Well...

It started out as a good weekend...
Friday evening, I was feeling pretty decent so I called up my bestest and we went walking. It is the first exercise I have had in quite a bit (since it is currently against doctor's orders). Matt and the girls hung out with their bestest's and played. They were filthy by nightfall. We brought the girls home and ordered out (Cracker Barrel- Friday nigh fish fry). Sweet Pea and Pumpkin Pie had their first sleep overs. Pumpkin Pie went with my and her bestest and Sweet Pea's bestest stayed all night here. I have been attempting to allow more freedom for the girls and it went very well.
Pumpkin Pie had a ball game Saturday morning. Her team won and she almost made a shot! She is definitely planning on practicing up for next year. She has basketball tournaments Monday and Tuesday. We played outside all day Saturday. When we brought the kids in, they had to be carried to the showers to strip down. They were so nasty that the floor of the tubs turned black from the dirt. We received bad news Saturday...my long time best friend's ex-husband (whom she has a daughter with) passed away.
Sunday, we almost made it to church on time...which would be a record for me. I enjoyed the service very much. We went by Toys R Us and Target afterward. Sweet Pea got two new DS games and a Zhu Zhu pet, since Pumpkin Pie got new glasses. Our dog doesn't know what to think about the Zhu Zhu pet. Sweet Pea and I hung out and watched a little television. We also made plans to be with my long time best friend and her daughter tomorrow evening but then we received more bad news. Matt's dad passed away tonight and his mom is having an extremely hard time with it. His dad has suffered the majority of his life with Muscular Dystrophy and had just recovered from pneumonia so it had seemed that he was out of the woods for now. Please keep Matt and his mom in your prayers as arrangements are made and people are traveling. Also pray for my long time best friend and her daughter. It's a lot to take in over a weekend. I have a couple of pictures to share from the weekend but I also have stuff to prepare for tomorrow so pictures will have to wait for a few days.

Weekend

Thursday afternoon, we met my mom and picked my nephew up. We were looking forward to some outside (park, zoo, etc.) play time. Unfortunately, it rained the whole weekend. Thursday evening, we attempted to go to Duck, Duck Goose. However, it was crowded and three fussy kids who did not want to shop were not having it so I didn't get to find any great deals.
Friday morning, we had Easter pictures made, which turned out wonderful. We attempted to find new eyeglasses for me and Pumpkin Pie but could not find any we liked. We had an eye appointment that afternoon and thank goodness my eyes are not getting worse. Sorry to say that is not true for Pumpkin Pie and we are on the hunt for cute new glasses for her again! We stopped by McDonald's after the eye doctor for a job well done- all three kids being well behaved just does not happen that often. We played inside the remainder of the afternoon but the kids didn't seem to mind (since the rain kept us in).
Saturday, I attempted to purge some stuff in my room and made quite a bit of progress. The kids had to stay inside yet again but played together well and I even got the privilege of playing with them some. As you may recall, I am often excluded from play time because I am not much fun (according to the girls). We took my nephew home that evening and stopped by my grandparent's for a delicious supper. I love having visits with my nephew and my grandparent's so that made the week great.
That brings me to today...my husband hit the snooze (or so I thought) and we woke up too late for church. Of all the days my kids decide to sleep in, it would be on a Sunday. We went to Target though (needed some basics) and headed back home to do some more cleaning. I decided that since I didn't have my vehicle right now, it would be a good time to clean out the garage. I have a neat pile of things that I am purging and the garage is ready for it's baby to come back home. Afterward, I took a nap and again, my husband did not wake me up until 6:30 (guess what time church starts!). So I played Wii with Sweet Pea this evening!
Matt's dad is off of Life Support and should be moved to a regular hospital room tomorrow. He is recovering much faster than the doctor originally predicted, which is a good thing for Matt's mom. She has been under so much stress.
So it is back to a normal week...the girls go back to school, I have to work a full five days, and we are back to the regular running around (music lessons, basketball games, doctor's appointments, etc. the list goes on and on). Not exactly the spring break we had hoped for but overall, I can't complain.

My vehicle

Thursday, as I was driving to work...maybe I shouldn't even say driving to work because I had barely made it out of my subdivision, when a stinky thing happened. We live close to a school and the buses have a turn off near our subdivision exit. Often times, the buses will swing wide to make the turn. I was on the receiving end of a rude bus driver who did not seem to care that I was driving down the road (on my own side) when they decided that my side should belong to them as well. To prevent them from hitting me, I swerved off the road...just my luck-it was a ditch instead of a yard. That being said, I have to replace a rim and since it was about time for new tires anyway, I am going ahead and replacing all four tires instead of just the one. Total damage- approximately $1,000. I just wonder if the damage would have been worth it if the bus had hit me instead of me swerving?! We now have a loaner car which we may have until Monday or Tuesday (since Honda doesn't keep rims on hand).

Is that a dog or a cat!

Bailey decided to climb up onto the computer desk one day last week and I was lucky enough to catch a couple of pictures of him. He was attempting to retrieve a stuffed animal so he did climb with a purpose. He is so much fun.

