Spreading some Christmas Cheer

Well....here it is almost Christmas and 2 of the 4 of us - sick! I'm getting better (finally have my voice back) but still have all the drainage, Courtney is still not feeling 100% (stomach issue) and poor Jason, he is really feeling awful, miserable in fact. Courtney was kind enough to share the viral bug with him - he's got it all! I feel bad for him - he NEVER gets sick and to get sick right at the holidays - AWFUL!!

So with all that, I thought I would share some Christmas Cheer with some pictures taken days ago of Christmas around here :o)

The Moody Christmas Parade

Here is CJ and Hannah (CJ's good friend from the ball field this fall and soon to be spring). They fight like an old married couple but can't bear to leave each other. This is before the Christmas parade that both Courtney and Lauren (Hannah's older sister) were in for the MYA. Of course we have the elves...LOL... Courtney and Lauren. The next one is of the float.

Courtney & CJ in front of our tree

The Moody 3rd Grade Christmas Program

Courtney was choosen by the Music Teacher out of all the 3rd graders to read a poem at the beginning of the program. It was really cute and she did a FABULOUS job!! I know myself and I would not have done as well as she did.

We still have a few other things to take pictures of....Christmas Cookies, Decorating our Gingerbread house (we've done 2 others but one was for Brownies and the other was with the Self's) and of course, Christmas itself!


I have pictures on my other digital card that I still need to download - like our Christmas tree and all our decorations :o)

Hope to blog more frequently!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! We'll be celebrating with just the 4 of us today and then later this evening, our friends will be over and we'll prepare our 'plan of attack' for shopping tomorrow. Yes, you read that right, I'm shopping on Black Friday! I haven't done that in years but there are a few items that I just have to get...LOL

Oh also wanted to let everyone know that all Courtney's test results are in and everything is normal!! She might have just had a bug but she is all better now :o) Perky and hungry! CJ is still complaining about his ear so his recheck is Tuesday and we'll go from there!

Again, hope everyone enjoys their turkeys and don't get too full :o)

Update...

All of Courtney's bloodwork came back normal - including her thyroid!! We are just still waiting on the 2 cultures - urine and throat. Hopefully we'll find something out early next week. Also, she will be getting an appointment to see a pulmonary specialist for her lung capacity. We'll find out when next week too.

We are getting things done around here. Yesterday, Jason came home around 3 and we worked on the garage and then had dinner then...put the curio pieces in. This afternoon, we'll finish up the garage and he'll be able to park in it :o) I have to charge my camera batteries to take pictures so you'll have to check back later for those. I also worked on my half of the den yesterday and it's lookin' good. There is only 1 box in the whole room :o) I must say, Jason and I are glad we can take our time since we've already changed a few things...lol One day it'll all be done.

Well...it's off to Old Time Pottery this morning along with some Christmas shopping (at least I hope to). Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Success!

We finally got all of mail we've been missing!!! Our regular postman was on vacation and the person filling in for him - never delivered our mail and he isn't sure why. I actually got to meet him and he stated everything will go smoothly from that day on....we'll see...LOL

On other news...CJ still has an ear infection and we are now on our second round of antibiotics. We'll go back in 2 weeks and see how everything is - his left ear is still hurting him. He has to continue his Singular too. As for Courtney - we are still waiting to hear about the blood results (should be today). Her stomach has been bothering her like someone is sitting on her stomach or pushing it from the front or back. She went in yesterday afternoon - so we are now waiting for blood results (her sugar was 100 which is good I've been told), the culture from her throat swab, her urine (dropped that off this morning) and I think that's all the testing. She did get some med to coat her tummy to see if that will help. We are going on the start of the 3rd week like this plus added to all the tummy aches - she is extremely exhausted and has no energy. Please keep her in your thoughts.

Also, please keep a few others in your thoughts and prayers if you don't mind...Madisen (our neice) - she broke her foot last week but I've heard she is managing well on those crutches. She got her cast on yesterday and not sure what color she got. Her and Courtney have a lot in common lately :o) Also, my mom's best friend's husband is having surgery on Monday - please pray for them. It's nerve-wrecking and I pray everything goes smoothly and has an easy recovery.

That's it for now. I'll update about Courtney once we know what's going on.

Annoyed!!

Ok - we've been here for at our house for a while now. We have received mail addressed to our new address (just before Halloween) but now....OH NO we don't receive ANYTHING!! Can you tell I'm annoyed?

I know some have stated you sent things to us and if we haven't responded - it's because we haven't receive it. Not even forwarded mail. So guess where we'll be going before CJ's re-check in the morning - YEP - the Post Office.

Ok...just had to get that off my chest - it's been bothering me.

I'm off to finish some things in the den - we only have 4 boxes left in the room :o) but of course - we still have more in the garage. Our den is looking like a den now.

Pictures to share

I know I have been crazy busy but I haven't forgotten about my blog.

Courtney ended up having the start of strep and now CJ has an ear infection (found that out Friday). Jason took me to Fleming's for our anniversary dinner and it was wonderful!! We celebrated his birthday yesterday and I even got him an ice cream cake :o)

So here are some pictures....

Here's a picture of Courtney with her Fall Softball trophy. It was a nice little gift. She also was the receipent of the 'Team Spirit' award (made me cry) for being at every game and practice plus participating when she had a cast on. It is such a nice plaque that she can't wait to hang it up in her room :o)

Where do I begin?

