Life is NUTS!

Before school started I was writing a post a day and now I am so busy that I haven't had time to write in a week!! My classes are hard and I am mega stressed out and wondering what I got myself into! There are so many papers to write and subjects to research and math to work on and ALL my Law stuff to figure out!!! Between school and work and soccer and Chas working 2 jobs, our paths have barely crossed. We see each other for about 5 minutes every day.

A good friend of mine came in this weekend and it has been so much fun! Our moms went to college together and our families have been friends for years. Last night Patrick and Emily and I all went out to downtown Nashville. HOLY CRAP! What a night!! Chas was wonderful to let me go and spend the night in Brentwood with Emily and we partied hard. It has been years since I have been able to go out and have a really good time like that and I really needed that time with my sister and good friend. We took a cab to and from Nashville and when they came to get us it was in a Lincoln Towncar! I felt like a celebrity when we got dropped off in front of that club. Patrick put the vibes out that no one was to come on to Em and me and we had a very fun night!

Sunday I finally decided to make the effort to get to know mom's new boyfriend and it did not go very well. It was finally real to me that my mom and dad are really divorced and it was the first time I really got to grieve my parents divorce. Mom's boyfriend is very outspoken and has a very poor delivery when he talks to you and we had some drama. I went back today to try to work it out and be the bigger person but it is hard when you have a man that is basing his judgement of you on what someone else tells him. I believe that our relationship will be tolerable but that will be all. Today was very emotional for me and I hope that the pain I am feeling goes away one day. I am grieving hard and my heart hurts so bad. I miss my mom and dad and their marriage and I miss who my parents used to be together. It would be different if I was 6 or 7 when they got divorced because I wouldn't have so many memories but I am 27 and have lots of memories and now there is a man in my moms life that is coming off like he doesn't want my family in their new life. I made it clear to him to day that he isn't my dad and never will be and that I have a dad and plenty of good male role models in my life and that as of now he isn't welcome in my life, especially if he plans on continuing throwing rocks in my box and name calling. I will accept him as my moms boyfriend but that is all I am capable of right now and I hope my mother will respect that and be patient. At this point I think I doubt that will be the case.

Emily, Patrick, Chas and I all went out to dinner tonight with no kids and had a GREAT time! It is so good to be surrounded by people who love me and make me laugh. Patrick is leaving in the morning and I am going to miss him terribly. He has made such an impact on my whole family and has been a great source of support to me and my sister during this major change in our life. He went through a divorce with his parents at an older age and knew exactly what we were going through. He also downloaded some GREAT music on my ipod and I am enjoying it as I write this! There is something about Jack Johnson that makes me smile and lift my heart. I forgot how much I liked his music.

Well I am off to bed. Charlie is sleeping in his crib for the first time in Max's room and I am expecting a long night. It was time and Chas really pushed me into this move. I have been bending alot this weekend and while it is uncomfortable it is time I learn that you can bend but you don't have to break. It is a hard lesson but I will survive. This has been a weekend of firsts for me and while very painful, quite a bit cleansing. I will survive this. I have to!

Short Post

Today was nuts! We had soccer practice at 9:00am, drop the boys off with sitters by 11:00am, have Chas to the wedding by 11:30am, I had to be at school by 1:00pm (it is 45 minutes away) and be at Ashley's (niece) birthday party by 5:00pm. Needless to say it was rough day!

I have checked into 3 of my 5 classes and have already begun my English class and went to my Math class this afternoon. My English teacher has given us a TON of work to do just on the first day of school! My math teacher isnt the greatest in my opinion. He is a very smart man and while he could probably teach a more advanced class and be great, he has no business teaching ELEMENTARY ALGEBRA! He likes to make assumptions. He assumes we know something already and he need not go over the text. It has been YEARS since I have done any type of math and I forgot all about variables and how to manage fractions. Assume nothing with me but I was able to get on track.

I have been doing homework since 7 and I feel like I have gotten no where. I will write more tomorrow is time permits! I have pics to post from Ashleys bday and the wedding that Chas was in today. Catie is a great little photog!

Malfunctioning Children

What a week this has been and its only Thursday! I took the boys to the Dr yesterday because they both had runny noses. I normally don't take my kids to the doctor for a runny nose but Max told me his ear hurt. That is one of the real perks of having a child who can finally talk!! So Max has an ear infection and Charlie has a little head cold AND a yeast infection in his neck (gotta love fat babies) and GERD. Poor little guy has really bad heartburn and spits up all the time and has these lovely screaming fits. I am hoping this helps him start sleeping through the night. Chas and I are so tired from these up all night deals. Chas is way more tired than me since he has started getting up with Charlie more at night. By the time Chas gets the baby back to sleep it is time for him to get up and go to work. Luckily he has the next 4 Fridays off and I am very excited.

Today is soccer practice and don't you know I forgot what time it got moved to?? Crap. I had to email the other coach like a big doofus and ask him. What kind of coach am I if I can't even remember what time we have practice. Life is too short to be this unorganized!

I have decided to be brutal in cleaning out this apartment. We have too much crap and so I am going through stuff and posting it on our local FreeCycle. I posted some stuff last night and got a number of fast replies and have a nice lady coming to pick up the first batch today. If I don't get some stuff out of here we are going to have to move Charlie to the roof!

