The Clanton Gang

Introducing...

2011-03-12T11:47:00.010-05:00

Quentin Micah Clanton

February 25, 2011
5:09 pm
7 pounds 3 ounces
19 1/2 inches

After running errands on the morning of Friday, February 25, Wesley and I came home to eat lunch. I had a Facebook message from Jackie, the mom of a little boy I taught in preschool years ago. Jackie is also a labor and delivery nurse at one of the local hospitals, so when I saw the message to "Call me at work. It's important," I knew exactly why she was contacting me--there was a baby for us!

I immediately called Jackie and she told us there was a couple at the hospital who wanted to find a family for their little baby boy. They wanted to meet us before the baby was born, which could have been at any minute because S had been at the hospital since 6:00 am the day before. So needless to say, things got a little crazy! I spent the next couple of hours on the phone with an attorney, our adoption counselor, the hospital social worker, and Aaron.

Aaron came home. My sweet friend, Stacey, picked the kids up. And we headed to the hospital. We met S and immediately hit it off. She's a sweet lady who wasn't ready or able to start over (her youngest is 15). She and the birthfather, A, decided when she was 4 months along that they wanted to place their baby for adoption. Thankfully they didn't choose an adoption agency!!

After about 45 minutes of talking with S, the nurse came in to get her ready for a c-section. We left the room and met Jenni, our case worker from LDS Family Services. The hospital case worker told us we could go home and return in the morning to see the baby. WHAT? The baby was going to be born in about an hour--there was no way I was leaving the hospital!! So we hung out and waited. And in a little over an hour we met our little baby. It was so surreal!

The nurses at St. Mary's were amazing! Everyone was so helpful and accommodating! All of the nurses were genuinely excited for us. They even got us a room so I could stay with the baby. It was a very special time!

Drummer Boy

2010-08-08T21:28:00.002-04:00

There are LOTS of reasons to love staying at Mark & Crystal's, but for Wesley, one of the best reasons is the drum set in Matt's room.

A Pit Stop in Thomasville (July 17-18, 2009)

2010-08-08T20:58:00.009-04:00

On our way to the beach, we stopped in Thomasville to visit with Aaron's brother, Mark, and his family. We love staying with them, and they are always so willing to let us crash.

We got dinner at a yummy pizza place that Matt worked at and then went bowling. We had a great time being silly.

A little snooze on the way down.

The Big Oak Tree (This tree is HUGE and estimated to be 327 years old.)

Excited to see a firetruck in the pizzeria's parking lot

Mark & Crystal

Wesley, Crystal & Aaron

Colby

Maddie

Giving Uncle Mark a five

Maddie, the little bowling pro
The Gang

I guess we're dancing?

We were happy when Uncle Michael and his crew showed up!

"Playing" the car video game

Colby goofing around (and Maddie lovin' every minute of it!)
Apparently we're pretty happy about something. :)

Maddie is always so excited for Wesley

Colby and Wesley attempting a line dance

Chad and Colby being Chad and Colby

I love these guys!!

We luv chikin! (July 10, 2009)

2010-08-08T20:50:00.002-04:00

We participated in Chick Fil A's annual Cow Appreciation Day, like we do every year. We love Chick Fil A, and we're willing to dress like cows to get a free meal. :)

The Long Trek Home (Day 4--July 5, 2009)

2010-07-26T23:30:00.007-04:00

We left pretty early on Monday morning to head home. I would certainly be lying if I said I didn't dread it! Thankfully the kids did well again and it wasn't too terrible!

To get off Long Island, we had to drive through the city, which was was fine with me! I love looking at the people, buildings, and bridges! (Plus I wasn't the one driving through the infamous traffic!)

Aaron snapped a few pictures on our way out. I can't tell you anything about any of the pictures, other than that we were in the city when they were taken. :)

NY (Day 3--July 4, 2009)

2010-07-26T23:13:00.006-04:00

Our third day in New York was Sunday, and after such a busy three days, we were ready for a day of rest! We went to church with Steve's family in the morning. I love how our church is the same no matter where we go!

After church, we went on a little drive out to the Hamptons. Well, we attempted to drive there. Apparently traffic is always bad on the weekends, but it was even worse because it was a three-day weekend and everyone was trying to get back to the city. We almost got there, but traffic was just too much so we turned around. We stopped at another beach on the way back. The beaches on Long Island's north shore are really rocky, so the kids had fun collecting a bunch of rocks to bring home.

We also stopped at "The Big Duck" in Flanders. Apparently Long Island was once known for duck farming, and one farmer build this odd little building as a gimicky to sell ducks and eggs to tourists. Now it's just a little piece of Americana.

NY Trip (Day 2--July 3, 2009)

2010-07-26T22:41:00.017-04:00

Our second day in New York was the Fourth of July, and we spent it in Steve's hometown, Port Jefferson. It is a charming, picturesque little village on the north shore of Long Island. It is so adorable; right on the water, full of cute little shops. Even the chain stores are built to fit in with the seaside-resort-town feel.

To celebrate, we set up camp downtown to watch the big parade. And by big, I mean two hours of police bands (complete with kilts and bagpipes), a million fire trucks, a plethora of old cars, and of course, local politicians. (They're drawn to small town parades like a fish to water!) Oh, and there was candy. What's a parade without candy? Honestly, it was an amazing parade! It was extremely patriotic--all of the police officers and fire fighters really made me proud to live in the United States! And since most of them had some sort of tribute to the men who lost their lives on 9/11, I got a little emotional at times.

After the parade, we went for a swim at a friend of Steve's sister's Rebekah's house and had a yummy Fourth of July cookout. That night we watched the fireworks from a house high up on a cliff. It was freezing but beautiful!

Hot Time! Summer in the City! (Day 1--July 2, 2009)

2010-07-23T17:29:00.024-04:00

Our good friend, Steve, is from Long Island, NY and he and his wife, Robyn, invited us to join them on a road trip to LI and NYC. We couldn't turn down an offer like that! So on Thursday, July 2, we loaded up their SUV and made the 14-hour trip to NY. We left at 4:00 pm and drove through the night. The kids did incredibly well. They watched DVDs for most of the trip. (THANK GOODNESS for modern technology! I'm not sure how we would've survived that trip without the DVD player.)

The best part of the drive (well, okay, not the best at the time, but now it's definitely the funniest) happened at a rest area in New Jersey at 3:30 in the morning. We stopped to use the bathroom and to take a little nap. The kids had been asleep since 10:00ish, so I stayed in the car while Steve, Aaron and Robyn went inside. After a few minutes, Robyn came out so I opened the door to let her back in the car. Big mistake! It set the alarm off. At 3:30 AM. In a parking lot full of sleeping travelers. In a car with my two sleeping kiddos. And we didn't have the keys to turn the obnoxious noise off.

To make matters worse, Aaron and Steve were inside waiting for Robyn to come out, so they didn't hear the alarm going off. And since they didn't know Robyn was already outside, they waited for a long time. Thankfully they came out after a few hours, I mean, minutes and turned the alarm off. We got out of that rest stop as quickly as possible!

We drove for about an hour and then stopped at another rest stop for Steve, our dedicated driver, to take a nap. Needless to say, Maddie and Wesley were WIDE awake at this point and they didn't show any signs of going back to sleep. I decided to get them out and take them into Burger King. I couldn't find Wesley's shoes in all of the back-seat craziness and I didn't want to turn on the light to find them, so I just carried him inside and let him run around. I definitely deserved White Trash Mother-of-the-Year Award for letting my two-year run around barefoot in a nasty rest stop Burger King at 4:30 in the morning!

After a pitstop in Pennsylvania for showers at Steve's sister's place, we got back in the car and headed into the city. The boys were going to the Yankees game and the girls were going into the city. We were super excited!

Our first stop was Central Park. We just walked around, enjoying the sites and sounds. I love the busyness of the city, and Central Park is a great place to take it all in!

Taking a break
I'm pretty sure this is in front of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Resevoir

Maddie & Robyn in front of The Guggenheim on the steps of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
(Someday I'll actually go into the museums!)

Maddie & Mom on the subway

With the FAO Shwarz soldier
(This store was HUGE and overpriced but fun to look at!)

Street performers

Maddie, in front of The Plaza

Times Square!
I know I'm crazy but I love this place. Lights, people, stores--it's all great!An old chocolate-making machine at the Hershey's Store

Maddie, in China Town

Maddie, the junk collector, wanted every cheap, chintzy souvenir she saw. I was able to convince her to save her (my) money and buy a cute charm bracelet in China Town. I couldn't believe what a difficult task that turned into! After almost an hour of searching, we finally found one.

Grand Central Station
Sorry the pictures are so crappy. My camera can't handle anything but normal lighting.

This is really amazing. I wish my camera was able to capture its grandness!

I have no idea who this girl is, but I love this picture.

Summer Fun

2010-07-23T17:09:00.003-04:00

June 2009 was a wonderfully slow month for us. We went swimming at the YMCA a lot and just enjoyed a lazy summer!

We also went to the little beach at Sandy Creek Park and the kids had a great time.

Silly Boy!

Camp Nonna 2009-Day 3

2010-07-23T08:39:00.001-04:00

On Monday everyone was up early again, except Wesley, of course. We had waffles for breakfast, except for Carsten who wanted eggs and grits. We went on a walk with Nonna. We walked 1.9 miles and did very well. We took the stroller and Barbie car. Everyone took turns riding and walking except for Wesley. He and Caitlin took turns in the stroller and Barbie car. Caitlin walked a little of the way. Carsten had a goal to walk the entire way and he pretty much did it, except for a short time when he was driving Caitlin. Caitlin can drive ok but she is in danger of getting a DUI with all her weaving. After we arrived home we went swimming, we were really hot!

We made tie dye shirts but after washing them they faded too much. We didn't leave them in the dye long enough. It is too bad because they really looked good. Even Wesley and Caitlin did their own and they looked good!

Wesley took his nap after lunch and we rested in the house by watching a movie. The girls worked on decorating a tea set. Carsten was disappointed, Nonna did not think he would want to paint a tea set but he said he would have. He had lots of suggestions for the girls on how they should paint theirs. No one would listen to him. All the girls did their own designs. Caitlin immediately knew how she was going to paint hers and did her own design and colors. Everyone was really happy with the work they did. Carissa drew out her idea and thought about exactly what she wanted to do. Maddie was getting a little frustrated because she knew she wanted bumble bees on one piece but just could not do it on the sample paper. She showed Nonna what she wanted and Nonna did paint them on for her. Other then that and a few touch up for Caitlin they did their own.

Carsten was happy when Wesley woke up. They went outside and had a snack and watched part of a movie. Wesley loves his snacks! We ate nachos for dinner and then Poppa took us fishing down the road. Nonna walked us down there while Poppa was getting the fishing poles ready. We love to get sticks and pull out the "crap" that is floating. Nonna called Poppa to bring Wesley's swimmies since he had no fear of the water. We had a good time even before Poppa came. We started fishing. The fish kept eating our worms! Finally Caitlin caught a little fish! She didn't want to get too close to it, but liked looking at it. Maddie then caught an even littler fish! Wesley loved fishing, luckily he was using a old pole with the reel taken off because he dropped it in the water. Nonna was just getting ready to hand a cane pole to Carsten when she caught a fish, so we count that as Carsten catching it. It may sound like we were catching a lot of fish but mostly the fish were just eating the worms off our hooks. Carsten, Caitlin, Wesley and Carsten gave up and started cleaning up the junk in the water. Maddie kept at it and ended up catching 2 more fish! Poppa caught one also.

We went home and got ready for bed. Nonna was going to let us eat ice cream in bed. We love to do that! Wesley just didn't get it. He went to the table, and it was hard getting him upstairs. We guess he thought he was not going to get any if he wasn't in his seat.

We started the bed time train. Wesley was suppose to be the third one "dropped" off at their bed. After the the first stop, he pushed Caitlin out of second place and led the train straight to his bed! He takes his bedtime seriously! Nonna put Maddie's bed in her closet so she wouldn't wake anyone up if she cried. Maddie asked how she will leave in the morning without waking Nonna or Poppa up. She asked "how" they wake up in the morning. Nonna told her, well the past 2 days it was with someone saying "Nonna, Nonna, Nonna" She said "Oh, yeah" and laughed. Everyone went to sleep really well.

Camp Nonna 2009-Days 1 and 2

2010-07-23T08:20:00.004-04:00

(The kids went to "Camp Nonna" for the last week of June. They had a blast, as always!)

Saturday was an afternoon of swimming and playing. We loved the pool and the Barbie car ,of course! Last year Caitlin wasn't totally sold on the pool but this time she loves it. Wesley also loves to get in the pool. The occasional bug floating around does not even deter him. We had a cook-out Saturday night and went through 2 packages of hot ogs in no time flat! Poppa took us on a trailer ride and we loved that also. Wesley has no trouble going to bed as long as he thinks everyone else is also. All this activity is wearing himself out. He did wake up from his nap and asked for his Mom, but as soon as he went downstairs and started playing with the kids he was fine. When getting his PJ's on he asked for his Dad, Nonna just said to him, "Your Mom and Dad are home, and you're at Camp Nonna." He said OK and that was it. He did kiss a picture of his Mom and Dad before going to sleep without a whimper.