It's been so hectic here that I'm not sure where to start!

I can say that Courtney is officially done with Fall Softball. They had their final doubler header last night and tied their first game but lost their 2nd one. I'm so proud of all the girls - they work well as a team and that's what it is all about. Their end of the season team party is next Saturday afternoon.

Both the kids are sick. Actually CJ is getting over his cold but Courtney can't shake her stomach ache so we'll be heading to the dr's shortly. She hasn't eaten much in 3 days and is extremely tired. I know the move doesn't help but we are getting her looked at.

As far as the apartment goes - Jason is finishing up today - the last few items and then cleaning. We'll be turning in the keys and everything today. Which reminds me, I have to get the addy changed with the post office.

We've had 3 plumbing issues since being here but all is taken care of. In the end of all the plumbing issues, the whole problem - the landscaper knicked one of our outside pipes whenall going over it with the tractor so now we have a small trench in our backyard but all is good :o)

Jason's mom has been here and a huge help with everything. She has organized a lot of things here and has brought some great ideas from her visit with Joe and Teri to share with us here. So thank you Teri for all the ideas too!! We used the pantry drawer idea for snacks and going to definitely use the metal shelving idea for the tubs in the garage.

Ok...it's off to take Courtney to see the Dr. You all know it's bad when she doesn't go to school because it hurts that bad and she is uncomfortable. She NEVER wants to miss school.

Today is the day!!

I can't believe it - we have our final walkthrough this morning at 9am and then close on our house at 11am! Hopefully everything is completed and the closing will be on schedule. If not, we'll try and close tomorrow instead if we are not happy with what is not completed (but hopefully everything is).

Courtney had a softball game both Sunday afternoon and last night. She did awesome!!! Unfortunately they lost the one of Sunday but won last night which was huge since they went up against a good team. In last night's game, Courtney made a triple and then a single!! It's the team's 15th game but only Courtney's 4th! I'm so proud of her :o) There is only 4 games left for Fall ball but she is all ready to head into Spring Softball :o) She has found something she really enjoys.

CJ enjoys going to Courtney's softball coach's house. So we spent yesterday afternoon there (about 2 hours) even though I didn't have to do the walkthrough at 1pm. I can see me spending time there with him during the next several months.

I feel really bad about forgetting something until yesterday when I was paying attention to dates so....HAPPY 7th ANNIVERSARY MARTI AND JAMES!! I hope you had a wonderful day and here's to many more years!

OK....off to finish getting ready to go to our final walkthrough and closing :o) Wish us luck!

Wow!!!

I still can't believe my baby turned 4 yesterday!! CJ did have a wonderful day and spent the evening at the ball field watching Courtney play softball for the first time without a cast on!! We took cupcakes for the whole team and siblings plus coaches last night. The girls were thrilled. We had to do something special for him since his birthday fell on a Tuesday which includes both Brownies and softball game.

My main computer monitor is acting up and I need to get either a new digital cord or a new video card. So if you have IM'ed me, I am not ignoring you - I just can't get it. I had left my computer to do something and the next thing I know, the monitor is off (in sleep mode) and I can't get anything. My email was still open and haven't been able to get some ecards I know were sent to CJ. Thank goodness Jason got me this laptop or I would be lost!! I don't even have everyone's email to email them to let them know. I turned off my computer and now can get recent emails sent to me via the internet access to my email account.

Anyways, today is shopping for either the cable or card and then fixing my monitor along with finishing up getting ready for my scrapping retreat this weekend. Oh and don't forget, packing too is in there...LOL

It's Monday!!!

Yes you can hear excitement in my voice when writing 'It's Monday!!!' Not everyone's typical reaction to a Monday but it's a BIG day here!! Courtney is getting her cast off this afternoon :o) Jumping up and down with her!!!

Let me share what has been going on here. Courtney's softball team joined the Homecoming parade that was Friday early afternoon so I was voted to help with that small float. Let me just say the girls had a blast!!
If you click on the pictures, you can see it enlarged. You can see our softballs with names (Courtney's isn't like the rest since the mom who made them only had a batting lineup for it and of course, Courtney isn't batting yet). Courtney was fine with it and enjoyed one on there no matter how it was looking! We painted 2 pink rockets (their team name is Moody Pink Rockets) on black butcher paper and on the end of the trailer. CJ was actually in the Tahoe riding and having a good time!

Then Friday night we went to the high school homecoming game since Courtney's friend Ashley was raising the American Flag. It was neat to watch.

Saturday brought another busy day...a birthday party for a Brownie friend and then going to watch Ashley cheer at the 95lb. football game. They also had a small homecoming celebration which she was presented at half time.

After the game, we celebrated CJ's birthday with Ashley's family. CJ had to have another CARS related birthday. Thankfully, Walmart has come out with another type of CARS cake. He picked the cupcake cake! I still can't believe my baby will be 4 tomorrow!! These years are just flying by!

Then Sunday brought us looking at the house again and we have carpet and lights in the basement!!! I forgot my camera so no pictures but I'm sure we'll be there again this week and I will definitely take it.

Another Sunday event - a softball game. Courtney got to play!! Yep, you read that right - she played with cast! The other team didn't have enough players and decided to use a few girls from the 10 and under team which meant an automatic win for us! All coaches decided to make it a practice game and Courtney was able to play!! That made her day!! She even hit the ball at her first bat and got on base! She eventually got out at 3rd but she did awesome!! Wish I had my camera but I didn't.

