Hey everyone...didn't want to leave you all wondering what we've been up to, just not much to blog about. The kids have been somewhat trying the last few days. I think they're bored with summer already. I understand it to a point, it's been so hot that they haven't felt like playing outside much. I went back to work a few nights last week and today is Dave's last day for a week. We'll spend some time around the house organizing (it's in major need of an overhaul) and do some fun stuff with the kids. We were going to see about taking the kids to "A Day Out with Thomas" but it's too cost prohibitive right now. We'll try to do it when it's back in town around the boys' birthdays. Dave and I have a weekend in Asheville planned next weekend to see Steven Curtis Chapman play at the Biltmore. We're going with Jeff and Heather and it will be a great time. I'm not sure how well we'll handle the concert, as I hear the few concerts he's done so far have been quite emotional (understandably). But it will be fun nonetheless. And the kids will stay at my folk's house. We'll pick them up on Sunday and also pick up Jennifer and her two girls. I am unbelievably excited to see them - it's been over 4 years since I've seen Jenn. Considering we used to be inseparable as teenagers, I'm sure it will be an entertaining reunion. So I'll be neglecting the blog for a little bit, and when I come back I'll have lots of pictures to share.
So what do you think about the new background? (Aside from hating how long it takes to load?) I wish I knew how to do creative layouts and siggies, but I don't even know where to start. Luckily for me, there's free stuff out there so I don't have to learn!
See you in a couple weeks!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
New Babies!!!
We finally have our last two babies to complete our family for a good long time. Here they are!
Introducing Henry and Zoey...
Introducing Henry and Zoey...
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Woof.
What a shit-tacular day yesterday (sorry Dad). But it deserves that title. The day started out fine, other than being a Monday. I had a few things on my checklist to get done, but other than that it was a pretty easy day. I won't give you every detail of what went wrong, but let's say a lot. I'll just share the biggest ones. First I received a phone call from the neighborhood HOA mgmt. group. Turns out our pool opened last weekend and we knew nothing about it. And they weren't sorry about that either. I suggested they find a better way of communicating with the residents, which went unacknowledged. So she tells me she needs us to sign a liability waiver in order to get a key (there's no lifegaurd). Fine, so she emails it to me. Only, she didn't. She did, however, email me jpegs of all the city and county logos (most likely what's on their letterhead) and a copy of the pool rules. Thanks for that...however we can't get a key until we get and sign the waiver. So I emailed them back and I'm still waiting for a response. The kids are sad because they know the pool is open (hard to deny when you drive by and there's a slew of people in it) and these little delays are frustrating. The thing of it is, had we known about the pool opening, we could have gotten the waiver signed and gotten our key before the actual opening, like so many of our neighbors did. We could have used it the entire weekend. But, oh well. I could be there right now if they'd send me the stupid waiver. Grrr.
Okay, so while that is annoying, it's not a big deal in grand scheme of things. I understand that. Just frustrating. Even more frustrating was the next phone call I received - all of 5 minutes after the last one. It was the pediatrician's office. We had taken Emma a few weeks back to check on her growth. They wanted her to go see a specialist since she had fallen further off the charts. They were going to set up her appt for me but warned me it would be September before she got in. That stunk, but what can you do. They said they'd call us with the date in a few days, and if we didn't hear from them to give them a call. Well we left for TN before they called and I fully expected a message on our machine when we got home. Nada. So I called them - last Tuesday. They called me back - yesterday. The girl who does it was on vacation. Anyhow, she says that Emma's request must have been put in the wrong folder because she hadn't seen it until that morning. Greeaaat. She said she got her appt., but the first available was for OCTOBER 7th!!!! So because of their stupid mistakes we have to wait another whole month to get in. Total crap. This leaves me feeling very defeated. Not sure yet what we're going to do about it, but we're thinking. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to share.
And the last, and by far the worst thing that happened yesterday. I have joined Facebook (it's awesome btw - a great way to reconnect with long-lost friends...) and with that I have been able to reconnect with some great people. Unfortunately, while chatting with a friend, I was informed that a good friend of ours from "back in the day" had committed suicide just a few weeks ago. Bryan Graham, a sweet soul, quiet, introspective, insanely creative, genuinely kind. At least that's how I remember him. He always gave me the funniest birthday presents - and they never cost a dime...he would just gather up random fun stuff from around and put it in a shoe box and give it to me. I remember for my 16th birthday, he gave me a "Rules of the road" handbook and a brick so I could drive fast. He was kidding of course, and there were a few other random things in that box, but I don't remember them all. He was in Jeff and Heather's wedding. We went to Jeff's lakehouse together as a group and had a bunch of fun. I'm just sad. I realize we had completely lost touch after college, but I still considered him a friend. I told Jeff and Heather about it last night and Heather said "don't you wish you could just rewind life to before that point and stop it from happening?" I couldn't agree more. I would do it for Bryan, and I'd do it for Blair. It really sucks that at such a young age we've already lost friends. But I hang on to my current favorite verse - We also glory in tribulations,knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4
Me, Jeff, and Bryan at the lakehouse.
Please pray for Bryan's family. His parents and his brother and sister have got to be hurting and trying to understand why. Pray hard.