It is getting to be that time of year that I loathe. I have 2 favorite seasons. Spring and Fall. They are beautiful around here and I love the colors and weather. I HATE the changing of the clothes. I have to do it twice a year and it takes all weekend. I have only it done for 2 kids in the past and this is my first year of adding a 3rd child. I have to drag out all the summer stuff and box it up and get out the winter stuff but still make sure I have some summer stuff left out to go under sweaters and such. I was hoping Max would be able to wear his jeans from last year but no such luck. He has grown 3 inches and so all of his old pants are way to short. I don't undertand why they group kids in these sizes. 12M, 18M, 24M, 2T, 3T, ect..........Max has long legs but a small waist. Why don't they have a 2T long?? The 3T will fit him in length but not around his tummy so he will have pants falling down all winter. Charlie is SUPER long and is the same length as Max was at 12 months old. I am pretty sure Max's winter clothes will fit Charlie. Catie has quite a number of things for this winter but will need a few tops. Max will need all new clothes. Poor kid. All he wore last year were onsies because of his tube and now his torso is too long and he needs regular shirts. So it is off to Wal-Mart to hit the geranimals section!! I LOVE only spending $3.50 on a pair of pants that I know he is going to trash. I am hoping Childrens Place will have a big sale too so I can get him a couple of semi-nice things. It all adds up and I am glad I am working!

Well I am off to find something to clean out. It shouldn't be too hard!! Everything is stuffed to the rafters!!

Dreaming

Today was an awful day. Chas called me this morning to make sure I was up to take Catie to school and go to work and he asked me if I spilled something in front of the washer. I told him no and went downstairs to investigate. There was a river running through my kitchen!! I traced the source of the water to a leaky hose on our hot water heater. I called maintenance (at 7:00am) and left a message. Thank goodness he is our neighbor and he was right over to turn everything off to stop the leak. I refuse to mess with any of that stuff, that's why we pay rent! So as Im cleaning up the mess, Chas sends me a text message and all it said was Mike died. I started to cry. I never met this man and don't know him but he was my brother-in-laws father and he was sick for a very short period of time. He had cancer that quickly took his life. I cried for my nieces, Bailey and Ashley, and I cried for my brother-in-law and April, and I cried for a man who wasn't going to get to see his grand kids grow up. I remember when my grandfather died and it was a terrible time for our whole family. It has been almost 14 years since my grandpa died and I miss him more and more everyday. Im glad that Mike is no longer in pain and Im not quite sure his death effected me like it did. I think it is because he died of lung cancer and I have smoked for almost 13 years and it scares me......................

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So after the whole no water situation and having to keep Catie out of school and taking her to work with me (not a good idea, Catie and Max fight too much), I settled into my daily routine. The day really drained me and I HAD to take a nap this afternoon. Both boys slept for a good amount of time and I got a nice little nap in today!

As I was fixing dinner I walked barefoot in my living room and as I walked by the closet my feet squished. There is something new leaking in our other closet and the carpet is soaked. We can't find the leak and I have had to take everything out of this closet. We don't have much space here and so the way that closet is packed defies the laws of gravity. So ALL that stuff is now stacked in my living room. What a way to start my day tomorrow!

Chas and Charlie are asleep on the couch and I took a few minutes to look for a desk for myself! I need something to put my laptop on and study. I have a ton of books and have no real place to do my studies. I found a few desks and headed over to the kids rooms section. I looked at bunk beds with a slide for the boys and a beautiful canopy bed for Catie and all I could do was dream. These are things that my kids have never asked for and I doubt they ever will but they are still things that I want to be able to buy for them one day. This ability to dream has really fueled my drive to finish school and be a huge success and provide for my kids in a way that we surely can't do right now. My aunts and cousins are trying to put money together for a new recliner for my grandfathers birthday and I felt so bad because they were all contributing $50 and all my family could pitch in was $25 and even that will be a struggle to come up with right now. I want to be able to throw in $100 or more and while that is not a reality right now I know it will be one day. I will be a success. I watched my Aunt M and cousins struggle and go through all the hard times and yet my Aunt has a PhD and teaches at a University now. She didn't finish all her school until she was older and she did it! She is part of my inspiration as well.

Sorry this is such a rambling post. It has been a tough day and my mind is racing with everything that has happened. I am going to climb into bed with Charlie and read my Sociology book. I should be asleep in no time!

The Wilson County Fair

Charlie excited about the fair!