All this leads us to today - CAST OFF!!!! Hopefully the dr. will give us extremely good news and maybe she'll play tomorrow night but if not, she'll be playing soon!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week! I'm hoping to post more but with the scrapbooking retreat I'm attending this weekend and hosting - I need to get ready!

Hectic!!

That word best describes life here!! Let's see about getting you all updated....

• Courtney is still in her cast but has only a little over a week left before it comes off (October 8th @ 2 pm to be exact!).


• Both kids have picked out what they are going to be for Halloween (yes early I know but with how things are in October - early is good for us). Courtney and her best friend Ashley are being identical bats that actually will match both Ashley's sisters - Emily will be a sweetheart bat and Taylor is being itsy bitsy spider. CJ is going to be Mater's Mechanic (unless he changes his mind AGAIN...LOL)


• Packing is going....and going slowly. We have officially ONE box packed!! Several others are started but not quite done.

The basement is moving right along! We have drywall up and all the outlets ready. Our home inspection is next Thursday in the morning.

You can see some of Jason standing in the doorway that will just have casing and will be the main entry into the basement area from the house, right off the entry stairs.


The back door area will be the door from the garage area (main reason of having it is to get furniture in and out of the basement room).

I'm forgetting where the light fixtures will be but they are suppose to be there too. I'm sure they'll get up before next Thursday.

Here's our entry way. They just did this too! It is really coming along and we are so excited.

I'll leave you all with a few more inside pictures of our house....

Don't faint...2 posts in 2 days...LOL

Well, we just have to share that this will be ours...















We will be closing on OUR house on October 16th :o) It all became definite today and just had to share. It's a 3/2 with a split foyer. What is nice is that we are having the builder finish the basement and that will add approx. 400 sq. ft. more to the house!! There is also approx. 14x14 wood deck in the back. Either on Saturday or Tuesday, I'll go back and take a few more pictures of the inside and share.

It's just the PERFECT deal for this house :o) I still can't believe we are doing it but we are truly excited!!!

It's Official!!!

I know we thought the day would never come but....just had to share that it's official....CJ is completely potty trained!!! Thanks to Misti for telling me about giving him loose change to go like Hunter's PopPop did during the summer - it works. CJ calls it 'Kinz Cash' just like on WebKinz. I am sure he is well over $10 in change but he is thrilled with every piece of change he gets - even if it's just pennies sometimes!!

Today he actually took off the smaller potty seat and just wants to sit on it normally. I can't believe this is complete. He now just wants to ride the bus with Courtney and go to school. His time will come and I'm already not looking forward to it. I definitely will miss him when he goes to school - he is truly a momma's boy :o)!

More softball pictures....

Here's some recent pictures from Sunday's first of two softball games...














Click on the picture of her swinging to see the softball :o)

So, the Moody Pink Rockets WON!!! Then they had about 1 1/2 hours to wait until their next game. All was good! We got back to the field and the girls started to chat and relax a bit more while the other game was going on. At about 4:10 (game at 4:30), the girls went into a different field to start to warm up. Of course, I was chatting with a teammate's (and classmates) dad and gramma when all of a sudden I heard someone crying. Yeap, I didn't even have to turn around to make sure - I KNEW it was Courtney. Coach Wendy was bringing her to me and yelling for the dugout mom to get the ice pack. She fell in the dugout. What basically happened since I didn't witness is this...

New ball field they have never played on - happens to be a baseball field. The entrance to the dugout - well, there is 2 - one is a ramp and one walks straight in BUT has steps to go to the field. No other field has steps that Courtney has been on. She had originally walked up the ramp like all the others but didn't realize steps into the dugout from the field. She fell with all her weight on her left arm.

So basically, we went from playing ball at the 1:30 game to going to the ER after her being in the outfield at the start of the second game since she really REALLY wanted to try and play!


Thank goodness for her teammate/classmate's mom - she works in the ER at St. Vincent's East in Trussville and got us in quickly!! She even followed us there to make sure we got in without waiting too long! She had x-rays and ended up with a wrist brace to go home in until getting to the Orthopedic for a cast. Yep....1, 2, 3 strikes your out but for Courtney - she is out for at least 4 weeks with a buckle fracture near her wrist. Not near the growth plate which is WONDERFUL news!!

Courtney is going to be the team's bat girl until she can get back out there and play. On Oct. 8th - we go back to the Dr. and take the cast off. We are keeping our fingers crossed and praying that she'll be able to play again before the end of the fall ball season (which is Oct. 28th).

They did play last night and lost. Their record is 2-2. She enjoyed getting all her teammates and coaches to sign her cast :o)

Thank goodness it's Friday!!!

We have been on the go all week!! Today is the first day NOTHING is planned during the day, after school or tonight!! I'm so thrilled!! But this will be considered our 'weekend' as Saturday and Sunday are packed!!

Courtney had her first softball game Tuesday night. Jason was able to attend too!! They played a team from Clay and did really well!! They won 5-4!! Courtney is close to the end of the lineup for hitting but she got to on their second time at bat. She had a ball and I believe a strike (due to a foul ball) and then of course, my child had to get hit by the pitcher! She got it right on her left elbow! She did get teary-eyed but went to walk onto first. Sore, yes but stayed in the game. After a few other batters, she made it home!!! She was thrilled!!