Like I said - a crappy day
Okay, so while that is annoying, it's not a big deal in grand scheme of things. I understand that. Just frustrating. Even more frustrating was the next phone call I received - all of 5 minutes after the last one. It was the pediatrician's office. We had taken Emma a few weeks back to check on her growth. They wanted her to go see a specialist since she had fallen further off the charts. They were going to set up her appt for me but warned me it would be September before she got in. That stunk, but what can you do. They said they'd call us with the date in a few days, and if we didn't hear from them to give them a call. Well we left for TN before they called and I fully expected a message on our machine when we got home. Nada. So I called them - last Tuesday. They called me back - yesterday. The girl who does it was on vacation. Anyhow, she says that Emma's request must have been put in the wrong folder because she hadn't seen it until that morning. Greeaaat. She said she got her appt., but the first available was for OCTOBER 7th!!!! So because of their stupid mistakes we have to wait another whole month to get in. Total crap. This leaves me feeling very defeated. Not sure yet what we're going to do about it, but we're thinking. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to share.
And the last, and by far the worst thing that happened yesterday. I have joined Facebook (it's awesome btw - a great way to reconnect with long-lost friends...) and with that I have been able to reconnect with some great people. Unfortunately, while chatting with a friend, I was informed that a good friend of ours from "back in the day" had committed suicide just a few weeks ago. Bryan Graham, a sweet soul, quiet, introspective, insanely creative, genuinely kind. At least that's how I remember him. He always gave me the funniest birthday presents - and they never cost a dime...he would just gather up random fun stuff from around and put it in a shoe box and give it to me. I remember for my 16th birthday, he gave me a "Rules of the road" handbook and a brick so I could drive fast. He was kidding of course, and there were a few other random things in that box, but I don't remember them all. He was in Jeff and Heather's wedding. We went to Jeff's lakehouse together as a group and had a bunch of fun. I'm just sad. I realize we had completely lost touch after college, but I still considered him a friend. I told Jeff and Heather about it last night and Heather said "don't you wish you could just rewind life to before that point and stop it from happening?" I couldn't agree more. I would do it for Bryan, and I'd do it for Blair. It really sucks that at such a young age we've already lost friends. But I hang on to my current favorite verse - We also glory in tribulations,knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4
Me, Jeff, and Bryan at the lakehouse.
Please pray for Bryan's family. His parents and his brother and sister have got to be hurting and trying to understand why. Pray hard.
Like I said - a crappy day
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Long overdue
I know I'm long overdue for an update. It's been one crazy summer so far. We got our new playground and the kids have been loving that. Then Emma's birthday. Then we had a family reunion in Pigeon Forge, TN with some of my wonderful cousins and aunts/uncles. And now the neighborhood pool just opened up. Next week my mom is coming for a short visit and to attend a baby shower for our friend Shannon on Saturday. This weekend, aside from the 4th, we are working on the kids rooms trying to make them look more lived in by adding paint and wall decor. They are enjoying picking stuff out. It's sad that we've been here for 18 months and still haven't accomplished that much. But I'm definitely in project mode, so as long as the funds are available, I will start tackling small projects here and there.
Like I said, we've been pretty busy so far, and it's going to be busy pretty much until school starts on Aug. 20th. We'll have a week here or there without much going on, but mainly we'll be on the go. So forgive me if I don't post as often over the next several weeks.
The reunion was wonderful. I had a great time and it was nice to get to see people I hadn't seen in at least a decade. I'm glad we'll be able to keep up the reunions and maintain some connection with family. It felt weird for me during the reunion because I didn't really "know" anyone. Having spent what felt like soooo much time with all of them as a kid, I realized that we all grew up and went our own ways - understandably. But I just remember so vividly spending time with all of my cousins when we'd visit Iowa, which seemed like we did often. And my cousin Maria and I used to spend a week at each other's house in the summer. Life was fun back then and I enjoyed having a big family. I think that's part of why I wanted more than two kids. I wanted my kids to have people to play with at home and at family gatherings too. I think we accomplished that! Now that Dave's sister is adding to the cousin count, we'll have more family to play with.
Anyway, I'll leave with a few pics. Too many over the last few weeks to post them all, but I'll pic the good ones.
Like I said, we've been pretty busy so far, and it's going to be busy pretty much until school starts on Aug. 20th. We'll have a week here or there without much going on, but mainly we'll be on the go. So forgive me if I don't post as often over the next several weeks.
The reunion was wonderful. I had a great time and it was nice to get to see people I hadn't seen in at least a decade. I'm glad we'll be able to keep up the reunions and maintain some connection with family. It felt weird for me during the reunion because I didn't really "know" anyone. Having spent what felt like soooo much time with all of them as a kid, I realized that we all grew up and went our own ways - understandably. But I just remember so vividly spending time with all of my cousins when we'd visit Iowa, which seemed like we did often. And my cousin Maria and I used to spend a week at each other's house in the summer. Life was fun back then and I enjoyed having a big family. I think that's part of why I wanted more than two kids. I wanted my kids to have people to play with at home and at family gatherings too. I think we accomplished that! Now that Dave's sister is adding to the cousin count, we'll have more family to play with.
Anyway, I'll leave with a few pics. Too many over the last few weeks to post them all, but I'll pic the good ones.
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