On Sunday we were really good, except for the first thing. Maddie and Carsten did not see Wesley in his bed. They went in and woke Nonna up and said Wesley wasn't in bed and wasn't with Carissa. Nonna jumped up and checked and he was sound asleep in his bed. I guess everything was too dark in the room to see him. We got up ate breakfast went and brushed our teeth and put our church clothes on that Nonna laid out for us and then we were on our way to church. We sat up front on the stand and sang Father's Day songs and then sat in the pews with Poppa and Wesley. Wesley was real good sitting with Poppa. He liked seeing us up front and waved to us a lot. Since it was Sunday we couldn't swim so we watched movies. Wesley went to bed as soon as we finished lunch. We played princesses and knights and had a good time. Caitlin likes chasing Wesley around and around through the downstairs! Both love running and yelling around and around. Nonna put Wesley in bed for the night and we started our "train to bed". We wanted Wesley to join us so we got him up and he joined us. He was second to get in bed. Maddie started getting homesick when she got in bed and began crying. The others heard her and started getting upset. Caitlin decided she wanted to call her Mom to pick her up. Carissa was able to tell her a story and she was fine. Everyone went to sleep before too long.

More May...Playing in the Rain

2010-07-11T20:46:00.005-04:00

One rainy day in May (2009), Maddie and Wesley wanted to play outside. It wasn't thundering and lightning, so I thought "Why not?" I used to play in the rain when I was little. My sister and I would even take shampoo outside and take a shower in the rain.

Quick Trip to Thomasville--May 2009

2010-07-11T20:20:00.008-04:00

We went down to Thomasville to see our nephews, Mattison and Caleb, graduate from high school. Well, Aaron went to the graduation but we all enjoyed spending time with the Mark Clantons (Aaron's oldest brother). Unfortunately I have NO pictures of the graduation or the party afterwards. I did manage to steal some pictures from my SIL's Facebook page. (Thanks, Crystal!)

Colby, Crystal, Matt, Sydney, Mark

We always enjoy seeing most of the family when we go to church on Sunday. We were especially happy to see Ty, another nephew, who was leaving to go on his mission to Arizona.

We took Granny and Grandaddy Clanton out to lunch and took some quick pictures.

The kids got a hold of the camera while we were on the road. You never know what you're going to get when you get the camera back!

Happiness is...

2010-07-11T20:15:00.005-04:00

Watching TV while enjoying a yummy snack of apples, crackers, cheese and strawberry yogurt milk. (May 2009)

More May (2009)

2010-07-11T19:21:00.020-04:00

(Yes, it's been over 8 months, so I'm pretty sure no one even reads my blog anymore. :) But one of these decades I want to get a blog book made. And since I don't scrapbook anymore (who has the time??), then I really, really need to keep the blog updated. It's my new mid-year resolution!)

END OF THE YEAR
The end of the school year always brings lots of BUSYness! Here are some tidbits:

Field Day

For some reason I have no pictures of Maddie's Field Day. :( Not sure what happened there. But I did manage to get pictures of the big waterslide that Aaron has every year. I think he has more fun than the kids.

(Aaron and Mr. W racing down the slide.)

(Wesley never did go down the slide. Not that any of us were surprised, seeing as his self-proclaimed nickname is "Chicken Little.")

Gymnastics Awards Banquet

The Athens-Clarke County Gymnastics Academy hosts an awards ceremony every year for the team gymnasts. And since Maddie was asked to be on the team, she was invited to the banquet as well.

Level 3 and 4 gymnasts with Tina, the coach and program director

Miss "Most Improved All-Around"

We were really impressed with Maddie persistence and determination. Although Maddie is definitely a great gymnast, things don't always come easy to her. She really has to work hard. We are very proud that even when things get difficult, Maddie sticks it out and pushes through. She is definitely an example to us!

Awards Day

Maddie won the Principal's Award for her class. This award is given to the best all-around student in each class. We were pleasantly surprised when her name was called. Maddie is such a good girl!

Last-Day-of-School Talent Show

It's a Cleveland Road Elementary School (CRES) tradition to hold a talent show on the last day. It's LONG (like 4 hours) but even the little pre-Kers love to see everyone perform. Maddie's class sang "We All in This Together" from High School Musical. It was really cute! (Aaron recorded it but I have no idea how to get it from the camcorder to the computer.) Maddie and Harold, a little guy in her class, sang lead vocals and the rest of the class sang back-up. Again, I was super impressed! There is no way I would ever sing in front of a group! I wouldn't have done it as a first grader and I would never do it now! (I don't even like playing charades. lol)

After all of the kids performed, the teachers took center stage. Aaron and most of the other male teachers performed "Single Ladies." I wasn't sure how to react--pride at my husband for having such a great sense of humor or disgust at seeing him in my red plaid skirt . It was like a train wreck I just couldn't stop looking at. I'm pretty sure Wesley felt the same way, because he was laughing and crying at the same time.

Aaron is in the red jacket and plaid skirt.

School Friends
I gave Maddie the camera, and she (with Aaron's help) took a couple of pictures of her first grade friends.

No More Pencils, No More Books, No More Teacher's Dirty Looks!

Here's what the kids saw as they left the school on the last day of the 2008-2009 school year at CRES. Sweet, huh?

Grateful to be "Here"

2009-10-09T23:05:00.009-04:00

See my play list to the right of this post? If you can't see song #18, click on the forward button until you get to song #18. (As long as you can see it, you can click on #18 and it will start playing.)

The song is called "Here" by Rascal Flatts. They happen to be one of my favorite groups and I love their music. (Bear with me if you're not a country music fan.) I'm pretty sure this song was written to express the gratitude one feels after finally falling in love with "The One." But when I heard this song (especially the chorus), I immediately thought of the journey we had to take to get Wesley.

There's a place I've been looking for
That took me in and out of buildings
Behind windows, walls and doors
And I thought I found it
Couple times, even settled down
And I'd hang around just long enough
To find my way back out
I know now the place that I was trying to
Reach
Was you, right here in front of me

And I wouldn't change a thing
I'd walk right back through the rain
Back to every broken heart
On the day that it was breakin'
And I'd relive all the years
And be thankful for the tears
I've cried with every stumbled step
That led to you and got me here, right here

It's amazing what I let my heart go through
To get me where it got me
In this moment here with you
And it passed me by
God knows how many times
I was so caught up in holding
What I never thought I'd find
I know now, there's a million roads
I had to take
To get me in your arms this way

And I wouldn't change a thing
I'd walk right back through the rain
Back to every broken heart
On the day that it was breakin'
And I'd relive all the years
And be thankful for the tears
I've cried with every stumbled step
That led to you and got me here, right here

In a love I never thought I'd get to get to
-here
And if that's the road
God made me take to be with you

And I wouldn't change a thing
I'd walk right back through the rain
Back to every broken heart
On the day that it was breakin'
And I'd relive all the years
And be thankful for the tears
I've cried with every stumbled step
That led to you and got me here, right here

And I'd relive all the years
And be thankful for all the tears
I've cried with every stumbled step
That led to you and got me here, right here

When you're in the middle of a major trial, it's sometimes impossible to see how there will ever be a happy ending. The despair can be overwhelming. But thankfully there is almost always a light at the end of the tunnel. I think it's that hope that helps us push through, even when it seems too hard. I'm thankful for a loving Father in Heaven who is always there, to remind us of that light and to nudge us towards it.

Wesley's SECOND Birthday!!

2009-10-09T21:27:00.013-04:00

It's hard to believe that Wesley is two years old! He's changed so much since he was born! He started out so tiny, with light skin and straight hair! Then he grew into my chubby (okay, FAT) little baby with an adorable 'fro and beautiful chocolate skin! And now he's tall and lanky with a very short haircut. It's hard to believe because we were SO thrilled to have him in our family, but life with Wesley has only gotten better!
To celebrate Wesley's birthday, we planned an outdoor party at Aaron's school. Because of the covered picnic area and awesome playground, it's the perfect place for a party! Well, except for May 9, 2009. Let me explain...

The week before the party, a UGA professor went crazy and shot his wife (and two other people) at a local community theater. The professor and his family lived in a neighborhood very close to Aaron & Maddie's school. After the shooting, the professor went missing and his Jeep was found in a ravine less than half a mile from the school. Everyone was sure he had ditched his car and was trying to get out of the country.

WRONG!! When we drove up to get ready for Wesley's party, we saw fire trucks and a ton of unmarked police vehicles. I instantly knew they were looking for the man. And I instantly knew the party was ruined! Of all things!! How dare he ruin my party!! (I know, I know! Pretty selfish of me!) The police were very nice and told us we could still have the party, but we'd have to have it inside. Great, except for the fact that the school's lights are on a timer and the only person with access to override the timer is the principal, who lives over an hour away. After a long ordeal which involved the school custodian and the school district's weekend security person coming to the school, we were able to get the lights on.

So the party went on--NOT!! Within an hour of us arriving early to set up, we saw the coroner's van drive up really close to the woods. We knew something was happening and Aaron was so ready to get in the middle of it! We were amazed at how much information the police were willing to share. And we (okay, AARON and my MOM) were more than happy to listen. We knew all of the details of the police discovering the man's body hours before the media knew. It was absolute craziness! Click HERE to read an article about the shooting and the discovery of the body. This is the article that was posted on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's website, and Aaron (and the party) were mentioned.

And all of this led to us not getting anything set up until AFTER the party was supposed to have started. My Type-A personality always goes into overdrive during events like this, but oh my gosh, I could've use some major anxiety meds after all of this!!

Putting aside all the drama, the party itself was a ton of fun. I did a sports theme, because Wesley has been obsessed with sports since he could hold a ball. My mom did an AWESOME job on the cake, as usual! And Aaron's gym was the perfect place to have the party because of his wonderful PE equipment.

(He was SO tired by the end of the party!)

The media showed up towards the end of the party and asked to talk with us, but one of the main law enforcement guys had asked us not to give them any details.

This the the stretcher they brought the body out on. My family was OBSESSED with this! I think Aaron spent 95% of the time outside, talking with firefighters and police officers. And I'm pretty sure my mom, Aaron and my sister got more pictures of the scene outside than the party inside. :)

As we were cleaning everything up, a lady with this really different-looking dog came in to use the bathroom. Turns out this was the dog who found the body. Her trainer was really proud of her. She was a sweet dog who was willing to let all the kids pet her.

And because my family is CRAZY, they went in the woods, trying to figure out where the searchers found the body. They said it was too hard to tell where the police had been, but here's a picture of the woods, in case you were interested!

I'm hoping for a PEACEFUL, completely normal party next year!!

Zoo Atlanta

2009-09-06T19:33:00.016-04:00

Maddie had a field trip to the zoo in Atlanta, so Aaron took the day off--we decided to make it a family affair! Aaron, Wesley and I drove over a little early to take care of the business end of the field trip (pay for tickets) and Maddie rode with her class on the bus.

Welsey was SO excited to go the zoo to see all of the animals! He had this adorable look on his face the whole way. :)

Welsey wasn't too sure about the bronze animals. He wouldn't stand next to one until Dad helped him realize it wasn't real!

Most of Maddie's class.

We started off in the playground.

SO excited to be on the Merry-Go-Round.
(Before it started moving)

Not quite as excited.

GET ME OFF THIS THING!
(I know I'm a bad mom for taking pictures of my terrified child,
but it was just too funny to pass up!

Maddie and I couldn't stop laughing at Wesley.
Maddie and her good friend, Morgan

Our group on the train.

Happy to be on the train.

Maddie and Kadjari.
(I have a special place in my heart for this little man. He comes from a pretty rough home and he craves attention. Any time we went to Maddie's school, he wanted to hold Wesley and give me hugs. He's going to have a rough life ahead of him--he's the kid who everyone blames for anything that goes wrong even if he didn't do it. (Although he is often the culprit.) Maddie was so sweet to Kadjari. Her teacher said she was a great friend to him.)

Combing the goats

Ugh! Goats are the ugliest and noisiest animals ever!

The pandas were so cute!

Kadjari, Maddie, MarKeith (that's his real smile) and Morgan

Otters

Mr. Orangutan
(He was covered in long, nasty dreadlocks. Gross!)

Going into the blind mole rat exhibit

Maddie was SO excited to have her picture taken.

Massive gorilla

The kids threw their snacks to this ape or whatever it is (don't tell the zoo keeper!) and he followed us all along the fence, begging for more.

Cuties

Excited to see the zebras

The parakeet exhibit was the best part of the zoo! You could buy these little seed sticks and the birds would land right on them.

Morgan was not a fan!

All we needed was a big, red nose!

2009-09-06T19:20:00.003-04:00

Nonna left a bunch of Halloween stuff when she came to visit. This was the best thing we found in the box! It took a while to talk Wesley into wearing it!

Easter Weekend

2009-09-06T18:49:00.011-04:00

We had a really fun Easter weekend, full of fun, friends and the Savior. What could be better?