I promise to get better pictures next time but when it was her first game, I was just too busy watching and cheering for them that I just didn't get that great of pictures. Plus at least the next game, they will be wearing their uniform shirts since 3 were not ready by game time.

Talking about game time....we learned at Wednesday practice that Leeds added a team and now we will have 2 games on Sunday afternoon (1:30 and 4:30) and then our game on Monday night (7:30).

So as you can see, Sunday will be busy at the ball field. As far as tomorrow goes...I'm taking CJ to see Thomas the Train in the movie theater at 10am, he has a birthday party to go to at 1pm and Courtney has practice from 2-4 (which Jason will be taking her). Then the week continues to get busy!

On the good notes....Courtney no longer needs to wear glasses for school work or reading - her eye sight has improved!! Plus, she went to the dentist and has no cavaties (will go back in 6 months for a check up). The sad note...she'll need braces after her baby teeth come out due to her awful overbite! I'm blaming Jason for that...LOL

And the fun begins...

Monday night started it all - softball practice!! So the rest of the week's activities...

1. Tuesday was Brownies
2. Wednesday is studying hard
3. Thursday - softball and continue to study for her test
4. Friday - Jason is actually off work - woohoo
5. Saturday - more softball practice

All this doesn't include what I already have to do with grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry and the normal every chores I try and accomplish.

PLUS... CJ is still doing wonderful with the potty training!!! He finally pooped in the potty last night and there was HUGE excitement around here. Jason ended up calling me and letting CJ tell me about it since I was on my way home from the Brownie meeting. He is also staying dry all night long too!! We are so proud of him :o)

Off to get today started....school bus time!

Keeping fingers crossed!!!

I know now that since I'm posting about this, it will jinx me but I'm so thrilled right now. CJ is actually wearing underwear - no diapers, no pull ups... UNDERWEAR!!! He started yesterday afternoon and has only had ONE small tiny accident but finished in the potty :o) He actually had a pull-up on through the night and stayed completely dry!! He did right before he went to bed and then as soon as he got up!! We are so proud of him. Hopefully the good streak will keep going!

We did take the kids swimming this morning and I got some great shots. Here's one that I really like...
Both Courtney and CJ can catch some air when jumping into the pool. That's something that CJ isn't afraid of at all. He actually likes to go under and hardly gets tired of jumping to either daddy or me. We think we'll keep this up - Sunday mornings are not busy at 10am at the pool which is best for the 4 of us. Plus that way, Jason gets to go too and watch how well both of them do in the pool. It's off to find CJ some swim lessons soon due to how much he isn't afraid of the water!


We got a call from Courtney's softball coach today. They have practice tomorrow from 6-7:30pm. Thankfully I already got Courtney a glove but need a size 11 softball to practice with since we got a size 10. I guess that means that Wednesday we'll be going somewhere to find her cleats since she'll need those for the games. We'll learn everything else she needs tomorrow night as far as practice wear and game uniform. Oh the fun begins!!

Then on Tuesday....we have our Open House type meeting for girls interested in joining our Brownie troop. These are the girls that were personally invited by my current Brownie troop. The 'official' one from the Girl Scouts will come proably in September or October (which I don't like it to be that late). Here's to another busy week and so far, I've only listed a few activities on each day!

The Life of a MOM.....wouldn't change it for the world :o)

CRAZY!!

Yes, you read that right - I think I'm CRAZY!! Today we signed up Courtney for softball. She is thrilled as one of her classmates (new to the school) is signed up also. The opening day is Sept. 4th. Games will be on Tuesdays and Sunday afternoons and it will depend on her coach if they will do Saturday practices. This is more 'fundamentals' softball - hitting, pitching, throwing, catching and baserunning. She can not wait for it to start.

IF she likes it, she can sign up for the spring season which is more 'intense' and not so much fundamentals. Also, at the time (spring), CJ is eligible for catball (basically t-ball and running bases with no keeping score) OR soccer. He has been wanting to do baseball and soccer for so long that he'll get to choose.

So with her now in softball, that means another added thing to our schedules. The games will conflict with Brownies (Tuesday nights) but thankfully Jason is willing to help out and take Courtney and CJ to some of her Tuesday night games while I deal with leading the Brownies. I know all the moms will completely understand when I'm not in attendance.

She has put off dancing for right now. Her teacher, Ms. Jess, has decided not to return to Sidelines and will keep us updated where she goes to or if they decide to open another dance studio (like when Courtney first started). Courtney really enjoys dance but doesn't want to be the only one in the class - you know her - the social butterfly :o)

So, we are off to find some youth softball pants for her and comfy shorts to wear to practice. We did get a softball and a glove for her to practice with at home - we don't want her afraid of catching the ball :0)

It finally arrived!!!

The furniture finally came!! Courtney was a little disappointed that it wasn't here when she got home from school but got over that once everything came.

It was SOOOO nice not to have to put any of it together like we have previously with her last set and with CJ's bed. I actually got to watch the Rooms To Go guys do the work - what a relief!

Jason and I both think..."Wow...our little girl is growing up!" And the truth is, she is. Time has flown by so quickly and she deserves this set! She's been through all these allergy shots that just seem to get worse and worse as we go but she's a trooper.

