If he was here

Starting to get excited about the house being finished. We have less than a month left. But what I was thinking about this morning was how I wish my dad was here to see it. 

I can see him now. He would come to visit, walking around with no socks on and a pair of jeans hanging off his tail with the cracks of his tail showing, laying around on the bed, on the computer listening to gospel music, getting cookie crumbs in the bed and wasting pop on my carpet. Then I would look at him and say, "When you leavin'?!?"

I miss seeing the world through my camera lens.  I haven't picked my camera up much in the last year, since my dad died. He loved taking pictures.  Always told me I was great at it.  Couldn't wait until I started taking them more professionally.  He was my cheerleader with that.  Couldn't quite figure out why I would pay for my kids sports pictures and school pictures when I could undoubtedly take them myself. 

It's been a year and I finally picked up my camera just for the enjoyment of it.  I took pictures of a friend's kids.  I'm rusty.  I feel like a rookie again, trying to figure out the right settings.  But it made me smile to do it again.

New home

We're building our new house. Which is pretty exciting right? Scheduled to be complete by December 11th... With lots of prayers. I haven't quite got excited about the house yet. Even for our first house I never gotten excited during the building process. I think that getting excited over something that could potentially fail was a little scary to me. And that may be the case this time. But the house has started going up, they've already started framing it, and I have to admit, that when I saw all the house being framed I was pretty excited. Maybe more so because I'm excited for it to be complete on time. I mean, talking complete right before Christmas. I want to be moved into my house and settled enough to put up a Christmas tree and enjoy Christmas in our new home.

Feelin' all mommy-like and stuff

Got the blender going this morning... as always. A little something to boost my energy. 

Got the husband off to work with his coffee. 

Got the kids off to school with a breakfast and packed lunches. 

As usual, I'm debating on going to the gym. But, as usual, the gym will win the debate. 

So I start the day of the stay-at-home mom who doesn't stay at home. And while you often might hear me complain, I love this job. It's the most rewarding job I'll ever have. And even though I use to complain that I really really wanted a "real job", job where I can be anything other than just a mom, I just can't see myself not being here for them if ever they need me.

Thanks for Sharing, Kids!

I just love that my kids want to share everything with me. They share how their day went, who got in trouble in class, how many laps their coach made them do. They share all of the gossip they hear on the sxhool bus and from the neighboorhood kids. They share the jokes they learned and the tricks they can now do. They share how much they've grown by comparing themselves to being "almost as tall" as me. They share their personal side, even the things that are TMI!  They share the reasons for their laughter and the reasons That they cry. They sometimes share their snacks and always share flowers they pick from outside... just for mom.

I love how much they share with me and how much of themselves they give. 

I just wish they would stop sharing when it comes to their colds...

Technology Takeover

I've lost the fabulousness to my mommyhood.  My kids are addicted to their game apps and so am I.  No one goes to be before midnight and I don't go to before 1am.  The kids are bored and often stay in pajamas most of the day.  This summer heat has sucked the life out of me.  NO!  This computer has sucked the life out of me!  Between work, school and game apps, I don't want to DO much else.  I suck at parenting! 

Something's gotta give!

Summer Workout Plan with the Kids

Spent the morning working out with Miss Missy and CJ (Cam had a lot of attitude and spent his time doing chores instead) and had a ball.  I was kind of surprised that Miss Missy kept up without giving up.  I found a great Spartan Kids Training Program for kids that was posted by a friend, but you can find the printable version at kidsfitfoundation.org

I think we'll stick with this.  I also added in my new challenge.  Right now, we're doing the 30-Day AB CHALLENGE in my group.  Many are still working on the 30-Day SQUAT CHALLENGE and some have opted to do them both.  Want to join us?  Click on the link and join the group!  https://www.facebook.com/groups/170603523095306/

Here's the 30-Day AB CHALLENGE:

One thing Hubs and I agree on is teaching the kids to be lead healthy lifestyles.  For us, allowing them to spend countless hours playing video games without any outside time is not going to happen. 

Does this mean they aren't allow to play video games? 

Not at all.  The boys love bonding together playing NBA Live and Miss Missy has a bit of a ROBLOKS addiction when she can find an empty computer, but often we as parents tend to get lost in our own worlds and take advantage of the quiet time that the video game marathons give us.  A lot of kids spend a lot of their time playing games indoors rather than enjoying the outdoor games that we did when we were kids. 