Easter Egg Hunt
Saturday Morning began with the annual Church Easter egg hunt. We got there a couple minutes late, so pretty much all the eggs were taken! We hid a few for Wesley to find. He wasn't quite sure what to do at first, but enjoyed it once he figured it out.

Maddie, hunting for eggs in the big kids' field.

Maddie with friendsG-Day Game

After a quick nap for Wesley, we went to the G-Day game. This is a free game to celebrate the end of spring practices and kick-off the beginning of summer practice. (At least that's what I found on a website.) ESPN was showing the game, so there were a ton of people there. We all know I really don't like football (unless it's BYU playing), but I had a fun time. The stadium wasn't too crowded, it wasn't too hot, there weren't any obnoxious fans (no alcohol was being sold) and we ran into our friends, the Flynns, who used to live in Athens.

The Flynns

(Katie, I hope you don't mind that I stole these from your blog!)Maddie and Olivia

Not the best, but hey, it's a family picture! They're a rare thing!

Easter Morning
The kids awoke to Easter baskets from the Easter bunny. The Easter Bunny didn't bring quite as much candy as he has in the past.

Wesley and Maddie in their matching Easter outfits. I figure there aren't be too many years left that I'll be allowed to dress them alike. I'm going to take advantage of it while I can!

Easter Afternoon
After a great morning at church (and listening to great talks about the Savior and the Atonement), we had our friends the Hancocks and the Stuckeys over for Easter dinner. The food was yummy and the frienship was great! Wesley slept through dinner AND the Easter Egg Hunt, but all of the other kids had a great time.

April, continued

2009-09-06T18:14:00.009-04:00

As always, better late than never, right?

In early April, Nonna & Poppa drove over the spend a little time with us for Nonna's Spring Break. One day we went to Ink, a children's museum in Gainesville, GA. We had a ton of fun, even though Maddie and Dad had to go to school/work. The museum is like a little community, complete with a bank, restaurant, grocery store, hair salon, vet's office, pediatrician, and MANY more fun things. The kids (Wesley and his cousins, Carissa, Carsten & Caitlin) had a blast!

Playing Grocery-Cart-Bumper-Car

Poppa on the Fire Truck

Sliding, on the LITTLE kid slide
Poppa, trying to get us removed from the premises

Pretending to be an army man

Wesley, the waiter

Officer Wesley

CUTE picture! (Wesley loves Caitlin!)

Princess Caitlin

Carsten, the ferocious mutt

Of course, Poppa brought his motorcycle. Wesley can't wait until he's old enough to really ride!

Crying (who knows why!) and rocking the 80s look!
(Wesley had to wear his Cars shirt every day for a while. Thank goodness that's over!)

And Nonna and Wesley went to eat lunch with Maddie.

Maddie, pretending to love to read. LOL

Wesley, with Maddie's first grade teacher, Ms. Harper.

We LOVE Ms. Harper!!

Mother Goose

2009-07-12T20:51:00.007-04:00

In April, Maddie played Mother Goose in the first grade play, which meant she had the lead role. I was a little nervous because she had a lot of lines and a solo. But I should've known Maddie would have no problem with that! (We are certainly NOT alike in that aspect!) She did an amazing job!! We were so proud of her! (And thanks to Aunt Corie and good friend Steve for coming to watch!)

Trip to Charlotte's 50th Birthday Party--Part II

2009-07-12T19:14:00.020-04:00

My cousin, Natalie, at her riding lessonsMy nephew, Carsten

Watching Natalie rideNicole, my youngest cousin
The kids in the hot tub--which was considerably warmer than the cold pool!

Silly CaitlinWesley, ready to swim (even though he never ventured into the water)Uncle Jamie, the worn-out party planner :)

Carissa, Wesley and Grams

Cousins and best friends :)

Eli, Cristie & kids

NOT a good picture, but a picture nonethelessHappy birthday to Charlotte!!
(My dad's younger sister)
BuddiesThese kids know how to have a good time!

My Grandad (on the far right)

Poppa, Jamie, Carsten and others
Caitlin was DONE

Trip to Charlotte's 50th Birthday Party (March 20-23, 2009)

2009-07-12T17:17:00.010-04:00

My Aunt Charlotte turned 50 this year, so we drove down to Florida for the party my Uncle Jamie threw her. Maddie, Wesley and I took Thursday off (well, okay, Maddie did) and drove over to my parents' house in Florence, SC so I wouldn't have to make the 8 hour drive by myself.

We went down on a Thursday night and spent Friday hanging out at a little carnival/festival that the local Toyota dealership was sponsoring. They had the big pump-up slides, free pizza and an amazing petting zoo that had more animals than most small zoos. We had a ton of fun--and we hadn't even left for Florida yet!

Maddie with Poppa on his motorcycle.

This is probably one of my favorite pictures ever!

Dancing at Nonna & Poppa's (Their favorite thing to do!)

Everyone loved the big jumpy slide! (Including the poor guys that Nonna ran over when she fell down the steps--backwards!! I've never laughed so hard!)

Cookie the Camel

Maddie with the cute kangaroo before it fell asleep for the rest of the day. (Did you know that kangaroos are nocturnal?)

Wesley was scared to death of the goats. (They were pretty aggressive.) It took hours--literally--for him to work up the nerve to feed them.

He never did warm up to Cookie.

Maddie, the Goat Girl
(After we left, that's what she told us she wanted to be when she grew up.)

Maddie, loving the pony ride.

Wesley, not loving the pony ride.

He lasted about 30 seconds. He would've jumped off had I not been there to grab him.

Wesley, on one of the animal handlers seats. When the man asked for it back, Wesley told him that it was his (Wesley's) seat.

Wesley Woo

2009-05-07T14:42:00.014-04:00

I love both of my children equally--differently, but equally. However, when I take the time to think about how blessed I am to have them, I tend to get more emotional when I think about Wesley. Maddie's journey to us was easy--I got pregnant and that was that. But adding another child to our family was a long, painful four-year trip that makes having Wesley in our family that much sweeter.

I can't believe that he is two today!! I look back at pictures and he has changed so much! He started out as a little peanut and by no time, he was a chunky monkey with a 'fro. And now, he's a skinny little stinker who talks in complete sentences and uses words like actually, completely, how 'bout and comfortable. He is also the most polite kid you've ever met. He always asks before he does something and it usually ends with "please." He has a great sense of humor and laughs easily. And his smile completely melts our hearts.

How did we get SO lucky to have such an amazing, sweet, smart child?? As always, I can't help but thank the Lord and LiTrease for the blessing that he is in our lives. He wouldn't be in our family if it weren't for them.

(To read our adoption story click here.)

September 2008

October 2008
Trying on Dad's new glasses

December 2008

February 2009

March 2009
(Maximize the photo to see that faceless--priceless!

(It took Wesley hours to work up the nerve to feed the goats. He is the biggest scaredy-cat we've ever known! He says all the time, "Mom, I skeered.")

(Loving the bouncy slide, which he was surprisingly not afraid of.)

At Aunt Charlotte's in Orlando
(He didn't want to get in the cold water, but he wanted to wear goggles and a swim diaper. Just in case, I guess?)

April 2009

Watching Maddie perform in her school play. He sat just like this the entire time!

At the children's museum, where he had to learn very quickly that shopping carts ARE NOT bumper cars.

Church Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Morning
Could he be any cuter?
At the G-Day Game
That boy LOVES his Bulldogs (much to his Mama's dismay)
May 2009
Being GOOFY

Pure excitement as we make our way to Zoo Atlanta

File this one under...

2009-04-26T22:51:00.002-04:00

"It's a DANG good thing you're cute!"

I have no idea where he got the Sharpie and I was only on the phone for a few minutes.

Thank goodness for hairspray and patience, other wise Mr. Wesley would still be scrubbing the floors!

You can't win...

2009-04-21T12:16:00.006-04:00

If you don't enter!

I'm shamelessly advertising my webstore by hosting a giveaway. This month's prize is a cute "Mommy" (or "Grandma" or "Nonna" or whatever bag).

How to Win...

*If you haven't already signed up to be on our mailing list, sign up.
*If you are on the mailing list, go the the "Contact Us" page of the website and send a quick e-mail. Enter "giveaway" in the comments section.
*Tell your friends about the giveaway! Every friend who mentions your name means another entry for you!
*Giveaway ends APRIL 26, 2009 at midnight.

March-part III

2009-04-19T21:51:00.007-04:00

More Visits from Special People
It's always fun to see old friends. The Scoresbys lived in Athens a little over 4 years ago (right, Mary?) so we were happy for them to visit Athens. We met them at Memorial Park and had fun catching up. What happened to Little Maddie and Baby Grace? They're growing up WAY too quickly!

USA Gymnastics Competition
Maddie's first meet as a Level 3 gymnastics was a big USA Gymnastics Competition right here in Athens at UGA. After only 9-10 weeks of learning routines for all four events, Aaron and I were nervous for Maddie!! But she did so well and had a wonderful time. Maddie is very determined and always happy, no matter what her score. We're proud of her for all of her hard work!!

All Level 3 Gymnasts

I love this picture! You can see how excited she is.

Marching In
(The lighting was really bad, so I didn't get any good pictures of Maddie competing.)

Warming up on the vault (Maddie placed 5th overall on the vault)

Maddie with Ms. Tina, the program director

Ready for School
Wesley asks at least 100 times a day "Where's Maddie?" When I tell him she's at school, he almost always responds with, "I wanna go to skoo." One day he saw a school bus and said, "I wanna ride the skoo bus." I told him he can't ride it until he's big enough to go to school. He tsaid, "I in skoo." When I asked him what grade he was in he said, "First gwade."

March-part II

2009-04-19T21:29:00.006-04:00

A Visit from a Special Guest
In the midst of the Snowstorm 2009, Maddie lost her first tooth.Unfortunately in all of the craziness of the snow, the tooth fairy couldn't make it through the bad weather. She came the next night and left $3 and even dipped her fairy wings in the glass of water Maddie set next to her bed. The water was red and she left beautiful red glitter in her note!

It's TOO Quiet for Anything Good to be Happening
One afternoon during Spring Break, Maddie and Wesley played outside for a long time. Here's what I get for letting a 7-year-old watch a 22-month-old.

The snotty nose totally completes the look!

NOT Happy Campers
I made the kids matching "Big Sister/Little Brother" shirts so we went to the park one afternoon to take pictures. No one was in the mood to cooperate.

Attempt #1

Attempt #3

Attempt #4
Attempt #7

I gave up.

Dress Up
I LOVE it when my kids get dressed for church. They're so cute in their Sunday best. Here's my attempt to capture their cuteness. Can you tell Wesley doesn't want to sit still for a minute? Maddie, on the other hand, would pose all day if she's in the mood.

March-part I

2009-04-19T21:14:00.003-04:00

SNOW DAYS!

Yes, it occasionally snows in Georgia, but I have never seen this much! Once it started, it didn't stop for almost 12 hours. It was a lot of fun! Wesley wasn't feeling well, so he didn't enjoy it as much as Maddie. He wanted to go outside but he didn't like being cold and wet. And we certainly don't have the gear for snow. (Knitted mittens just don't work!!) It was fun to have Robyn and Steve "spend the night" since they didn't have power. Maddie was out of school for two days.

The snow was beautiful, but it made me even more grateful to live in the warm south! Our laundry room was completely full of wet jackets, gloves, socks and clothes. I can't imagine having to deal with that every day for weeks at a time. I love my sunny Georgia!!

Our attempt at a snowman. :)

Wesley wasn't quite sure what to do in the snow.

I love this picture because you can see how HUGE the flakes were.

Robyn, trying to appease Wesley, who wanted to play in the snow but didn't want to wear a coat and didn't want to get wet or cold.

This was at 8:00, I think. I'm sure there was at least two more inches by midnight!

Our ghetto attempt at sledding. Wesley was NOT impressed.
(It's the top from the sandbox that didn't work. )

February

2009-04-19T20:59:00.003-04:00

For Valentine's Day, I got everyone their own pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. :) I even got myself one.

Too goofy to not post. :)

For Family Home Evening one week, Aaron taught us how to juggle with scarves. It was fun, but I'm hopelessly uncoordinated!

(I got these pajamas at a consignment sale. They didn't look so stripperish when I bought them. Needless to say, this was the first and last time Maddie wore these.)

Wesley LOVES to rub things against his cheeks. He spent most of the night just like this.

I just love the look on his face. Ignore the mess in the background!!

Maddie Moo

2009-03-07T21:56:00.014-05:00

Maddie turned 7 on January 23. I cannot believe I am old enough to have a child this age. I still feel like I did when I was 18. (Except for the arthritis I feel in my fingers every morning and squeezing into jeans that are not a size 8--lol).

I always make breakfast in bed for the birthday girl/boy. Maddie LOVES this! She also gets to open presents from Mom & Dad and grandparents on the morning of her birthday. She loves this even more. :)

The day of Maddie's birthday was a big day. Her gym was performing before the Gym Dogs (The University of Georgia's gymnastics team)meet. Maddie invited all the girls in her class to come over before the meet for dinner, cake and ice cream. My mom made the cake. (Amazing, huh?) Then we took the girls to Stegman Coliseum for the big event.

(So this post is about Maddie, but I couldn't resist throwing this one in there!)

