Everyone Should Have a Bethany in Their Life!

Where does the time go? It seems everytime I try to sit to catch this thing up, I get distracted and on to something else. Then, the next thing I know, what I had planned to write seems quite outdated. Oh well, that's life I suppose.

So, Jim and I had our 11 year anniversary on October 2. We had planned for a get-a-way night at a B&B that Jim found....he's a great planner. Long story short, the way we thought it would work out was not going to work out. We were hoping to start out early and not come home until evening on Saturday. Our sitters' plans had a different idea. So we needed additional back-up. So, after another failed attempt, I decided to call Bethany. Who is Bethany, you ask? Bethany is the only 14 year old we would ever let watch our children. She's not 14 anymore. She's now 2nd year in college. She is incredible with the kids and loves them sooooo much. She started babysitting for us when we just had Ian. She is creative, mature, responsible, loving, fun, and remembers all the 'extra' stuff for the kids (ie. pills, baths (even when not asked), bedtime routines, etc.). I never have to worry about whether or not something is getting done....yes, I still call - - - I AM a mom!

Anyway, she goes to college an hour and a half away. I called her up, told her our dilemma and without hesitation, she agreed to come up to watch the kids all day Saturday. So, now we have an overnight place for them (thank you, Grandma and Papa) and Saturday is taken care of.

Saturday morning comes. We finish breakfast (yummy), and get ready to head out for our fun for the day. As we were figuring out how long we had before we needed to head back, we started pondering the option of staying another night. Could we?....dare we?....ask Bethany to stay the night with the kids????? Yep. So, I called her, made our request, and again, without hesitation, she agreed! I started crying, and told her I wish I could get her to understand what a blessing this was to us. She said she loves the kids and since she came up just to watch them, she didn't make any other plans for the weekend.

There you have it. Everyone (especially families with special needs) should have a Bethany in their life! We love you dearly, young lady!

Vacation Time - woo-hoo!

Literally on our way out the door for vacation in Colorado. Ready to get away from this heat for a while. Will check back when we get back. Have a great week all!

Spring Break

We're back from the little cabin in the woods. As usual, we had a great time. The disk swing was the hit of the week. That's about all the kids wanted to do. Ian was able to swing on it all by himself this year. He was sooooo proud! And so were we. Avery just wanted to keep going higher and higher. Benjamin just couldn't understand why he couldn't swing on it by himself. He's our independent wanna-be. A dangerous thing!

The kids were also thrilled because we let them all sleep together this year. We did have to get up 2 of the nights to move Ian to the downstairs room cause he woke up and woke the other kids up. He didn't seem to mind too much.

Jim and I were the only ones who got hurt this year, so that was a plus.....sort of. I missed taking some pictures I really wanted to take; like the kids sledding down the hill (of leaves, not snow), and the lake, and the beautiful daffodils. I figure I'll just take some shots of daffodils around here and put them in as if they were taken there. Who'll know?!

So another spring break is done. We've been conspiring with my in-laws about finding some land with a dwelling for us all to buy. They are sooooo incredibly gung-ho. So, if other things that need to happen work out, we'll have our own 'little cabin in the woods' to go to over spring break. (okay, so it won't be as nice as this one, but we'll be just as happy!)

Avery Saying: I was using a curling iron to try to put some curls in Avery's hair. She saw felt how warm the curl was when I let the iron go and the piece of hair whirled to her face. She said, "Mommy, you're cooking my hair."

Hodge Podge

Hope you all had a fun Valentine's weekend. We're putting ours off for a few weeks when we get a short overnight getaway.

Not a lot going on around here. I just got back in town from visiting my great niece. She's just as beautiful (more) in person. Seems like a really content baby. Mommy and Daddy are doing great, and will definitely never be lacking in babysitters between grandma and other aunt! They actually argue over who will watch her! Anyway, it was great to see my family.

We had record snow here last week. I know for some of you, our measly 11 inches doesn't compare, but it was great. This makes the 3rd time it's snowed this season. This time it was nice packy snow so the kids got to have snowball fights and build a snowman. My little Ian, who seems to have ZERO ability to know when something hurts, kept taking off his mittens to use his hands. We were too afraid he'd get frostbite and wouldn't even feel it. I don't know how he does it. Well, we all had a good time. Wish I had pictures ready to post.