Kids have lost their imagination and creativity and when they go outside they are BOOOOOOOORED because they can't find anything to do.  What happened to the games we use to play to pass the time while we were outside?  You  know, those days when your mama said, "Don't come back in this house or you're staying inside."  Yeah, so because of those words, we hydrated at the water hose  in the neighborhood and came up with games to play OUTSIDE. 

TAG, RED-LIGHT/GREEN-LIGHT, MOTHER-MAY-I?, JUMP ROPE, KICKBALL

Any of these sound familiar?

Kids now have absolutely no idea what it means to just play outside and have FUN until the streetlights come on.

So, this summer, we're shooting for NO LAZINESS as we get up out of our beds in the mornings and get in a workout... TOGETHER!  I have committed to doing a workout plan anyway, so to add in the kids workout is just a great way to push me that much harder.  So, I'm ready.  I'm going to BEAST it this summer and be an example for the kids. 

WHEW!  I'm already tired just thinking about it!

Doggie Hunger Strike!

Ginger ran out of dog food the night the night before we were to drive to Albany for my stepdaughter's graduation. Her normal dogfood comes from Petsmart and because it was after 8 when I noticed it and I was in the middle of braiding Miss Missy's hair AND there is no Petsmart in our little town (it's about a 15min drive down the highway), Chris went to Foodlion to grab her a bag.

Now, if you know Ginger, you know that she is the most picky dog in the world. Any dog that will walk away from a half-cooked turkey meatball that has fallen out of the frying pan on to the floor really is not your average dog. Apparently it wasn't done enough for her. Well, Chris was sure she would eat the dogfood because it had chunks of chicken in it. I simply smirked as he put if in her dish because I know that changing her food usually causes the dog to go on a hunger strike. 

Well, she laid down next to her bowl and started eating. (Yes, she is just that lazy that she LAYS down to eat her food!). She was eating it. A few minutes later she walks away, leaving chunks of dogfood on the floor.  She'd done just as I though she would. She took out all of the chicken pieces and left the green vegatable and other pieces in the bowl. 

So now, refusing to buy her another bag, Chris has banned everyone from feeding her until she eats the other pieces of food on her bowl!

He doesn't know her very well because I'm sure she will sooner starve than eat food she doesn't like. As I type, her stomach is growling SO loud and so much I'm going to have to sneak her some food out of sympathy! 

The Pain! The Agony! THE FEET!

It was quite the beautiful morning this morning and I got up and decided to walk the kids to school.  The school is literally a 5 minute walk and I think they could seriously walk it daily if the rules here in Groovytown were not that kids can't walk to school without a parent..  There were only 2 other parents that walked their kids to school today.  Sad, I think because it's a great bonding time and great exercise as well.

However, my feet hurt so bad!  Every since that 4 hour walk Chris and I took down by Savannah River, my feet haven't been quite right.  And the 2 weeks off of them that the doctor recommended, well that didn't work.  My arches are non-existent.  I'm not happy about that because that causes me the worst trouble in my exercises.  I think it also could be the cause of the cramps I'm always getting in my leg muscles.  I think it's the peroneus longus (Whatever that means)


So what's the solution?

New shoes?  Dr. Scholls?  Surgery?  Not sure what the next step is, but It's only getting worse and it's now hurting to walk around stores, take walks and stand too long.

I've conquered the garlic clove!

Pasta is one of my all time faves.  I'll probably never lose weight if the expectation is that I give up pasta... or cheese. So tonight's meal is chicken Alfredo with bowtie pasta. And tonight I'm especially proud of myself because u actually used an actual garlic glove! Hey, I've never said I was a cook!

What I enjoyed even more was the way I pealed it. I had to Google it to find out how it's done and when I found the Martha Stewart video that made it so simple!

Cool, right! 

It took all of a few seconds!

My trusty sidekick is always by my side, wishing and hoping for scraps to fall to the floor, so she lays here trying to pretend to be resting her eyes only to jump to attention every time I move my feet. 

Teacher's are APPRECIATED!

It's been a busy week for me where I was able to use my creative mind again.  AND I LOVE THAT!

It was Teacher Appreciation Week! 

This year, I had a lot of fun helping the kids create fun things to take in to their teachers to let them know how much they appreciate them.  It's funny how exciting this is when they have teachers they love.  Both of my elementary kiddos really love their teachers here in Georgia.  I see that spark in both of them that I didn't see when we were in Arizona and for THAT ALONE, I appreciate the teachers at CRE.  