That's my girl--excited about the CASH!!

Maddie's friends at the meet.

Right before Maddie goes in with the team to perform.
(Yes, Maddie's chest looks unusually large in this picture. Even though she's had boobies since she was born, the leotard amplifies the situation. And the six hours of gymnastics practice every week have really toned Maddie up. The girl has crazy upper-body strength.)

Here's a random picture of Maddie's room after she's cleaned it. She SWORE she would keep her room clean if I let her keep all of her stuffed animals on her bed just like this. Uh, it lasted until it was time to make her bed the next morning.

FRUSTRATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-02-17T10:06:00.004-05:00

WARNING: This is a whiny post. Feel free to disregard. :)

Okay, I have been going to the gym 4-6 times a week since the second week of January. And not just for a quick jaunt on the treadmill. I'm usually there for at least an hour and half and I always do 45-60 minutes of cardio (treadmill or ellyptical) and then about 30 minutes of weight training. And I've been pretty good about watching what I eat. (Well, there are have been two trips to the Cheesecake Factory, but other than that, I've been very conscientious about what I'm ingesting.) So I've lost a ton of weight, right? WRONG! I've lost a grand total of 3 pounds. THREE LOUSY POUNDS!! For over 6 weeks of work. Yes, I've obviously gained some muscle. But my clothes don't fit any better than they did in December at the height of my holiday eating frenzy. And I'm tired all of the time! Aren't you eventually supposed to feel more energetic when you're working out and eating healthy? I've hit a plateau before I've even lost any weight. Needless to say, I'm very frustrated and will be taking the day off today to be grumpy about it.

25 (well 28) Random Facts About Me

2009-01-29T17:13:00.002-05:00

I posted this on my Facebook page (look me up, if we're not already FB friends!) and thought it would make a mighty fine blogger post. :)

1. I'm doing this because I lie in bed at night thinking of all things I could write in this post! Dumb, I know. (Maybe it's a fear of not having 25 things to write about myself.) But I'm tired of having all of these thoughts running through my head when I want to go to sleep.

2. I went to Alaska after I graduated high school with my grandma. I was disappointed that it wasn't someplace more exotic but I LOVED it and am grateful for the experience. (especially for the memories of the hottie assistant captain who my grandma and I stalked the entire time. lol)

3. I have an embroidery business that I love--it's a way to support an expensive habit. (www.alphabetsoupembroidery.com is my website.)

4. I love keeping in touch with old friends. I think that's why I love Facebook so much.

5. I'm the oldest kid in my family and I wouldn't have it any other way.

6. I never cared if I had a son or not. I definitely wanted a girl. But now that I have a boy, I wouldn't have it any other way.

7. I have no desire to birth any more children (or to even try for that matter), but I want to adopt at least one more chocolate baby boy. I love my little man!!

8. I live vicariously through my athletically-talented daughter. She's an amazing little gymnast for a 7-year-old (in my humble opinion) and anyone who knows me knows that sports are bad for my self-esteem!

9. I am a newly commissioned stay-at-home mom. (Well, work from home is more like it.) I love it 97% of the time.

10. I taught school for 8 years. Seven years in third grade and one year in preschool.

11. I'm done teaching and ready for something else.

12. I have NO idea what that something else is. Law? Dental hygiene? Graphic design? Interior design?

13. I love the south and love living in a small city.

14. I'd love to live in a big city (NYC) for a year or so.

15. When Aaron dies (hahaha), Maddie and I are getting a house on the beach. (My non-beach loving husband says he'll have to be dead before I buy one.)

16. Aaron and I met in December, were engaged in January and got married in May. We were crazy in love (and lust.) And after almost 11 years, there are still things we discover about one another on an almost daily basis.

17. I have very few favorites--I love everything. I love most colors, most kinds of foods, almost all kinds of music (especially country and hip hop (shake it, baby!) ) and most kinds of house decorating styles.

18. I have a hard time making up my mind. (see #17)

19. I get very easily frustrated when people don't follow through or fulfill their responsibilities. But then I feel guilty for getting irritated.

20. I HATE being told what to do. I've been that way since I was in diapers, I think.

21. I have a very strong sense of right and wrong.

22. I am a liberal Republican. (How's that for not being able to make up my mind?) Most of my opinions/beliefs are Republican but I have a lot of Democratic tendencies.

23. Incorrect grammar is a huge pet peeve of mine. I don't like no bad English.

24. I think cleaniness is next to godliness but I hate cleaning! There are so many more interesting things to do. But I feel very unsettled when I have a messy house.

25. I have lots of good friends but have a hard time making close friends. (Probably since everyone at church is only here for a short time since most are in grad school.)

26. Even though I haven't seen my oldest friends in a long time (10+ years for some), I still count them as my best friends.

27. When I'm wealthy some day (okay, stop laughing), I want to start an adoption scholarship program. There are way too many good families who would make great adoptive families but they just can't afford the outrageous fees that most agencies charge. I think everyone should adopt!!

28. I am a very loyal BYU fan. I grew up yelling "Roll Tide" and an surrounded on all sides by crazy UGA fans, but after graduating from BYU, I yell "C-O-U-G-A-R-S" when the Georgia cheerleaders and fans are saying "G-E-O-R-G-I-A." I've promised Maddie a car if she goes to my alma mater. And I don't care how unethical or sleazy you think that is. lol

If you haven't already done this (or something like it) then TAG! YOU'RE IT!!

Hope for the future

2009-01-25T19:47:00.011-05:00

"O-rock Obama" (as Wesley calls him) being sworn in as our 44th president.

Let me just say that Mr. Obama and I do not share the same political views so I didn't vote for him. (I have a lot of mixed feelings about him as a politician.) And I don't think Mr. Bush is the worst thing that has ever happened to the US like so may liberal lefties seem to think. BUT I do like Obama as a person and it thrills me that we live in a country that has gotten past so much racism and ignorance.

I was glued to the television on Inauguration Day, full of emotion and happy tears. I have always been very touched by the civil rights movement but never as much as I was moved by it on Inauguration Day. I could almost feel the absolute joy that I saw on the faces of so many older, black Americans who had once lived in a country where they couldn't eat, drink or even walk where white people did. This was an event that none of them ever thought would actually come to fruition.

Forty years ago we would not not been able to have Wesley in our family. I'm not even sure it was even legal for a white family to adopt a black child. And now Wesley is accepted by society as a part of our family just as much as Maddie is. I take MLK's words very personally, especially when he said, "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood." I am actually a descendant of slave owners (I've been to several plantations that were once owned by my ancestors.) and more than likely, Wesley is the descendant of slaves. But he is my son--how awesome is that? I don't think MLK knew how true his historic words would be. I am grateful to MLK and all of the other civil rights activists (especially those quiet unknowns who had to live with the hate every day) for the sacrifice and hard work that made it possible for Wesley to be in our family.

Life may be a bit more difficult for our Wesley because of the color of his skin. But thankfully Obama as a role model will let him know that it doesn't matter what he looks like--he really, truly can be anything he wants to be if he works hard and puts forth the effort! God bless America!!

Future president? doctor? NBA star? artist? teacher? Dryer repair man?

November

2009-01-02T23:01:00.017-05:00

I don't know what Wesley's doing in this picture (saying "Cheese" maybe?) but I love it.

11/7/208

Maddie having a slumber party with her baby
11/2008

Before her first gymnastics meet
(Maddie won third place over-all, for her class!)
11/08/08

Trying on winter clothes, willy-nilly style
11/12/08

My little man loving the game

Maddie and school friend at
UGA Basketball Game
11/14/08

Too cute to not take the picture!
11/16/08

WARNING: Nudie picture! LOL
11/24/08

11/25/08

Wesley's new shoes
We got these shoes at a consignment sale for $2. Wesley has worn them almost every day since (hence the stains), even though they're several sizes too big.
(The cutie in the background is my niece, Caitlin.)
11/27/08

Twlight Part II

2009-01-02T15:34:00.001-05:00

I LOVE the Twilight books, but the movie was a joke. I laughed through the entire movie--it was SO bad. This spoof is roll-on-the-floor hilarious!

September & October

2009-01-01T13:32:00.014-05:00

I haven't posted in forever and I was just looking through all the pictures I've taken since we got a digital camera. Getting the camera was supposed to make blogging easier. It has, but it didn't come with a time machine to give me more time to do everything I want to. SO, here's a bunch of pictures of my cuties. I'm shamelessly bragging--sorry! :)

Wearing Dad's glasses and a new haircut

9/29/08

Picture Day

10/2/08

"Helping" Mom sew
10/2/08

Cleaning out the Highlander
after watching "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" on our Mommy/Daughter Day
10/4/08

Copying Daddy :)

10/5/08

Mr. Independent after feeding himself chocolate ice cream

10/10/08

Maddie's Jack-o-lantern
10/13/08

A sweet moment
10/20/08

Pebbles
10/31/08

Bam-Bam
10/31/08

Sickening and Disgusting

2008-12-17T14:27:00.004-05:00

This incident makes my skin crawl! Obviously I am VERY pro-adoption, but this should upset any human being, especially mothers. Imagine having your six-month-old son or daughter taken from you and placed in foster care. That's exactly what happened in this case. The laws must be changed.

Giveaway

2008-12-15T15:14:00.006-05:00

I've been crazy busy getting ready for Christmas and I still don't have time for a decent post, but I wanted to make sure everyone has entered my giveaway this month. Just go to my website and follow the directions to win a $25 gift certificate!!

The Modern Stone-Age Family...

2008-10-30T08:55:00.003-04:00

I worked like a mad woman, but I got all of our costumes finished just in time to go to the church Trunk-or-Treat last night. (I mean that literally--I was still adding "leopard spots" to Wesley's costume after we should've already been there. :)

Aaron and I are, of course, Wilma and Fred, with Maddie as Pebbles and Wesley as Bam-Bam. I made costumes for our friends, Steve and Robyn, so they could be Betty and Barney.

Aaron's costume is a little too snug (teeheehee) and mine was way too big. (Plus it was heavy white fabric. The combination of those things was NOT slimming or cute. Hence the jacket. Well, and it was also like 40 degrees. We were all freezing.) Maddie's bone and Wesley's club are paper-mache. My necklace is made of marshmallows. I bought big beads to paint, but totally forgot about them until it was too late. My super-smart husband came up with the last minute idea. Genius! (Thankfully it was cold--otherwise I would've been a sticky mess.)

Wesley was not excited about trick-or-treating. A little kid had on a crazy-scary mask and Wesley flipped out when he saw it. :) It wasn't until we started shoving candy at him that he calmed down.

I'm a Winner

2008-10-23T20:49:00.003-04:00

My friend, Lannae, had a drawing on her blog and I kinda won. :) Lannae was having a random drawing using all the names of the people who left a comment on her last post. (Lannae makes beautiful hand-stamped silver jewelry--it's very original and unique. I haven't seen anything like it before.) And since Julie (Kunz, I'm assuming) was chosen and mentioned my name in her comment, I get a pair of earrings. How sweet is that? I've been in a bit of a funk today, so it totally brought me right out of it. Aren't these just the cutest? You should definitely check out her blog to see all of her cute things!

October 15

2008-10-15T21:26:00.005-04:00

Today is the National Day of Remembrance for pregnancy and infant loss. This includes all babies who have died because of miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, or any other infant death.

So I'm saying a prayer for all of us who have lost babies. Even after 3 years since my last miscarriage, it's easy to remember how hard it is to not have those babies in my life.

The banner below will take you to the blog of an amazingly strong woman who lost her little girl. Be prepared to cry but to also be inspired by her story.

Don't Get Crazy...

2008-10-10T07:31:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Robyn for introducing me to Bon Qui Qui!! This girl is funny!!!!

Help!

2008-10-03T20:24:00.002-04:00

How do I get my references to my blog (on other people's blogs) to show??

GUACAMOYEE!!

2008-10-01T23:16:00.005-04:00

Wesley and I went to lunch with my sister today. (Yet another reason I love my new job as a WAHM mom!! I love freedom!) We ate at a yummy Mexican fast food place. "El Pollo Loco." I really just liked the name and wanted to stop. :) Wesley wouldn't eat the chicken or chips but tore up the guacamole. Just watching him eat it was enough comic relief for a week. (And this video shows just what a genius Wesley is. How many 17-month-olds do you know who can say "guacamole?"

(The video's not the greatest quality, but it's pretty amazing for a phone, if you ask me!)

Yes, we had to change his clothes after the guacamole encounter. :)

Pretty, huh?

2008-09-26T13:32:00.004-04:00

This is what I looked like Wednesday. Well, it's what my feet looked like. There's no way I was taking a picture of what I really looked like. :)

After a lifetime of living with a small, leaky bladder (which was not helped by my dislike of using public bathrooms and being a teacher who can't use the bathroom just whenever), I finally had surgery to correct the problem. Yay! To most, surgery isn't exactly something to get excited about. But I'm happy to be able to jog, jump on the trampoline, do jumping jacks, laugh, sneeze, cough, play kickball, etc. without having to find a bathroom immediately.