So, without further ado...the furniture.... (you can click on the picture to make it bigger) And yes, these pictures were taken before any cleaning of mirrors were done...LOL

First Day of School

Wow...summer went by so quickly this year. I can't believe my little girl is now in the 3rd grade!! She started school this morning and was so excited. One of her best friend's is in her class :o)

I did forgot this morning to give her lunch money so CJ and I already went to the school to drop that off and pick up her student medication form so that she can get her Albuterol inhaler while at school before P.E.

Courtney is also excited about today because her new furniture arrives this afternoon. I'll take pictures and update this later but I can't wait for it to arrive.

Of course today CJ is sad that no one but Mommy is here. He forgets what it is like but he'll be fine once this week is done and he gets back into routine.

Talking routine, we'll have to get a new one this year as Brownies has switched meetings days and with all the MOMS club activities I do...we'll be busy that we'll have to find time to stay home and relax...LOL

Oops - it's been a while again!

I've been really busy so I haven't been blogging. I'll try to catch up as much as I can but I'm sure I'll leave something out...LOL

Courtney is now into Webkinz - she currently as 12! The Webkinz world online is pretty cool. She goes on the computer every day. She was so excited when I found all sorts of 'recipes' for her for her pets :o)

CJ got a new Xbox game - a Nascar one from Uncle James. We had an unexpected trip to Texas - we went for a few days since Uncle James works for Kia. They did our 60000 mile warranty service and a few added extras :o) Thanks to Marti and James for everything!!!

Courtney starts school this Thursday. She already knows her teacher which is nice from friends that have had her. Open House is tomorrow night so I will get to meet her. Courtney is thrilled to have Mrs. Simpson and also her best friend Ashley in her class. Both Ashley's parents and Jason and I have warned each girl individually about talking in class...LOL

As far as this weekend....it was suppose to be a relaxing Saturday since Jason had off from work. It turned into a HUGE project. We did our twice a year cleaning of Courtney's closet. We had just walked out of her closet and into the hall when all of a sudden - BOOM! Half her closet shelf that was up - was now broken and stuff went flying!!

So, Jason and I spent the rest of the day, cleaning, going to Lowe's and refiguring a closet for Courtney. It's a 10' closet so we wanted something that would work well for her plus the area we use for storage.

This is the final look now of her closet - we both really like it and so does Courtney :o) There seems to be a little more room now that we can work with. Even I have some of my warmer clothes in it hanging nicely on the far left size. (You can click on the picture to see it bigger.)

Jason and I also decided it was time to get Courtney a nice bedroom set. We went to Rooms to Go and found a really nice white bedroom set. It will be delivered on Thursday. Another thing Courtney is just lovin'!!! She had no idea but is very pleased with what we chose. She can't wait to get it all in and start off the school year with a desk too :o) Ah...the little things that bring her a smile. It's well worth it.

Not sure if I ever mentioned that CJ is in a new twin bed himself. Both Jason and I wished we thought about getting Courtney bedroom furniture before getting his new bed but oh well! He loves it since it has a bookcase at the top and 3 drawers underneath. Very simple and will be replaced at some point as we weren't willing to spend a lot of $$ on it right now since he is almost 4. We purchased it from WalMart so we know it will last at least 2 years (at least we are hoping...LOL)

Well, that's it for now. It's off to a meeting and then more cleaning :0)

An Addiction....

Addictions are never fun but this one is just so fun to watch.....

Thanks to his Aunt Mati, CJ is addicted to playing CARS on X-box!! Every morning he can't wait to start playing. He always ask (which is good) and LOVES to play.

When Josh was here, he helped get all different cars and open different parts of the game. Well....Jason tried to start it for him one night last week and really oopsed!! He lost everything. So now the kids are in the process of gaining everything back.

Thanks Aunt Marti and Josh!!! ;o)

Maybe this will help with potty training - unlock games ONLY if he tries...LOL

We have had rain!!!

We have been in a drought (stage 3) here and thankfully have had rain for the last 2 days and looks as though we'll have some more today (hopefully later on today).

On Thursday, I went for my follow-up with the surgeon and got clearance to drive!!! That was huge! I still have to take it easy for the next couple of weeks but slowly can get back into doing things. He stated everything looked great and I was good to go :-)

Now it's so quiet here. No more visitors...Marti and Josh left and now Jason's parents have left. It's gonna be different for awhile but we'll get back into the swing of things. Even Jason gave me a hard time Friday night about dinner....we had dinner while Marti was here and same with his parents and wanted to know what was for dinner - I suggested Logan's...and that is what we had.

Oh for some more funny news....Jason isn't liking Suzi very much right now...LOL It's all because she gave mom her camera to use on their vacation and teach her afterwards. It's a Nikon D40 - guess who played with it? ME!! It's a great camera and you can do so much more than my current one. Suzi might be making Jason spend more money that he really doesn't want to spend. It can do monochrome pictures, trim, overlays and all sorts of things. It was really great playing with it. Which, by the way, I still have the instruction book. I will have to get that in the mail soon.

That's it for now! Going to see a movie today as long as the rain stays away for a bit longer. Everyone knows that movie theaters and malls are crowded when it rains...LOL

Lots of things have happened since my last blog entry

Wow...where to begin? Let's start on our flight to Texas. CJ was so excited to be on the plane. He switched a few times on which seat he wanted with Courtney but finally decided on the window seat :-) While in the airport waiting, we stopped in a little shop and found him a small Southwest airplane - he was estatic!!! He played with that the whole time waiting.