I love being able to have the kids take things to school that are fun and unique.  The only problem that I have is that EVERYTHING I do is last minute and EVERYTHING I do is something that we end up working on until 10 o'clock or later!  But it's Teacher Appreciation... my favorite school week of the year... so I sacrifice bedtimes. 

Every day of the week, the kids were to bring in a themed gift for their teachers.  My kids, as unique as they are, decided they wanted to give their teacher the majority of their gifts today, on Friday, as one big gift, rather than daily. 

Great for me!  Gave me more time to be creative!

What's terrible is that I didn't get pictures of many of the things they took to school, but I can give you an idea of what we  came up with. 

Sweets for Cam was easy.  A bag of Hershey's Simple Pleasures.
For Miss Missy, though, her teacher is pregnant and just about ready to pop, so i made a mini two-letter diaper cake decorated in hot pink zebra print ribbon and flower hair bows for the new little one.  NO PICTURE!  UGH! 

For Words of Appreciation Day, they both wrote poems.  I loved this because they used their creative minds and wrote from their hearts.  Cam really enjoyed it and felt like he'd found his calling in poetry when the words flowed so easily and he was proud of his masterpiece.

Favorite Flower Day was another fun on.  Came made his teacher a duct tape flower pen and Miss Missy painted a picture of tulips of a canvas with the words, "Thank You For Helping Me Grow" 

For School Supplies Day, We covered some clipboards with zebra-print contact paper and accented it with a stencil of the letters of their last names and blue duct tape.  We also covered a plastic cup with the same zebra print paper and made expo marker flower pens and VIOLA!  A sassy desk set for teacher!  

Oh what fun it was to put together these projects!  THIS is why I stay home!  I love being able to do these things with my kids and they are always so proud to take their projects to school and show them off. 

 

30-Day Squat Challenge FB Group

Since I've been back on the east coast, I regret to admit that I have been pretty lazy.  My workouts have been random at best.  I walk with the Hubs a few times a week, some a little longer than my feet can handle!  But, thanks to my cousin for sending me the workout, I started a FB group for a 30-day Challenge. The challenge is great, adding on more and more squats everyday and challenging your body to obtain that great tight bottom that we all want.  Check out what we do everyday.























What's fun is having people to workout with, from the comforts of your own home, having a gym partner (or a bunch of partners) to cheer you on in your triumphs every day, give you a virtual high five when you meet your daily goals and make it through the tough days with you!

The girls have been AWESOME!  I am amazed to see how many have kept up and kept pushing and are logging their progress daily.  There are new people starting ever day, so if you want to get in on the fun and join in of the 30-day Squat Challenge, join us on Facebook and ask to join the group HERE.  We're all hoping to get a Beyonce booty with this workout!

The Outdoorsy Me

I think I like the outdoors more and more.  I never pegged myself for an outdoorsy type girl but I have found a lot of enjoyment in being outside hiking and running and I look forward to taking the boys fishing with their new fishing poles they received from their grandma on Easter.  I have been wanting to buy them a tent even if it's just to use in the backyard.  I saw one online at Walmart and I'm gonna get it one day.


Problem is, the Husband, who has retired from being a soldier, doesn't do camping.  Strange, huh?  Maybe, but I guess being forced to live in the elements has completely turned him off and refuses to take the kids camping.  And if you've every seen me in nature, with bugs and heat and wild animals, you KNOW I couldn't do it by myself, so it looks like camping... real camping... may not be in the cards anytime soon. 


So, for now, I simply have to enjoy the outdoors any way I can get it.  Right now, that's walking or hiking the Augusta Canal or the Grovetown Euchee Trails.  Both of these places are so serene and peaceful and gives me just enough outdoorsy stuff to scratch my itch, but not over kill that might have me running and screaming in a panic from snakes or killer rabid racoons.

Isn't this beautiful?!?

6 Months Down, a Lifetime of Healing To Go

Yesterday marked 6 months since my dad passed away.  It doesn't hurt any less.  It's still hard to believe that he's gone.  I still expect him to call me to check up on the kids or show up for holiday weekends.  I still have trouble talking about him without crying, so for the most part, I don't.  I've internalized a lot of my emotion for the past 6 months.  I evade conversations about it altogether.  Not healthy, but it hurts less this way.  I pull up the videos in my phone from when he was in the hospital before he passed and even though this is the last way I saw him, it's not the person I remember most.  I'm thankful for the memories.  The memories from the last few years were the best because these were the years where I learned to appreciate him more.  It's funny how knowing you're going to  lose someone sooner than you're suppose to can change your relationship. 


