July 2009

Well, another month of summer as flown by. Atleast, it is the month that is usually thought of as summer. It has been rainy and chilly! We haven't gone swimming yet this year! What is up with that?

School let out the middle of June, so now we have 3 munchkins at home all the time! It is nice, though, that the girls help to take care of Shane. We now have a little kitten named Adventures, Addy, for short. She is keeping us all entertained with her antics! I forgot what it was like to have a baby animal around! Speaking of animals... our pigs are huge! They could be butchered now! leigh sure knows how to grow them!

The kiddoes went and spent a week at my parents. Leigh and I thought we would enjoy a week alone..but we both worked and hardly saw each other! He worked day shift, I worked nights...you do the math! But it was nice that the house didn't get trashed while we were working so hard! ha. ha. Leigh is remarking about how messy it gets, now that they are home again!

We went to my parents for the 4th of July. We got to see my brother Todd in a bike race again! He is so inspiring. I need to train! It seems like my days go by too fast, and I realize I haven't done anything about that! We watched the parade in the town that I went to school in....nothing has changed. Everyone is still drunk and walking the streets like they are the most important people in the world. It made me appreciate where I live now! :D

We are in the process of making some big decisions about our housing situation. At some point in the near future we are going to be building a new house. Just got to get everything lined up! What a process! It overwhelms me if I think about it for too long at a time.

I am looking forward to a milestone birthday coming up! finally, I will be 30 years old! It seems like it is about time! Married 12 years, 3 kids,a minivan, a house, a career... I SHOULD be 30 already!! I have felt this old for a couple of years! :d people ask if I feel old. MY age doesn't make me feel old. My oldest daughter's age makes me feel old. If she has kids when I did... I'll be a gramma in 9 years! EEEK! THAT makes me feel old. Or seeing these kids that should be still riding in strollers, but are now buying their first cars and going to college. THAT makes me feel old.

I guess that is enough of an update for now... I'll post more info about our house, as I know it!

June 2009

Another month has passed. It has been eventful as usual. The end of the school year is fast approaching. This Friday is the actual last day. So, the month before hand is a full schedule of parties and programs, especially for Heidi. She will be leaving the Elementary school this year. She starts 5th grade in the middle school this fall! I am looking forward to being able to sleep in on those days that I used to have to get the kids up for school! I usually look forward to summer vacation, but then in August, I can' wait for school to start back up again!

Leigh has boughten some equipment, tractors etc. So he is spending his quality time with them, hopefully getting them fixed so he can sell them again.

Not much has changed for me. I did have strep throat a couple weeks ago... I thought it would kill me! ha! I found out that my blood pressure is way too high. So, I decided it is time to get my cardiovascular system healthier. I was inspired by seeing my brother Todd run/bike in a duathlon a week ago. So, I started a couch to 5K program. Day 1 wasn't bad... Day 2 was AWFUL. Hopefully tomorrow I will fit in Day 3. We'll see if I survive it! My parents came to visit this past weekend, and brought along my old 10 speed bicycle. It needs alot of attention, so off I went today to get some tires, cables etc for it. I am hoping to fix it up, and start road biking. It sure would be fun to do a duathlon someday.... probably a couple years from now.

We have been working on some landscaping projects. D. Watkins came and built us a gorgeous rock wall for a flower bed near the road. We moved some of our perennials up there. I want to get a pretty flowering tree to put in there, too. We are ripping out a bunch of flower beds in the front of the house. We have been talking for several months about adding a basement and an addition to our house. It seems we have been talking forever, and precious little is getting done about it. I have basically given up hope that it will ever get done. So... I am trying to find other things to sink my energies into! So, we'll get these flower beds out.... atleast that part of the project will be done.

One of my next projects is to go through clothes. A family of 5 has LOTS of clothes. It is time to go thru my clothes and get rid of what I do not wear. I keep up pretty good with the kids out grown clothes, piling them in the corner. But, I need to get them out so they can bless other children!!

I best head to bed now. Tomorrow is the last day that I have to get the kids up for this school year! I can't wait!! happy Summer!!

4Ever!

Well, as is the usual complaint with us part-time bloggers...it has been awhile since I have told you all that I am still alive. Atleast I think I am. Life has been crazy still since February. I'll just give some tidbits...

Leigh turned 32 in February. He celebrated with LOTS of home-improvement tools! He enjoyed making a pigpen with them....now to get him to work on the pig-pen that WE live in!!!

