Thomas the Train, Ears, Easter Eggs, a Teenager and More

I'm laughing to myself as I start this because the title sounds so silly; but this post is going to contain a lot of information and catch-up and pictures. So pour a cup of coffee or whatever your drink of choice may be and settled in for a long one as I ramble through what's been going on around here.

I think I have shared with you about David's obsession with Thomas the Train. Well Thomas & Sir Topham Hat came to Calera (Birmingham) recently and my SIL and I took our boys up for the big day. It was such a wonderful time for David. I'll share a couple of pictures of the boys below. One of the cutest things of the day happened as we were leaving - we walked by Thomas one last time and David said "Bye Thomas, see you next time, I love you!".

That Saturday, at the last minute, we ended up going to Leslie's for dinner. It was her birthday and our last official gathering with the Coleman's before heading to their new home state of FL. Here are a couple of shots of the big friends and little friends on that last night.

During all this David has been acting out and complaining and whining alot. For him this is usually a sign of yet another ear infection. That Monday I took him to the doctor yet again and of course ear infection. And the ear that was not infected (and was causing the most pain) had something weird going on with the tube. That afternoon we were back in with our ENT surgeon. We have been waiting and watching (while on antibiotics). We will see the ENT on this Monday afternoon and see how we should progress. Possibly David will have his 4th set of ear tubes... this time we will remove the tonsils as well. He is not eating well nor sleeping well. And yes HA HA those of you that know him know he doesn't usually eat or sleep well, but with his ears bothering him it is worse.

One of Dan's favorite hobbies is gun collecting and shooting and watching shoots and TV shows related to guns. Well the "Disney World" of guns was in Kentucky last weekend and Dan and his brother drove up for the weekend show. They had such a good time and were able to play guns and shooting to their hearts content.

While Dan was off in Kentucky David and I stayed home and didn't do much of anything. That Saturday afternoon we did manage to get ourselves up and out to a friend's birthday party and that was alot of fun. Their were slides to thrill him and a cake with a cream cheese layer to thrill me :)

That following Monday we checked Emily out of school after SAT testing and then I took the kids to have their pictures made with live bunnies at our photographers. The set was AMAZING and the bunnies so cute. The kids had such a good time - as they do every time we go to Foster's. I can't wait to get the pictures back so everyone can see them. I had a bit of a struggle this time coming up with coordinating outfits for the kids. When you have 1 almost 13 and 1 almost 4 and they are the opposite sex - it is just really difficult to do. So after numerous stores I ended up at Storkland and found Hartstrings outfits that coordinated and they are not Easter themed, just spring/summer so the kids can where them throughout the season.

David is enjoying the benefits of being young. He had his first of 5 Easter parties and his first of 4 egg hunts at school this week. Eggs are just fascinating to him - fresh, hard-boiled, plastic, dyed - just eggs in general. He won't eat them, but he's fascinated by them. After Sunday I will have multiple Easter and Easter themed event pics and will post them all at once.

I had to miss the Easter party this year because we had an appointment to view the 125-unit apartment complex we are considering purchasing. The property seemed in good shape and the office manager quite knowledgeable. We had several questions for them, which they answered, generally to our satisfaction. Next they are to send us financials so we can review and determine if it's in our best to move forward with negotiations. In the meantime we have closed on a few new smaller properties and have a bid out on another. Things are really going crazy.

And speaking of business, our taxes simply kicked my butt this year. I had the hardest time getting it all together. But I completed them (finally) last week and delivered them to our accountant. Hopefully we won't have to pay our firstborn child to the IRS this year :) For several of you that have been "missing" me and wondering what was up - taxes would be the primary answer!!!

David and I went to the ballpark Thursday night to see friends, cheer on Hope and have a cupcake for Jackie's birthday. It is so neat to watch him at the ballpark. And it shows how much he has grown and developed. His first trip to the ballpark was at just a few weeks old, since Emily always played, and he was in his infant carrier, fast asleep. Now he's in his own "tailgate" chair and watching the game and cheering and clapping in the appropriate spots. Of course he is still a 3-year-old boy so in the middle of the game we had to take 15 and play on the playground. The reason I bring this up tonight though - is we've registered David for t-ball at the Y, which starts later in May. Well as we talked to him I realized he knows what ball is because of always watching Sissy, but he just collectively calls all that type of ball baseball. I was trying to explain baseball, softball and t-ball and wasn't having much luck. Turns out the field next to us was a t-ball field and the kids were having a game. We walked over and watched for a little bit so he could see what a "t" was. He loved it - seemed very excited. I can't wait for him to play.

