about starting a blog for some time now and am finally getting around to it. With so many family members and friends being spread all over, it just makes sense. With Jason being gone all week, I now have to find something to keep me busy in the evenings. I tried exercising last week....Well, anyway, I am now choosing to SIT in front of the computer this week. Wonder what will be next....

The kids and I are headed to TN this weekend to visit Jason and Nana and Pa. Jason and I are going to the Drees Design Center on Friday to pick out all the fun stuff for our new house. I am hoping for some nice counter tops and I know Jason is dreaming of surround sound..it should be fun to see what we come up with! Our new neighborhood is in Hendersonville, TN. They have a good website if anyone is interested. We will send pictures as the house starts coming along. It should be done by the end of July or early August. Just in time for the opening of a new Elementary school. Holland will be starting 2nd grade there and Taylor will be entering Kindergarten!!!! I still can't believe I have school age children! Anyway, we are in need of prayers for the sale of our Holly Springs home. We are trusting that God will work that out in his perfect timing!

I am posting some fun snow pictures!! We had snow twice in one week! This was the first time the children got to play in it and they even built a snowman!