Benjamin did a new thing a few days ago. I'd forgotten about this til now. He went to the bathtub faucet, pointed to it, and said, "water". So cute.

That's about it for the hodge podge. Just wanted to be sure I didn't stay off from writing for too long.

Anniversary Trip

This is Jim's face right before he's getting ready to color my hair.

This was a really cool spider that wouldn't let us take it's picture. It kept coming up as this bright light. Pretty clever guy.

"I think we're lost?" "Which way do we go?"

Self pic before our hike.

"Roses in our Garden" Jim's anniversary gift to me to add to my Willow Tree collection.

We just got back from a long wonderful weekend away for our 10th anniversary. We went to an incredible resort in the Ouachita National Forest and Lake area in Arkansas, and it was great. We're already planning to go again with some friends. It was relaxing to be kidless for 4 days. We had great family (thanks Tallmans) and friends (thanks Williams) taking excellent care of our children while we were gone.

We had planned to hike, play tennis (not that either of us play), relax at the spa, go boating to our own island. However, our plans changed a bit due to weather, missing equipment, and an extra long hike. But, no loss. I loved the weather! It was nice and cool, rained a little, and overcast. No humidity! That was the best. That's relaxing weather for me, especially for fall. And let's not forget to mention the beautiful colors! We also met some really fun people.

We left Thursday night, stayed in a hotel along the way; got up the next morning and headed to check-in at the resort. We got there earlier Friday than we thought we would, but thank goodness our room was ready for us to check in. After check-in, we drove into town for a few necessities and checked out town. Then we checked out the resort area. Then, we just sat in our condo and enjoyed....dare I say it.....SILENCE! Ahhhhh! And we enjoyed a wonderful seafood meal cooked by my chef of a husband. Yum!

Saturday, I slept in. Jim has a hard time sleeping in, poor guy. After going back into town to pick up items we should have gotten on our first run, we decided to check out a part of the Vista Ridge trail. We hiked 4 miles. On this part of the trail, we were passed by lots of mountain bikers who were participating in an adventure race that was going on the same weekend. They all looked really tired. We found out later after talking to the coordinator of the race, that the biking part was the last part of the race. Before that, they had been running, canoeing, and hiking off trail with only a compass and map. The entirety of the race was anywhere from 8 to 14 hours.

After getting back to the condo, I enjoyed a nice hot bath (which I don't generally get to enjoy at home). Then we went to the resort restaurant and enjoyed a yummy steak dinner. Then back to the condo for a movie. And I talked Jim into coloring my hair. Never done that before. He's was quite funny.

Sunday morning we got up, ready for our longer hike. This hike ended up being 3.5 miles/2 hours longer than we planned, due to someone's error in reading the map (and can I say, it WASN'T me...miracle). Neither of us cared much though. We actually got quite a good laugh from it. The end result....13 miles of hiking beautiful forest and streams. It's a good thing (1) we packed our good hiking boots for the trip, (2) I didn't sleep in that morning and got a good start time, (3) we packed plenty of power bars and water in the backpack. Our feet were barking at the end. When we got back, I took another nice hot bath. Jim was so hungry he cooked while I bathed. (Yes, I do actually cook for our family. Jim likes to do the cooking on vacation....and I don't argue). So, we enjoyed another of his wonderful meals. Then, because we're both football fans, we watched the Sunday night football game.

Monday morning, we got up, bodies screaming. Poor Jim had blisters on his feet. I went down to the spa for a massage, only to find out they didn't have any openings until 3:00pm.....we had to check out by 11:00am. Lesson learned.....make reservations. So, we packed up, turned in our tennis raquets and keys, loaded up the van (along with the boat we'll use next time as well), and headed home. The kids were great when we picked them up and were great the rest of the night. That made it a nice transition back into the swing of things. Oh how we never take advantage of our time away!

Weekend Away

This is my very good and most funny friend. Yes, believe it or not, she is. Why does she have a pair of scissors clipped to her nose, you ask? Well, Jill is on a diet and we happened to be baking cookies. The aroma was too much for her self-control. Her solution? You got it! She's so smart! And no, she didn't have even one cookie. At least not that I know about. :)

This is the "Texas Cabin". This is the most popular of the cabins. Jill and I stayed in it this time.