So we got to the hospital at 8:00 am and expected to be home by 2:00 that afternoon. Well, I didn't even go back to the operating room until 1:30. And since I couldn't use the bathroom on my own after surgery was over (and that's kinda a requirement), I had to stay the night. I was hooked up to weird blood-pressure-like things that go around the legs all night, as well as a catheter and an iv. It certainly wasn't the most comfortable night of sleep I've ever gotten, but the drugs were good. :) And the food wasn't so bad either. Although after over 24 hours of not eating or drinking, anything would've tasted good!!

I feel good today. Sore--kinda like I've been kicked in the gut by a big horse--but other than that I feel well. The only part that stinks is that I can't lift anything for at least 3 weeks. Aaron's home this week and my mom's coming next week. Hopefully I'll heal well and be able to resume life after that.

In case you were in doubt...

2008-09-16T20:45:00.004-04:00

we really do have the cutest kid ever. :) This picture is proof.

(A teacher at Aaron & Maddie's school took this picture at the school picnic this past Saturday. His face is covered with Cheetohs (although it's not as obvious as it would be on Maddie's skin--a definite advantage of being a beautiful brown color) and he's very sleepy but I think this is my absolute favorite picture of Wesley. He looks like an angel.)

Another dumb test I took...

2008-09-15T21:50:00.000-04:00

56 words

Speedtest

C-O-U-G-A-R-S...

2008-09-15T14:09:00.005-04:00

GO Cougars!! I might not be a sports fan, but I'm a VERY loyal BYU fan!! So I was very excited to see BYU kick UCLA's tail on Saturday 59-0!!

The BYU website has a cool slideshow of the game for all you fans (and you should ALL be fans--just kidding...kinda!). Click here to see it.

The Funniest Thing I've Ever Seen..

2008-09-14T10:52:00.007-04:00

(well it's at least the funniest thing I've seen in a long time) It's Tina Fey and Amy Poehler from SNL, if you don't recognize two of the funniest women ever!!)

THIS WAS THE FUNNIEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN, BUT THEY KEEP PULLING THE FULL-LENGTH CLIPS OFF OF YOUTUBE. SORRY!!

My Newest Creation

2008-09-14T10:14:00.006-04:00

After a friend asked me to make some pants to go along with an appliqued shirt, I decided that I love making pants that match my shirts! I found super cute Halloween fabric at Wal-Mart. (My least favorite place in the world, but they do have cute, cheap fabric.)

I will be selling this outfit (well, not THIS one) on my website www.alphabetsoupembroidery.com, if you're interested. :)

Birthdays...

2008-09-12T22:06:00.004-04:00

So I was thinking about what to do for Maddie's seventh birthday party. Yes, it's in 4 months. Yes, she's only 7. I know. But I love doing over the top birthday parties. (And Aaron hates it.) So I was looking at a friend's blog and I found a site called "Birthdays Without Pressure." (It sounds like "Parents without Partners" or something like that.) There's a Birthday Pressure Quiz you can take.

I scored a 7 out of 20. I'm not as bad as some, but more stressed than others. I'm still deciding what to do. Maybe I'll just take the easy way out and go to Pump It Up, the local blow-up castle place.

In Remembrance....

2008-09-12T09:43:00.006-04:00

WARNING: There is some not-so-nice language in this video. It's not vulgar or gross--just the reaction of firefighters watching an airplane smash into the WTC tower.)

I can still remember September 11, 2001 like it was yesterday. I was teaching 3rd grade remedial reading with a bunch of rowdy but lovable boys. Someone came into my room and said the twin towers in Atlanta had been bombed. (There are two towers, called "The King and Queen" off I-85.) I climbed up on a table, turn the wall-mounted TV so my kids couldn't see it, and watched (I had muted the sound) in horror as the second plane flew into the second WTC tower on live TV. Several parents came and picked their children up. I wanted to run to the security of our little duplex, as well. I'm honestly not sure how I got through the rest of that day. I was pregnant with Maddie and all I could think of was that I was bringing this sweet little thing into such a ugly world.

Curious Wesley

2008-09-10T08:06:00.004-04:00

Wesley isn't content to play with his toys when he's in my sewing room. He wants "shissors" and my little machine. And he's super-fast. So before I knew it, he was on top of one of my tables and into everything!

(He's offering me the tool, I guess in the hopes that I won't make him get down. Sneaky kid!)

Oh, Wesley isn't exclusively walking yet, but he does take a few steps here and there. He's totally capable of walking, but finds it much faster and easier to crab-walk everywhere. He is talking. Yep, talking. The kids is 16-months-old and speaks in complete sentences most of the time. "I want blankey." "I want milk." "Mom, Get me." And he counts to 5 and can say his ABCs up to F/G. And most people can understand most of what he says. People in public are so funny about it--they look at him, then look at me and ask skeptically, "How old is he?" I love telling people he's only 16 months!

(I don't know why the camera is making everything look blurry. It's my new camera-argh!)

Beach 2008

2008-09-08T19:39:00.022-04:00

So we went to Ormond Beach back in July, but I just got the picture CD from my dad.
Wesley "inherited" Aaron's love of the beach. (ie--They tolerate it because they love Maddie and me.) They spent most of the day inside so Wesley could nap and Aaron could eat ice cream and watch ESPN. Actually it worked out perfectly, because Maddie and I could stay on the beach for at least 10 hours, so I was grateful to not have to give up my beach time to sit in the room while Wesley slept. We have decided that when Wesley's older, they'll probably end up playing golf the entire time Maddie and I on the beach. Sounds good to me! :) As long as I have a good book and some good SPF!!

My grandmother very generously lets us use her week at the beach. (Thank you, Grandma Charles!!) We went to the beach for the third week in July and my parents came the next week. Our times there overlapped, so we got to spend time with my mom and dad before Aaron, Wesley and I left to go home. Maddie was a lucky duck and got to stay an extra week with my mom and dad. Aunt Corie, who lives in Athens, was there with her boyfriend, Josh. They were going to bring Maddie home when they left at the end of the week.

Aaron--being a very good sport--with Maddie and my cousins, Nicole and Natalie (He will only do this one the last day we are at the beach, right before we go in for the night. He HATES the sand.)

Sweet, sweet!

My Aunt Charlotte, Uncle Jamie and cousins, Nicole and Natalie

Wendi, Aaron & Wesley on Poppa's dune buggy (This thing is famous! Seriously! People will stop us and ask to take pictures when we're riding down the beach.)

The little fish.

Wesley LOVES to swim! Once we figured out he could float with the swimmies, he was a happy little boy! He's in the baby pool here, but he loved the big pool too.

Sassy pants

Wesley, tolerating the sand, sun and salt water

Since Wesley was still crawling when we went to the beach, he developed his own kind of crawl--the crab walk. His poor little knees couldn't take the sand, so he starting crawling on his hands and feet. He's been doing it ever since. (That kid is FAST!!)

My family is BIG into the beach. My parents bring nice patio chairs to lay in, big umbrellas to provide shade, coolers, a boom box, a dune buggy that acts as a fun way to cruise the beach and a way to get everything down to the sand every morning. My dad also has an icee machine that he hooks up to the dune buggy's battery to make shaved ice on the beach. No need to run upstairs! Maddie LOVES going to the beach and she loves going with her Poppa and Nonna!

Silly girl!

Not happy with sand on his face. :)

Playing

Maddie and her beach twin :)

Maddie, on her way to becoming a professional surfer.

Flying a kite--it's hard enough with one spool of string, but two?
Playing Bocce ball--Maddie's telling everyone which ball is closer to the target ball

My youngest sister, Corie, and her boyfriend, Josh, drove down to the beach. Josh brought his skim board and Maddie tried learning how to do it. It didn't quite work, because she ended up stepping in front of the quickly moving board and it smacked the side of her foot. She was pretty upset and ended up falling asleep from the exhaustion of staying up too late, playing too hard and crying because her foot hurt so badly.

Maddie, the budding actress, pretending to be scared of the cemetery at the pirate-themed mini golf place.

My little beach bum.
If she ever runs away, we know where she'll be!!

Welcome to the 21st Century

2008-09-05T17:49:00.007-04:00

I finally did it...I bought a digital camera!!!! Target was having a sale on an 8 mega-pixel camera that I couldn't refuse. So now I can actually post current photos. YAY!

I'll start with little Wesley. He was a MESS last night after dinner and Maddie was taking a shower, so I decided to throw him in the kitchen sink. Yes, we have another bathtub, but this turned out to be SO much easier. (Well, other than the splashing.) I think they should install industrial-size sinks in every house so parents can bathe their little ones without killing their backs and knees!!

Wesley had so much fun playing in the sink. He loves the water and loves to swim! Put some swimmies/floaties on that kid and he's off.

Disregard the HIDEOUS fake green marble countertops!!! I know they are so ugly, but they're not high on my priority list of home improvement projects.

I've jumped on the bandwagon...

2008-08-28T22:21:00.004-04:00

Okay, so I was NOT going to read these books. I mean, they're about vampires and werewolves and raging teenage hormones. But I needed something to read while I was blowdrying my hair at my sister's house and they were the closest thing available, Holy cow--I have pretty much done nothing but read these books since I started on Tuesday afternoon. I finished the first three; now I've GOT to get the fourth one tomorrow! I'm not sure exactly what the draw is because the books are really about vampires and werewolves and raging teenage hormones. But I'm Team Edward all the way now. (I told Aaron I wished he was a sexy vampire and he just looked at me like I was a lunatic. lol)

PS: I'm diasppointed in the guy they got to play Edward in the movie. He's no where near who I pictured in my mind--he's not "greek god" enough!

Day at the Park

2008-08-19T07:32:00.005-04:00

The Cousins

My grandparents were passing through town on Sunday, so we played hooky from church (we meet in the afternoon) and went to Fort Yargo in Winder to see them. Cristie & Eli and their kids met us there as well. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins! The only problem was the sugar bees that were EVERYWHERE! Thankfully they don't sting!!

Carissa (8 1/2 years old)

Carsten (6 1/2 years old)

Maddie (6 1/2 years old)

Caitlin (4 years old)

Wesley (15 months)

The cutest kid ever!

(I know you all think you have cute kids, but seriously, Wesley is the cutest! lol)

SHOCKING!!

2008-08-18T10:52:00.002-04:00

Two posts in less 5 minutes--it's amazing. (Can you tell I'm infatuated with this new computer. LOL) This one is too funny. (Thanks, Elizabeth!)

YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car): Pinkie Highlander

YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fav hobby/craft, fav weather element + “Tour”): The Sewing Sunny with Rain Tour

YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie): Spumoni Double Chocolate Chip

YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name): W-CLA

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal): Blue Goldfish

YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born):Wendi Birmingham

YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first): ClWen (That one's weird!)

SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink): The Brown Orange Julius

STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy): Love Spell Dove Bar

WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names): Irene Maury

WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Highsmith Hollywood

SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Halloween Gerber Daisy

CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”): Watermelon Jeany

YAHOO!!!!

2008-08-18T10:41:00.002-04:00

We're FINALLY in the land of the fast computer people!!! We got a new (well, new to us) computer and it is like 1,000,000 times faster than our ANCIENT computer. We bought it in 2001, so it was very much time to get a new one. I can actually go from one blog to the next in less than 5 minutes. :) I might actually post more than once a month and make comments on everyone else's posts. :) YIPEE!!

Camp Nonna 2008

2008-08-12T09:31:00.011-04:00

I know it's been almost 2 months since Maddie went to stay at my parents' house for the annual "Camp Nonna," but better late than never, right? My mom sends an e-mail just about every evening to let the moms and dads know what they're kids are up to. Carissa (8), Carsten (6) and Caitlin (3) are Eli & Cristie's kids. (Cristie is my sister and Eli is Aaron's brother--they're married. Very redneck, I know!) This is REALLY long, but since this is about as good as it gets when it comes to journaling/scrapbooking, I'm including it for my posterity. :) I might even make one of those blog books someday. :)

FRIDAY
We had a fairly uneventful drive to Gainesville, Florida. for a mini-reunion with Nonna's parents and sisters and their families. Carissa watched movies in the front seat between Nonna and Poppa, and colored in her coloring book. The ones in the back also watched movies and colored. Caitlin listened for quite a while with her headphones. Later someone discovered the sound was not coming through them very well, if at all, but that didn't seem to bother her. Most the time she just watched without headphones anyway.

Poppa decided they would fill up cheaper at KFC if we just bought a bucket of chicken. Everyone said we loved it (before we stopped). Turns out we didn't, and luckily we had lots of snacks. When we arrived in Gainesville we went to the hotel to unpack. We were very excited about everything. We then went to Aunt Judy's where we swam until everyone came back from going out in the boat with Grandpa Smith. Aunt Barbara gave us some stickers and we had fun putting them on some of our older cousins. John and David were the most cooperative. Aunt Betty brought homemade BBQ. We stayed until around 9:45 and then went back to the hotel where we went to sleep pretty quick. Maddie and Carissa had the bed and Carsten and Caitlin took their turn on the floor.

