Memory Lane called

It's funny what you can see, hear or even smell to bring back memories. Saturday was the day I decided to clean out our playroom. I don't know why we call it that, because that is the one thing the kids won't do it in! They have NEVER played in it. We keep the toys in there, the kids go in and pick what toys they want and then they take them to the living room to play with them. Maybe we should change the name? Anyway, Saturday was the day that I was going to clear out all of the old school work and art from years past. I didn't want to turn the TV on, needed to stay focused, so I turned the TV onto the 80's music channel. Love those 80's songs. I was VERY busy making my choices of what to keep and what to discard and a song came on that instantly made me smile and think about my Grandma. Kelly and Frankye, I know you probably know the song I heard. It was "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners. Grandma loved this song. I can remember her tapping her foot and singing along. I never hear that song that I don't think of her. Whenever I see 11:11 on a digital clock, I think of Grandma and smile. She once told me that she liked seeing that on the clock because it was the "longest time". That has stuck with me and I now think of her everytime I see it. Emma came home from school the other day and said she noticed it was 11:11 and she thought of me. So, I guess I passed that tradition onto her! I can still hear Grandma's feet on her bedroom floor. I can still smell her rice & raisins. I can still hear her screen door slam from us running in and out. I have so many fond memories of her. She was a great lady and a wonderful Grandmother! I sure miss you Grandma.

It's time...

I have become fascinated by the new show about hoarding. I just sit and watch it and can't be torn away from it. I know plenty of people think it is pure laziness, but it is a sickness. And thankfully, there are professionals out there to help. I find myself thinking that my house is perfect after watching the show. Far from it! I love to clean, but with 4 kids (5 if you count my husband) it doesn't stay that way very long.

I have saved just about every piece of artwork that my kids have made since they started daycare. I have boxes of artwork. I have 1 file cabinet that each child has a drawer for all their work...I have long since passed the point of organizing. I have GOT to let some of that go...heck, I've got to let most of it go. So, this evening, after the kids go to bed I will get a box and start sorting through it. I have long since forgotten who's is who's if it is not written on the back...so why keep it?? How many pieces of paper do I need with "Mommy" written on it? Did you know that rice doesn't stayed glued to construction paper very long? Macaroni tends to breakdown over time as well! I had planned on making a scrapbook for each of them with their artwork in it. HA! That will never happen, so it's time to take charge of the arts! Wish me luck, I'm sure I will get weepy looking through it all!

I wonder if the people featured on the show started with hoarding artwork?

Celebration!

I know I will be busy tomorrow, so I want to share a celebration that will occur tomorrow. My son, Ethan, will turn 7 years old! It doesn't seem possible that he could already be 7 years old and be going into 2nd grade. Ethan was a very good baby from the beginning. I had a great pregnancy with him, aside from being HUGE! He was born at a robust 10 lbs. 2 oz & 23 1/2" long. We thought we were going to have a baby, but he came out the size of a toddler. When he came home, he slept & ate...repeat! Emma adored her little brother, "Ethay" and was so good with him. Our family was complete.

Ethan is one of the bravest kids I know. I know I probably say that allot!! But, he is! He has been battling Type 1 Diabetes for almost 5 years. His carefree childhood was taken from him and he still has a huge smile on his face. If I can be thankful for 1 thing regarding Diabetes is that he was diagnosed at such a young age. I know that sounds odd, but he will never know a time that he didn't have it. Diabetes defines him. I'm sure he will always be known as the "Diabetic kid", but to us...he is a loving son, caring brother, precious Grandson, precocious nephew, fun-loving cousin and devoted friend to many. He is the apple (which is 24 carbohydrates...diabetic humor!!) of our eye!

Ever since the kids were able to hold up their fingers, I stand them in front of a certain wall at home and make them "show the camera" how old they are. Last year, Ethan was very excited that he was turning 6. Only because when we did his fingers, he got to use 2 hands instead of 1. He couldn't wait. He talked about that more than anything else. Funny, he hasn't said anything about it this year...guess the excitement of being "2 hands old" has worn off!!


Ethan at 2 months old with a pink pacifier strap!

Ethan at 6 months. Love the bib!!

Ethan at 2 years old.

