Great News

My daddy has been having issues with his stomach over the last few months and that had us all scared. Back in May 1992, my daddy was diagnosed with stomach cancer. So of course, our first thought was that it was back. The day before Thanksgiving he went to the doctor to have his stomach scoped. Praise God, it was scar tissue that was blocking his food from entering the small intestines. It was a relief that he will be okay, which made this Thanksgiving Day even more special.

Let the good times roll...

As many know or may not know, I put my babies asleep on their tummies. They prefer it that way and are sleeping for at least 9 hours a night so I can't complain. Over the Thanksgiving holidays a major milestone with one of the babies was made. Camie rolled from her tummy to her back several times. She wakes up or starts fussing at night and when I go to check on her she is on her back. I haven't seen it yet but Maggie has. Don't know when Jesse will master this but from now on we have to keep a close eye on those two.

Do I have any regrets....

This weekend while it was just me and the babies, I was flipping the channel and found the movie "13 going on 30". I had never seen the movie so I thought why not. One scene in the movie at the end really got me to thinking. Jennifer 's character asked her mom if she ever wanted to go back in time to correct some of her bad choices/decisions. The mom told her no.
I started thinking about my decisions and choices and if I would want to go back in time to correct them. Yes there are some things that I would love to correct, but then I would not be who I am today without those decisions. I would possibly not have my four children or not even live and work where I do. My life as it is now is far better than I could have ever dreamed. I don't have the big house, fancy cars, latest techno things - but what I do have is worth far more than those things would ever be.
My only regret is not keeping my eyes more focused on Him at times so that some of those decisions that I made would have involved Him more. But God took what this world meant for bad and turned into something for His Glory. And isn't that the way that it is all supposed to be anyway.

Conversation over lunch

JC had lunch with Maggie at school and during this time we found out something very interesting. Mags forgot her lunch so she had to eat in the lunchroom and they were serving turkey. We found out that she doesn't like turkey much anymore. The reason - me! Yes her mom. Come to find out when I made her turkey snadwiches for lunch I somehow screwed them up. Now how you screw up a turkey snadiwch is beyond me. It was that I either put too much meat, too much mayo, or too much cheese - which I haven't figured out the last one since I only put one piece of cheese on the snadwich. Did she tell me any of this - nope. But at least now I know why on turkey day, she won't be eating any.

Lunch with his girl

Today, the school had a Thanksgiving lunch for kids and their parent(s). She wanted one of us to come and since JC was off today, he is going. Someone asked him what he was doing Friday and his response "The only thing I have is a lunch date with my daughter." That one line meant the world to me. He is a great daddy.

Interesting lunch

I was introduced last week to Moe's BBQ here in Vestavia. The smoked chicken sandwich was great but this week I tried the Thanksgiving Special sandwich. It was different than anything I had before. It was smoked turkey, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce (which I didn't get on mine) and red and white BBQ sauce. I had heard how great and wonderful it was, but it wasn't something that I would get all the time. But I have to say that the lima beans were of some count. The red BBQ sauce isn't that bad either.

What a Week and a Scare!

Let me start off to say that I have had some crazy weeks in my life, but this week has to rank right up there at the top. Jesse started getting sick especially over the weekend and we found out Monday that he had an ear infection and bronchiolitis. Tuesday was rough and they were both very fussy. Tuesday night though, Jesse cried off and on all night long and Camie started coughing and crying. So another trip to the doctor on Wednesday. Jesse now has a double ear infection and Camie has an ear infection and bronchiolitis. Both of them are pitiful.

We had a scare though at the doctor's office that almost had me in tears. Jesse got so mad that he was crying and his eyes somewhat rolled back and it worried our doctor. They would not let us leave until Jesse calmed down and would track me with his eyes. I can tell you right now, I have never been so scared in all my life. In those few moments, everything was running through my head. But Praise God, he is okay now. We think it was because he got so upset. I have been watching him like a hawk ever since. They seemed better when I left this morning, so maybe we are past the worse of this.

3 Months Today

It's hard to believe that it's already been 3 months since the babies were born. Three months since God blessed our family with 2 more bundles of joy to love. They are already getting so big. They are moving around on their backs and trying to roll over some already. Camie even tries to sit up when she is in her bouncy seat. They are "talking" more everyday. Before I know they will be all over the place. I remember how fast time flew by with Maggie and Josh and I plan on treasuring every moment I have with them as babies. I treasure every moment I have with all of my kids. I never knew that I could love 4 little things as much as I love my kids. And to think that God loves us more than that is hard to imagine.