Zoo and the park

George put on quite a show for the kids. He was running around and playing with his blanket, chewing on things, and climbing around on the other chimpanzees. He was probably the highlight of the zoo.
This zebra was being such a model. He was so very GQ. I know he was a boy too because my youngest daughter managed to point that out!

Saturday was so nice out...
We started out with Pumpkin Pie's basketball game. She did a marvelous job, even though her daddy doesn't practice with her nearly enough. After her game and her best friend's ball game, we ate "Pizza Palace" (as seen on Food Network) at World's Fair Park with our best friends. After eating, we spent the afternoon at the zoo. The animals were all out and about and we got some cute pictures. The kids are in most of the cute pictures and as you know, I don't advertise my children so you have to take my word for it. After the zoo, we had desert at Marble Slab. Sweet Pea wasn't a huge fan but Pumpkin Pie would have eaten the whole store.
Matt's aunt prepared a birthday dinner (belated) for him of his favorite foods, Chicken and Dumplings and Mandarin Orange cake. Sweet Pea and I ate Bojangles but she did eat fruit salad and has now decided that she likes Blueberries.
Sunday, I was absolutely wore down. I stayed in bed most of the day, getting up only when necessary because I was so fatigued.
I think I overdid it again today though. We went to visit my grandparent's and we took the girls and my nephew to the park for about an hour. Again, I got some really cute pictures but... We had a great time visiting with my nephew but unfortunately, we will have to wait to see what happens before he can come to stay a few days with us and we can complete our plans to go to the water park.
That brings me to the stressor of the week...Matt's dad was placed in the hospital last week with double pneumonia. The doctor currently has his dad on a respirator but it is unclear as to whether he will be able to come off the respirator or they will have to do a tracheotomy. The possibility exists that he may actually get worse, so please keep him in your prayers. This is not the way we planned to spend the girls spring break so we can only hope that things will improve. The girls are very understanding and I am very fortunate to have such mature young ladies for daughters. I love them so much. More fun things planned for the week ahead!
A picture of Matt playing with the kids (hey, where are the kids?!)

Is it March already?

This year is already flying by and I feel like we have been busier than ever. I moved offices at the end of December and took some time to adjust in January. I am now back into the full swing of child therapy and loving every minute of it.

Pumpkin Pie took a trip to the aquarium with school last month. She is turning into quite the little photographer and loves taking goofy pictures of herself with her friends.


Matt and I took a date night for Valentine's day. His aunt and cousin came to the house to babysit on a Friday evening and we ate at Cracker Barrel (because it seemed to be the least crowded of restaurants) but was very enjoyable. I didn't even call to check on the girls a single time. I was very proud of myself. Saturday, Matt's aunt and cousin took the girls to get a manicure and out to eat at Olive Garden. We did call a few times that morning but I managed without freaking out too bad. I know that I really need to loosen up and let my girls have a break from me once in a while.


We have enjoyed the snowfall that we have received, although we only had one snow big enough to really play in. We built a snow man that the girls ended up tearing down. We had a snowball fight and we pulled one another around the back yard on sleds. Bailey loved the snow but was a freezing furball when we finally made our way back indoors.

We have spent several weekends with my nephew and actually had his and the girls pictures made a couple of weekends ago. We also plan to get their Easter pictures made in the next couple of weeks. I have ordered the girls Easter dresses and already have little booger's shirt but had to order his pants. I love, love, love Gymboree but the store didn't have one of the girl's dress size so I decided to order all of it online. I could really get in trouble with that.

Pumpkin Pie started basketball season a few weeks ago and I actually get to watch a basketball game or two in the next couple of weeks.

I am completing my application to become a Registered Play Therapist (RPT), which may not sound like a big deal, and may not even get approved but there are only approximately 20 RPT's in the state of Tennessee. I am pretty excited about the possibility so keep your fingers crossed.

We celebrated Matt's birthday this past weekend. We ate dinner with our best friend's on Saturday evening and Matt received a "Dad's against Daughter's Dating" (DADD) shirt, which he is already making plans on where all he will be wearing this shirt to (intimidation tactics). We didn't get to do anything big this weekend but Matt received his present from me and the girls a couple of weeks ago. We bought him a new 32' flat screen TV for the bedroom. There was a selfish motivation to it as well...I wanted the PS3 out of my living room and this was the only way to motivate him to do so.

Pumpkin Pie and I are also trying holistic treatment for her migraines and my fibromyalgia. So far, she has shown a reduction in migraines and I am optimistic that she may be able to come off the medicines soon. As far as the fibromyalgia goes, I have seen results but not exactly what I was looking for. I guess some results are keeping me optimistic that some things have to get worse before they get better and that this will eventually (hopefully soon) improve.

As you can tell, we have had a lot going on but I have not taken a lot of photos lately and while we have been doing a lot, it does not feel like a lot of it has been noteworthy. Stay tuned though...spring break is coming up and we do have several things planned to do with the kids!