New Years Ever 2010

Another year is down and we have so many reasons to be thankful.

As we ended 2009, our financial situation was very grim. Phillip, however, went back to work in February working out of town in Clinton. He worked there until mid December. The situation was getting more difficult for Matthew and we were very thankful when he took a job at The Children's Home in WS. Being a single mom through the week was not easy and I have a new respect for women who do this day in and day out. I looked forward to his help and prescence each weekend he was home as Matthew looked forward to having his daddy home to love on and to tickle him.

Matthew has been in preschool this year and is getting ready for kindergarten each day. He continues to have his own personal challenges with speech and memory. He doesn't always understand what we are talking about and we find he needs extra patience and love to work through his own frustrations with learning new things. We are still trying to give him all the opportunities we feasibly can to experience new things.

During this year, Brittany lived with us for a time her last semester at UNCG during her student teaching. Phillip was away and Matthew and I enjoyed her company. During this time our Nephew Nick was courting who will be a new niece to us this coming June. He and Amanda, who started dating over last Christmas, will tie the knot in June 2011. We have come to love Amanda and are so happy for Nick for finding the love of his life. Also, around that same time Brian, my brother's son, will graduate high school. Brian was born the September after I graduated UNCG. I remember leaving work that day and going to the hospital to see him. He had just been born and was so tiny. Now, he towers over me and is so very talented. He is hoping to go into music education at Western University. He has already been excepted and now is just waiting for his music audition. Our other nephew Ryan remains in our prayers as he is determined to start his life in Colorado far from family. We wish him our best but we wish he'd come back here!

Michelle moved this year to Tennessee. She actually moved Matthew's bday weekend to take a job in a larger school. She'll be there til she finishes her degree the end of 2011 and then hopefully will come back closer to us. Matthew misses his "special aunt" as he calls very much.

We lost a family member right before Christmas this year. My mom and dad's dog of 11 years finally lost his battle with cushings. They have been very dedicated to his care since his health worsened in May. We will miss their "Happy Dog".

We have so much to be thankful for and so many goals we continue to set to improve ourselves and our lives. Hopefully later tonight Phillip and I can put a few of those on paper so we can work together on the same path.

We learn to feel joy by also experiencing sadness....

On Decemeber 23rd my mom called me with sadness in her heart, tears in her eyes, and a crackling voice to tell me Happy was gone. Happy was 11 years old and my mom and dad's third child. He brought them joy and happiness...thus his name. Both mom and dad are caregivers and Happy, the last from his litter to find a home, found the best family of all, I'm sure of it! He was sick and had cushings. Mom and Dad took such good care of him and the vet said it was their love and devotion that kept him living for so long. His failing body just wore out though on Thursday. It was a sad Christmas Eve at my parents. Happy's sweet face was missing and my parents had a whole in their heart. We opened gifts but we'll celebrate more on the 1st when some time has brought more rest and healing for my mom and dad.

A White Christmas

The last white Christmas in NC was 1947! This year God blessed us with the beauty of white snowflakes falling from the sky and as a friend put it, was like white icing on the cake to a perfect day! Forever now, we can all say we ate snow cream on Christmas day thanks to Amanda! Snow fell over our home and blanketed our yard starting at noon on Chrismtas and today we awoke to a winter wonderland! It is just beautiful. Phillip took Matthew out sledding today and they built a snowman. I rested for most of the day. My body finally said it was time to rest and it was all I could do. I have been so thankful today for a wonderful husband who is also a great father. He has taken charge and care of us all today:)

A Merry Christmas

Yesterday was a very happy day in our home. We were blessed with wide excited eyes and a big smile from our sweet son who experienced a magical Christmas. Santa came and grated his wishes of zhu zhu pets and a Batman Cave. He even brought Rockem Sockem Robots and a sweet floppy gray kitty in his stocking. He unwrapped gifts and played for hours and Daddy started teaching Matthew how to play Wii Sports. Around 2 p.m. Michelle, Cyndi, Ryan, Nick, and Amanda came. We ate a yummy lunch of traditional fresh ham, rolls, and veggies and opened gifts. Phillip and I bought a Wii for a family gift this year, and his sister's and families bought us a Wii fit balance board set. Nick, Amanda, and Ryan demonstrated how to use it. They are sooooo much fun, those three! Ryan could probably be a stand up comedian;) We had such a great afternoon and evening. They almost got snowed in as we didn't know the roads were getting bad. They did safely arrive home in Thomasville and we wound down the day. Matthew, just as I remembered as a child, didn't want to go to bed b/c he wasn't finished playing. Does any child ever feel like they are really done playing on Christmas day?

Gottablog, gobble, gottablog, gobble

Let's see if I can catch up a little bit before Christmas:)

Thanksgiving came quickly to our home. Thanksgiving week was a blur as it was happening; very much like being in a car accident that happens very quickly, but yet feels as if it is going in slow motion.

On Monday night of that week, Matthew couldn't sleep. Nothing new around here but he was in a sweet mood and talking my head off. He was also singing some turkey song. I asked him if he remembered what was happening the next day. Parents were invited to eat lunch with our children. Matthew said though they were having a program. At first I didn't believe him, but he then told me the Thanksgiving story. He said the Pilgrims lived in a far away land and didn't like the King's church, so they sailed away to find a new land. Then he said, "oh by the way I suppose to wear black, but 'sssshhhh' it's a secret." The next morning I got him ready as soon as could. We rushed to Target for black socks to go with the black pants I bought previously first. He looked sooo handsome! I called his Aunt Michelle before we left and she said that she and Cyndi would come. Daddy couldn't come b/c he was in Clinton and even if he wanted to then he wouldn't have had time to get there.

On Wednesday Matthew and I went to my parents after I cooked and cleaned some for Thursday. We ate our Thanksgiving on Wednesday night and we slept over. We had a nice visit, but as usual, I was rushed to leave. On my way back to Greensboro there were cops everywhere. I was trying to be careful of my speed and I still don't know if I was pulled for speed or if the cop really noticed from such a long way away that my tag was expired. So, I got a ticket for an expired tag and inspection violation. Of course, "Mommy got a ticket" was the first words out of his mouth when we got home, finally.

We did have a nice visit with Phillip's family and delicious Thanksgiving feast! Michelle, made it all the more special making on of my favorites, shrimp mold. I think I could live off of shrimp mold and ritz crackers:) Michelle I attempted to go to Toys R Us later in the evening after Phillip left to go to Wilmington b/c he worked the next day at a Nexcare. The line was down High Point Rd so we came back home.

I forced myself to go back mid morning on Friday but what I wanted was already sold out:( Luckily I found zhu zhu pets later somewhere else for less:) Matthew went with his aunt's on Friday and spent the night at Nick and Amanda's. I finally crashed on Friday night, totally exhausted.

On Saturday, Nick and Amanda came and raked leaves for us and I made turkey noodle soup. Phillip didn't care for it but luckily Nick liked it and took it with him! On Sunday we decorated our Christmas tree and we hung our stockings. The chaos hasn't stopped yet!