Yesterday, Good Friday, was a memorable day for us. 1st of course: Remembering the death of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, is such a heart wrenching, touching thing. Emily & I talked about it several times yesterday and it just still leaves me in awe. 2nd: Emily's 13th birthday. Can you believe she is now a teenager. WOW!!! When I met Dan she was 3 and now she's a teenager. Oh my gosh. She spent the day with us while her mom was at work and then she will be back tonight. We usually have "interesting" schedules over birthday's and holiday's. 3rd: a fun party of dying Easter eggs at Leslie's. We had 10 kids age 6-mos. to almost 4 and Emily. It was a madhouse, but a good madhouse. I lost count of how many eggs they dyed. At least 8 dozen. And they all sang Happy Birthday to Em - so cute!! Best of all though - the Coleman's are in town for the weekend so seeing them was GREAT!!!! I'll post pics from this with the Easter pics later this weekend.

Oh - I almost forgot to give you guys an update on my back. Still not doing well - my pain meds have been changed yet again and the prescription for physical therapy has been extended... I'll let you know when something actually changes with it.

Whew - if you made it through this update you are a better person tham most LOL. Now that taxes are over I should be able to blog more regularly. I prefer that - then I can use my rambling post quota for a soap-box issue HA HA. I've got a good one on public schools my brain is cooking up.

Lot's of Misc. Thoughts

Friends are the lifeblood of a happy life. After God and family they are what makes us smile, get out of the house, answer the phone, go to the Y and all that stuff that we need to do to lead full lives. Like most of you I have old friends, new friends, acquaintance friends, best friends, etc. I love them all in different ways. They truly complete my life. I even have past friends - I jokingly refer to it as being divorced LOL. Each and everyone of my past and current friends has touched some aspect of my life and I'm glad they were in it. Actually, I'm glad some are out of it too, but I learned things and experienced things having known them.

One of the reasons for the talk of friends tonight is I spent some time today with one of my dear friends who is moving away. I've had quite a few friends move away in the past year or more and there are three (counting this one) that I became really close too and truly miss. I thank God they came into my life and that there is such great technology out that we can easily stay in touch and keep up with each other's lives and children. Jennifer and Charly I miss you guys and Jessica I'm gonna miss you too!!!

Emily's cheerleader tryouts are re-scheduled for this Friday afternoon from like 3:30 until. They will post the results later that night. That Friday night she also has her Spring Formal at school. 7th grade and they are wearing formal dresses. Amazing!! Her dress is beautiful - "Annie" (grandma/Barbara) bought it and I can't wait to show you guys pictures. Oh, I can't remember if I told you about the two boys she's interested in and that she was hoping one would ask her (they are both in 7th grade as well). It turns out neither is going to the dance so she's just going with her friends. And heck, as us "old women" know - she'll probably have tons more fun with the girls!!

David has been very trying today (more details on that in a minute). I kept him out of school so far this week because honestly I just wanted to be with him. I think getting accepted into "big-boy" school at Holy Cross has made me truly face that he's growing up and that as of August of this year our ability to have free days and just play are over!! I'm happy and sad at the same time. I'm sure everyone goes through this when their babies grow up. So anyway - David and I went over to Leslie's today to help Jessica watch Leslie and Lauren's kids. It was a great time being with my friends and their kids, but David was in rare form - the combination of over stimulation (7 kids) and my presence seem to bring out the "monster" in him. I had to spank him and put him in time out a few times. Then everyone had gone and it was just he and Jace, my friend Leslie's oldest daughter - and he bit her!! It was horrible - I was mortified and so angry at him. He didn't break the skin, but I think poor Jace is going to have a heck of a bruise. I'm like what is the deal and where did my child go. Just last week his teacher is bragging about how respectful he was and how he was never aggressive and always used kind words... Hello - who was the kid I had today. Then this evening he was acting horrible!! My dear friend Kim came by for a visit (she is truly one of his favorite people in the world) and he said something smart when she walked in and then never spoke to her again. So, I put him in bed before 7:00 and of course he went right to sleep. Exhaustion being the obvious culprit of the day. I tell you I pride myself on being fairly easy-going with him and picking my battles and trying to stay positive, etc. Well today I felt like our whole relationship was based on negativity - me saying no, spanking, time-out, etc. I DO NOT like days like today and I know he doesn't either. All that said, I have two things I can assure you of - this will be a major part of my bedtime prayers and the boy will go back to school tomorrow LOL! Whew - felt good to get that off my chest, which is why I started this blog :)

Dan is going great this week. Working hard as usual. He has some new irons in the fire and is working on acquiring a few additional properties for us, which will DOUBLE our size. Exciting and terrifying at the same time. I am already drowning in paperwork LOL. I'm so proud of him though - he works really hard and has for a long time and for his dream to finally be alive and growing is great. God as truly blessed us in that we have a successful business and Dan loves doing the work and it enables me to both take care of my family and keep a hand in the "work life" that I gave up when David came along. Another thing that makes me proud of Dan's success is he is a really fair employer and if these new deals work out and we double our size that means we'll also be hiring more employees!!