The last 6 months haven't been easy.  I started off just being angry. I was angry with God for taking him away.  Angry at Him for making my dad suffer so much in his last 9 month.  Angry because he didn't heal him.  I was just downright angry.

I was angry with my dad because I felt like he wasn't there with me.  You know how people say they can feel their deceased loved ones with them at some point?  I never have.  He's gone and that's just it.  No signs from beyond.  No "Ghost" moments.  No pennies floating through the air.  Nothing.  He is gone and that's all there is to it. 

I've been angry with myself for not making better decisions while he was alive.  The shoulda-woulda-couldas took over.  I shoulda stayed in Georgia and not moved with Arizona, knowing he was so sick.  I took his grandkids away from him and that coulda had a negative impact on him more than we know.  Every time we talked, he asked when we were coming back.  I shoulda had the kids to call more.  I always said I would have them call, but all to often our busy lives took over and they didn't talk to him as much as I wish they had.  I shoulda pushed harder for him to go to the proton treatment center my cousin had recommended.  Coulda made him go somehow.  Shoulda ignored his stubbornness to stay with his doctors and pushed him to get better care.  I know I shouldn't feel guilty, but it's really hard not to.

It doesn't help that the world around me seems to have so much going on.  It doesn't help that I've lost 3 additional family members since then.  It doesn't help that it seems that cancer is impacting so many people's lives around me.  I just want to scream, "ENOUGH, LORD!  I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE!"  

But today marks a new era.  A new phase and a count down to one year.  And while I know, it won't always be easy, I'm counting on better days and a road to recovery for me.  I know it will take a long time to heal from the hurt of losing a parent, but I'm hoping that soon I can stop hurting and start healing.

Hobby Lobby Field Trip

I took all three kiddos to Hobby Lobby last night to buy the things I need for the poodle skirt I'm making for Miss Missy for the 50s Sock Hop Daddy-Daughter Dance on Friday. I fully expected an all out whine feat from the boys. Quiet the contrary! They LOVED the store from the time they walked through the door! The ooooo's and aaaaaah's were amazing as they walked through the store talking about the things they wanted to decorate their rooms with and put in our future home? You know, the one that will have a movie room, a man cave and a game room? Yes they have it all planned out! They talked about how great the store was, how much they loved the stuff and how organized it was. They kept talking about how they couldn't wait to come back. Yes, they are 10 and 13!

They didn't mind looking at fabric because there were so many prints and they had ideas for what they wanted me to make for them. And when we moved on to the area with model cars and science kits, I swear I hear heaven's harps begin playing around them as their jaws dropped and they kept telling me how cool everything was!

Oh how I missed Hobby Lobby! There wasn't one I Sierra Vista. There was nothing even close. And they didn't really remember the store because I only went when they were in school when we were here in Augusta 2 years ago.

So on to the poodle skirt. I have two days to do this skirt. Never have I actually completed a project in such a short time. Never have I actually completed many projects period. I literally dusted off my sewing machine. It hasn't been used in at least 3 years. This is going to be really interesting!!

An Amazing Kid and He's All Mine!

CJ and I were sitting in the living room watching TV and something came on, a commercial, but I can't remember exactly what it was about, but it was a contest with the prize of $10,000.  I jokingly told CJ that he needed to enter that contest so he could win that money.  Told him he could then buy as many shoes as he wanted.  (He's been hinting about his shoes getting small and wanting a new pair)  I tell him that if he wins, he can have $5000 and the other half is mine. 

Fully expecting him to say "NO!  It's all mine!"  I had to smile when he laughed at my proposition and said, "Naaa, that's too much.  Maybe I would take $1000, give Cameron and Kennedy both $1000 and you and dad can have the rest.  I can buy a lot of shoes with a $1000, even though I might only spend save and save some... or probably save it for college." 

My kids are pretty awesome.  I was amazed by the fact that he's thinking of saving for college at 13, but even more amazed by his generosity, not just with me, but the fact that he include his brother and sister in the equation made me HIGH FIVE my son and tell him just how awesome he is. 

Contagion in the House

No matter what the weather is today, it's a great morning.  After the last few days I had, the fact that I can get out of the bed is great.  It's been a rough road in the Wise has as we have been battling a BUG.  It started with the boys on Monday night, I think.  Pretty sudden onset as we were going along just nicely and then when it was time to get ready for bed, then BAM!  Cam comes into the room with stomach cramps. 