This is in the crop room. This is Jill's and my collection of paper. She came up with this great idea last time. We each layed out all our paper so that it was within easy eye view when trying to come up with layout patterns for the pictures.

The bugs and spiders were outrageous this time! Especially the daddy long-legs and these annoying tiny flying things that kept getting in our faces and then falling to their doom in scrapping glue! This was one of those particularly beautiful spiders sitting in her web. Luckily, it was outside the crop room, not inside. It is a cotton spider. When we went to pack up to leave.....she was gone. Hmmmm. Hope she didn't come home with us!

These were just a few of the pictures. The only thing I didn't take a picture of that I wish I would have was this stuffed pheasant-like bird that was in our cabin. Jill and I are notorious for playing practical jokes - mainly on each other! She has the best sense of humor. Even better, she can dish it out as well as she can take it! Anyway, this bird kept 'disappearing' and 'reappearing' in strange places in the cabin.....my bag, the shower, the toilet paper basket, the bed. It traveled quite well.

I almost got Benjamin's book done. I decided to keep up with tradition and didn't do any journaling yet. I did manage to get embellishments on some of the pages during the trip. I only have March and April of '08 left to do. Then my goal is to add embellishments and journaling to all 3 books. Then what? Hopefully cards! I would like to scrapbook some trips, but who knows.

It was a great and relaxing trip. Jill and I left home Wednesday evening, a night before the others started arriving. We got back early yesterday evening.

I did get some running in, which felt great. Except for the tiny flying bugs threatening to enter my mouth and eyes, I adore running in the country. The air is so much cleaner! Those 2 lane roads are full of hills to add to the adventure!

Although we didn't get to bed until ridiculously late, I slept great, which is rare. I only got up once each night and got 8 hours of sleep each night. Woo-hoo!

We had great music. Everything from 80's to operetic to praise and worship. We had great conversation. Everything from trips to how the Lord is working in our lives. We even stayed away from politics.....way to go, Jill! And we had a couple of nice prayer moments for things that came up.

We watched our usual couple of movies. This time we watched Ever After, Day After Tomorrow, Big Fat Greek Wedding, and Return to Me. I don't think we actually sat to watch all of any of the movies. We'd watch for a while, then it became background while we scrapped.

Jim did great! The kids got fed, bathed, and made it to and home from school. I had left a card for him to find, which blessed him. Just wanted him to know how much I love him and was thankful for this time away. And to remind him what a great dad and husband he is.

Well, I think that catches you all up on the time away. We already have our next one booked in April. Now I'm looking forward to my time away with my husband for our 10 year anniversary next week!

Scrappin' 40!!!

Today is the day. I'm the big 4 - 0. Wanna hear an added funny? My mother-in-law's birthday is the same day! We always joke that Jim married me so that he could remember his mom's birthday. Anyway, she's great, so I adore having the same b-day as her. Back on track...Fourty doesn't feel too bad so far. Jim and I always wonder that as we get older how are we going to maintain energy for the kids, since they're so young. Well, we've been working on taking better care of ourselves. We try to eat better....doesn't always work when we're feelin' lazy. We've started jogging again which has done 2 things - given me more energy (although I could always use more), and helped me sleep better at night (I've never been a good sleeper during the night). The trick for me is.....can I keep it up? I can find ANY excuse not to go jog....too windy, too cold, too hot, too tired, blah, blah, blah. I'm actually starting to enjoy the jogging again though, which helps out with the motivation. Shoot me a "you can do it, Donna" comment every once in a while!


What am I doing for the big birthday you ask? Well, first Jim got me this GREAT camera (well, I think it's great). Suzanne, you'd be proud to see what this one is compared to my old one. Thing is, I'm still trying to figure out how to use it. I can do the point and shoot thing, but I want to know ALL the cool things I can do with it. Unfortunately, the way I read instruction manuals - hmmmm, well it might take me a while. Anyhoo, I'm enjoying it so far.