What a day! It was pretty hot but there was a nice breeze and lots of good shade to be found at the Wilson County Fair! Our county fair is the best fair in the state and brings in more people than the Tennessee State Fair. Today was the Antique car show and normally dad enters his car but there is something wrong with the engine and he couldn't get it to run. That didn't stop dad from going and so the 5 of us and dad all went together. We went to the car show and looked at all the cars. There was a Corvair there which happens to be my favorite car since I have one and there was a Model A there that was identical to my grandfathers first remodeled car. It was the same color and everything and it took me back to my childhood and riding in the rumble seat to go to car meets. I think my dad was glad to see it as well. We went around and looked at all the cars and headed over to look at the livestock and Max was very confused by the goats since they sounded like sheep. We saw a few celebrities and while the livestock barns were stinky it was filled with shade and gave us a few moments of cool. We went and got ice cream and drinks and after we saw all there was to see dad left and we stayed to ride some of the rides. Since we had the boys we opted to not ride the rides since someone would get left out and just let Catie ride everything. That kid is fearless! She rode everything she could ride and wasn't scared at all! She was barely tall enough to ride the big rides without one of us and had a great time. I was more scared than she was at times! The boys and I got lots of sun and we are all very tired! It was a fun filled day but exhausting. Everyone is in bed now and I am soon to follow. Enjoy the pictures from today! *there are no pictures of Max because he would never look at the camera*

Ariel shot of the fair from the scary faris wheel!

Charlie taking a brief nap

Catie after a grown up ride!

Charlie mastering the art of the sippie cup

There are tons of churches every year and they seem to get more creative each year! This cracked me up!

This was a horse made out of 1071 horse shoes! It took 1000 hours to make!

Catie and Poppy looking at old cars

Sun kissed baby Charlie

Pictures of the Boys

Charlie and his new toy

Charlie and Max in the bathtub

Charlie LOVES his bath

Max LOVES his bath too!

Soccer

I wasn't able to get my computer in the shop until Friday so I have one more day with my baby. I thought I would post Catie in her soccer gear! She did so well today at her first practice and I think I did pretty good myself!! It wasn't too hot and we mainly ran drills and practiced long kicks to see where all the kids stand in the way of skill. Catie did well considering she has never played before and she showed some real potential. I think if she could learn how to run she would be a great athlete. She has the skills but the poor child can't run!! She flails her arms about and looks too funny. Max wanted to play too but Aunt Em took him and Charlie to the playground to burn off some energy. It was a great afternoon but I am really tired today.





While I was cooking dinner tonight Max escaped out the back door and a very kind neighbor brought him home. I wanted to kill him!! He is such a monster and how he has figured out the child proof knobs is beyond my realm of understanding. He can't pee pee in the potty but he can get a child proof door knob open. What am I going to do with him!

I saw an old acquaintance that happens to know our family very well and I found out that there is a certain member of my family that isn't happy about me going back to school and isn't going to be supportive. I had been wondering for awhile if this person was happy about me going to school but after a little incident this week it all made sense. It is hurtful to me that someone who is supposed to love me doesn't have faith in me and it just makes me want it that much more. The funny thing is that when I do graduate from school this same person who has no faith in me now will try to take credit for me finishing and it just burns me up inside. But what can you expect from a dysfunctional family like mine?

Well I am off to bed. I am weary and this is the first time all day I have had the chance to sit down for something other than feeding a child or driving. Tomorrow will be better!

Off for awhile

My nice new laptop that I bought from Best Buy is malfunctioning and since it is the only working computer in this house, I am about to be without a computer for an unknown amount of time. I have to take it to Best Buy to those Geeks and see if they can fix it without ruining it or losing the poor thing. I have heard some scary stuff about Best Buy and I am a bit nervous about taking my computer with all my pics and personal info to these guys. They said it could take 2-4 weeks to fix it and my first class starts August 23 and I have to sign into my class via the Internet in order to get credit and financial aid. GRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

Monster Max and 2nd Jobs

Chas got a second job and while the end goal is one worth working for, I am tired. I am out numbered when he isn't home and the kids know it and boy do they take advantage of the situation. Max was a monster all afternoon and evening and I was reading to wring his sweet little neck. Charlie insisted on being held all evening and Catie had real problems with following directions. All that combined has made for a rough evening. Max has such an attitude these days and loves to make his opinion known to everyone. He screamed and threw a tantrum every time he had a chance and I was sick of it by 7:00 when Chas got home from his second job. He was so sweet and took both boys to Kroger to get me some yummy ice cream. I have been craving sweets so bad here lately and wanted something with peanut butter and chocolate. He is the king of ice cream so I know he will bring me home something wonderful.

I made baby food this evening and had a really hard time. Normally I block off a portion of my day just to make baby food and that is all I do during that time. I have been so busy lately and SO tired when the boys nap that I haven't been able to get it all done. I decided that I would make up a couple things tonight while I was cooking dinner and it just didn't work out for me like I wished it would have. I couldn't get the Mango to peel and cut and it wasn't ripe enough so I had to steam it a little to get it to be smooth and the Avocados didn't like my food processor tonight so I ended up doing that one by hand. It was messy and I had dinner going at the same time AND my Max was being really naughty. I am going to make myself do it tomorrow during nap time no matter how tired I am at that time.

I talked to my sis-in-law today and found out that she is going to watch Charlie on the 23rd of this month so I can go to my first class and Charles is going to watch Maxwell!! We thought we had it all planned out but Chas is in a wedding and they moved it up a week and it happens to be at the same time as my class and since it is the end of the month Dee has to work so I thought I was in big trouble. It is things like this that make me wonder if I am doing the right thing by going back to school while the kids are this little. As my first day of school gets closer I find myself doubting my ability to do this school thing and be a mom and a soccer coach and a chauffeur and all the other stuff I do on a daily basis. It seems to scary to be going to school at this age. I feel like I am going to be the old lady in a crowd of young kids. If it weren't for my hubby and his undying support I would probably chicken out right about now. I am so glad I have such a great set of in-laws or I would probably fail before I even began.

