Her Own Room

We have a 5 people living in a 3 bedroom house. When Charlie and I found out I was pregnant with our 3rd child we had to figure out where to put new baby when baby arrived. We decided that we'd find out baby's gender and move the same gender sibling and new baby into the biggest room in the house to share. Baby #3 turned out to be a girl. That meant Tabytha would be sharing a room with new baby.

It was great for awhile while Jessi was a baby because she didn't get into much and slept in a crib. Tabytha's stuff in the girls room was safe from little ones getting into it. But, as Jessi has grown so has her curiosity about all the cool things big sister has on her side of the room. Poor Tabytha had to keep all of her things hidden around her room so John and Jessi wouldn't go in and tear it all apart. Puzzles were missing pieces, crayons and colored pencils were all over the room, books were scattered all over the floor and so on.

Over this past Christmas Charlie and I decided that we'd separate the girls room with a wall with some of the tax money we'd be getting in just a few short months. The girls room was 14'x24'. Big enough to divide and still give each girl a good size room for themselves.

This weekend was the weekend it was going to happen. My brother-in-law (Charlie's sister's husband) Keith came over bright and early Saturday morning (while Tabytha was away for the weekend with her grandmother), and built a wall. He's a carpenter and knows what he's doing so it didn't take long at all. The wall was framed in and dry wall was starting to be put up in a mere 2 hours! In the course of the rest of the day the dry wall was hung, mud applied and a door put in.

I couldn't wait for Tabytha to come home to see her 'new' room! Keith did an amazing (and quick) job of getting the wall up. Finally, Sunday was here and Tabytha was coming home. After her grandmother left from dropping her off I went back into the room with camera in hand to get her reaction when Charlie brought her back to see. Well, her eyes were closed when I took the picture of her initial reaction, but, she was super excited.

She's LOVING her new room and being able to have a door to close to keep John and Jessi out of her things. All that's left to do is have her find a paint color she likes and paint her room.

A Sick Day For Mommy And Daddy

Thursday morning started with a school day cancellation due to snow and hubby calling out sick. That meant all 3 kids AND a sick hubby were going to be home with me all day. My mind raced with all the things that could go wrong throughout the day. I was worried the kids would be fighting all day, keeping hubby from getting the rest he needed to feel better. I was worried hubby was going to be getting on my nerves asking for this and that all day long and complaining about not feeling well. I was worried that with the combination of those things I wasn't going to be able to get much house work done because I'd be too busy catering to sick hubby and plucking squabbling children off each other all day.

I prayed for the Lord to give me strength to deal with any situation that would arise that day and also for an abundance of patience to be able to handle anything that came my way. The Lord heard me and answered me in the most amazing way. Hubby stayed in bed all day watching TV and napping. Hardly even knew he was home. The kids spent the day playing together and watching cartoons back in the girls room. I barely knew they were home. My whole morning was going beautifully. I was able to get the kitchen cleaned up and wash dishes (hand wash people, we don't have a fancy dish washing machine to do it for us). I got 4 loads of laundry washed, dried, folded AND put away and managed to get the living room straightened up and vacuumed all by mid afternoon!!!

I was on a roll!!! Then it happened. I felt like I got hit by a bus. I sat down to take a break from the housework and whatever hubby was sick with had worked it's way in me and I started feeling terrible. I could barely keep my eyes open, I felt flushed and light headed. My body started to ache and it hurt to move. I laid down on the couch to keep the room from spinning to much and w/o realizing it had dozed off for about an hour.

Fortunately the day had faded into evening and the kids would be going to bed soon. Tabytha really stepped up and helped out tremendously with John and Jessi and keeping them busy with playing and letting them watch movies on her TV. I still changed diapers and got the little ones in the jammies for the night, but Tabytha is the one who kept them entertained all day.

Finally all the kids were in bed and I was feeling even worse. I fell asleep on the couch for the night and Friday morning didn't feel any better. I haven't been this incapacitated by a sick bug since I was a teenager. I mean, I've been sick before, but never so bad that I couldn't still take care of the kids, get something done around the house and still be able to make dinner, this was awful. Friday was a half day but I decided to keep Tabytha home from school and asked her if she wouldn't mind watching after John and Jessi for me while I was sick on the couch. She said sure and she told me she wanted me to feel better soon. I felt terrible asking so much of her, but, I physically couldn't do it. Whatever this bug was it had knocked me on my butt and I literally spent Friday on the couch sleeping. I mustered up enough strength to get up to change John and Jessi throughout the day, but aside from that, they were all on their own.