We arrived in Texas after a bumpy flight. Thank goodness for medication..LOL Both Marti and Misti were there to pick us up and help with the luggage since I wasn't allowed to lift anything including CJ!

We went to the Great American Scrapbook Convention on Saturday and boy did we walk!!! Marti ended up buying a large cart so we could put CJ in it since no strollers were allowed (even though we saw a few there). Courtney got bored but was really good during the whole time.

I bought a Slip N Slide for the kids and they enjoyed every minute of it. They stated that after 2 days, they broke it but we are unsure. Both CJ and Courtney were upset when they realized they didn't get to go swimming in the cool thing Aunt Marti bought while we were visiting.

Also while we were there, there was another addition to the Shafer household. His name is Norton and he is so cute and skinny compared to Storme...LOL He fits well into the family and I believe Josh considers Norton his :-)

That wraps up our trip to Texas for now. I will post later about my surgery which I'm still recovering from and not overdoing it and the fact the Marti and Josh came to help take care of me during that time. I must say CJ is so sad that Josh is gone - he is CJ's best buddy!!!

Today is the day.....FINALLY!!!

I know longer have to hear 'I want to go to June', 'I want to go to Texas' anymore since we are leaving late this afternoon :-) The kids are excited and so am I. Everything is almost packed and ready.

Some interesting news from me....I will be having hernia repair surgery on Tuesday June 26th. Not looking forward to it but it has to be repaired according to both the Dr. and Surgeon. Thankfully Jason will be able to take 2 days off to help.

And another update, I did not make the design team but that is prefectly ok. It's the first one I have ever tried for. I'm not giving up though.

Well, I guess I should make sure everything is taken care of before we leave and I'll post when I get back :-)

It's summer here!!

Not technically summer but here, it is!! Courtney is officially out of school so that is the start of summer for us! I'm hoping it's not going to be a long one too. The kids are great except when they spend too much time together - they begin to fight.

Courtney will be doing Vacation Bible School at the Methodist church where our Brownie troop meets - she has friends attending :-) which makes it all worth it to her. Plus Mrs. Donna and I met yesterday to schedule some weekly activities that the girls can attend but aren't mandatory - such as FREE movies (can't beat free!), Oak Mountain State Park, bowling, skating and all sorts of stuff. Should keep both Courtney and CJ busy.

I still can't believe next Friday we will be leaving for Texas!!! I'm so excited and so are the kids. CJ picked out his own luggage which is twice the size of him...lol. He keeps begging to go to 'June' since he knows that is when we are heading to Aunt Marti's and Uncle James' to see the goats which he has named 'Sally and Flo' (of course, from CARS!). It'll be so nice to see everyone again and the kids get to see both Aunt Marti and Aunt Misti plus Uncle James and Uncle Brien AND....Josh!!! Both Tyler and Hunter are already in Florida so we won't see them but I'm sure they'll be here in AL to visit soon (hint, hint hint Misti)

Well, it's time to get the whole day started away from blogging....post office, bank and all the other errands I have to run.

Hope everyone had a relaxing Memorial Day.

I did it!!!

I just sent in an application for a scrapbook website Design team!! I've never tried out for one so I'm a little nervous about the whole thing. Deadline to enter isn't until May 25th and the annoucement is on the May 31st. They are looking for 3 scrappers to join. It's actually a brand new site so it's the first Design Team put together. It's really exciting but nerve wrecking all at once. I will never know unless I try so I finally tried.

I did submit some layouts to an idea book but those weren't chosen - which is fine. I know now that I actually have it in me to submit :-)

Here's a few layouts I've done - just to share :-) These are not ones I've submitted though.

These are pictures taken when I was in Texas in March.

This is a page from my Book of Me album I'm doing.

Have to include these two....both are a few of my favorites...

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Wishing everyone a wonderful Mother's Day!!


Today, Courtney, CJ and Jason took me out to lunch at The Loop before Jason had to work at 2pm. Of course, since we were near The Great American Cookie Company, we HAD to buy cookies for both kids! It's becoming a tradition for CJ to get cookies every time we go shopping just so he'll be happy to sit in his stroller.


As I was looking at the blog, I realized I don't post a lot of pictures of CJ so here's the most updated picture of him...he is growing up way too fast.

Time to catch up!

I must say...last weekend was great. Courtney was beautiful on Sunday!! It was a perfect day and couldn't ask for much more. She was the only girl making her First Communion with 5 other boys. Even my friend Summer came to help celebrate.

Here's a picture of her with Fr. John



















We certainly had a busy week too leading up to this weekend.

• Monday - Grammy and Papa left


• Tueday - Meet Jason for lunch with both kids and his mom. And then Gramma left afterwards. Courtney had dance practice


• Wednesday - FREE DAY!!!


• Thursday - Courtney had dance practice again plus we had our Brownie meeting in the evening. During the day I was preparing for the meeting - almost our last one of the school year.


• Friday - Jason was off so we went out and about. Then Courtney had dance recital practice from 5:45 until 8 pm at Springville Middle School which is about 30 minutes away.


• Today - Jason worked this morning and then Courtney had to be at the school at 3pm for her recital at 4pm.

Courtney did a wonderful job!! She did "Barbie Girl" with her jazz class and then "42nd Street" with her tap class. I'm so proud of her.

Spoke too soon!

