Addy

This is Addy. Addy loves to smile. Doesn't Addy have a nice smile.


Ha ha.......


She is so much fun to be around. She is either dancing, singing, talking non-stop, telling us all what to do, or asleep. She is all energy and all love. I used to think my sun came up and went down for her momma but now I know that was just the warm-up.

This is Isaiah. Isaiah is starting to crawl. It won't be long before Isaiah is chasing after his big sister ADDY!

Isaiah laughs when you need it most and smiles with his whole face. He is the most precious little boy I know! He is curious about everything and watches life around him with such an intensity. Every minute I spend with him is such a blessing.

finally....

For those of you that think perhaps I have fallen by the way side, I have not. I have been extremely busy these last few weeks at work and I am mostly drained of thought and energy by the time I was home at night, plus I did have the flu. Anyway, we are finished with our tax filings and statutory required information filings at work! That is an awesome thing. We do business in 18 different states. That is a lot of work to file all of the correct documents and tax returns for each state. Anyway, just wanted to tell my blogging friends hello and that I will attempt to get back to my blogging more faithfully. I have an idea for an on-going blog that will perhaps be entertaining for ya'll.

Quick up dates on the kids, Coleen goes for her re-check on her knee next Thursday. I will let ya'll know how that goes. Elliot has his first game of the season this Sunday at 3 in Birmingham. It is a "friendly" and doesn't count, but the boys are real excited to put their new skills and knowledge to work. Addy has a cold and had to go see the doctor. The nurse was not very gentle with her and hurt her with the swab while doing a strep-test. Addy told me all about it in a very pitiful voice. She wants me to go spank the nurse. Isaiah is a little chubby grub! He got his 6 month check up and is doing GREAT! He is ahead of the game with his sitting up and tummy scooting. I think he has great inspiration to chase after his big sister. If he continues to grow as fast as he is he will quickly catch up to her in size. She is still so very petite! Her vocabulary still amazes me and she is making great strides in being diaper free!

Anyway, just a few words to catch ya'll up on the bunch in Tuscaloosa!

Embarrassment is us!

Okay the fact that a small child witnessed this was not embarrassing enough for me. The fact that I posted it on my facebook was not embarrassing enough for me. I decided my four faithful friends should get the full story so that they can laugh at me and my moment of pure embarrassment!

Elliot had soccer practice today at Sokol park. That was fine. I took him and picked him up. I stood around talking to the team manager, Mark Shepherd, for about 15 minutes after practice. Elliot handed me his soccer ball and water jug and ran off to play with his teammate/Mark's son. I very cleverly decided as I was walking to the car to dribble the ball to the car. I have done this a million times and never had a problem. WELL, it was extremely windy today. The instant the ball touched the concrete the wind caught it. I didn't want to run after it so in my infinite wisdom, I stuck my foot out to stop it. SILLY me! The spin of the ball and the weight of my foot did not agree and yes, yours truly hit the ground. It was NOT graceful and it WAS painful. I am bruised and scraped in multiple places now.

I have to eventually accept my age and my lack of athletic ability. Apparantly NOT soon enough!

UGH!

Just call me BRUISED AND SULKING IN ALABAMA!

supper tonight....

Quinn, Stephen, Addy, and Isaiah came over for dinner tonight. We invited them because it has been FOREVER since we spent the evening with them! Ian went to the store; bought steak and things to make rice and green beans. IT was so very nice to have them over. Addy is playing ball with Elliot and Coleen now. She is not happy with them. Little man is asleep in his momma's arms. I cannot even begin to tell you how sweet it is to have them all here and watch Addy play and Isaiah sleep! Sweet little babies!

OH and an update on Coleen's knee. She saw her doctor today. He said there is progress but he is not happy with it. We go back in two weeks. She is to do strict rehab and ride the bike at her school. If she can ride for 30 minutes with little to no pain she can try running on the treadmill. He is talking about not playing soccer at all this year. We will see. I want her to play because of all the conflicts that she has faced these past two weeks with her coach. Unfortunately, not all adults act like adults with teenagers. Coleen's coach was a little negligent and I called her on it. She was rude to me. So now Coleen wants to not play. I am trying to help her understand that in life not everyone falls in love with you and sometimes you have to do something even when the people involved don't even like you. It is called learning to succeed in adversity. Trust me, I would rather pull her out and stick my tongue out at the mean lady! ;)

So there is my entry tonight. No hint of poetry in it at all!