Last weekend, we had a family birthday gathering at our house. My mother-in-law and I decided on pizza and wings to keep things easy. Plus, the kids love pizza - makes it double easy. We hung around, goofed off, told stories, etc. Then my niece (almost 13) decided we should play hide and seek. So, we did. It was soooooo much fun. What better time in life to remember that we can still be kids!!??

Next, my best friend is putting together a girl's night for me tonight. I'm looking forward to that. Basically all Iknow is we're going out to eat, then to a friend's house for girl stuff. I'm excited to spend time with friends I don't get to spend too much time with these days.

Then, the culmination of it all.......scrapbook weekend! 5 other girlsfriends and I are going away to a scrapbooking cottage. We leave tonight and don't come back until....ready for this....SUNDAY EVENING!!! Wee-hooo! Avery will be 4 this summer and I just MIGHT get her 1 year book done. I plan on getting a 1 year book done for all 3 kids, but I don't plan on being a scrapbook mom. Who knows, maybe that'll change....maybe not. I enjoy cardmaking more. It's less taxing on my brain.

So, here's the deal. I'm normally a bit of a jokester when it comes to overnighting with friends. There's one friend in particular on this trip that I would LOVE to come up with something to 'get her'. So, if you have any ideas on good pranks, please offer them up!

To sum up the entry, I just want to praise my Father above for the great life He's planned for me. It's not always easy...okay, it's pretty much never easy...but it's still wonderful. While I can only see the parts of my life He's shown me thus far, I know He has a beautiful plan for making it all for His glory. That knowledge and hope keeps me going everyday. Thank you, Jesus!!!!

Back from Spring Break

OMG! We had such a great time! We have some friends that own a cabin about 2 hours from where we live. They have let us stay there the past 3 years, and each time has been such a blessing. The kids, although they were a little sick, had a great time. Ben, however, looks like we beat him with a baseball bat. He's more of a shuffler than a walker, so when he 'walks' he trips easily. That's very apparent by his cuts and bruises. He survived though.

The kids just did so well. Ian even seemed to improve on his vocabulary. He was speaking so much more clearly and using a lot of really good sentences. We think that all the sensory input helped him out. He swung a lot on the swing, sledded down a hill of leaves, relaxed in a hammock, climbed up and down stairs, went on nature walks, and threw the football around with dad. They all were so tired by the end of each day that sleeping was never an issue!

Jim and I enjoyed the complete family time. We were able to focus ALL our attention on the kids. No phone calls, no computer, no cleaning and laundry all the time.......it was great.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention how Ian used the potty. At home, Ian sits down on the training potty (not ideal because he's actually too big for it). At the cabin they have shorter toilets. Ian must have caught onto this because he went tee-tee standing up! And he went A LOT! We would set the timer and he would go pretty much every time. We even came home with leftover pull-ups. So we've decided that next month we are going to get a shorter toilet. I think it's going to put the potty training into a fast gear. And hopefully it will be a push for when I start Benjamin too. We could just see the 'proud' look on Ian's face everytime he went standing up.

So that was our trip.

I Am Still Alive....I Think

It's been so long since I've been on blog land. I'm looking forward to catching up on reading everyone's entries that I'm so behind on. I think I just got in such a funk cause everything seemed to be so negative, I didn't want all my entries to be so pessimistic. Quick, quick update:

So much for dying without making a turkey. We had Jim's family come to our house....don't ask how that happened. That made 10 adults and 4 children. Okay, truth be told....Jim made the turkey. We had a really good time, and I was so glad we had it at our house. It gave Grandma and Papa a break this year. Plus, even though I kept telling everyone that Jim cooked, I cleaned, I still got all the credit for the meal. I finally gave in and just said, "Thank you." How great is that!

Trip to Oklahoma City to be with my family was much different. Everything has been much different since my dad's stroke. I am very thankful that he is alive, walking, talking. However, I want my pre-stroke dad back, and my mom wants her pre-stroke husband back. It's been very difficult for my family. I think I feel like I get to 'run away' from it by being here. But going back home shows me how real it really is. I felt like I either cried or was griping at Jim for some reason the whole weekend. It definitely forces me to concentrate on what the meaning of Thanksgiving is and to remember all the blessings the Lord has poured down. Blessings are great, but I also have to remember that we were never promised an easy life of roses. It's what I do with all the hard times that determine how thankful I am for Jesus. After all, He didn't exactly have a rosy life when He walked the earth. Next....

