Back to blog world

Well, I guess I missed my every 2 week posting plan! I was planning on blogging the week of Oct. 26, but a sad life event happened and unnecessary things paused. My brother, Eddy, died that day. It was a beautiful day and I had done many fun things. Hearing my mom tell me of his passing was especially hard. Those are hard words for moms to say and sisters to hear. I had spoken to him that day and found out his favorite color, "I guess blue." Travel and funeral and more travel. Halloween and then finding out I'm pregnant again. Boy, that was a busy and emotional week. We are very happy to be pregnant again. I have made it to the 13 week mark, therefore officially in the second trimester! We travelled to Shreveport again for Thanksgiving. My sister, Melody, became very ill. There have not been many nights that I've spent an hour on my knees crying out to God to heal someone, but I did that night. She is recovering quite well. We had a really nice Christmas. We missed my brother, Jamie, and his wife, Robin, as they were preparing to go to India for a mission trip. My husband and son went hunting, but didn't see anything. Erin got to spend some quality time with her beloved aunt. Mom became ill, but after lots of meds and TLC from a neighbor, seems to be on the mend. Craig is preparing to go to Dubai and Shanghai next week. I'm not really sure how I'll handle all the details while he's away. I guess that needs to be a matter of prayer. I am trying to read the Bible through this year. Craig got me a daily chronological version of the Bible and it's really cool.

Anna learned how to walk on Christmas Eve. She got a baby doll for Christmas and rubs her head when it's time to go "night-night," just like we rub Anna's head to relax her to sleep. She got 2 new teeth in December. She helps unload the dishwasher; she especially likes handing me spoons.

Even with some tough stuff this fall, life is still very good.

Josie

Fall is in the air

Hello all. The past week has been fun. Just having Craig back has been such a help. Someone to cuddle at night and help with all the car activities in the evening! Joe went to Williamsburg, VA last Thursday through this Monday. I do believe he had a blast. Friday was Parish Fair Day and the kids were off school. I kept C & J all day. Erin, C & J played outside with sidewalk chalk and ball; inside, they played video games and made clay sculptures. Saturday was busy with voting and buying new tennis shoes. Erin and Craig went to the parish fair that night and had a lot of fun. I decided to stay home instead of pushing around Anna in the stroller. Sunday was church and eating out at George's. Yum. We rearranged the bedroom and office. We went out to The Pizza Man restaurant with some neighbors. Yum again!

Joe came home Monday night. It was so great to see him. He was wearing a bright red neck pillow on his head. He's so funny. He had a tooth pulled this morning. A baby tooth with a huge cavity that the dentist has been watching finally caused him pain, so out it came. What a fun way to spend the morning! What a blessing to have dental insurance and a dentist that will see you the day after you call.

Erin had sore feet tonight after dance class. After eating, bathing, homework and playing the piano, she got a foot massage. She really liked that.

Anna is busy. She can crawl anywhere and get into just about anything. The kitchen drawers are her current favorites. She especially love the coffee drawer. She dumped out about a 1/4 pound of coffee all over herself on Sunday. Boy, did she smell good! She is quite confused that all the other bags don't empty out like that one, but she keeps trying. It is a sight to behold.

Life is busy and good. We've been enjoying some glorious fall weather the past few days. Blue skies, 80 degrees and less than 90% humidity. Very nice.

Josie

He's back!

Craig left on Sept. 12 to go to Istanbul, Turkey and Budapest, Hungary. We really missed him. Life was quite busy while he was gone. Someone helped me on Monday and Friday nights for football practice. Aunt Val helped watch Erin on Thursday nights. She also helped on Saturday, taking Erin out to lunch, getting a gift, and getting her to a friends' birthday party. The schedule was hectic, but do-able with help. I even managed to cook a few meals, simple stuff like hamburgers, hot ham and cheese sandwiches, and homemade chicken nuggets.

I felt like I yelled a bit more than I should have with the kids, especially getting ready for school and bed. Craig was supposed to come home at 10pm on Saturday night, but came home at 5pm Sunday night instead. He endured about 43 hours(!) of travel time, including a very uncomfortable night in London's Heathrow Airport. I think everybody cried when we figured out that Craig would not be home on Saturday.