They even managed to keep themselves fed all day Friday. Thankfully I have a lot of apples and cheese slices and bread and a couple lunchables on their level in the fridge and they dug into those when they felt hungry. Tabytha did such an amazing job keeping after John and Jessi Thursday evening and all day Friday, and John and Jessi were also really well behaved and I didn't have any problems out of them. All weekend as a matter of fact the Lord looked down over me and blessed me with good behavior and even tempers from the kids. It's as if they knew mommy didn't feel good and they just got along and played together and let me rest.

Charlie and I are feeling so much better now. Saturday afternoon our fevers finally broke and we started feeling human again. (Tabytha was picked up Friday night to go to her mommom's for the weekend, as is the custom the last weekend of every month). So, to thank Tabytha for being such an amazing helper while hubby and I were sick we're going to take her out and treat her to something she would like to do that's just for her. We'll get someone to watch John and Jessi for us. I can't thank the Lord enough for the blessing he's given me in my daughter, Tabytha. She's the most caring compassionate person I know, and I'm so proud to call her my daughter.

Date Night

Since Charlie's and my anniversary fell on a weekday this year, we waited until the weekend to go out and celebrate. Alone. Without the kids.

Our buddy Harold came over to watch the kids for us and off we went. Our very first date was at TGIFriday's in Annapolis. So, in honor of that we went to dinner at the Friday's in Dover. We sat at a table for two and enjoyed a delicious meal. After dinner we stopped at the Verizon store to inquire about wireless high speed Internet (details to come in my next blog) and then made our way to the Dover Mall to see a movie. There weren't many movies playing that interested us, but we found one that looked like it would be funny. The only problem with it was the only time left for the evening was 9:40pm and when we decided on a movie it was only 7:30pm.

We killed time walking around the mall and browsing around in various stores. Finally the time came to go into the movie. We got a popcorn and each got a drink and Charlie got his favorite candy (Reese's peanut butter cups). We found a good seat and the movie began. Overall, the movie was decent, what made it better was just being there together w/o the kids climbing all over the place and getting antsy. We were able to see a whole movie without distraction and even held hands and relaxed.

It was a wonderful evening just the two of us and I look forward to the opportunity to do this again next year.

A Marriage Milestone

Today marks Charlie's and my 5th wedding anniversary.

The day we were legally married was a rainy dreary day. Our only witnesses to this new union were my parents, Charlie's parents, my dear friend Drea and my parents dog, Max. There were circumstances surrounding getting married before our formally announced wedding date (March 11, 2006) and no, I wasn't pregnant, but the reasons are not something I'd like to blog about.

So, around 6:30 that rainy Wednesday evening we all gathered in my parents living room and Pastor Tom began. We said our vows, exchanged rings and sealed it all with a kiss.My mom made a huge dinner of spaghetti, homemade sauce, biscuits and even got a small cake for Charlie and I to cut and feed each other. My parents also said that they would keep Tabytha for the night so Charlie and I could go to a hotel for the rest of the night and have some time alone. We said our goodbyes after dinner and went to Annapolis and checked into a hotel. The next morning we made our rounds to the MVA, Social Security Administration and bank to notify them of my new last name.

Since I already purchased my wedding dress we kept our original wedding date for the rest of our friends and family to be a part of and get professional pictures taken. Both days were wonderful. Charlie and I celebrate our 'legal' wedding date each year on January 11th and this year marked 5 years married. We'll go out this weekend to celebrate with dinner and movie w/o the kids with us. Looking forward to that and what the years to come with bring for us.

Getting Fit

I recently learned that a YMCA has opened up a couple towns away. To lure locals to join they've waived the joining fee for the month of January. When Tabytha and John got home from school I packed everyone up and we went to join.