This is my favorite picture of Ethan. This was taken October 2005. He was diagnosed 2 months later.

Ethan at, you guessed it, 5 years old. Or as he likes to call it, his last year with 1 hand!

Ethan, 6 years old, at the beach last summer.

So, here's to you Ethan. May you see many, many more! Ethan, I love you more than words can say! Please stay as happy as you are today. Never forget that we love you!! Oh, and...you have the softess skin!!! (private joke between Ethan and I).

Be prepared!

These are some of my favorite pictures from visiting Cape Lookout last summer. It was our first time going and it was a spur of the moment trip. We went with no drinks, no hats for the kids, no bathing suits, no bug spray...in August! I think they grow the bugs bigger on that island! We know we will go back this year, but we will be prepared!! I really liked the way these turned out. I have to say, my favorite is the first one (courtesy of Adam). It could be a postcard!! I don't know what I like best, the clouds or the lighthouse. It is just so peaceful to look at. I can almost hear the seagulls and the waves crashing!
Look out Cape Lookout, we will be back. I will have my new camera and get some great shots of you!!

Rear View

I was going through some pictures on my computer this afternoon and came across this one.

This is what I see in my rear view mirror everyday...wouldn't change a thing. (We were at a stop light, so don't think I was going down the road trying to get the perfect shot!) This was taken on the first day of school this year. Emma was going into 2nd grade, Ethan was going into 1st grade and Alex & Aaron were starting their last year of daycare (Pre-K if you want to be technical). We had just gotten back from the beach the previous weekend.

Now, it is just 3 weeks until the school year is over. I'm so excited for it to be summer and for them to have a break from school work. Now, we will be on ballgame duty, reading program for the summer, field trips for daycare, "graduation" for the boys, readiness for Emma going into the AG program for 3rd grade, etc. I enjoy seeing my kids grow, but it sure seems to be going quickly. My sweet twins, who it seems like were just born, will be starting Kindergarten in a few months! That just blows me away. It shouldn't be possible for them to be that old. Alex is going to be the class clown and Aaron will be the quiet one taking it all in. I have already been told they will be seperated and that makes me a little sad!! In fact, that makes me incredibly sad!

I need to sit back and enjoy every minute of my kids. We tend to take advantage of the time! I'm sure when August rolls around, they will take the transition better than I will. I wonder if Mom felt this way when all of her girls were finally in school? I'll have to ask her.

Sign-off!!

I was reading a blog the other day and the author closed every message with "Cheers" as her parting line. I've been thinking about "creating" a cute sign-off message. I love seeing/hearing some of the witty sign-offs that people come up with. As I was thinking about what I could use, I started thinking about some of the ones I remember growing up. I think one of my favorite is from Walter Cronkite, "And that's the way it is". Carol Burnette always tugged on her ear to show that she was thinking about her Grandmother...which is the sweetest thing ever!! Bob Barker always urged people to "Have your pet spayed or neutered" at the close of the Price is Right each day. For those of you who enjoyed watching people fight and talk junk, Jerry Springer would ask that you "Take care of yourselves & each other"...so deep! Ryan Seacrest thinks he is very cute by signing off American Idol each week with "Seacrest out"...he's not!!

Growing up in rural Stokes County, we didn't have great TV reception. We got 3 channels, 4 on a good clear day. So, we watched whatever was on. We saw lots of old movies and shows. While watching Sally Fields play Gidget, I picked up on her line "Toodles". I got lots of mileage out of it! The ever popular line "Hasta la Vista" came out with Terminator. Everybody and their uncle used that one.

I guess the days of just saying "good-bye" are gone. I will continue trying to come up with a cute sign-off...

Until then. Hey, I like the ring of that!

Very Random

Quite a while back there was a "quiz" (for lack of better words) floating around Facebook. It was sent by your friends asking you to state 25 random things about yourself. I did it on there and it was fun. I wanted to re-visit that quiz on here. Some might still be the same, so you'll have to excuse the duplicates. I haven't read my answers from my FB list in a while...so here goes.



1. I hate Diabetes! It has slipped into our life, but it is something that we handle as a family. I don't ever want Ethan to feel like he is in this alone.