Then we got pigs. The girls have named them precious and bubbles. I have no idea why. I wanted to name them porkchop and bacon, but I was drastically outvoted! bummer.

Summer arrived a couple weeks ago. We had temps in the 90s, dreams of a new swimming pool, and thoughts of an airconditioner installation. But then, in some quirk of nature, spring came. ???? So, now we have cooler temps, and rain. But, now April is over...so we should start into summer again, soon. hopefully anyway.

We have a new nephew. Lane Justus Purcell was born to my SIL and BIL. He has an older brother Clayton.

Otherwise, our days are just busy normalcy. Here is how our schedule works, usually.

Sunday: Meeting in the morning, lunch with someone special, and afternoon enjoying the day with friends.

Monday: Leigh works at Coke. The girls go to school. Shane and I are home....cleaning, laundry, relaxing, me being a mom at home.

Tuesday: Same as Monday until the afternoon when I try to catch a nap. At 3, go pick up the girls and take them to the High School for Heidi to participate in band. Shane, Kirsten and I usually take the oppurtunity to visit the dollar store and stock up on paper products and cleaners. Then back home for a bite for supper, then I am off to work until the morning.

Wednesday: Leigh is home, puts the girls on the bus. Usually he and Shane find some buddy of his to go work for. Lots of engines to fix, landscaping to do, etc etc. And besides it is more fun to work for someone else. I get home in the morning about 8:30-9:00. I eat something before heading to bed. I usually sleep until about 3:30 when the girls get off the bus. Then, it is homework, supper, and I am out the door to work again. Leigh and the kiddoes go to Wednesday night meeting.

Thursday: Basically a repeat of Wednesday except there isn't Wednesday night meeting.

Friday: I get home around 9AM. This is sort of a strange day. I am excited for the weekend, but still need to sleep at some point. It usually consists of a 3-4 hour nap at some point during the day. Friday night is usally fun night...out with friends, or in at home, enjoying in the evening. If we are home, it is usually me yelling and being generally grumpy. Being overtired doesn't work well for me.

Saturday: Either family fun day...or Mom's Housework day. Usually this means that I am cleaning up the messes that were made since Tuesday when I went to work! So much fun doing dishes that are 4 days old....and finding laundry stashed in every corner of the house!

I must not complain, but let me say this. Leigh is a good father, the kids are all still breathing when I make it back home. And they are usually well behaved. But he isn't a mom. Dinner is anything that can be put into the mouth: leftover halloween candy, ice cream sundays, chips and dip. Thankfully Heidi is learning to cook, and can make dinner, and does very well. Laundry consists of washing only the clothes needed for tomorrow. Refill the washer? nah, we'll leave that for mom to do on Friday/Saturday. Cleaning consists of throwing everything in the trash, regardless of worth to the owner. And, by the way, this only happens when company is coming. If it is too big to throw away, then you stash it in the master bedroom...even though it has a rightful place in another area of the house. I just laugh hysterically when people tell me that someday, I will miss these days, and that the house is a mess because I have young children. I am afraid this is not going away, even when the kids move away! :-)

But, yet, I still love him. Glad that I didn't fall in love with him for his housekeeping abilities! But, I did for his sense of humor...which makes me laugh most days...makes me roll my eyes and groan on others. I love his work ethic... he is not afraid to put in a long days work, and actually gets upset when he is supposed to relax. I love how much he cares for his parents. He will do anything for them. I love that I do not have to worry much about our vehicles. I love that he worries about me driving to and from work, especially when he knows how tired I am. The list goes on and on....

I supposes this is enough for another few months.... ;-)

So, I've been tagged. This is the deal... got to the picture file.... 4th album, 4th picture. Then explain it.

This was on our trip to South Carolina to see Uncle Loren and Aunt Amber. The kids were pulled out of bed in their pajamas and plopped into carseats. Not far down the road the DVD player was turned on, and the kids didn't look out the windows for a long time! Here there are looking at it, totally spellbound, while it balances on top of the cooler full of snacks. Crazy kids.

Another week.

This past week has seemed to be eventful enough for several weeks. Everything just seemed to be unorganized. My schedule was different than normal since I was covering the Saturday night shift for another nurse. She worked my Tuesday night for me. So I felt like I had no idea when I was supposed to sleep. Missing every other nights sleep kinda wears on the body!