"Mom, my stomach hurts so bad," he wines, balling up in the fetal position on my bed.
Now, being then loving mother that I am,  I respond with, "Boy, ain't nothin' wrong with you!  You were just in here playing and when I say take a bath you wanna act like you're sick!"

"But it dooooes," he wines.  "I went to the bathroom and it started hurting really bad! Can I have some Pepto pills?"  

Okay, now I'm irritated because I have to get off of Facebook (which I'd hidden under my school dashboard screen, you know, to pretend like I was doing something productive...) to get up and find my poor son some medicine.

So I gave the boy a chewable Pepto and sent him off to bed with all of his whining.

Okay, in my defense, you have to understand that Cam is the kind of child that wines over everything.  He is very dramatic with his sicknesses and you'd think that he was going to pass out every time he gets a hang nail.  We've been back to this school a little over a month and he has been in the Nurse's office at least 4 times, that I know about, already.  Needless to say, if he knows no one else in that school, he will be very familiar with the nurse, and usually my number is on speed dial.

So off to bed I send him, only to wake up to him getting very aquainted with the porcelain bowl. As always, he didn't make it to the bathroom and I ended up cleaning blankets and carpets in the middle of the night. 

"I told you I was sick," he says to me, with his head in the bowl.  

And as I'm cleaning up what had to be the worst pile of puke ever (we'd had stake and collard greens for dinner), I look at him and tell him, "Why must you always have me up with you when you're sick?  No one gets up with me when I'm sick."

He smiles and say, "Well, that's part of being a mom."

Boy, is he lucky I love him.

After about the 3rd time of getting out of the bed, Cam decided that the best place for him was the bathroom floor, so that's where he took him blanket and pillow for easy access.

5am rolls around and I hear someone roaming the downstairs.  As I get up to head down to investigate, I see Cam still sleeping in the bathroom and CJ coming up the stairs.

"Mom, my stomach hurts really bad."

Great.

Well, both boys were taken to see the doctor, as I wasn't sure if they had food poisoning or something else.  We'd eaten at a buffet the night before, so you never know.  

A really bad virus is going around apparently.  

Later that night, we're watching Contagion which we'd rented from Netflix and boy does that movie make you THINK about what you touch and what you're passing around!  Perfect timing, because during the movie, I also had become quite acquainted with the porcelain bowl...      










 

Are We There Yet?!?!?!

Road trip! It's been a tough couple of months for the family. Today we're heading to Michigan to bury my uncle Sterling, just 5 months after burying my dad.

The kids are driving me crazy with the bickering and I want to jump out the car window, tuck and roll, and get up and run off into the woods. But alas, this is my uncle's funeral and how would it look if I wasn't in the car when it arrives in Michigan? Someone would surely think the husband offed me and left me for the buzzards somewhere along the way.

I was about to comment on how nice the Tennessee mountains are, but I just looked up and saw we're a out to enter Kentucky. So, the Kentucky mountains are beautiful. Makes me miss Arizona and being surrounded by mountains 360 degrees. It's a site you have to see to appreciate. I have to wonder if my brother and I argued half as much as Missy and Cam on our road trips and if so, how are we still alive??

I've taken this 12 hour trip plenty of times and there are areas that we come to that remind me of when we were kids. We used to sing "1000 Bottles of Beer on the Wall", play "That's My Car" and "Slug Bug" for hours upon hours upon hours. How I wish they would do that rather than having to hear, "Don't touch me." "I'm not touching you!" "If you touch me..." "Aaaah! He's touching me!"

Really soon, it's going to be me asking, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?!?!"

Bangs

Ms. Missy hates my bangs.  Of course she hates anytime I take scissors to my hair, but she told me out right that my hair was ugly.  Kids say the darnedest things, right.  They are honest.  Too Honest.  At least Cam has some etiquette and told her that she should keep some things to herself.  Here's the reveal...

GOSH I shouldn't have stayed up so late last night!

2012 Vlog #2.

It was a pretty fabulous weekend.  After busting our butts to get this house clean and get the furniture moved in and get things situated, my family came to visit us for a few days.  AND IT WAS CHRISTMAS ALL OVER AGAIN!

Video Diary... Introducing... ME!

It's great to be back in the blogging world.  After months on some-timey blogging, I wanted to try something new to go with the NEW YEAR, the NEW LIFE.  

Move in complete, life is pretty much... normal.

It's back to a normal pace around the wise house.  House is almost unpacked, I'm getting a routine again and kids are fitting in just fine... kinda.