Well I am off to eat my ice cream. I pray tomorrow will be a better day. I read a great quote today that said "Don't worry about today because tomorrow it will just be a memory". I really enjoyed that and will remember that quote daily....or at least try to remember!

Acrobatics, Dogs, and Biting

What a day it has been. Charlie did not sleep through the night and I was so tired this morning. Max woke up in a terrible mood and was a cranky boy all day. Luckily Catie got up pretty fast and we were on time for school. Thank God for small blessings.

So we got to Karen's house and of course Max was afraid of the dogs and HAD to scream when we got there and his scream is enough to make me want to scream. I got everyone settled in and fed and then I got to cleaning. I guess I was making more noise than usual because Grandmother got up earlier than she normally does and we were off to the races! Max loves when she wakes up because he knows it is time for him to eat his yogurt and play. Today he decided to pretend to be a dog and bless Grandmothers heart, she played right along with Max. He crawled around like a dog and she pet him and totally played long with him and it was adorable.

We got home and as we walked in the door Max grabbed his blanket and bobby and headed upstairs and put himself down for a nap. It was really cute and impressive! Charlie took a good nap as well and I got a little done around the house. I had to get the boys up at 2 so that we could get ready to get Catie from school and go to acrobatics.


I tried to get Max excited about acro but it is hard to explain to a 2 year old what that is exactly. I told him he was going to do flips and he got excited and started saying he was going to go to "slips"! So we get Catie from school and fly over to the studio. What a disaster. Max freaked out when I took his shoes off and REFUSED to even go in the room. Catie tried to take him in there and I went in and sat which is frowned upon but nothing worked. He finally went in the room but only to roll down the ramps mats and didn't want anything to do with that class. Needless to say we un-enrolled him in acrobatics. Catie did very well in her class and I was impressed at how much she stood out from the other kids. She is really talented and I wished she would take it more seriously. We are pushing her in acrobatics because it helps her with sports and I think that a strong body is important when playing soccer or softball. If just one part of her is strong then she could damage the weaker parts and acro seems to strengthen every part of her body. Her muscles are long and lean and her upper body strength is great.

I got the call tonight from the head coach of our soccer team. He failed to show up at the meeting Sunday and so he had no information on the team or anything else. Good thing his trusty Assistant Coach was there and got all the info instead. So we talked and set up our practices and I guess Assistant in Soccer means "ALL THE WORK"!! I called all the parents and let them know when practice was and none of them liked the time so I had to veto the head coach and change the time to a little later in the evening. I am in for a real treat this season and I hope Catie gets how hard it is to coach and how much I love her to be doing this for her!!! It is so out of my comfort zone but it is good to connect with other parents and its a great opportunity for Catie to meet new friends. The only problem I have with coaching soccer is that there is no profanity. I am in BIG trouble on that one. I do understand the rule though!!

Our house is loud all the time and so I went outside to call these soccer parents and as I am on the phone with this very unpleasant father I hear all the kids start to cry. LOUD CRYING! I then heard Chas inside yelling and I continued to sit on that front step. I was not in the mood for the drama that my kids cause in the evening. Next thing I know Catie is outside crying and I hear Max screaming his head off inside. Charlie sounded like he was going to explode because he was crying so hard. SO I get off the phone and start with Catie. I asked her what happened and why was she crying. Max hauled off and bit her for no reason other than to be mean. I looked at her back where he got her and there was a huge bite mark and it was pretty bad. Max was crying because he got into a TON of trouble for biting Catie and Charlie was crying because all the kids crying scared him. It was nuts and I was glad when everyone got to bed.

Chas went to bed early and I stayed up with Charlie and watched a movie. I have to say Tyler Perry is one of my favorite writers and I have seen almost all of his movies. I LOVED Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Medea's Family reunion. I got Why Did I get Married the other day from our free trial with Netflix and it has been a movie I have been really wanting to see. The movie came last week and I have been trying to find a quiet moment to watch it and last night proved to be the first time in a week that it was quiet. Tyler Perry has a way of making you laugh, and then get angry, and then you cry, and just when you think you can't take anymore you get a shock and all you can do is laugh and then the ending is so wonderful and inspirational that you cry again. That movie was wonderful and I would love to own it one day. Tyler Perry has a real talent of adding God into his plays that makes it comfortable and not preachy or over bearing. I also have another one of his movies that I am going to watch the next time it gets quiet!

Sonic, Soccer, and other Observations

Aunt Em feeding Charlie the other day

What a weekend this has been! It has seemed to have been non-stop and while it has been a blast I have gotten nothing done that needed to be taken care of!

Saturday we went to Walmart with Dee (MIL), April (SIL), Bailey, Ashley, Chas, our 3 kids, and Aunt Myrna. Talk about a cluster! It was nutso but we found some awesome deals and Catie walked out with about 6 dresses, a bunch of short, a bathing suit (for next year), a new leotard for acro tomorrow, and a pair of black church shoes. Max walked out with 4 pairs of shoes and a new outfit and Charlie got a new outfit and TONS of kisses from Nana and Aunt April. I was shocked to find out that Max has moved out of the baby shoe aisle and he is now in the big boy shoes. It was a huge milestone for us since he wasn't growing at all last year. He got a pair of size 7 Thomas the Train light up shoes! I am not a fan of character clothing but everytime we have gone into Walmart he seems to find those shoes and we found them in his size yesterday and Nana got them for him. He is VERY proud of those shoes!