Tis the season......

Yesterday we were snuggled in coats wondering if we would get snow or ice. Tonight, we were tossed about by wind, soaked by rain, and pounded by hail. Tis the season of ever changing weather!

Last week I was completely bedridden, ravaged by fever, shunned by my entire family, all because of a little virus bug called "flu". Tis the season of bad colds!

This week I am recovered and very grateful that none of the people I hold dear are writhing in agony as I was just a few days past. Tis the season of thankful answered prayers!

Monday last was full of love, sweet card and beautiful orchid from my son that so fills my heart with joy. Saturday I sat in my lonely world but still words of great devotion and undying love went to Anthony & Karen, Quinn & Stephen, Addy, Isaiah, Coleen, Elliot, and Ian. Tis the season of amore!

So I leave you all with just the quick note. Just a note to let you know all is well and all is fair once more. After all it is some season or another!

My Ride To Work

turning onto Watermellon Rd

I have such a beautiful ride to work every day that I felt the need to share pictures and some commentary with you all so that you can know every day what I get to see and experience on my ride to work!

on McFarland looking at the Indian Hills Country Club Golf Course

There are such interesting street names that I travel on; Watermelon, McFarland, Jack Warner, Queen’s City Avenue to name a few. Well actually to name them all! Ha ha……..

Isn't the Black Warrior gorgeous. They say it is VERY cold!

I cross a beautiful river every day and travel up it for several miles. I travel past beautiful naturally occurring granite formations and perfect landscaping. There is a River Walk with wooden bridges and a lit path for walkers. Some mornings I am lucky enough to see the UA Rowing team flying up the Black Warrior River in their boats.

iron occurs naturally in the hills

the walk way is just beyond the rail. it is a wooden walk path with very antique looking street lights on the path

this is the county Library.... you know it was the first place we found!

i never have been able to get a reputable source on what this building is. it looks like a ruin of an ampitheater. however, someone said that it is the old public swimming pool!

All in all, I have one of the most interesting and peaceful rides I could have ever imagined. IT is filled with God’s natural wonder, man’s additions of plants and scenery, and some of the prettiest old homes in town.

just one of the many that I pass!

I hope you all enjoy my views as much as I do five mornings each week!

part of my desk.... the part I work on mostly anyway! please note the pictures hanging........

Now for the views that I see for roughly eight and one half hours EVERY day! (yes I snuck in a picture or two of my babies)

the other half of my "office"..... mostly store binders over here!

and the part where I live! new picture, sorry for the camera flash!

So I have now shown you all my ride to work and the place where I stare and wonder what I am supposed to be doing! ha ha.........

thankful

This afternoon at about 4:45 I got one of those phone calls. It was a stranger telling me that my child had been in a car accident with her boyfriend, Evan. Thankfully I could hear her in the background saying, "he's not my boyfriend" or I might have died on the spot. I am very sure I have at least 10 more gray hairs tonight. Anyway, the person that called said that she was fine but they wanted to take her to be looked at and could I meet them at DCH. I actually beat them to the hospital and Quinn beat me! She was fine once I was finally allowed to go back to her. They had her strapped to a board with a neck brace on and all she could do was complain cause she had to use the bathroom! That's my girl. Anyway, her friend, Evan, that was driving received a minor injury. He broke his pinky toe. I felt really sorry for him because he was so upset that he might have hurt Coleen. He is a very unique young man and I am glad that Coleen has him for a friend. I may even let her ride in a car with him again. AT least I can be confident that he will never look away from the road again! So that is the extent of my day. Lots of other things happened but they really don't matter. My Leeny saw a moment that she had to realize she might be hurt or even killed and she walked away laughing and happily talking about what she would do tomorrow. God is good!

work is not the funnest thing to me today!