Anna got sick on Saturday as well. She has a virus.

I'm so glad Craig is back home. I let the kids skip school today to be with their dad.

Joe leaves on Thursday to go to Williamsburg, VA.

We're a busy crew!
Feeling blessed.
Josie

Another 2 weeks have flown by...

Hello again. I've been gone a while. Labor day weekend was busy at Mom's. We did a quasi-evacuation and ended up staying an extra day courtesy of Hurricane Gustave. The only damage to our home was a fallen crepe myrtle. Craig and our wonderful neighbor, Larry, put it back up with the help of some other neighbors. The kids were out of school that entire week. This past week has been busy with preparations for Craig's departure to Istanbul, Turkey. And football, dance, and cello. I also need to call the piano teacher to set that up. The baby got 2 new teeth on the 5th, top right middle and eye teeth. Her left eye tooth cut through on the 11th. She also got 1/2 of her first flu shot. She is not anemic. She weighs 16 pounds, 2.5 ounces and is 27 inches long. Tiny. Hurricane Ike came through last night and today. The same crepe myrtly hit the ground again. Maybe God is trying to tell me something! Joe went to play at a friends house tonight and then went to football practice. He was in a foul mood while on the way to practice, but all the shoving, hitting, and testosterone helped his mood considerably. He was quite the helper by carrying in the 5 gallon water jug in and then nearly broke his thumb putting it in the dispenser. Guilt, guilt, guilt. Ice, ibuprofen and hugs. Erin was great at practice tonight...the in-car DVD player is worth its weight in gold. Craig left today for Istanbul. Crossing the Causeway with winds gusting to about 45 miles/hr was interesting! After a near ticket fiasco, Craig went to Dallas safely as the Chicago flight was cancelled. He made it safely onto a flight to London. On the ride back across the lake, a spray of water actually hit my car. That was a new one. The baby is playing with the kitten right now, holding a small piece of cardboard for her to jump at. Lots of baby laughter. :)!
I miss Craig already.

Feeling blessed.

Josie

Hello again. Well my husband and I have now known each other for 20 years. I started college 20 years ago this week and we met on the first day. My nephew started college this week. Where or where does the time go?! We've been busy. Erin has dance 4 nights a week. She really likes her new teacher and is excited about starting back at talented art. Joe has started football practice and cello. Joe's team is the Tigers. Purple and gold. Sigh. I am going to have to overcome my lifelong dislike of Tiger teams. He adds Cub Scouts next week. He really seems to like his new teachers, but has quite a bit of homework. Anna has a new tooth and has started a creeping/crawl...2 hands, one foot up and drag the backside. She can get anywhere and when placed on the stairs, climbs right up. She is quite the picky eater...my punishment I suppose.

Except for last weekend, I've done pretty good at cooking for my family. Monday, we had a Macaroni Grill chicken mix and canned green beans. Last night we had crunchy pork chops, gravy, mac & cheese, and fresh green beans. Tonight we are going to have slow-cooker BBQ pork sandwiches and cole slaw. Hopefully, we'll have leftovers tommorow night.

My foot is healing nicely. No real pain anymore, but it is still not completely closed and is tender.

Life is good.