After we got home the boys were laid down for a nap and Chas got ready to go the Tennessee Titans football game!!! He was so excited and I am glad he got to go with his dad. I waited until the boys woke up and then I went over to Dee's house where I hung out with the kids for a bit and Aunt April showed up with the girls and loved on my boys while the girls played around. I left there and went to Sonic where I was in for quite the shock! I pulled in and it looked like a party going on! There were cars parked with fold out chairs behind them and the whole patio of Sonic was full of teenagers. Young teenagers. It was 10:30 at night! They all had REALLY nice phones and cars and these were definitely the "popular" kids. I watched them for a minute remembering how uncomfortable these same kind of kids used to make me feel and I noticed this girl sitting right outside the group and I watched. It was painfully obvious this girl was not part of the popular crowd but she still sat there waiting for someone to speak to her or include her so that she could be a part of this blessed group of teens. These popular kids always seemed to have it all and I used to be so jealous and uncomfortable. They had this look about them and no matter what they wore they always looked popular. I still find myself in awe of this group to this day and will probably not go to my 10 year reunion because of the fear of these people. I was a band geek and wanted to be included so badly in this group but somewhere inside of me there was this knowledge that I would never fit in no matter how hard I tried. So I sat there last night watching this girl who was awkward and didn't have the "look" or lots of money and I felt so badly for her. She looked so sad sitting there all alone and I wanted to get out of the van and go tell her that these people are no better than her and that one day we will all be equals as adults. I wish I believed that myself.

This morning I woke up feeling unusually refreshed and it took me a minute to figure out why I felt so good. CHARLIE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! First time ever and it was a miracle! As if life couldn't get any better, Max slept until 8:30 this morning and was happy!!! We decided to go eat our once a month special coupon all you can eat breakfast buffet and it was pretty good. Max has decided that he wants to have a say in everything so after a small battle at the fruit station we ate in peace. We met up with Dee at the Outlet Mall and went to the Reebok store. Chas has a HUGE foot and it is so hard to find shoes for him but for some reason Reebok has his size. He got 2 pairs of shoes and I got a pair of plain white comfy reeboks! It was buy 2 get 1 free which is a deal we get once a year. After that Dee and I went to the bra store. I got measured for a bra and was shocked to find out I have gone up a TON of cup sizes and was then depressed to find that there are no pretty bras for a DDD.....I was lucky and did find a comfy basic bra that is quite wonderful. I also got one of those body shaper tops that smooths and tucks and I was quite pleased with the results. I then went to a meeting for Soccer Coaches and got my packet for my team. I was so excited I actually got a coaches jersey!! It was a shining moment in my life as a mom.

Well I am off to Walmart to get food for the week and run some other errands while Chas is out mowing dads yard. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day! Chas starts his second job and Max starts acrobatics for the first time ever and Catie starts her 4th year of acro. I am nervous for Max and hope he does well. We have never really put any limitations on him with his feeding tube and I don't plan on doing that unless we find something he can't do b/c of the tube. We shall see how he does tomorrow and I will have pics to post of this HUGE milestone in his life.

More Jars of Clay

More of Steve......how can you resist that smile!

The girls: Bailey, Ashley, and Catie

Lead singer Dan

Chas not knowing that I was taking his picture

Jars of Clay and other goodies

So it is almost 11:00pm and I am SO tired! We got to go see Jars of Clay this evening and it was so much fun! I love to go see bands that are cool with fans taking pictures and allow their fans to be right at the stage and don't have a TON of security and require you to pay $10 to get a 4x6 shot of themselves. Jars of Clay has to be the most down to earth band I have ever met (yes I have met them about 6 years ago) and the sweetest group of guys you could ever want to be around. There was no assigned seating and my mom in law insisted we get there early so we could get seats. Early bird gets the worm! We waited in line for 30 minutes before the gates opened and then it was off to the best seats! We sat right up front and had the best view ever! It was a great concert and Max was very well behaved which was a shock to all of us! After the concert Catie, Chas, Charles, and Ashley stayed for the baseball game and Dee, Bailey, Max, and I headed home to get a bite to eat. I was going to stay for the game but Max's behavior at that point was unpredictable and I didn't feel right leaving him with Dee and I really wanted to see my Charlie who was with Aunt April. So here are the pics. I am so tired and I will tell more about the concert tomorrow. It is late and we have a busy Saturday ahead of us and I need some sleep. I am thinking it is sports weekend! Tomorrow is the start of Pre-Season football and Chas and his daddy are going to the game. Chas is very excited! Lots of sports in 24 hours!!!


Catie and my nieces Ashley and Bailey with the lead singer Dan

The girls and Max waiting in line

Max...don't you love the busted lip! That happened yesterday........

The lead singer Dan

My very favorite of them all and based on the sheer magnitude of pictures taken by myself and Ashley it is obvious we both have a small crush on Steve....what can I say, I have a thing for hairy arms....sigh....

Catie and Max using the Balloon as a drum

Sleepy Boys and books

My Maxwell is too darn funny! So last night he fell asleep in Charlie's bouncy seat all on his own! He was so cute and when he is sleeping like that I just want to snuggle him all night. It makes the bad day that we had seem to disappear. He is turning into such a mouthy monster. I was taking a nap on the couch the other day and Chas got onto Max and so Max (so much like his mother) mouthed off to his dad and I lifted my head up off the couch and told him to knock it off and be nice. Do you know what that little imp said to me???? He told me that I needed to go back to my pillow! GRRRR! He is such a smart mouth monster. Then today we were watching tv at Karen's and a commercial of that Vagasil testing kit came on the television and Max got very upset saying that he didn't want that stuff! We assured him he would never have to use it as long as he lived. Bless his heart.

Max asleep in Charlie's bouncy chair last night

Well after I got done at Karen's I went over to Gallatin to get my school books from the Textbook Brokers. If I would have bought my books at the bookstore on campus it would have cost me a fortune PLUS I don't have my leftover financial aide check as of now and there is no way I could buy my books out of pocket. So there is this bookstore across the street that is awesome! Not only do they sell the textbooks BUT they will hold your check until your financial aide comes through and then you go back and pay the bill or they just put it through your checking account. Well I didn't realize just how many books I needed until today. As the very young clerk went to go get my books he kept having to make trips back to the counter to drop them off and I watched this stack of books grow before my very eyes. The total came to $477.00 and I almost had a heart attack! At least the state is paying for it since I got that Federal Pell Grant. Thank goodness for that or I would be in lots of trouble. So now I have my books and backpack and pencils and notebook and I have to wait 2 more weeks! I feel like a kid starting school for the first time and I just can't wait. Im sure my tune will change once the homework rolls in and then I will not be as excited. My books are so pretty and colorful and filled with information to help me and my family have a great future. Unfortunately my hubby saw the receipt and forbid the kids to go anywhere near those books. Im suprised they are not under lock and key. I love him but he such a tight ass!

Here are all my books! English Comp 101, Law 100, Music Appreciation, Algebra, and Sociology 101

Well we are off to go to a baseball game tonight! The band Jars of Clay are playing before the game and my mother in law is a HUGE fan and so we all get to go see Jars of Clay perform and then Dee and Bailey and Ashley and Max are going back to Lebanon and Chas, his dad, Catie and myself are sticking around for the game. I will have lots of pics to post!!!

Karen's flowers

Karen has a beautiful backyard as stated in the previous post and I love going out there! It rained last night and so this morning there was rain drops on the flowers and the colors were magnificent! I went out with my camera and got a couple of shots of her incredible flowers. I am clueless as to what everything is and don't really care to know. I just think they are beautiful.

This flower was such a pretty color but I have no idea what it would be!

This is my absolute favorite thing I saw today.....Im thinking about making it my background on my computer screen

These looked like little bouquets already made up!

I thought this was a neat-o birdhouse....there was a birds nest in it!

We had a rabbit once that used to eat the green parts of this flower right out of our hands! ***sigh***
Happy Memory

Trampolines and Hairbows

I overslept this morning which started my day off a little hectic. My cell phone broke and I had to get a new one and I forgot to set my alarm in the new one and if Chas hadn't called me this morning I would have been REALLY late. I got everybody ready in record time and it was a red letter day! Catie wore a hair bow!!

I made her smile in this picture


I asked her what she thought of the bow in this picture

So the day went as follows.....Dropped Catie off at school, raced to Karen's house and fed the boys and took Max out to play outside for a bit while Charlie was asleep. We had great fun but ended up coming in pretty quick due to the terrible humidity. Karens backyard is so beautiful and I love going out there. She has a great green thumb and I am SO jealous! The only thing I manage to keep alive are my kids! Max played on the trampoline and got on the swing and had a big old time! He didn't like the trampoline that much. He is such a funny kid and will probably want to get on the trampoline tomorrow and will love it and I will have to drag him off it with him kicking and screaming. No one really prepares you for boys. I love my boys but they are too much some times!

Max not being happy on the trampoline


Mr. Max loving the swing!



Max and Charlie crawling around while grandmother ate breakfast




Emily called today and said she was in town and so she stopped by and we had "sissy time" and it was nice to see her! Catie came home and saw the car and was very excited and shocked at the same time! Em is so busy and rarely gets over this way and it has been a long time since she has been over here. Well I am off to goo cook dinner. We are having yummy chicken tetrazini!! I can't wait to go to the farmers market this weekend and get some yummy veggies for us to eat. I am about tired of fresh frozen. They are okay and they work in a pinch but nothing beats the real thing!!!

My little man has been in such a weird mood today. He woke up at 2:00 this morning and refused to go back to sleep. I was so tired and wanted to sleep but not Charlie! He wanted to play. I tried to nurse him and get him to go back to bed but he wasn't having it at all!! Chas finally woke up at the point that I was on the verge of tears and he took him downstairs. I am really good about being up with Charlie at night and I have never asked Chas in all 5 1/2 months of Charlie's little life to ever be up at night with him. I think that since Chas works all day and I am blessed to be at home that I should be the one to be up at night. Well last night I had had enough. I have been pretty sleep deprived since Charlie was born and last night I was at my breaking point. So Chas got up with him and took him downstairs around 3am and played with him for about 20 minutes and then put Home Improvement on the tv and Charlie, just like his daddy, fell asleep watching that show. I was able to get some sleep and I felt so much better today because of that glorious uninterrupted sleep. Have I mentioned what a great hubby I have???

Max was in a mouthy mood today and wanted to talk back ALL day. He has discovered that the word bull shit rolls off the tongue pretty nicely and he has decided to use it whenever he sees fit. He doesn't ever use it in the right context but when he does use it I laugh so hard. I know, I know, that is the wrong thing to do but it is just about the funniest thing I have ever heard. He even says it slowly and drawn out and with that little lisp of his it is just too cute. I am going to be better tomorrow and really discourage the use of that word.

Catie is grounded for lying and I hate having her grounded! That means no pool time and it just isn't fun without Catie at the pool. She is ungrounded tomorrow and I can't wait. I wish she would just stay out of trouble. Unfortunately she takes after me and will remain in trouble with someone at all times of her life for the rest of her life. I always manage to have someone mad at me for something I said or did and I suppose I gave that to Catie. I finally learned that other people opinions of me are none of my business and unless I go out of my way to hurt someone's feelings then oh well. I can't deal with other people's drama. I just can't believe she lied about something as stupid as a basket of clothes. Oh my little Catie, when will she ever learn?

Well I am on a mission to make sure Charlie stays up until 10:00 tonight so I can get some sleep. That being said I am off to go play with my Monkey Man!

This is a video of Max saying the "bad" word. I know it is bad but it really is funny.

The dreaded evil bottle

I hate bottles. I think they are gross, nasty little vessels of grime and germs and I loathe them. That being said, Max uses bottles. About 3 months ago the doctors changed the formula that goes in his feeding tube and while it is working great for him, it is so much more work for us! His old formula was ready to eat in a can and all we had to do was pop a top and pour it in the tube. He developed an allergy to the hypo-allergenic formula (go figure) and lost weight and took a couple steps backwards in his development. So they gave us another formula that is so hypo allergenic that if he is allergic to this stuff he is in trouble! It comes in cans of powder that we have to mix up ourselves. We have to mix it in bottles and it is such a hassle! The regular directions for mixing the formula do not apply to Max and we had to do some pretty serious math to figure out the right calorie per ounce configurations but we got finally figured it out after a lot of trial and error. So now we have bottles. LOTS of bottles and everyday I remind myself of the reasons I breastfeed. Put aside the obvious nutritional benefits and all that.....my baby would starve because I could never find a bottle. We lose them all the time and cleaning them when I do find them is such a pain in the neck! So to all those moms who say hats off to the breastfeeding moms because they think it is difficult, my hat goes off to you! Formula feeding is tough and I don't see how you make all those bottles on a daily basis AND keep up with them!! Way to go!!

For the record, this is not a post debating breast milk vs formula. It is truly a mothers perspective on both sides of the issue.

Avacados and Doggie Doors

Today was almost uneventful and it was quite nice! I made it to Karens this morning on time and sweet little grandmother got up all on her own! I cleaned a little and she kept trying to help me. Note to self.....clean while she is still asleep.

Max got stuck in the doggie door this morning and it was too funny! I made him get out on his own and he wasn't terribly traumatized and ended up laughing at himself.

Charlie got avocados for the first time today and LOVED them. He generally doesn't like veggies but really enjoyed the avocados I fixed for him. I will have to buy more for him since he liked them so much.

I got the kitchen put back together and really hope that maintenance comes by to fix our oven. Our garbage disposal broke and our kitchen was taken over by little fruit flys. I had to clean out the cabinets and bleach everything to get rid of them. Once you get one they multiply and will carry you off in your sleep.

I'm off to fix dinner and we are hoping to get everything done for the evening so that we can take the kids swimming!!

The weekend

What a weekend!! It is 6:00 on Sunday and I am ready for bed. Our weekends generally start on Friday's 3 times a month since Chas doesn't have to work those Fridays and we hit the ground running!

We went to dinner at Chas's parents house Friday evening and I am happy to report that the Pot Roast was quite tender and yummy! Dee made mac and cheese (for Max), butternut squash, corn, rolls, and Cinnamon apples. It was so good and I really enjoy going over to their house. I couldn't ask for better inlaws and the kids couldn't ask for better grandparents. They always have a blast and I know Dee and Charles enjoy having the kids around in small doses. Max and Catie seem to feed off each other and tend to get a little wild but they still stay within the realms of good behavior. We left there and took the kids to Maggie Moos for a nice treat. We got Charlie and Max banana ice cream and they loved it! Poor little Charlie is having a time with this teething stuff and has been so fussy here lately. The ice cream seemed to help quite a bit. We all came home and piled into bed.