SATURDAY
We had to be at Judy's at 6 AM Saturday morning so we set the alarm for 5:15. We were going tubing down the Ichetucknee River. Everyone knew where their bathing suit, water shoes and t-shirt were, so as soon as we got up we grabbed it and put it on. Everything went very smooth. We got the impression we would eat at 6 and then leave around 6:15 - Aunt Barbara brought donuts. It was closer to 7 before we left. We wished we had come over later and had a few minutes more of sleep. We were on the river pretty early and had lots of fun. It was pretty crowded at first but not impossible to maneuver. Carsten actually swam for quite awhile. All the kids took turn on all the rafts and floats. It did start to rain at the end, with lightening and thunder, which made us--especially Maddie--nervous. A ranger in a kayak told everyone if they saw lightening to get to the side of the river (what difference would that make?? Except make it easier for them to fish your body out if you were hit by lightening??) Maddie kept saying "What did he tell us to do??" We told her but she was convinced it was something else and we were not telling her. No one heard anything else but her and she had no idea what she heard. Since it was overcast it was not too hot and so while the water was cold it didn't seem too bad. We collected some empty snail shells and what we think are frog eggs to see if we can hatch them here. We got out at the parking lot our car was left in. Uncle Randy did not realize where he was and he went on to the next take out point - and our keys were in his car, so we had to wait for him. He did not enjoy the final leg of his trip. It was rainy and cold and he was miserable. He certainly wished he had gotten out at the right place. Since we had to wait quite awhile for him we wished he had also.

Aunt Betty asked Carsten if his parents were going to rest while they were away. He said "no they are going rafting, shooting, and snow boarding. " First 2 sound plausible, but snow boarding??

SUNDAY
Luckily everyone was able to sleep a little later. Poppa misunderstood the plans and almost took all 4 kids down to breakfast before Nonna was out of the shower. Luckily she stopped him in time. We all enjoyed breakfast - we got what we wanted the first time through and then Nonna got anything else we wanted instead of us going to get it.. We really liked the idea of all the choices. Poppa was really glad he did not bring us by himself! We packed the room up and finally got on the road around 10:30. The only luggage cart was missing so we had to carry everything down. We all did a great job carrying our stuff.

One of the DVD screens would not work. After most of one movie, Carsten said he could fix it and he did! He said the wires were tangled and that what made it not work. He said he also blew on all the connections - "I did everything I know to do" . Whatever it was it did start working!

We stopped at Wendy's for lunch. The line didn't look long but it took forever! We were running behind and had no time to spare to get to Florence and get the car returned. No bathroom breaks!! We got home just in time but Poppa's key would not unlock the front door! The gate was shut and it was not made to open from the front. He tried to put Carsten over but he wasn't going for it. Maddie tried next. Poppa wanted to just hold her over and drop her, Nonna said "NO, NO!! Let her climb down!" Maddie agreed she wanted to do that. No wonder Carsten did not want to do it (he got as far as being held over the fence-Nonna didn't realize what Poppa was planning on doing) Maddie climbed down with no problem and opened the gate.

It was about 10 or so before we got in bed. Maddie and Carsten had napped in the car. Everyone went to sleep quickly- except for Maddie. That is when she starts thinking. She told us in the car about the time she started crying half way through the song "Too Late to Apologize." She was in her parents' bed and was looking at the pictures on the computer when she was little and started crying. She seems a little young to be that nostalgic! Originally Maddie was going to be sleeping in Corie's room, Carsten is in Matt's room, Caitlin and sleep in the guestroom. We spent so much time playing in Corie's room, that is now the playroom. When anyone wakes up they are to go in the "playroom" and watch TV or play without waking anyone else. Maddie is sleeping on the loveseat in the setting room.

MONDAY
We thought Maddie was the first one up at 7 AM but Carissa was already in the playroom watching TV. Carsten was up next and then Caitlin got up. After breakfast Carsten, Maddie and Caitlin went outside to swim and play. We played outside most of the day, even eating lunch on the tower. (Actually we ate off and on all day.) Caitlin became a really good driver in the Barbie car, especially once she learned how to back it up. Carissa went swimming and playing outside for awhile, she spent a lot of time reading. It started raining and so everyone played with water, measuring cups, cinnamon and anything else we could find at the kitchen and bathroom sinks. We watched TV and then cleaned up all of our mess all over the house. We changed our clothes, and went to Hobby Lobby to buy craft projects. We were very impressed at how large the Hobby Lobby is compared to ours at home. We then went to the Dollar Store to spend the $2 we earned by being so good on the trip to Florida. Carissa knew just what she wanted - Candy!! Carsten told her she should buy something that would last (of course just how long does anything from the Dollar Store last?) He ended up being tempted and spent $1 on candy. Maddie had two bags of candy picked out and then saw some lip-gloss and switched one bag for that. Caitlin saw the pack of blow pops and wanted that. She had two in the pack picked out for Nonna and Poppa, two for her Mom and Dad and two for herself - then she saw the toys and picked out two toys. Carsten wanted a police toy and finally he found an FBI set with the party stuff, so he was happy. We came home took quick showers and had a snack of Macaroni and cheese before going to bed at 9 PM. Everyone fell asleep really fast. Maddie looked asleep but soon came downstairs and said she couldn't sleep because the house was too big. Nonna told her that her house with the basement was probably the same size or maybe bigger. She said that maybe this house is too little then. She agreed to fall asleep on the couch in TV room and let Nonna walk her up later. She fell right asleep.

Our BEAUTIFUL cakes

TUESDAY
We had French toast for breakfast and then we went to the movies. We sat in the very last seats way up high. We thought Racing Stripes was about a car race so we were really happy to find out it was about a zebra who thinks he is a race horse. All the animals could talk when there were no people around and they were real funny. We all really loved it! We were the last ones to leave the theatre so we went up front and danced to the music playing. Maddie thought we should write to the people who made the movie to tell them how much we liked it. After the movies we went to the park and played for about 1 1/2 hours. It was breezy and not too hot so we had fun. We made friends with an 8 year old girl and her 2 year old brother. Maddie played a lot with the 2 year old since he reminder her of Wesley. We came home and ate pizza and then played outside with the Barbie car and swam. Everyone was getting a little grouchy so Nonna had everyone come in and rest and watch TV. We also played Old Maid and Go Fish card games It is Corie's birthday today so we called and sang Happy Birthday to her! Later we had fun playing with fondant like it was play clay. We were making decorations for a cake we will decorate later in the week. It took a lot of powdered sugar so it was quite messy. After cleaning up we went outside again to swim and play. We ate dinner and got ready for bed. We then did a craft coloring bookmarkers we picked out at Hobby Lobby last night.

Making s'mores

Caitlin did let us in on a little secret when she was asked where she got such stinky poop from she quickly said "my Mom!"

Maddie decided that wants Nonna and Poppa to live next door to her so she can see her parents! None of us have time to think of our parents during the day but at night when we are falling asleep we do...

WEDNESDAY

We painted some bird houses and then played and swam. We went to Hobby Lobby to find birds to decorate our masterpieces. We had packed a lunch so we went to the park to eat and play. A Boys and Girls club also had the same idea so we did not stay as long as we did yesterday, We went back home and went swimming for a long time. A little arguing started so Nonna reminded everyone that contention is from Satan and if you want to follow Jesus you have to be nice. Almost everyone said they wanted to follow Jesus not the devil. Caitlin quickly said "I want to follow the "debil" When asked why she said "my momma does!" Her momma is getting blamed for everything, from stinky poop to the "debil!" Caitlin really swam a lot today. Carsten was in and out so he could drive the Barbie Car and shoot his FBI gun. Caitlin got out for awhile to ride a long with him. It is Carsten's job to put it in the garage every night to be charged up.

Maddie and her masterpiece

Carsten ended up getting real chapped from playing in his bathing suit too long. He didn't want to put anything on it, but finally agreed when he was told "the secret of men " Baby powder! He now knows the real secret of real men. After dinner Carsten tried swimming for a nano second before his rash started burning and Poppa but "butt cream" on him. Carissa and Maddie tried swimming for a little while but it was irritating where their bathing suit had rubbed. Caitlin had no problems so she swam - with her life jacket of course. Carsten remembered we had not had our traditional ice cream in bed yet, so we made sure we did that. After calling our moms we danced and sang a little before joining the bed train - we have prayer and then make a train to drop everyone off in their beds. We take turns at being the first one dropped off.

On the dune buggy with Poppa

THURSDAY
The day did not start off smooth for Carsten he could not find his green FBI gun from the dollar store. He was in crisis mode all morning. It was too hot to go outside and we all still had a little rash from our swimsuits yesterday so no one went outside much in the morning except too look for the gun, of course. Carsten did enjoy his breakfast - he asked for oatmeal and ate 2 servings. Our late morning craft was sun catchers - well Carsten insisted on using regular paint so not much sun shines through. We then made started making those plastic things that you iron to melt the plastic bits together. Carissa was the only one who actually made any. Everyone actually had a good time separating the colors. We spent a long time working on that. After dinner we went down to the creek at the end of the road. We had a great time using sticks to get the nasty plant growth out of the creek. We were trying to see how much we could pile up; It felt much cooler and a nice breeze was blowing.

We did our normal evening cleaning - we clean up all the rooms every evening, picking up the toys etc. Nonna found Carsten's gun and told him in exchange he had to be nice to everyone otherwise it would be taken away and he could not get it back until he returned from his mission.

Oatmeal for breakfast!

FRIDAY
We started out with everyone wanting oatmeal. Carsten discovered he loved regular oatmeal with maple syrup. He even wanted it for lunch! We decorated our cakes today. We were able to pick how we wanted it to look - how many layers, size (within reason), and color. We used the fondant pieces we made earlier in the week. We are bringing them home - hopefully without too much melting. Caitlin took a lot of time finding the perfect place for - well the most accurate description is a blue turd looking piece- she moved it around a half dozen times, because in her words it is a " talking carrot".

Singing, dancing & being SILLY!

When Poppa looked at the cakes when he came home she pointed out the talking carrot to him also. Maddie made a little tiny one for Wesley also. We all went outside for swimming and popsicles. We played, watched TV and Caitlin fell asleep - the only day she had taken a nap. We worked on our "family project." We picked out our family members and Nonna painted them. We painted some - you will be able to see why Nonna painted and we were the executive directors. We stained the wood ourselves, by putting our hand in a plastic bag so we did not get dirty. We also said what we wanted our title to be, which explains why Caitlin says "I love my family" (on the front)" and "my chicken butt" on the back - her words!
Poppa came home and mowed the lawn and then we went to the dump with him. After we got back we went down to the creek. We continued our "job" cleaning out the creek while Poppa started a fire. We started cooking our hotdogs over the fire - some wanted them uncooked. A neighborhood dog came and sat and watched us. After hotdogs we made s'mores. We came home took showers and then gathered up all of our stuff to pack. We had prayer and our bed train took everyone to bed. Everyone is looking forward to seeing their parents tomorrow.

Cleaning out the neighborhood creek

Summer Time

2008-07-11T15:06:00.004-04:00

Since school's been out, we've been without a digital camera. Actually, we never had one to begin with, but since I was the grade chair at school, I was "in charge" of the digital camera, so I used it whenever I wanted. Lame, I know. We bought a really great SLR camera right after Maddie was born, so we hate to spend the money on a new camera. (Okay, so that was 6 years ago--I guess it's probably okay at this point to buy a new camera.)

ANYWAY, blogging just isn't any fun without pictures and since we don't have a digital, I don't blog. However, thanks to my niece, Samantha, I have a few pictures of Maddie and Wesley at Lake Hartwell on the 4th of July. We had a GREAT time! Wesley saw the lake and said, "Pool!" Maddie loved going out in Uncle Lawrence's boat. She even got on the knee board. Aaron skiied and I kneeboarded and we both regreted it for the next three days because we were SO SO SO sore! I could barely sit down. Pitiful, I know.

We're off to the beach first thing tomorrow. We love going every year--we're very thankful to my grandma for sharing her time share with us! We'd be vacationless without it. :)

PURE EXCITEMENT!!!!

2008-06-22T23:00:00.006-04:00

I am VERY excited about our latest purchase!! Most of y'all know I have a small embroidery/monogramming business that has kept me busy in my spare time and given me a little extra spending money. Well, since I won't be returning to work next year, I've been looking for a way to earn a little more money. So, we decided to invest in a commercial embroidery machine. :) The Baby Lock BMP8 is like the queen mother of embroidery machines. There is pretty much nothing is can't do. Caps/hats, shirt sleeves, pants legs, ribbons, small bags--ANYTHING! I can't wait to get started making things! I've already got a bunch of patterns ready to go.

Hopefully I'll have a website up and running sometime in the very near future. I'll be doing burp clothes, onesies, flip flops, pillowcases, baby blankets, monogrammed shirts, "I'm the Big/Little Sister/Brother" shirts, Birthday shirts, koozies, and lots of really cute acrylic items. I might also get into doing boutique dresses and other children's clothing...we'll see what the market is for those.

If you need anything monogrammed/embroidered, just let me know! With my new software, I can convert most jpg or other photo files to an embroidery design.

Three Times in One Night...