I should have known. CJ woke up with a 101.6 fever! Thankfully the Tylenol is working right now and he is in a better mood - watching Monsters, Inc. He really wanted to go to Mother's Day Out today to play with his friends but that will have to wait. I do have a few errands I wanted to do but they can all wait except the post office (which I'll go when I pick up Courtney from the bus stop).

Both kids are really excited about Gramma coming tomorrow. CJ can't wait to go to the airport (he thinks Gramma lives there...LOL). He keeps asking me if today is the day to get her. They are also excited about Friday night - Grammy and Papa are coming too.

We finally figured out what time Courtney's First Communion will take place. Fr. Jim will be doing 4 masses that day as First Communion will be at 2pm with a small reception afterwards. I hope to take some pictures and share. I actually had Courtney put her whole outfit on and she looks beautiful!

OK...off to watch Monsters, Inc with my little sickie.

Just like clockwork!!

CJ's body must know when Gramma is coming! It's like clockwork - he started to have a low grade fever! He usually is always sick when Gramma comes so why should this visit be any different. We've already started him on Tylenol and hoping it won't get worse.

Just a short entry for now - it's time to pick up Courtney and do all the errands I need to do.

Oops!!

I forgot to mention that Courtney is doing extremely well with her allergy shots here at home. I'm so proud of her. We treated her to a new bedding since she was in need of one and doing so well without complaining or crying PLUS reminding me about doing them every Monday :-)

What a weekend!

Sorry it's been awhile since I've updated but starting with last Thursday - things have been CRAZY!!! Where do I begin???

Let's see...we'll start with Thursday. CJ and I left at the same time Jason did to go to work and we went to the scrapbook store about 30 minutes away. We spent some time there and then I told CJ that it was time to go to Walmart. While in Walmart, all of a sudden, he reached for his stomach screaming! I wasn't sure what was going on since he was standing up and nothing was touching him. He was so upset and uncomfortable. I had to finish up in Walmart with everyone looking at me as though I was hurting him. So once we get home, he is still in pain. The only thing that is comforting to him is me holding him but just a certain way. I thought that this was all too sudden that I called the ped. dr. They suggested I go straight to Children's Hospital Emergency room as it seems as though he would need x-rays and that they couldn't do that in the office. So now it was time to call Jason to make sure he could be home in time to pick up Courtney from the bus stop. Thankfully he could. So off to Children's we went.

I must say if I have to go to Children's again - it should be during the same time I did (between noon and one). We were the only ones in the waiting room and it only took 10 minutes (if even) to go into the back. We got back there and they wanted a urine sample in a cup and I ROFL!!! There is just no way and knew what that would bring - catherization. We get seen really quick by the Nurse Practitioner and they schedule x-rays. After the x-rays and getting the urine sample plus a while later.....he has to have a milk of magnesium enema. NOT FUN!!! Poor baby was so stopped up that it was causing all the pain. They gave the enema in the bathroom and he sat on the toilet for at least 30 minutes and me flushing about 10 times (not joking) maybe more so the toilet wouldn't get clogged. I felt so bad for him. Not sure what the whole cause of this was but it's not the first time he has been constipated and Miralax is a huge help. So, now he is on Miralax every day and I'm thinking of adding Flaxseed to his diet just to get the added fiber I guess he is missing.

That was my Thursday afternoon for 3+ hours and then of course, I had a Brownie meeting to attend and 'host'. The girls were wonderful and so were the parents. They made friendship bracelets (good thing I already knew what we were doing) and I even had a parent offer to help with Courtney if something like this ever happens again. It's really good to know that I have friends here willing to take care of my kids when needed.

So now let's look at Friday. I HAD to take CJ shopping for about anything he wanted considering he was poked and proded in the ER. He picked out Moon Sand and LOVES it. I also had to get the kids much needed pj's as CJ's were getting too short and Courtney's were too small. Also, Courtney had her first ever sleepover. Boy, the girls had a blast!!! They didn't leave anything undone ;) They went on Courtney's scooter, jumproped, went to the park, played with CJ and his moon sand, watched Zach and Cody's hour long episode, ate pizza for dinner, had ice cream, baths, watched Happy Feet and had some popcorn - all from Friday afternoon to Friday night!!

On Saturday, they did a lot of the same things but I did get them some wood frames and they painted those. They really enjoyed that and requested we do that at a Brownies meeting too. I took Ashley home around 1pm and didn't get home until 3pm since my kids LOVED their house and they continued to play. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that they got up at 6am!!! It was Saturday - what were they thinking...LOL I did make them Mickey Pancakes which they all enjoyed!

Sunday was a more relaxing and catching up on sleep day :-) Courtney had Sunday School and we still have no idea what time her First Communion is on the 6th of May. I did learn that Fr. Jim will not be there so someone else will be doing this - I am not thrilled with but what am I going to do? Thanks to Jason's mom - Courtney has her dress and shoes. I found a veil at Michael's that comes with a comb so hopefully that will work well. She is actually going to try everything on together this evening. Can't wait to see it all together.

Next week is exciting and full of plans too. Jason's mom arrives at 10:40am and it's always fun when she is here :-) On Thursday afternoon/evening - it'll be busy. Courtney has an added dance practice from 4-5, Brownie meeting from 5-6 and then our Service Area Leader meeting (appreciation party) from 6:30-?. Then Friday, my parents arrive sometime in the evening. Not sure if we'll see them then or not. Then, of course, on Sunday is Courtney's First Communion and Jason's mom's birthday :-)

I'll be ready for another vacation soon - looking forward to June and taking the kids to Texas and then July when both Jason's parents come for a visit.