My dad is recovering well and just resting and gaining back his strength. We are still praising God that he is such a miracle!!

My SIL's mom was diagnosed last week with breast cancer. It seems I cannot get away from this disease no matter where I turn. I know though that her mom is healthy and her cancer was found early and the strides made in breast cancer care in the past decade are mind-boggling. So with great medical care and a loving God and lots of prayer I know she'll be just fine. Never-the-less it is a scary thing to go through and I ask that you lift up their whole family in prayer for peace and strength to fight the battle.

A member of my SAHM's group was pregnant with twin girls, 24 weeks. She lost the babies yesterday and had to go through a c-section today. I cannot even find words to imagine a tragedy such as this. I truly know (from personal experience) and I truly believe that God called these precious little girls home early. He has his reasons and we'll know one day. But - in the short-term and heck even the mid-term that does not make the loss any easier to deal with. Please pray for their family as well and ask for peace and comfort.

I'm having an unusual week. I'm happy about miracle dad and always happy about miracle Dan, but this past Friday was the 10-year-anniversary of my mom's death to breast cancer... So, I have been unusually sensitive to things and a little more sad than usual. I think I big part of what has me down too is my back. It's done great since my surgery and I've been like a new person. But this week it is flaring up and all the pain is back with a vengeance. I had truly forgotten how much significant and constant pain can affect your attitude and personality. And it depresses me a little to think that possibly the whole surgery was for naught and now here I am back in the same situation. I'm praying that it is just a bizarre thing, but I don't feel real confidant in that regard. But as my "heroine" Scarlett says - tomorrow is another day :). I've taken some major pain meds, vented here on the blog, will take the boy to school tomorrow, go to boot camp tomorrow night and bible study with the girls after. I'm approaching the day with a positive attitude and hopefully it'll be a great, pain-free day!!

A Sore Back and School Prayers

It's freezing outside and I am so happy that I don't have boot camp tonight. Last night for class we were outside in the cold and wind and it was a pretty miserable experience. I'm marginally sore from class, but the main problem is my horrible back. I had surgery late last year and it has been doing better, but this afternoon it is crippling!!! Now there is a little one climbing on me reaching to get something on my desk - why can they not understand to just ask for it. You don't have to climb on mommy...

Dan is taking advantage of my "no boot camp" night and working late. I'm so ready for him to get home and take over so I can get in the bed and turn on my heating pad. I'm also excited for him to try the new recipe I made for dinner. It's an Italian Soup and it is delicious and the perfect entree for this cold night. We are having a salad with it, but no bread :( I guess we'll get used to cutting back on the bread... There are truly worse things :)

David has his "Playdate" at Holy Cross tomorrow at 1:00. He'll be observed interacting and playing with the other children. I assume things like attitude, participation, following directions, sharing, etc. I truly pray he does well. You just never know with 3-year-olds. Some of you reading this are probably like what the heck?? The city we live in has some of the worst public schools in the country so private schools are in high demand here. I narrowed my list down to 4 (out of about 15) and then picked Holy Cross as my first choice. Since the demand is so high they have to have some way to select students. For 4k they do this playdate, review the application and review the form submitted by his current preschool teacher. As they get older entrance is determined by transcripts and testing. I have several other options available for David, including keeping him where he currently attends for 3k, but this is my top choice so of course I really want him to get in!!!

I took a break and am back now. Dan made it home and we ate dinner. Now the kitchen is "closed" and David is winding down with his trains before bedtime. We have tried a range of times for him and have settled on 9:00 as his best time for a variety of reasons. Plus he couldn't sleep without his train time. He plays with them EVERY day and creates stories and voices. It's really cute. He has the wooden ones so no sounds or lights - it's all "powered by" his imagination.

Here's a cute picture of David that Emily took this past weekend - she was supposed to be sorting laundry LOL.

You're probably wondering why not any update on Emily tonight and that is because she stays at her mom's on school nights. We have had her the past two weekends and she'll stay with her mom this weekend. It's tough for us during this time of year because we see her less.

Off to the heating pad for me!