Okay as I mentioned before my blogs will not be filled with little tidbits of a daily life filled with the joy of parenting a small precious sweet little bundle. NO my bundles are 15 and nearly 13 that still live here and that I am still actively parenting. My other bundles are married and concerned with their own bundles be it my little grans, Addy & Isaiah or my little gran-pup, Lucy! So I am going to bore you all to tears with my world of ----- you guessed it---- accounting!

Teach ya'll to follow my blog!

Today was particularly stressful because I actually worked on a schedule for our annual filing and people kept interrupting me with important things to do! Shameful people. This is our really busy time of year because we have so many official filings that have to be done by certain days. We do business in 18 different states and they all require annual reconciliations by March 1st. We have our NAIC filing (lovingly called our Blue Book) that is required to be filed by February 27 this year. We have state pages that have to be done, December financials to finalize before we can do the state pages, municipal taxes that have to be filed and paid, annual taxes that have to be filed and paid, and now it is time to start working on January financials already! Did I mention that it is stressful a little at my work just now? OH and on a daily basis I have to process the deposits for 2 different companies, send information electronically to our bank so that the checks we write will be honored, AND make any journal entries to record income that our system doesn't automatically record! It is busy during the morning every day but some afternoons can be slow and killing!

I really love my job. My boss is sometimes a little short tempered but she is a good person. My co-workers are great! EXCEPT for Gary. He has got on my last nerve today ;) ha ha...... So now I have bored all ya'll with a glimpse into the accounting world in which I live! I will try my best to take my camera to work and take some pictures to show ya'll my world.

So are you thinking that my whole life is about debits and credits and double declining depreciations yet? nah........

Elliot has soccer practice right now. That is partially how I am able to sit in peace and put two words together without constant interruption. Coleen is sitting on the couch nursing her knee. It is so COLD here tonight. Elliot had to take my gloves to keep his hands from freezing while he was running. He has a new coach and there is no inclimate weather in soccer if ya'll don't know that. Unless it is lightening or the field is covered in ice soccer plays on! The new coach was a professional player a couple of years ago. He quit because the strain of medical school was too much and he didn't feel he was being fair to the rest of the team. He played on the Atlanta Silverbacks team. He was their keeper. He also coaches the ODP girls league and is one of several Keeper Trainers for both ODP boys and girls. So some of you may want to know what a keeper is or what ODP is (Beth). hee hee........ The keeper is the person in the goal. He "keeps" the ball out! ODP is Olympic Developmental Pool. We have 2 boys on the U-13 team. It is a big honor to be chosen and very good exposure. So as you may guess we are very proud to have this guy coaching our boys. So far he has not one time yelled at Elliot and he has given him a couple "Atta-boys" to boot! Elliot is small but he is one of the most dedicated on the field. Being a natural leftie helps him a lot as well plus his speed. He is fast! Ya have to be fast when most of the guys on your team have 4-6 inches more leg than you do! ha ha.......

Coleen is also playing soccer and is VERY involved in art. Her coach told her last week that she has to help paint some signs for the soccer field. He said he believed in using the whole athlete and since she is a great artist he wanted to make sure all of her skills were being used! He seems like a nice guy BUT I am a little distressed with their lack of concern over her knee. She hurt her knee before Thanksgiving in practice and it is still swelling and giving her fits. We went to the doctor almost 2 weeks ago and they did an MRI on it. We heard back today (finally). She has a bone contusion. We called Brian to find out what this meant. He said pretty much that her bone was bruised. He said it takes a long time to heal and that she really needs to be careful and stick to the rehab program the doctor gave her. Thus my distress with the coach. He has not given the order to the trainer YET (as of today a full 12 days after it was given to his wife)! AND they have made Coleen run every practice. I am distressed. I am not even sure of what a bone contusion is. I know a contusion is a bruise but how the heck do you bruise a bone? How does it heal? What should you do to help it along, how long does it take? Questions questions questions!!!!!!

So there! That is today!

