Lexi loves Nicholas, but she is sad...

The story behind the pictures:
Lexi is having a birthday party on Saturday. I figured she just wanted to invite her friends and so the plan was for the boys to go to friends house and then the girls and I go to Build a Bear and do her birthday party. This morning Lexi said, “Mama, can Nicholas please come to my party because I want him there.” I told her he was going to his friend Matthew’s house but that if he wanted to come that was fine. Lexi went skipping down the hallway to tell Nicholas the good news except Nicholas said, “No Lexi, I get to spend 4 hours at Matthews house and I want to go there.” Lexi then came and drew this picture to show Nicholas how sad he was making her! Poor baby!

Who knew it was so easy?!

What parent out there is not in a constant battle with their children over the whole, "get your room clean" task?! I mean honestly, we just had company over on Sunday and already the kids rooms looks like a tornado hit it. You would never know it was clean only 3 days ago! So when I want the kids to clean their rooms they usually say ok and then go into their rooms and do everything but clean! The Legos that have been stepped over for a week are suddenly so interesting and begging to be played with. The clothes that were supposed to be put away after laundry day and have been laying on the floor for days magically become dirty and need to be washed for a second time. Oh and my favorite one, everyone has to use the bathroom! Mom can't yell at me for not cleaning when I have to use the bathroom! It's a long battle that usually takes like 2 hours when in all reality should take about 20 minutes. Oh well, what can you do, it's a part of life right? That is what I thought until today......
Apparently all I need to do is bribe my children! Ethan's friend brought over some sour icebreakers to share with Ethan. I thought they were all playing in the bedroom when all of a sudden Ethan and his friend came down the hall laughing and saying, "I can't believe they'll clean for these" I was totally confused and said what any logical mom would say, "who will clean for what". That is when I found out that the 10 year old smarty pants was "paying" Nicholas and Alexis with these candy icebreakers in exchange for them cleaning his room. Genius really!
And to think that I have been pulling my hair out for all these years, struggling to get them to clean their rooms and all I needed was a little bribe of candy! Leave to a 10 year old to figure it out for me! :-)

Rambling

Tuesday evening 6:09pm. Younger two are playing video games, Stephanie is doing homework, Ethan is over at the neighbors and I should be making dinner, instead I am writing a blog. Noticed that I was long over due and what better time to write a blog than dinner time? :-)
Jason was home this weekend and went back to Dallas this morning. We had such a good time when he was home, it was great! Like DUH! :-) We were able to celebrate Lexi's birthday together and take her out for dinner. She got a new Nintendo DS for her Birthday and just LOVES it! We were able to go buy a whole bunch of wood for our fireplace and we are now stocked for the winter. It was so much fun. