If I had a thousund dawlers

...our family could fly to Colorado to visit my parents - but only during Thanksgiving - not Christmas, 'cause {get this} ALL the flights to Colorado in the window of Christmastime are BOOKED. No. Really. Unless of course we go to the airport in Daytona and pay a ridiculous $890 PER PERSON {even little persons}.

Sorry Becky and Mike. I really wanted to sneak over to Colorado so Hayden and Conner could meet up and make their plans to destroy the world... or Mom and Dads house. One day, one day...

Sick Kids

This blog spot and date was originally reserved for a cute picture of Samantha with a little sign next to her to celebrate her 1st month of life. Unfortunately, that picture won't be taken for a little while. She's just too darn sick and I'm just too darn tired. Hayden and Michael are sick as well. They've all got colds and Hayden has a severe case of the grumpies on top of that.

Samantha had to have a spinal tap yesterday. She had a fever of 100.3, went on a nursing strike and has been coughing and sneezing a lot. The results of her spinal tap were fine. This morning at 2:30 the girl FINALLY got hungry and decided to nurse for 30 minutes! Then again at 4:30 - I don't know how long 'cause I fell asleep.

(btw Samantha, my cha's cha's thank you - it was getting quite painful!)

No more sickies please...
Pictures perhaps in a few days...
I'm off to clean the kitchen.living room.playarea...anddolaundry.bye

Deep thoughts...

Been trying to put into words how I have felt in the not too distant past about life. About choices I would make for my children, my family. This post pretty much says it all. Though we have been "out of the rat race" for quite some time as a result of our financial situation I still feel that pressure and I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who finds it crazy, silly, stressful and UNNECESSARY to keep running at super sonic speed without a clue as to where it will lead. I'm not suggesting a total "stand still". I'm just saying that it's a whole lot more efficient and productive to stand still while you listen to the Spirit to guide you in the right direction. Having no gas money or "discretionary" money makes it doubly easy to stand still. Times have been hard as of late, and it's only going to get harder... or will it? Perhaps it will just become quieter, slower - easier to hear the still small voice that will guide us where our Heavenly Father will have us go.

Check it out - she says what I mean in a much more interesting way...
http://lovingthejourney.blogspot.com/2008/10/rat-race.html

What about Amanda?

It has occurred to me that I haven't posted much about Amanda lately. She has unfortunately been overlooked in my posts as of late - I'm not sure why. Perhaps because she is in school all day and my interactions with her go a little like this.

Me: Amanda! Wake Up! It's 7:40! We woke up late, so hurry and get dressed and go eat breakfast.
...10 minutes later... what have you been doing? I said get dressed, go eat.

Amanda: I AM! I'm getting Hayden some milk!

Me: Oh. Well hurry up. Daddy's almost ready to take you to school. WAIT! Comb your hair... and brush your teeth... where are your socks?!?! You have P.E. today!!!

Amanda: Arghhhhh! Okay, okay!!

Me: You look beautiful. Get your backpack and your lunch... BYE!


7 hours later:

Me: get in, get in, people are waiting! How was your day?

Amanda: GREAT!

Me: Great!

at home...

Me: do your homework, put away the dishes and then you can play on the computer.

Amanda: can I play a game on the laptop?

Me: After you do your homework and put away the dishes.

Amanda: but I don't want to, can't I just play on the laptop first???

Me: NOOO!

Amanda: (insert any number of excuses why it's just not fair)


then dinner, book and off to bed.

I went to parent teacher conference today and left walking on cloud 9. Amanda is doing awesome, she's no longer in the remedial reading group - it turns out that she was bored or uninterested in the easy stories they were testing her with at first. Her awesome teacher caught onto this and tested her on a more challenging level and she did great.

She's a straight A student and loves all of her teachers. I couldn't be happier about her new teacher and her new school. I know this the right school for her - a place where she can really grow.

Amanda's teacher had wonderful things to say about her. She admires Amanda's creativity in writing and her expressiveness in reading. She catches on quickly in Math and Science and really enjoys her Music class where they are learning to play the violin. Amanda has a beautiful singing voice and has shared her talent at the playground - she's quite popular among the 5th grade girls!

We are all so proud of her and can really see a difference in her attitude about school. She's a bright light of energy in our family and very helpful with Samantha and especially Hayden.

We all love her very much!

Big Boo Boo!!

So my parents just got into town late last night and they are on their way over to our place. They haven't seen Hayden since he was itty bitty and this is what they are going to see when they get here.

He's NEVER gotten such a horrible boo-boo in all his life. It's totally freaking me out - he won't let me put ice or a bag of peas on his head to help it feel better. He's not even complaining about any pain. Doesn't it look just awful!??!

How, pray tell, did this happen?? He had a blanket over his head and went running into the corner of the couch. OUCH!

pictures

A fellow photographer friend of mine was updating her portfolio and took these awesome pics of my kids. She made us all look prettier than we really are - thanks Rebecca! Feel free to check out some of her work and throw some business her way!

The 3 D's of Hayden

These days Hayden can best be described with these three words: Defiant, Destructive and Dirty! He's pushing buttons (on the tv and mom), asserting his 23 month old power of outrunning us around the sofa with the remote, and enjoying every moment that includes spilling, dumping or throwing milk. Oh - and he's really starting to smell like a boy. Not a baby, a BOY. You know the smell.

I miss my little baby boy...

It's all about Samantha

Okay, so we're all a little obsessed with Samantha. She's as sweet as can be and pretty easy to please. Amanda adores her and is her protector from big brother Hayden. Hayden is getting a little better about sharing mommy, but still tends to throw toys and remote controls in her general direction when he's not getting enough attention.

Aunt Laura and Uncle Jim came for a visit from Arizona. It was a bit of a coincidence that they were here to see Samantha. They had hoped to see the shuttle launch, but it was rescheduled. Laura took some cute pictures of us. {below}

this one cracks me up!

On Friday Samantha and I had the house to ourselves. Michael, Amanda and Hayden went out on a boat trip in Daytona. It was a nice quiet day at home for us!