We are trying to decide our next step in our lives. We are trying to decide whether to buy a house, or to build one. We are looking at houseplans. This is almost as hard as deciding what to name a baby! Leigh and I both bringing our opinions to the table...and trying to compromise. And trying not to allow it to blow up in a battle of wills. Leigh and I both have strong tempers...so this is a struggle for both of us!! We are closing in on a houseplan, then to see how much it would cost to build. Thankfully, alot of it Leigh can do with some help from good friends. Lots of things to figure out though, before we decide this is what we want to do.

The hardest thing I have ever dealt with happened yesterday at work. It made my day seem like weeks long. Ever had one of those experiences. You think life will never be the same again? I am not a liberty to tell the story on a public forum, but I am thankful for what I am learning about the experience. I am learning to value everyday. to value every person. We never know when this moment is going to be our last one!!

blur

The last couple of weeks have just blown by! Amazing! Lots going on! I've been picking up some overtime hours. One of my co-workers is off on medical leave, so we are all trying to pick up the OT. Unfortunately, everyone is starting to get burned out! Our patient accuity is higher than normal. They are needier, some whinier, some love to visit...all which take extra time. So we find ourselves needing breaks we don't have time to take, and exhausted at the end of the shift. Good thing, we love what we do!

Leigh has been picking up more days at Coke. He has added Saturday mornings to his workweek. He is done by 10am on Saturday. This is nice, it lets the kids and I sleep in, but yet we still have time to do something that day.

The girls and I enjoyed going ice skating last week. We have a couple rinks closeby. This was Kirsten's first year on single blades. The unfortunate thing about taking them skating, is that I don't get much skating done! I kinda shuffle around beside them, which isn't very enjoyable. But, I keep reminding myself that someday they will be able spin about the rink, too.

A couple years ago on Valentine's day, my dad had surgery for a cervical herniated disc. It was a pretty scary recovery for awhile. We are all glad he is back to normal with no deficiencies. Mom gave us a bit of a scare this Valentine's day. She had a spell of extreme dizziness. She got a ride in the ambulance and an overnight stay at the hospital. Diagnosed with Vertigo and sent home with some meds, and ordered rest time. I think mom and dad should abort Valentine's day! :D

Heidi is doing very well in band. I sat in on the practice session a couple weeks ago. The band instructor is now on a pedestal in my eyes. How can she take 25 4th graders, give them VERY LOUD toys, and make music? When 4th graders get excited and get the urge to toot their horn...well it doesn't really matter too much what anyone else is doing. It was a pretty comical 10 minutes or so for me! They will have a concert in May. I am really looking forward to hearing how they all have come together.

Our dear dog, Pookie. He is 11 years old now. Last summer/fall we had a stray dog that was coming around. They got along very well, playing together. Sad to say it was like a teenager playing with an 80 year old man. Pookie is now paying for those fun romps in the sun. His left rear leg has arthritis, I think, and possibly some paralysis. He has now become our "inside" dog. He is loving it! The kids are loving it! I am not so sure. My pity and sympathy won me over, but not sure I like having to babysit a dog in the house. Thankfully he is very well behaved, and is mature enough to know to do his duties outside. He has never been housetrained. He's just a smart dog.

Leigh turns 32 this week. Wonder when he will start acting it? My guess is that he will act 32 when he is about 70.

We drove up to Buffalo Ny last week. Leigh has been a petitioner at Coke to vote out the union who has misrepresented the employees. This all started nearly a year and a half ago. It has been a legal nightmare, as the National Labor Relations Board investigates all the insignificant charges the union has filed, all to delay the transition. Leigh has read so much testimony in legal jargon that he even understands it now! Anyway, the employees had voted to get rid/keep the union several months ago. Because of the charges against Coke by the union, and the investigations, the votes were sealed in a box. These votes would be opened when the investigations were complete. Well, this past Friday, the box of votes was opened in Buffalo. Democracy spoke loud and clear. 30-2 to get rid of the union! And because the union had lots of issues with Leigh, his vote wasn't counted. So it was really 31-2. Anyway, it was a celebratory day. Leigh's boss, the HR representative, and the plant manager all went up to the opening, too. The we all went out for lunch to celebrate. It was a great time.

Afterwards, since we were only 20 minutes away, Leigh and I went up to take a peek at Niagara Falls. We didn't have a lot of time, so we didn't see very much. Just walked along and took lots of pictures.

So that brings us up to the current. Leigh is working today. The girls are in school. Shane and I are going to enjoy a quiet day at home. I don't have to go anywhere until I go to work at 7p! YAY!!!

It's been nearly a month...

What is up with that? How could I not have been blogging for a month?? Well....