2. I think you can have all the friends in the world, but the only people you can truly count on is your family.


3. I am fluent in sarcasm!


4. After 11 years of marriage, I still fall more and more in love with Adam!


5. I'm afraid of the dark.


6. I miss my Grandma so much, sometimes I can hardly breath.


7. I had a great childhood. Being raised on a farm, in the country was wonderful. Didn't think so at the time. But, if I could do that with my family...I would do it in a second.


8. I am 37 years old and still have a fear of disappointing my parents & sisters.


9. My children are the best gift that God has ever blessed me with. They are my reason for living.


(geesh, I'm only at 10!! Whew...think, think, think!!)


10. I hate driving over tall bridges. I start having "worst case scenario" thoughts.


11. I love pictures & taking them. I would love to start taking pictures for others.


12. Since I was little, I have scrapbooked. My family has always kidded me about "you want to save this for your scrapbook?" I still, to this day, save everything for my scrapbooks.


13. I'm full of useless information concerning music and TV! I love 80's music, heck, I love most music!


(Holy cow, why did I think I could come up with 25?)


14. I VERY anti-touch!

15. I love to clean. I just love to look at a freshly cleaned room...so do my kids! I think they are drawn to a clean room like a moth to flame!

16. I would like to learn a foreign language.



17. I'm addicted to Farmville on Facebook!!! I think I need to go through a 12 step program!! :o)



18. This is more of proclamation than a random fact, I want to start walking 4-5 days a week during my lunch hour. I have to get in shape. I owe it to my children!!! So, here's to you Emma, Ethan, Alex & Aaron.


19. I worry constantly about Ethan's future!

Who thought this should be 25 random things...I think it should be called 19 random things!



20. I'm a complainer...see above! (Really, I'm not...but it sure seemed like it a moment ago)



21. I am a procrastinator though. Why do something now, when I can put it off?? No-brainer!



22. I love the beach! Can't wait to get there each year. I love watching my kids play in the sand building sandcastles, finding the perfect seashell (which for them is everyone they pick up), guessing where the boat on the horizon is headed, etc. There is just no feeling like the sea air blowing on you. The sounds, the smells...UGH...wish I were there now.



23. That being said about the beach, I would LOVE to visit every lighthouse in North Carolina! They are simply amazing to me. My sister, Kelly, has always had a fascination with lighthouses. And until we visited Cape Lookout this past summer, they didn't really strike me as all that exciting. Now, don't get me wrong, I've always thought they were beautiful...but standing beside one and looking straight up at it...AMAZING! To think that so many years ago, when they didn't have cranes and bulldozers, hardworking men made them.



24. I wish that my sister Frankye and my favorite nephew Pete lived closer. I miss seeing Pete and I know he misses all of us. We are lucky enough to "have" him through the summer...but that leaves you wanting more! I love you Pete!



25. Most nights, I fall asleep before I ever finish my prayers! Maybe I should rethink my timing?


Well, there you have it! 25 random things about yours truly! I hope you enjoy them and they bring you some insight on me. Feel free to send me your 25 randoms...hope it is not as hard for you as it was for me!

Missing Daddy

Adam has gone to Atlanta this week for training. We told the kids about the trip weeks ago. They didn't take the news too well. Emma, of course, cried. Ethan went to put on his shoes to head outside to be with Adam. I asked him where he was going and he told me "I need to go suck all the fun out of Daddy that I can before he goes to Atlanta", crying the whole time. Alex was upset, but as long as Grandma isn't going someplace, he thought he would be just fine. Aaron is a Daddy's Boy, so he struggled with it as well.
Last night was our first night without him. Aunt Kelly set up Skype on our laptops to be able to talk to him and thought they would enjoy seeing him while they talked. We got home from ball practice and Emma went in her room to "call" Adam. When Aaron laid eyes on him, he instantly started to cry...inconsolable crying. The kids decorated a shoe box and wrote letters and wanted him to open a few each night. So, we sat around while Adam opened 2 letters and held them up for us to see. They were very proud of those notes.
Fingers crossed that this evening goes more smoothly. I hate seeing them so upset! We have never been away from the kids, either of us. I will be glad when he is back home. I'm such a chicken! Jack will guard over us. So, heres hoping this evening goes better.
We miss you Daddy...hurry home!!