Time is flying by!

I can't believe it's already the middle of April already - where has this year gone? I guess when you are busy - time really flies! I don't think we will settle down until mid summer. We have lots of things planned.....
Yesterday - Build-A-Bear with the Brownie Troop (tons of fun!!)
Today - Chuck-E-Cheese birthday party (CJ's first time ever going - he was so excited)
May 2nd - Jason's mom arrives
May 4th - my parent's arrive
May 6th - Courtney's First Communion
May 12th - Courtney's First Dance Recital
May 23rd - Courtney's last day of school
May 28th-June 1st - Girl Scout Day Camp (Courtney, CJ and I will be there)
June 9th - Leave for Texas (AGAIN!!!! Can you tell I'm excited?) This is will be CJ's first ever airplane ride and he can't wait until June.
July - Jason's parents are visiting

Within all this schedule - Jason is extremely busy with all those tournaments and outtings at work plus clinics. I'm a 'golf widow' now since it's the season. Also, we are doing Brownies during the summer and keeping things busy.

Well...looking at that makes me tired...LOL

I do have to remember tomorrow to give Courtney her 2 allergy shots (most people only get one but not her - she is allergic to more than 15 things so she gets 2). She isn't thrilled that I get to give them to her but it beats going to the Dr.'s every week. She knows I won't hurt her, it's just the anxiety of the shot that makes her all nervous. Thankfully she gets it in the arms.

Well, enough about us. Hope everyone is doing well.

Happy Easter!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter. It's only me and the kids this weekend as Jason is at the Masters.

The kids enjoyed their baskets and hunting for eggs. They were up really early but the funny thing is, they are still having so much fun hiding and hunting. Here's a few pictures from today - nothing fancy..

What a concert!!!

I must have the BEST husband in the world. He got me tickets that were sold out to see Chris Daughtry!!! For those of you who don't know who he is...he is the 4th finalist on American Idol from last season - an amazing, talented singer!!

It was purely an amazing concert - can't wait to see him again. Courtney went with me while Jason stayed home with CJ. Courtney had the time of her life. As we were walking to the back of the line, Chris was actually getting ready to walk in. He was with security so I didn't feel I could ask him to stop and take a picture but I was arms length away from him!!

During the concert, he threw water from his water bottle 4 different times and each time - both Courtney and I got wet! She was so excited about that. There were a few wonderful people there that offered to pick her up to see him singing - 2 actually did and 2 others offered right after a person behind us complained. Anyways....she LOVED seeing him.

After the concert, several people were telling her how she has a 'cool' mom and that she should feel very lucky to have such a 'cool' mom to take her to a concert like Daughtry!! Plus one lady saw her and just had to give her a guitar pic that Chris threw out into the crowd - that really made her night.

Here are a few pictures from the concert...

Spring Break is over

Today, Courtney went back to school and she was so excited to go too!! She told me this morning that her spring break was a little boring (thanks to me and my hurt shoulder). We were going to take them bowling but with my shoulder hurting like it was...there was no way I could bowl. So, we decided we will try and take them Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully by then, it will be better.

I'm still waiting for the pest control people to arrive (they are over an hour late). We have an issue with either flying ants or termites. Thankfully we are in the apartment so they have to take care of everything. I was told that in Spring that the termites swarm and mate and then die. Hopefully once they treat the sites, no more bugs!

I haven't scrapped in a while but while in Texas - I got a ton of scrapbooking supplies! I hope to use them soon. I forgot to teach Misti how to use the Colorbox Fluid chalk so I guess I will just have to teach her over the phone or via a tutorial on IM. Heck, I got Marti buying Primas and now just have to get her to start back scrapping. She has Josh's Europe trip to do and he took some awesome pictures! Can't wait to see those pages...hint, hint Marti ;-)!!

Wow - we really need rain here!! The top of my van is yellow instead of sage. I should take a picture. It is suppose to rain on Friday but that is no guarantee! Poor Courtney is sneezing up a storm. Which reminds me that I have to call the allergist to get her shots ready. This is really not good for her and her allegeries and asthma!

Some Pictures

Here is one of my favorite pictures from my trip to Texas. It's me and my nephews Josh and Hunter. They both were sad to have me leave Texas and I had to hold back all the tears. I just hated leaving them. I love them both very much and miss them too!!! The only one I didn't get a picture with was Tyler but he was busy camping with the Boy Scouts.

Here's the most recent picture of my sisters and me. Of course, I had to wear a St. Patty's Day themed shirt and luckily Misti already had one. But for Marti, Friday night we were at Target and she KNEW she had to buy something green to wear on Saturday or I would get her...LOL

Not the best picture but here's one of James and Marti playing Air Hockey - the newest addition to their game room. I tell ya, never play air hockey for more than 15 minutes per game. That is what theirs is set at. Boy, they last forever and it does a number to your arm muscles. Mine are finally not sore from playing so much. We all decided that there should be plexiglass around the sides of the table as the puck goes EVERYWHERE and can go a distance!! Good thing James put it next to the wall as sometimes when it hit there, the puck would bounce back into play. And just remember players...."Keep the puck on the table and wait until it stops shaking before trying to hit it"...LOL