Saturday we were terribly lazy! We got our van back and were happy to find out that it was just a battery and was a quick and easy fix. We went to Wal-Mart and enjoyed a few benefits of our tax-free weekend. I got a couple tops for school which is nice and I bought lots of fruits and veggies for Charlie. I spent about $10 on fresh produce and made a TON of baby food! When we got home I got started on that fun task. I made him mangos and bananas, sweet potatoes, squash, zuchinni, and cantaloupe. He loves everything but the squash and zucchini but who can blame him! I only eat it with onion and bacon cooked with it but he is too little to eat it like that. I bought him an avocado as well but I don't think it is ripe so it is sitting on the counter getting ready to be made into babyfood. After I got done with all that I got a phone call from my sister in law telling me she had the pictures I wanted and that I had something that she wanted! She LOVES Charlie and has been dying to get her hands on him!! I went over to Dee's house and visited with them for a bit and watched Charlie get loved on for a good little bit. April bought him the cutest outfit and some sunglasses! He is such a cutie in them and I was shocked to see that the outfit she got him was a 12m size and that it would probably fit him. He is SOOOO long that very few things fit him right now. He is already in a size 3 shoe at 5 months old! Max wasn't in that size until well over a year old. Poor little Max is pushing 3 and just got into a size 7 shoe. He got that from me! I am pretty sure Charlie got his big feet from his daddy (size 19 shoe) and I know for sure he got the height from him as well. Catie ended up going home with Aunt April and Baily and Ashley for an impromptu sleepover.

Last night Chas and I reached a HUGE milestone with Max and we are SO proud of ourselves. We noticed that Max's tube had been leaky and loose for some time now and knew we needed to suck it up and change it ourselves. We normally wait until we have a Vandy appointment and let someone there change it out but we knew to some degree it was time. We have been very lucky with Max in that his tube has never busted or come out on its own. So we got out the new tube and the water and some lubricating stuff and took a deep breath and went for it! We were a success and very proud of ourselves and maybe a little weak in the knees. It was a HUGE adrenaline rush but after it was over it made me a little ill to think about the whole thing. It is never an easy thing to see a hole in your child's stomach. Lucky for us his tummy was empty so there was nothing leaking out. Needless to say his tube is in and it looks great and WE DID IT!!!

Today was lovely because Chas let me sleep in until after 11:00!! I felt refreshed and very spoiled. I got in the shower and got ready for the day and we headed out on a mission. We HAVE to find a new place to live. This morning our neighbor knocked on our door at 7:45 and when we didn't answer the door she beat on our windows. You know what she wanted?? She wanted to see if she could use one of our old phones. Seriously?? Chas let her in and she came up and climbed in my bed to wake me up to see if I knew where an old phone might be located. I just looked at her and rolled over and went back to sleep. SOOOO, we went looking for a place to live. We didn't have lots of luck and had to end our mission short to go eat at Chas's parents house for his dad's birthday. It was lots of fun and Dee made my very favorite! Chicken and Rice!!!! She made it for me when I was pregnant and had a bad gallbladder. Today was the first time I have eaten it since I had my gallbladder taken out and I have to admit I loaded it up with butter. It was so good and just what I needed in the way of comfort food. Did I mention I am terribly blessed to have her as a mom in law??

We are home now and about to take the kids swimming for awhile before bed. Tomorrow starts another crazy week and I will need some rest to get through it all in one piece!

Charlie and the juice

Max decided that he wanted to give Charlie a bottle of juice. It was his first juice and Max felt like he was getting away with something. Everyone is happy!

Boring Boring day

So today wasn't so bad. It was uneventful and calm (to a degree) and just sort of nice. No word on the van yet and we are anxiously waiting to hear what is wrong and how much it is going to cost. We did go look at a house for rent and while it was a nice house it is a little smaller than what we have now and quite a bit more expensive. I hate to move into a house and spend all that money when we are planning on buying a house next year. PLUS the lady wasn't keen on us having 3 kids. We went while Catie was in school and so we just had the boys. She said she didn't like to rent to people with more than 2 kids and I told her we had another child that was in school. She wasn't pleased about it and to add insult to injury I asked if she would evict us if we got pregnant and had another child. She made it abundantly clear that she didn't want to rent this house to someone with 4 kids. She said it was too crowded. I believe that is illegal AND just as wrong as not renting to someone because of their skin color. I need to check my law books and see. Isn't that a part of Equal Housing Opportunity. Kind of annoyed me. I then let her know that we go to church with one of her bosses and her tune changed a little. I hate living in the apartment and want to get out ASAP! We have terrible neighbors and our kids can't play outside without the threat of getting hit by a car. Our oven broke 3 weeks ago and no one has come to fix it as of today. I would love to find a little house that will suit our needs for the next year. When we do buy a house I pray it is out in the boonies! I am SO tired of neighbors and all their drama. Last summer when my cousin Woli and her hubby and kids came to the area they stopped by to pick up Catie for the evening. It was around 8:00pm and there were kids everywhere! Woli's son asked if there was a parade because it was so crazy outside. That is our life. Winter is the only time around here when it remains somewhat calm.

Well we are off to eat at the inlaws! I cooked a pot roast and I think because it is supposed to go to my mother in laws house for dinner it is going to be tough. Isn't that the way it goes. I guess the pot roast doesn't know what a great mother in law I have and that she won't care one bit that the roast is tough! : )