This is my favorite picture of Adam. It was taken this past summer.

Out with the old and in with the new!

Aaron has always been the one that hates change. He knows what he likes and why change it? He is very hard to take shopping. His descision making takes forever...whether it be a toy or clothes it is always the same thing...me counting to 10 and telling him to grab what he wants after waiting 15 minutes for him to decide.
Last summer, Aunt Frankye found a pair of Van sneakers at a consignment sale or GoodWill and bought them for Aaron. They were grey and white squares all over. Right away, I thought...ugh, he ain't going to like them. He had a favorite pair of sneakers at the time and I just knew that he would baulk at a new pair. He slipped the new ones on and loved them. From that day on, he wore those shoes everyday. They were getting worn and I found a pair on eBay that were an awesome price. He has worn that pair everyday since then. I'm really surprised his toes don't pop through the front of them. The toes are worn from "driving" monster trucks. The sides are worn down from sitting "criss-cross applesauce" at school. I've been telling him for weeks that we needed to buy him more shoes and he would just whine and cry, pleading to get him the same kind. We took him to the mall this evening and he chose the perfect pair.


The old (I'm sure you could have figured that out!!) I'm almost embarassed to show them!!
His new ones! We gave him 2 choices...this pair and a solid black pair. Of course, he had to pick the pair that had some flare!

Sweet Angel Faces

I have quite a bit of free time while the kids are at ball practice. So, I decided it would be a great chance to photograph the kids with little distraction. Poor Emma has to go and watch the boys practice on Tuesday nights. She usually takes a ball to play with, does cart wheels and she has become a little photographer with the camera on my phone. I took her picture after she was attempting to do a headstand in the grass. All you saw were her long, lanky legs flopping around. I, of course, had to tell her just how good and how close she was to actually getting her legs up in the air. I love this picture of Emma...sure shows her sweet side. Love the grass in her hair to!!

Ethan just loves baseball! He is really becoming a good little ball player. My favorite pictures are actually when the kids are not looking at the camera and posed. I love the look of concentration on Ethan's face. I like that you can see his diabetes bracelet and his insulin pump hose hanging out. Just shows that he can do anything he wants!

Alex has a hard time being photographed! He tries so hard to smile that he usually looks like he is snarling at the camera. I love this picture because it shows his natural sweet smile. He & Aaron got in trouble while Ethan was practicing and they had to sit at the fence and watch. It's just terrible being a kid!!!

Aaron is SO much like Adam. He photographs so well. He's as mean as a snake, but comes off adorable in pictures. His eyes are amazing in this picture. Haven't really noticed how blue they were until I saw this one.

These kids are my window to the world!!!

The Big Day!

BB&T Ballpark

Everyone has been waiting for this day and it is finally here! Winston Salem Dash stadium is opening tonight. Adam wanted to take the kids, but all 6,200 seats were sold out months ago. Everyone says the stadium is awesome and I can't wait to go see a game. But, I couldn't imagine going on opening day...no thank you! As close as it is to our house, I'm sure we will be spending plenty of time at the field.

Ethan is out of school today with the stomach virus. He acts more like himself, but just an upset belly. He and Adam are going to do a "drive-by" to check out the stadium. I'm sure they will be doing some arm chair supervising!! That's a bad combo! :o)

Giving it a try!

I'm home today with 3 sick boys (& I'm not feeling to hot either) and decided to give it a try. I have thought of starting a blog many times to keep in touch with friends and family, but never seem to find the time to start it. I've taken some pictures with my new camera and wanted to share them. If you are one of my FaceBook friends, you may have seen these before...Sorry!

Our 5 year old twins, Alex & Aaron. They have completed our family and I couldn't imagine them not with us. By the way, just TRY to get a ball past them. This night of practice, they had their faces painted. Alex is a tiger and Aaron is a snake!!

Our very curious Ethan, age 6. He has been dealt a hand that he plays so well. Not many children could handle Diabetes with such strength. He is the bravest kid I know and I am so proud to say he is my son!

Sweet Emma age 8. She is definitely my child! She has such a quick sense of humor! She has a fashion sense that must come from Aunt Frankye. Emma is a great student and I am so proud of her for testing in AG classes next school year...WAY TO GO EMMA!