We went to SC for a week. That was fun. It was great to see all those folks around Sumter. Wish we would have had more time to go around and see other folks....my aunt in Greenville, my cousins in GA, MI. My cousins in TN. I think maybe someday we should just take a year off to visit people.

We have been trying to finish our kitchen. We started putting hardware on the cabinets last night.... so we are getting close. I think another good day should finish it all up. Believe me, I will be posting pictures when it is finally done! The next project will be the living room. I am dreading it.

The kids are back to school after the holidays. Heidi is now in band. They had lessons at the school all fall. Now we take her to Troy to be with all the other kids for the Elementary School Band. She plays the flute, and does really well. I am impressed, since my musical abilities are very limited.

Mr. Shane just turned 4. What??!?!!! When did that happen? hard to believe. He is all boy. tractors, trucks, trains. and work..... wants to help daddy.

Well, I have spent enough time on the computer. We need to get some dreaded housework done today. Kirsten requested that we play a game while doing it. We have done this a couple times. I put little chores on slips of paper in a bowl. These are 1-5 minute chores. We all have to pull out a slip of paper. No complaining, no whining, no trading...you have to do that job. When it is done... get another one. It is amazing how things get tidied up. So, I need to make up the slips of paper. We are going to town later. If they all help without groans.... they get a little something fun in town. Bribery works, I don't care what Dr. Spock says. :D

25 Things about me.

I've lost track of how many times I have been tagged...so here goes...

1. I've never been happier in my life.
2. My life is crazy busy all the time.
3. I love my job as an oncology nurse. My patients are amazing, they demonstrate hope in the face of certain death. My coworkers make me laugh all the time.
4. I love to laugh.
5. I have 3 amazing kids.
6. Sometimes I worry that I missed out on so much by getting married as a teenager. Then my next thought is about how much I have been blessed with. I am 29, been married for over a decade. I have 3 kids, a house, a career, and a work-aholic husband.
7. I am terrified that I am not a good mother, and my kids will not be productive adults because of me.
8. I don't have time for hobbies. But I have many hobbies I would love to pursue...
9.I love to design quilt tops. Quilting them isn't so exciting, but seeing the shapes/colors emerge as you put the top together, only to discover it is amazingly, beautifully, different than how you planned!
10. I love color.
11. I paint very detailed watercolors. Portraits are my favorite, but I also love nature scenes. However, they take so much time, I haven't done one in years!
12. I love photography. I harbor a dream of being a portrait photographer someday. I just bought my 3rd camera...and it is AWESOME!!
13. Nursing school was the most difficult thing I have ever accomplished. But the most empowering too. 18-19 credits per semester for 4 semesters... I was only able to do it because there was someone, somewhere helping me to survive.
14. I hope to someday get my Masters in Nursing and be a Nursing Professor.
15. I hate housework. laundry. dishes. cleaning. cooking. All of it... I hate. I need a self cleaning house. And because I hate them, I have trouble motivating my family to want to do any of it either. I can totally relate to them when they rear back and groan when I ask them for some help.
16. I love my computer. It is the way I keep in touch with so many wonderful friends. I am loving finding friends from years ago. I am loving connecting with new friends everyday.
17. I'm fat. And I'm happy. Several years ago, I went through NormalEating.com and learned to love myself. Size DOES NOT matter. I is who I is. I hate hearing other people talk about losing weight. WHY does everyone want to be thin? Why does everyone want to think so poorly of themselves everyday? We have enough negativity in this world...please don't inflict in on yourself!!
18. We have been working on our kitchen remodel for 10 months. I am SICK of it. I love my new kitchen but I can't wait to get it finished.
19. We have a dark cherry floor, mahogony stained oak cabinets, hunter green and black countertop, and white bead board back splash. We went to buy paint for the rest of the walls, and I was shocked that my hubby suggested mustard-gold for the walls. I love it.... is he finally getting some taste???
20. I didn't realize until several years ago, that being able to picture a completed project before it was even started was a talent. I thought everyone could do that!!
21. We are outgrowing our house, we are fixing it up to sell it. Then off to make a new house our home. But where? What do we really want? Will it be a farm? Will it be just outside of town?
22. The biggest downfall to having such a busy life... I wish I had more time to do things with our local friends!!
23. My oldest daughter is 9. I had her when I was 19. So, it is possible I could be a gramma in 10 years! EEEEEKKK! at 39 years old!
24. My middle daughter is as tall as her sister 2.5 years older! People mistake them for twins.
25. My son is just like his daddy. loves farming, is painfully skinny. and loves to tell stupid jokes that make everyone laugh.