Now that Coleen has left my side, let me continue with my post. Anthony and Karen are still in Hattiesburg. They bought a house in June that I was finally able to see in November! See what I mean about a bad year! They also got a sweet little puppy/child that they named Lucy-Lou! She is precious and licks me even though I tell her in a stern voice that Lala does not like puppy-kisses!

Isn't she cute!

Now I would like to tell a story to all of you about the bad year we had. Last year actually in December 2007, I was offered the most fantastic job I have ever had. Of course Ian and I both were excited about the new job the new home the new everything. We felt it was our chance to reinvent ourselves and our lives. The crux was that we had to move before the first of the new year. We packed up all our worldly possessions (more than we realized we had) and started our new life on December 31, 2007. That meant we were unpacking boxes with no hope of a traditional New Year's meal on New Year's Day. Stephen's family (Grammy, Pop, and Janet) graciously treated us to dinner that day at a Tuscaloosa Icon of a restaurant- - Taco Casa! Needless to say everyone within hearing distance of me now knows that if you move on New Year's Eve and you eat tacos at Taco Casa you will have a terrible year financially and emotionally and physically! Did I mention earlier that I developed ulcers after moving over here! Ha ha... all good fun! yeah this year we had cabbage, black-eyed peas, and pork roast like you are supposed to do! Plus we put our puzzle together! This year has to be better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So now I really am going to close. So many other stories to tell on another night! I am going to post one more picture although I really don't want to because it is not a complete picture of my family! However, it is a fun picture of most of us on Christmas Eve with our crowns on!

everyone else is doing it so why not?

My neice, my first cousin, and my daughter-in-law are all "blogging" so I decided that they should not have all of the fun alone. So here goes..............

We moved just over a year ago. I never knew how much it would upset the very fabric of my life to change my address. It was a very stressful time for us to begin with. I was offered a fantastic job with excellant pay and benefits so we really did not have a choice in moving. Ian was able to find a job within 3 months of our move which is really good. Unfortunately we were so far in the hole at that point that we are still struggling to catch up a year later.

I really worried for months that our family was not going to make it. IT was very hard to admit this to anyone but the mirror so don't expect any great details. Let's just leave it at my tolerance was zero and medicine levels needed to be adjusted and kids needed to be more respectful and we needed a monthly influx of about 800 bucks that we were NOT getting. Anyway, we are hopefully past the worst of it. We are able at least now to keep gas in the van and groceries in the fridge & cabinets. Our "mad money" jar is still mostly empty but we haven't had to raid it in over 5 months now! I am hopeful. Our future does look better. Our life feels better. So why dwell on the past.

The kids adjusted very well to the move. They love their schools. They have made friends. Coleen is in the 9th grade now and is very involved at church. She is playing soccer also with her highschool. Elliot is in the 7th grade and has been playing soccer on a select team since we moved here. He is such a great soccer player. It makes me very proud to watch him. He is a natural leftie and plays in the midfield position as a winger.

Quinn and Stephen and Addy moved over here in May! yay! Then little man joined us in August! Yay Isaiah! I have no clue on how to begin to tell how very much I love the little girl and boy! They are sweet and precious. Addy is so smart and sassy. She is learning what is good behavior and what is bad behavior. She is such a 2 year old! ha ha..... She asks us if we need time out all the time now; and then she will tell you why you are getting time out! Saturday, she was really fussy and would not eat because the spoon then the fork were not the ones she wanted and they wouldn't work right. It was bad. Her dad walked off with her to calm her and she cried to him that she needed a time out in Leeny's bed! Stephen said she was asleep before he could lay her down! Isaiah is so observant. He is 5 months old now. Sunday Quinn and Karen were looking at cakes and wondering what kind of cake we will make for him for his first birthday. They were remembering how much Addy loved her yellow rubber duckies. I wonder what Isaiah will "love" also and I am looking forward to watching his personality develope even more! He gave his momma a kiss tonight when she picked him up from Grammy's house.

Finding time to do this blog is going to be a challenge for me but not nearly as big of a challange as finding the privacy to do it! Coleen has just pointed out that I wrote a ton about Addy and Isaiah and only a very little bit about her. And she is 15 now!

So more will follow as I have time and less critical viewers!