Josie

Busy month

It's been a busy, busy month. I took the kids to Audubon's Insectarium on the Tuesday before school started. Anna really didn't understand what was going on...surprise! Joe and Erin really loved it. I was again amazed at how diverse the world is...so many types of beetles. I really like that they mentioned divine design, bugs are a bit to complex and varied to have just evolved. Anyhoo. Erin had dental and doctor visits on Wednesday to replace an old filling and treat an ear infection. Anna went to the doctor too. The ear tugging is probably related to all the new teeth trying to make their way out of her gums. School started on 8/8/08. Joe has Mrs. Marino and Mrs. Todd. Erin has Mrs. Breaux. They seemed to like their teachers. We went to Saturday night church and the next morning, Iwent to Adult Bible Fellowship (aka, Sunday School) and then sang for Kidstuf...I bombed one song. Perfect in practice almost always equals bomb during performance. Aargh. Erin had dance 4 nights this week. Joe had football evals on Thursday and Friday. My meal plans worked pretty well. We had pork chops, meat loaf and brisket. Pretty yummy week. I had foot surgery on Wednesday. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Craig was a dear and stayed home with me that day. He did laundry and dishes and whatever needed to be done for the rest of this week too. And, he finished school for this session this afternoon. Happy, Happy face! Joe got his first degree level 3 black belt today. He was very happy. Erin stayed home and worked on a Brownie scrapbook. I did housework this morning then decided to rest most of the rest of the day because of mild foot swelling. My foot is just not comfortable. Walking funny is bothering my right ankle and making my left leg tired. My back doesn't like it either, but it is not in spasms as it was last week. This will pass. Anna loves to stand and has crawled for her Daddy and sister, but not me. She does manage to move herself about 2 feet scooting on her bottom. Her upper teeth are about to erupt. She is just precious. She's so happy. Life is good.

8/8/88-my wonderful grandfather passed from this world to the next. Happy, healthy again, and handsome. I was 17, about 2 weeks from starting college and imagining where I would be in 20 years; very sad, but still so hopeful about my future.
8/8/08-my son started 5th grade, my daughter, 3rd. My baby was 8 months and 1 day old. Happy, healthy, handsome and beautiful. I was 37, married to a great guy I met on the first day of college, living in a beautiful home in a wonderful town. "God's gifts put man's best dreams to shame." Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Enjoying God's gifts,

Josie

Long time since...

Well, it's been a long time since I blogged. I guess I just got so wrapped up in the everyday that I never sat down to write. Writing is not my strong point. My older kids finished a week of cooking camp July 11. Joe took Tae Kwon Do pictures on the 12th. I managed to get quite a "honey-do" list from my honey that afternoon! I got my new permanent dental bridge on the 16th. We travelled to Lake Placid, NY for Craig's Ironman race on the 17th. We took a cool bobsled ride and visited the Olympic ski jump facility on the 18th. We visited the North Pole (actually North Pole, NY) on the 19th. Craig started his Ironman Lake Placid race at 7am on the 20th and he finished at 9:45 pm that night. He finished 6 minutes faster than his last race and did it with 13 hours of rough rain and a smile. The kids and I saw him at 11:45, 3:45, and 9:45. His 1/2 marathon time never registered, and was I ever glad to see him at the finish line. I try hard not to worry, but I was worried then. I kept checking my phone for messages and the computer for times. I had other people checking the computer too. Anyway, that's something for me to work on. Monday we drove up to the peak of Whiteface mountain (over 4000 feet above sea level) and then took an awe-inspiring and frightening gondola ride on another side of Whiteface. I worked very hard not to show my fear to the kids. It is really a beautiful place. Going back to the hotel, we stopped at High Falls Gorge...just gorgeous (no pun intended). I got some really cool pictures. On the way home, we saw a boulder in the falling rock zone of the highway. It amazes me how trees grow on the side of the rock walls. The next day we did the touristy shopping thing. I'm sure the Lake Placid commerce department was happy.:) We came home on Wednesday. Anna did really well on the flights. The last one was the worst.



Erin went the ballet on Thursday. I had girl scout training that night.
We tried out Saturday night church.
Mom and Melody came for a visit! We had a really great time. We went shopping on Sunday afternoon. I had Kidstuf practice that evening. I hated being away from them, but I think it gave them a good time to spend with the kids. We went to brunch the next morning at The Broken Egg Cafe. Yummy!
Joe started football agility clinics on Tuesday. Craig went to Cincinnati on Wednesday for business. I picked out 6 month portraits for Anna on Wednesday as well. It has rained almost every day this week. I have done innumerable loads of laundry and dishes. Whoever said the only things certain in life are death and taxes must not have been a housewife.
A new month has started and I'll try to blog more frequently.

Favorite quotes and thoughts:

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength."
Corrie Ten Boom

Until next time,
Josie