Benjamin is officially a toddler!!!! A clumsy one, but oh well. While he's still quite weak and can't walk for enormous amounts at a time, he way prefers to walk on his two feet than to crawl. I had forgotten how adorable they look.

Avery is pretty much officially potty trained. The only thing we haven't tackled is nighttime. The latest joy is that she has finally started to poop more on the big potty than on the little one. Cleaning that thing out gets pretty gross after a while. I'm so proud of her.

Ian is still a day by day. We've been struggling a lot more with his behavior. Jim is ready to go for stronger meds. I AM NOT. This is a big source of contention with us. Probably the hardest thing we've had to try to work together on. More on that later. I just love my little boy so much......

My friend, Rian, had her baby boy!!!!! His name is Malachi "Kai" Ellington, and he is adorable. He was born November 17. I got to see him come into this world and it was amazing. Rian did great. I already can't wait for him and Benjamin to play together!

That's about it for now. Thanks for those who wrote to check up on me. I'm still in a bit of a funk, but working through it.

Party Time! And More

***She did it!!!!! My Avery pooped in the potty this morning! Yes, I may be a bit over the limit by putting a pic on the blog, but that's the kind of mom I am. :) I put her on the potty when she woke up this morning and as I was fixing her breakfast she hollered for me. As I got closer, she said, "I pooped." Well, how many times have a heard that before!? This time, no crying wolf. She stood up, and there it was, in all it's little bitty splendor! And no, I did not smell it to be sure it was poop. I trusted my eyes on this one. So starts the celebration. She got to write in her 'special' potty book, she got a 'special' sticker, and she got 5 M&M's. AND, of course, she wouldn't forget....she gets a party tonight. She'll go with Daddy when he gets home to go pick out her cake and icecream. When her daddy and aunt Zane called, she was very excited to tell them the news. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a continuing adventure!

***Update on Avery's trip to OKC. We picked Avery up at the 1/2 way mark on Saturday afternoon. She had a GREAT time with her aunt, uncle, and cousin. Her cousin has one of those big kid-size really moves Barbie jeep. Avery is normally afraid of it. She not only rode in the jeep, but she sat in the driver's seat and worked on driving it! My sister said she was well behaved and polite. And she got to show off her incredible hollow leg appetite. She's so tiny, you'd never believe how much she eats!

Letting Go is Hard to Do

Okay, all my children have at one time or another (actually several times) stayed the night at other places or with other people....my best friend and in-laws. Not too far a distance at all. Yesterday, I met my sister half way (she lives in another state) to have lunch with her and my niece, and to give her Avery to take back and stay a couple nights with them. There was something different about this time. I knew Avery would have tons of fun because she loves playing with my niece (5) and she loves her aunt and uncle. But my heart had a hard time letting her go that far away without me. I'm better now, but I was surprised at my feelings when putting her carseat in my sister's car.

I'm not one to normally check up on my kids a bunch when they're with someone else. I have friends who will call every 10 minutes to check up....nothing wrong with that.....I just don't do that. I've done well this time too. I called last night after they were in bed to see how she did, and I called 1st thing this morning to talk to her. She's doing great.

One of the reasons we did this was to give it a test for the summer time, when we'd like for her to stay a week (or shorter, if she misses home) there. It's really been tough for my sister and I to have our kids live far apart. It's hard enough for us to live far apart. We are only 13 months apart in age and our oldest kids are only a year apart in age. ( A lot of "aparts" there) I think Jim has a hard time understanding because his family all live within 15 minutes of us. It's great most of the time (there's still those 'in-law" moments every once in a while), but you know how it is.....just not the same as having MY family when I need them. I've gotten somewhat used it since I've been here since I was 18. OMG, that's 21 years now (as of next week when I hit my last 30-something birthday). I definitely don't think we could have made it (mostly emotionally) without my best friend and in-laws here. They do so great with our kids and love them so much. My best friend even takes them all on at once by herself! And she loves doing it!

So, with growth comes heartaches too. But they're the good kind of heartaches, if there's such a thing.