2008-06-17T22:27:00.002-04:00

I've been sitting at this computer for hours now, feeling my butt go numb, but I finally have a chance to check out everyone's blogs, so I'm taking advantage of the kids being asleep and my "24"-addicted husband being downstairs watching his favorite show for hours at a time. (He's trying to catch up on all the "24" episodes. It's much too intense for me.)

Anyway, I've been tagged! So if you haven't done this yet, YOU'RE IT!

Three Joys: My family, The beach, The gospel

Three Fears: Continuing to gain weight at such a rapid speed that I explode, The creepy crawly furry centipedes in the basement, That we'll have to go on welfare since I'm not working next year

Three Goals: Lose weight, Catch up on my scrapbooking (which I haven't done for years), Be better at doing the things I know I should be doing (personal prayers, scripture study, FHE, etc, etc, etc)

Three Current Obsessions/Collections: Embroidery (I'm getting a fancy new machine on Friday!!!), Reading (The summer is the only time I have to read.), Exercising (HA! This is a lie I try to talk myself into every day!)

Three Random Facts: I'm becoming more liberal (maybe open-minded is a better way to put it) and less straight-laced the older I get, I love GA but would like to live overseas or some place exciting for a little while; I want to live in a small town for the rest of my life; My life is full of contradictions that totally confuse my husband. (See random facts #2 & #3)

Maddie

2008-06-17T19:08:00.018-04:00

Disclaimer--this post is all about how wonderful we think Maddie is. We realize that no one loves their kids like parents do, but we just want to brag on her. She deserves it!

Maddie had a GREAT Kindergarten year. She had a wonderful teacher who taught her SO much. Maddie has most of her addition facts memorized, is reading on a mid-first grade level and won several awards this year. Here's a run-down of her honors:

Golden Gator--This award is like the typical "student of the month." Students are honored at the monthly awards ceremony. They get a certificate and a medal. Maddie wore hers around the house for a week.

(Sorry the picture is so lousy, the lighting is dark in the gym and I was sitting way far away. I zoomed in as much as I could.)

Georgia Young Author Award--One child from each grade is chosen to compete in a county writing competition. Maddie won for the Kindergarten at Ila Elementary and then she won the county level as well. She was honored at a Board of Education meeting. We'll find out if her piece was chosen from the regional level at the end of the summer. From there it could go on to state. :) Maddie is a great writer! We LOVE reading the stories she brought home from school.
(Maddie with the other Ila students who won and their teachers. Mrs. Pearson is in brown and our principal, Mrs. Jeffers, is to the left of Maddie.)

Fastest Girl--At our school's Field Day, Maddie won the 40-yard dash (or "41 dash" as she called it) for her class. They had all of the winners from each Kindergarten class compete and she beat all the other fast runners. She was very excited and her daddy was VERY proud.

Citizenship Award--At the "Kindergarten Celebration" at the end of the year, Maddie was awarded her class's Citizenship Award. This honor goes to the top boy and girl in each class who have shown exceptionally good behavior over the course of the year. Maddie only "pulled 4 cards" the entire year! (Some kids pull that many in a day.) Thankfully she's one of those kids who are little angels at school--despite being (way) less than perfect at home.

(Maddie and her friend, Caroline, who also won her class's Citizenship award.)

Gymnastics--Maddie didn't win any awards per se, but she really had a great year at the gym. She did SO well at the gym's "Tumble Bee." (They have a performance every year to showcase the gymnasts' talents.) She was the only one in her class who remembered the entire floor routine. Maddie is in a more advanced class and her teacher said that she has really matured and made great strides this year.

Big Sister--Maddie made a great transition from being an only child to a big sister. It wasn't always easy (imagine having to share the attention and affection of your parents after being the sole child for over 5 years!) But Maddie absolutely adores Wesley and he loves her just as much. She is so good at helping--she'll fetch anything we need and usually with only minimal complaining. :)

We are really proud of our Maddie Moo and can't wait to see what else she has in store for us!

The Happenings...

2008-06-17T18:45:00.002-04:00

Not as in the new scary movie that looks just as dumb as every other horror movie, but more like the "what's up" at the Clanton home.

First and foremost, WE HAVE AIR!! After enduring record-breaking temperatures with only a window a/c unit, the air people finally came out this past Friday. (Only 3 days after they promised.) Things were starting to get a little heated in our house, and I don't just mean the air temperature. Being in a hot house is miserable and makes for very cranky moms, dads and kiddos. Kudos to all of those people (like my mom and Aaron) who didn't grow up in air-conditioned comfort like I did. Call me what you want, but I was a brat without air.

Second, summer school is over. I actually enjoyed teaching it. Not just because it meant I was in a nice air-conditioned school building while my poor family was suffering in the heat of our house, but because summer school wasn't about grades or paperwork or behavior observations or modificiations or interventions or collecting money or parent conferences. It was about TEACHING. Novel concept--I know. I taught 5 boys for 3 hours a day. These 5 kids failed the reading portion of the CRCT (our state's criterion-referenced test that every kid has to take every year.) These boys SHOULD NOT have failed the test because all five were plenty smart enough to score well, but when you finish a test that has 7 one-page essays/poems/passages and 35 questions in 10 minutes, you're probably not going to pass with flying colors. So, these 5 lucky lads got to spend their first two weeks of summer in school. It was definitely a humbling experience for all of them. If only teaching was like this all the time--I definitely wouln't be "retiring."

Third, we joined the YMCA--again. I HATE going to the Y. Actually I enjoy working out (when I can get motivated enough to go), but the Athens YMCA is old, dirty and smelly. Seriously, the building is over 100 years old and it smells as such. (Especially the youth locker room. OMGosh!!! It's vomit-inducing.) But, the Y has several pools, it's close to our house and it doesn't require us to put a second mortgage on our house like most gyms around here do. So, we plug our noses and go 4-5 times a week. Aaron and the kids mostly swim and I do the elliptycal machine. I'll look like that trainer Jillian from "The Biggest Loser" in no time. HAHAHAHA!

Fourth, Maddie is going to "Camp Nonna" this Thursday. (Let me just say that Maddie and Wesley have awesome gradnparents! We don't see Aaron's mom and dad very often but when we do, they shower our kids with love and affection. And my mom and dad come to Athens/Atlanta all the time, so they're always around. Mom has all of her grandkids so spoiled--the kids look for little presents as soon as Nonna & Poppa walk in the door.) Several years ago, my mom started having the grandkids come spend a week at her house in the summer. They call it "Camp Nonna" and they LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Last year was Hawaiian-themed. I'm not sure what this year will be. Maddie has said, "I'll miss you when I'm gone, but I'll be having so much fun I won't be sad." :)

So those are the big goings-on in our house. Nothing big about it, but we love summer--everything is SO much slower and less-stressful. :)

I'm alive...

2008-06-07T12:10:00.002-04:00

So, this is pretty much how my pen & paper journaling goes. I'm all into it for the first little while and then I get caught up in life and forget about it.

Life has been it's crazy, typical self lately. School got out last week but I'm teaching summer school this week and nect to get a little extra money. Well, we THOUGHT it'd be extra. Unfortunately the a/c in our house went out Thursday evening. The guy came to fix it, but he had to order a part that won't be in until Tuesday. TUESDAY!! I'm so wimpy--I wanted to go to a hotel until then. Uh, no dice--we've borrowed a window unit from some friends and we're all stuck in our bedroom. It's like walking into a sauna when we open the bedroom door. It's similar to our yearly trips to the beach since we're all in one room with one bathroom and it's FREEZING in the room and HOT outside. Except that there's no beach, no pool, and we have to change our own sheets. So really, it's just the bad parts of the beach trip. :)

How Many of Me?

2008-05-12T20:44:00.001-04:00

HowManyOfMe.com

There is
1
person with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

I wonder how accurate this is. Am I the ONLY Wendi Clanton in the US?

Our little man

2008-05-11T20:53:00.008-04:00

Wesley-one day old

This week was filled with a lot of "anniversaries." As I posted before, Wednesday was our 10th anniversary. It was also Wesley's first birthday. And Thursday was the first anniversary of the phone call that changed our lives. And Friday was the first anniversary of the day we brought our little man home. Almost every time I looked at my watch on Thursday and Friday, I could remember exactly what we were doing a year ago. It was definitely a week filled with happy memories and warm feelings.

Wesley with his big sister and cousins

So with this first anniversary of Wesley's arrival into our family, I wanted to share our adoption story. I was asked to write this for the local chapter of FSA (Families Supporting Adoption--a group for adoptive parents affiliated with LDS Family Services). It's kinda long, so don't feel like you have to read it. For those of you who don't know our story, it might be interesting.

Wesley and mom

The Long Road

Our journey to adoption was unexpected (and an amazing lesson on patience and realizing that things will not always go the way I had them planned.) After being married for about three years and not renewing my birth control prescription, we got pregnant. It was as simple as that; totally unexpected but very welcome! And like most other couples, we assumed that it would be just as easy when we decided to have another. So when Maddie was 18 months old, we started actively trying to have another. Our plan was to have 3-4 children, all about 2 1/2 years apart. After 6 months I went to the doctor for my yearly visit. She said to not worry--it's very normal to take up to a year to get pregnant. Well, a year came and went and still no baby. I was starting to get very anxious so we decided to get medical help. And so began the infertility roller coaster.

Dealing with infertility is almost like an addiction. It was on my mind almost every second of the day. I could not stay off the internet. I was constantly researching the latest and greatest ways to get pregnant. (There are LOTS of crazy ideas out there!!) I charted my morning body temperature for weeks at a time; I urinated on a little ovulation predictor tester every morning for months; I used this little microscope thing to look at the particles in my saliva to see if they indicated I was ovulating; I took months' and months' worth of fertility drugs that made me emotionally unstable; and we unsuccessfully tried artificial insemination on several occasions. My OB/GYN and I were on a first-name basis because I saw her about every other week when we were in the thick of it all. Nothing seemed to work. We were tired and worn out--physically and emotionally and financially. But I still wanted another baby. I didn't want Maddie to grow up as an only child.

I'm not sure why we decided to look into adoption. It was always something we thought we do when we were "finished having kids of our own." We met with Matt Watson, the former director of the LDSFS-GA agency and felt very inspired that adoption was our answer. We took the paperwork home and were prepared to have it all filled out in a month. But within two weeks of meeting with Matt, we found out I was pregnant. Yay! All of our worries were for naught. After three years of trying, I was pregnant. This was the answer to our prayers and the infertility issues were just to make us stronger, blah, blah, blah. Well, before I even made it to the OB, I miscarried. It was during that awful time that I decided I was finished. I had to get off the roller coaster, even if it meant Maddie would grow up without siblings. It was just too much.

Fast forward a year and a half later. Adoption had been in the back of our minds, but we were both so emotionally drained from all of the medical things we had gone through, neither of us said anything about it. Then one day I got a phone call from my mom about a girl in my parents' old ward who was pregnant, working with LDS Family Services, and looking to place her baby. The girl's mom knew about our struggles and thought we should be the parents of her daughter's baby. I knew immediately that this baby was supposed to be in our family. I tried not to get my hopes up, but I just couldn't help it.We were going to have a baby and I was excited! We were ready to drop everything and drive four hours to go and meet this girl and convince her that we were supposed to be her baby's parents. And after doing nothing with the paperwork for almost 18 months, I had it all finished in about a week. Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we had hoped. I was sad that this little boy would not be in our family, but I was surprisingly okay with it all. This incident forced us to stop being lazy and take action. I'm actually very grateful for this experience--we'd probably still be just thinking about adoption if all of that hadn't happened.

Well, fast forward again to May of 2007. We got the best phone call of our lives! It was the day after our 9th anniversary and Brad called to let us know that a birth mom had chosen us. Us! She had chosen us to raise her little boy! We were ecstactic, to say the least! And the best part was that the little baby was already born! We got to meet him and his birth mother the same day we found out about them. It was the most amazing experience we have ever had. Birthing a child is an awesome experience--I'm grateful I had that blessing. But hugging the woman who is giving you her child--her flesh and blood--there are just no words to describe that. The bond is instant and forever.

We were extremely blessed to spend a lot of time with Wesley's birthmother, LiTrease. She tried to get us a room in the hospital and security bracelets so we could take care of Welsey, but the hospital wasn't very cooperative. (I don't think they really knew what to do with the situation. It's probably not something they deal with often). We spent hours talking to her--we wanted to find out everything we could so we can someday tell Wesley about the amazing woman who gave birth to him. LiTrease let us choose a name for him(even though she had to fill out the paperwork) and she was totally at ease when my sisters, mom, nieces and nephew came to the hospital to meet Wesley. It was almost like she was trying to make everything easier for us, like we were the ones who had it rough.

Welsey and LiTrease

The hardest part of the whole experience was when it was time to say goodbye. It's a strange thing to feel opposite ends of the happiness spectrum at the same time. Even our little five-year-old Maddie could sense the ironic nature of the situation, "I feel so happy we get the baby, but I'm so sad because we have to leave LiTrease." LiTrease's suffering seemed to be the cause of our immense joy. We spent almost an hour watching her tell Wesley goodbye. It's an hour of pure emotion that I hope to someday tell Wesley all about. I want him to know that he had the love of three parents.