They offer a child care during certain hours of the day. Several hours during the morning a several hours in the evening. It's been wonderful. I'm severely out of shape (well, round is a shape technically) so I've been spending my hour on the treadmill until I have the chance to have a consultation with one of the employees about the kind of workout that would work best for me.

The treadmills, ellipticals and stair steppers all have TV's equipped on them and you can plug in your own earphones and watch tv while you're using the equipment which has been a fantastic distraction to watching the clock wondering how much longer I have to go on the machine.

John and Jessi had a bit of a rough start in the child care area getting along with the other children, but, they have adjusted quickly and really enjoy being there. All I have to do is say "We're going to the Y" today and they run for their shoes and coats. There's another section designated for older kids not yet old enough to be on the floor with the exercise equipment and they can play Wii games, there's a ping-pong table and computers set up for kids to play computer games. Tabytha's used the computers to do some research for a school project and watched some tv shows she likes on YouTube.

The Y offers a couple classes kids can take part in, like a kid friendly "Zumba" class they call 'Zumbatomic' and a "family cycling" class.

I'm so glad we've been able to be a part of the YMCA and look forward to continuing our membership in the years to come and taking part in all the wonderful programs they offer for families and individuals.

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas. Celebrating the birth of Christ in a beautiful Christmas Eve service at church and waking up Christmas morning, together, as a family. The kids opened their stockings first, which were filled with trinket toys and candies. While the kids opened their stockings I made a pot of coffee for myself, Charlie and our buddy, Harold, who stayed the night to celebrate Christmas with us first thing before going to his various family members houses throughout the rest of the day.

Finding a spot on the floor to take pictures and sipping on some coffee we started giving out the gifts. It was so nice to see the kids open their gifts and see the smiles on their faces and hear them exclaiming "Oh COOL!" or listen to their delighted giggles as the paper was torn away from the packaging.

After all the gifts were opened I made my way back into the kitchen and cooked up scrambled eggs and bacon for everyone. Charlie and Harold got to work gathering up the wrapping paper and packaging from gifts that had already found their way out of their packaging. After brunch the kids went back to playing with all their new goodies.

Around noon Harold said his goodbyes and headed out to go visit with his family and Charlie and I got the kids packed up in the car to go to my parents house to exchange gifts with them and spend time together. Dinner was starting to be put together when we arrived. Turkey was in the roaster and the ham was in the oven. The kids all found something to do, Charlie found his spot on the couch and talked with my Aunt Sylvia and I made my way to the kitchen to see what I could help with.

We all sat down to a delicious meal and ate more then we should. After dinner we sat down in the living room and exchanged gifts. The house was filled with conversation, laughter and thoughtful gifts. I couldn't ask for a better day. Merry Christmas to all and Happy Birthday Jesus, Thank you for your ultimate gift of eternal life.

Double Birthday Party

My girls birthday's are 10 days apart in November. This year Tabytha turned 9 and Jessi turned 2. We decided to have a joint birthday party for the girls. It was pretty low key, just family, but it was very nice. Tabytha picked the menu for the festivities and chose lunch meat, rolls and birthday cake (Chocolate cake with vanilla frosting). My mom made smokey Joe's and meatballs, we also had chips and dip and sodas.

My mom made Tabytha a 'Holly Hobbie" pillow and made Jessi a quilt. The quilt is very special because it's the 3rd one made with patches from the pattern she made for me when I was a teenager. The 4 corners of the quilt have a 'Precious Moments' bear sitting on a cloud from the original material used to make my quilt so many years ago. My mom also made a quilt for Tabytha when she was a baby using some precious moments squares, just like mine. This may not mean much to anyone, but it's beyond special for me. Tabytha's quilt and Jessi's quilt both contain squares from the very same material my mom used to make my quilt 16 yrs ago. All of our quilts are tied together and it's just for us girls. I hope when they're grown it'll mean as much to them as it does to me.

Tabby and Jessi got other wonderful gifts from everyone else who was there. It was actually a very nice day outside, weather wise, and before all our party guests arrived Charlie, our friend Harold and the kids all went outside and played a little football in the front yard. When my parents arrived my youngest sister, Hannah, joined in on all the fun and then my dad jumped in and played a bit, too.

All in all, the day was great and everyone had a good time celebrating the girls birthday and enjoying each other's company.