Here I am again....FB has been holding me captive

That's my excuse for not blogging and I am sticking to it! As I walk away from FB I am trying to blog once again. If I'm not successful this time, I'm deleting the whole thing. Funny, the last thing I posted here is from a blog that's still one of my favorite. A Bowl Full of Lemons is graat for simple organization and has helped me since I first saw it January 2011. As Matthew has grown and his interests have changed it's been easier to purge the toys, and school uniforms have cut his clothes in half. Small changes that have made life more manageable in our home. We are realizing under the piles of toys now, there is carpet to replace, walls to paint and scratches all around the painted kitchen cabinets where his wooden stool helped him stir cake batter, make cookies, and slice and pour. I guess it's just normal to move on to repairs after a season of a young child exploring and learning new things in our home. So, if you follow my blog n ow, you will get to see me transform our lives and home, find new recipes, return to work full time with an active boy, and you can even follow my weight loss challenge, which I am actually doing prettty good with right now:) I promise to try to stay away from politics...that is what is making me say goodbye to regular visits on FB.

Organizing

I am following this blog and trying to keep up with her challenge! I'm learning alot and it's awesome to get things in order!


Looking forward to receiving this pretty calendar for my new mobile command center!

Happy New Years 2011!!!!!

It's a brand new year! I am ready for it to begin and ready to throw out some old habits and welcome in some new ones!

Matthew is doing great with the Wii! Yeah!!! He has stuck it out to learn his Hot Wheels game and I am very proud of him. Now, back to the sports ones soon I hope so he can learn to do some of those with more control instead of slinging the remote around:) We also got the Wii Fit Kids yesterday. I am anxious for him to try it but right now Hot Wheels is winning out. He is has been up over an hour playing Wii, and he hasn't even been to the bathroom yet, lol!!!!

Phillip and I made some personal resolutions for ourselves last night before we went to bed. One goal is to go away for our anniversary this year. We haven't done that since our 5th and this will be our 9th! We need that to look forward to and the time alone together is needed as well. We are also setting some new budget goals and accountability to one another. I know we can do it and improve ourselves with the help of one another and God.

For me, I am determnined to work on my health this year. I have to lose some weight, I have to face the fact it's time to have a hyserectomy. The fibroids (and the other problems) are becoming debilitating and it's time to move on. I'm looking at March or April:(. On the up side, I should look good and feel great by the time Phillip's family gets together June 4th for Nick and Amanda's wedding!!! Peggy is coming in and staying with us. Tuddy and his daughter Sherry Ann are coming in, but I'm not sure where they will be staying yet. It will be a wonderful week of excitement and family!!!!! I am so happy for both Nick and Amanda!!! They are like a fairy tale prince and princess story:)

Our year end goal is to go to Disney World! What joy that will bring my little guy to see Disney again at the age of 6! He doesn't quite remember our trip to Disney Land when he was 2!

Lots of plans, fun times with each other and family and improving ourselves so we can better serve others and God. That is what life is all about! It's going to be a great year!

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?