Life with Wesley has been wonderful! He fit into our family from the moment we met him. He is laid-back and easy-going. He has the cutest dimples and chub rolls that we just can't get enough of. His laugh is contagious and his sister loves him more than life itself. We were blessed to have Wesley sealed to us for all time and eternity on January 5. That sweet experience itself was worth every minute of anguish over our infertility. For us, adoption has become more than just an answer to our prayers. It has totally changed our lives. We are very open about our adoption and love to tell our story to everyone (including strangers!) We try to dispel the uninformed opinions and stigmas that most people seem to have about adoption (especially open adoption.)We wish everyone could experience the sweetness that adoption has brought to our family!

A VERY happy family!

No deal

2008-05-11T20:50:00.003-04:00

So I didn't get the preschool job. ARGH! I was so irritated when I got the call. First, I've never not gotten a job that I applied for, so my pride felt a little stomped on. Second, the only reason I didn't get the job was because I'm LDS. I really don't think I've ever been that discriminated against before. The director told me that she felt like they were really missing out on a great opportunity, a great teacher. I said, "Yep, you are." :)

Whatever. Totally their loss.

Ten Years Ago Today

2008-05-07T21:56:00.006-04:00

Today is a big day in our house. It's our 10 year anniversary.

It really is hard to believe. I've been married to Aaron for a third of my life. CRAZY!! ANd most days I still love the ol' man. :)

Not A Little Baby Anymore...

2008-05-01T18:51:00.013-04:00

Our Almost One-Year-Old Cutie Pie

Wesley turns one year old next Wednesday. It's hard to believe!! And that means it's time for a haircut. We LOVE Wesley's little fro, but we haven't been the greatest at maintaining it properly. Black hair requires a lot of work. And Wesley has always cried when we tried to pick it out, so we've left it alone. Needless to say, we get lots of advice (most of it unsolicited) about what to do with his hair. So, we decided to start over and try again. Since we'll be pretty busy next week during his actual birthday, we went and got his hair cut tonight. He is still cute as a bug, but he looks so grown up! Where did our baby go?

You know I love the South...

2008-04-23T21:43:00.002-04:00

but right now I'm irritated that living in the South can mean sharing my air with small-minded, uneducated people.
So, I'm "retiring" from public education. I love teaching; I hate all the other crap that goes with it. Working full-time in a career that seems to be spinning out of control because of the rules, regulations and beliefs of people who have never worked in education or who have forgotten what it's like to be a teacher, is just more than I can handle. So I'm not returning to the school I've been at this year. I LOVE the school, but it's just too much. (I didn't intend for this post to be about this, but I guess I needed to preface a little.)
Anyway, so I'm looking for a part-time preschool job. I LOVED teaching preschool last year. I loved the other teachers (not my two crazy assistant teachers who weren't worth a toot) and I loved the kids and their parents. And I got paid very well. Unfortunately I worked for a crazy lunatic who micromanaged everything (including how many paper towels we could use every day--seriously) and who needed medication to manage her OCD/ADD/Bi-polar disorders. A friend of mine who I worked with last year told the director of her new preschool at a local Southern Baptist church that I'm interested and that she should hire me. The director called and we talked tonight. All was going well until she said, "So Lisa told me you're Mormon." "Yep," I say. And she asked me to explain my beliefs. No big deal. She said it's not an issue for her, but she can foresee there being problems for some of the old men who sit on the church's preschool board. I have to write a "statement of faith" to let them know what I believe. She really stressed that I need to talk about my "walk with Jesus." (What does that mean, anyway?)
Seriously? In this day and age I have to defend my religion? I could understand that they don't want someone who's not Christian to work there. I mean, it's a church preschool that teachers Bible verses and stories and has chapel every Wednesday. And I understand that as a private facility they have the right to hire who they want. But good grief, who does not know that Mormons are Christians?

This is why I don't introduce myself with "Hi, I'm Wendi, and I'm LDS." Because I have had SO many friends and co-workers, who after knowing me for a while, say "You're Mormon? Really? You seem so normal." (I know--normal is relative and I'm not sure I'm actually a normal Mormon, but that's beside the point.) I wonder if I would've even been friends with some of these people if they had known from day one that I was LDS.

So, I wonder if I should include a picture of my family with my resume. LOL I'd probably have to write a statement of genetics to explain how Wesley is black and his parents are white. :)

Spring Break is Definitely over...

2008-04-20T09:55:00.002-04:00

So I haven't posted since the first week of April. That's because Spring Break is over and we're all back to the daily grind of getting up (too early), going to school, working/learning/playing (mostly work for the two old folks in our house), coming home, eating, and going to bed. Not much else happens during the week, except for cleaning the house, taking Maddie to gymnastics, grading papers, doing things for my side business (monogramming/embroidery), umpiring (well, that's Aaron but he's gone most nights), dealing with a teething 11-month-old, doing Primary things, making meals for those who are sick or just had a baby--you know not too much to keep me busy. :) Seriously, I just have too much going on to post. In fact, I haven't even gotten on to anyone's blog in abotu two weeks. CRAZY! I can't wait for summer!!

It's finally been confirmed...LOL

2008-04-05T14:44:00.000-04:00

TV Reviews

Self-Portrat

2008-04-04T21:03:00.004-04:00

All right, my friend, Amanda (we go way back to high school--running around Brunswick with Leah and Elizabeth at all times of the night) challenged readers of her blog to post self-pictures. I told her I usually avoid pictures, but that I would do this just for her.

We've changed a little since most of you saw us last.

(Okay, I am totally cracking myself up over this one. Am I clever or what?)

CLEAN house

2008-04-04T20:11:00.012-04:00

I LOVE having a clean house. And it used to make me crazy and grumpy when my house wasn't spotless. Unfortuntately my standards have slipped some in the past few years--especially this year. Working full-time will do that to you! Something has to give and it's usually housework.

Since I'm out on Spring Break this week and the weather has been cold, overcast, and just plain ol' yucky, I have been cleaning and organizing like crazy. For the first time in a long time, everything in the house (j the first floor--the basement doesn't count, although it's almost there) is clean. Well, okay, Maddie's room isn't but it's almost clean. I've stopped cleaning it and started packing up things that she leaves on the floor when she goes to bed at night. Mean mom, I know, but she's such a packrat (between the Clanton and Smith genes, she's doomed!!) and I can't stand the clutter that she thinks she has to have. Watch out--you'll probably see her on Oprah someday talking about her packrat disorder. :o)

Anyway, if you've ever been to my house and a door was closed, it's because the room was messy and I don't like people to see my messes. If you haven't been to my house, this is how my house ALWAYS looks. LOL

Living Room

Kitchen

(with UGLY fake green marble kitchen counters that I will someday replace)

Dining Room

Master Bedroom(The walls are really not purple--they just look that way at night. It's a pretty off-blue, I promise.)

Master Bathroom

My Closet

Kids' Bathroom

Wesley's Room

Maddie's Pigsty

They're BACK!!

2008-04-04T09:46:00.004-04:00

Call me what you want, but I had to post after watching the Today Show this morning and seeing my middle-school hearthtrobs on the show. :) Yep, New Kids on the Block are back together, baby.
And I might be going alone, but I will be going to see them if they come to the Atlanta area on their new tour. :)

Do bad things come in three?

2008-03-26T21:27:00.002-04:00

So first we had some lunatic knock on our door at 1:00 in the morning and scare the holy crap out of me. Then Maddie smashes her finger in the door and has to have big time surgery. And last but not least, I was called to be Primary President at church. (That's the children's organization for those who aren't familiar with LDS jargon.) Okay, so being Primary president isn't a bad thing, of course. I'm actually looking forward to it. However, it's a BIG responsiblility. When the bishop asked me if I'd accept the call to serve, I looked at Aaron (who is in the bishopric) and gave him a semi-evil eye. He just said, "I told him May would be a good time." :)
TIFANI--this makes me miss you and your sweet kids!! I keep thinking of our awesome Primary in Provo! Things are a little different in the real world. :)

Little Man

2008-03-21T22:34:00.004-04:00

In case anyone was wondering, Wesley is doing really well! He continues to get taller and taller. He looks so much more like a little boy than a baby. :( He's crawling around and starting to get into everything! He has two teeth and it looks like he's working on a third. Here are some pictures I took a couple of weeks ago. He is the cutest little thing ever! :)

(Not the cutest picture of Aaron, but it shows Wesley's cute laugh. I wish y'all could hear it!)

My recent projects

2008-03-21T22:28:00.003-04:00

So I had a million things to do but it's so much more fun to do frivolous, unnecessary things, right? Here are two shirts I made for Maddie. I wish I had time to embroider/monogram all of her shirts!

More craziness.

2008-03-19T18:18:00.009-04:00

I know, I know...three entries in one week. It's a minor miracle. But this really has been a crazy week!

So yesterday after school one of the teachers down the hall comes to get me (I was talking with another teacher down a different hall.) She said Maddie needed me. I wasn't worried until I saw several teachers walking down the hall with her. Maddie's crying and holding her right hand up in the air. They said she had gotten her finger shut in the door to my classroom. These are solid oak doors, so they're pretty heavy. I took her to the school nurse to get it cleaned up. She looked at it and told me I should take her to the doctor. I was really thinking it was not a big deal but Nurse Mitzi said she was worried it might get infected.

Well, Dr. Nelson looked at it for less than 30 seconds and told me that she was going to need surgery to fix it and it was out of his area of expertise. So he referred us to a plastic surgeon. So we drove over the Dr. Lober's office and he scheduled surgery for the next afternoon (today.)

Apparently Maddie did an excellent job smashing her little right pinky finger. The top of the bone broke off and the nail matrix (the part of the nail that's under the skin that's attached to the bone POPPED OUT and was lying on top of the finger. It looks as bad as it sounds. And since this would be such a painful surgery, they were going to have to do it in the hospital and put her under general anesthesia. CRAZY, huh? I mean, it was a smashed finger. I was hesitant to even take her to the doctor. Thank goodness I did!

The surgery today went well. Maddie was great about not eating after midnight and waiting for 3 hours at the hospital. Post-surgery was a different matter. No one mentioned to me that children react very emotionally and almost violently to anesthesia. When I went back to the recovery room, Maddie was crying a little bit. But after a few minutes, she was almost hysterical. She was thrashing and kicking, screaming "I can't breathe." (Apparently the oxygen made her throat dry and her nose very stuffy.) She kept getting this wide-eyed, scared-to-death look in her eyes. She didn't know where she was and asked over and over, "When are they going to fix my finger?" It took a good 15 minutes to calm her down. I kept looking at the nurses and they said, "This is normal." NOT FUN!

Pre-surgery (and happy--even after 3 hours of waiting)

Not for the squeamish
Post-surgery

Scariest night of our lives

2008-03-16T08:50:00.003-04:00

Okay, so this seems like just a bad dream now, but last night the scariest thing EVER happened to us.

At about 1:15 AM, I hear knocking and the doorbell ringing. I wake up and think it's just in my head. No, I hear it again and it's definitely real. So I wake Aaron up and he's like, "I'm not answering the door." Well, about 30 seconds later it happens again and this time I hear horrible sobbing. I am SCARED TO DEATH at this point. I'm scream-whispering to Aaron to DO SOMETHING and he's looking at me like I'm crazy. I go to Maddie's room because she has a room that faces the street and I don't see anything. The knocking stops but no one ever comes off the front porch. I'm shaking from fear. We finally get it together enough to get our phones to call the police but both of our phones are in the living room and we're afraid that the person at the door might see us through the window at the top of the door. I'm thinking this is some kind of gang initiation where they use a lure to get into someone's house and then do who-knows-what to the poor homeowners. Then Aaron says "What if it's Corie?" Corie is my 19-year-old sister who lives in Athens. So then I really start freaking out.
Just at that moment, I see two police officers walking through our yard. Apparently the person at teh door was the girlfriend of the our neighbor's son. Sheila is out of town and they have been staying at her house. (Sheila looks our age, so I didn't even know she had a child that old.) I guess they got in an argument and he beat the holy crap out of her. She ran out and was trying to get help. The worst part is that she was holding their 18-month-old little girl the entire time this jerk was beating her up.
When she couldn't get us to answer the door, she ran next door and they called 911 and helped her out. (It's a house of 4-5 men, so I guess they weren't as scared as us.)
And apparently this isn't the first time he's done this because when he police asked her if this had ever happened before she said, "Yes, btu never this bad." The jerk also stole her car but when the police asked her if she wanted to report it stolen, she just kept saying, "I just want my car back."
Being the nosy neighbors that we are, we watched the rest of the drama through Maddie's blinds. The police took pictures of her face and neck. Later, the deadbeat came back to the house. (Apparently he wasn't afraid she would call for help. Stupid girl. She's probably bailing him out of jail as I write this.) So, we got to see the police arrest him. I swear it was like watching an episode of "Cops."
Oh, and of course both kids woke up in the middle of the craziness. Maddie was just as freaked out as I was, and Wesley was like, "Hey, everyone's awake--party time!"
CRAZ,Y, CRAZY, CRAZY!! I have never been into guns, mostly becuase they scare me, but after last night, I told Aaron that we are getting one.