Karate Tourney

Saturday was Josh's first karate tourney. He was excited about it and I was so nervous. He doesn't like to be up in front of people by himself so part of me was terrified that he would freeze up and lose it. But he did great. He got 3rd place in both forms and sparring and got two trophies. I will hopefully be posting some video soon from it.

Afterwards, we got to spend some time together just the two of us. My nephew's girlfriend kept the babies for me and I had a blast spending some time with him. We met JC for lunch at McDonald's and then headed to Bass Pro Shops to play in Santa's workshop and upstairs at the shooting game. It's been a while since I got to spend time with him like that. I wish Maggie could have been there, but she decided to stay at her daddy's since all the kids were there this weekend.

Boys will be boys

All boys are the same whether they are 1 or 70. Last night as I gave Jesse a bath, he did his usually pee as soon as he in the tub. Josh was in there with me - the kids love bath time with the babies. As Jesse was peeing, he hiccuped and pee went everywhere. I jumped back a little bit but not my oldest son. He just laughed and ran into the den to tell his sister what Jesse had done. He was so proud.

How can you say no...

Maggie came home from school with a note for "Lunch with Someone Grand", which is Thanksgiving lunch with the student and then a trip to the Book Fair. She showed it to me and instead of doing her usually "it's okay if you can't come" line she says all the time she showed me what she had written on the back.

When I saw what she had written I had a tear come to my eye. It was so sweet - how could one of us say no. Things worked out that JC is off next Friday so he is going with her. He had planned to go fishing but is going to have lunch with his "Big Sweet Pea" instead. She was so excited. And I was reminded again why I love that man so much. A lot of guys would keep their plans and not even think twice about it, but not JC.

What a Weekend

To say that this past weekend was busy would be an understatement. I felt as though I was going non stop which we basically were. Friday night Maggie had a spend the night party and Josh had karate practice for his tournament coming up.

Saturday morning, we all loaded up (yes all 6 of us) and headed to Tuscaloosa to tailgate with friends and watch the game on TV. The kids had a blast. Maggie played with our friends' daughter and Josh played football with some boys tailgating right next to us. The babies laid a lot on the blanket looking at the leaves blowing in the wind. I wanted to get more pictures than I got but it was hard looking after all 4 kids and trying to talk to friends. Next year should be better.

Sunday, we headed to Pelham for Maggie's gymnastics meet. She did pretty good and finished 5th in bars. I was so proud of her because she did her round off/backhand spring all by herself without anyone spotting her. It was not the best one she has ever done, but a step in the right direction. She seems to have an issue for some reason with doing one. We think she is thinking about it too much and just needs to practice it more since we have seen her do it a thousand times.

Finally on the way home, we stopped by Bass Pro Shops to visit Santa's workshop and see the man in the big red suit. I haven't downloaded the pictures, but I got some pictures of all 4 kids with him. It was great weekend.

Half Full...

This week at times has been very trying. I have caught myself at times complaining about the lack of time and things in general. When it totally hit me that I have nothing to complain about. I have 4 beautiful healthy children, a great dog, and a husband who loves me for me. I have decided to look at everything as "half full". So I may not have the big house, the nice cars, the nice clothes, a house full of furniture (but I can tell you that my house is full), or anything along those lines. But what I do have is first of all a relationship with my Lord and Saviour that is humbling to even think about and blessings that are too many to count.

So when I start to complain about the house being dirty, I will be thankful that I have a house over my head - when the kids are getting on my last nerve, I will be thankful that I have 4 healthily kids because there will come a day when they will not live with me anymore and the silence will be deafening.

I hope that this week, we will all step back and look at ourselves and what we have and not compare ourselves to others. For when we compare ourselves with others, nothing will ever be enough for us.

Halloween

It was the babies first Halloween and we were all prepared for Maggie and Josh to not be there, but things worked out that they were. We were all so excited.

But can I say that was one busy Halloween. We had 4 parties that we were invited to and by the time we got home after 10pm the babies were exhausted. First we went to Josh's karate party and it was a great time had by all. Josh went home with his best friend and Mags and I went by the house with the babies. Next stop after watching Auburn beat Ole Miss was to her brother's party. She had a great time catching up with old friends. And then on to our friend's house for supper and trick or treating. The kids had a wonderful time riding in the back of the trailer with hay. It got cold towards the end but tons of candy was in the bags.

The kids spent the night with their friends and JC and I took the babies to the final stop. My nephews and their friends had a costume party and they all looked great. The babies "danced" and had a good ole time.

I will be posting pictures soon but time for downloading pictures is not there all the time like it used to be.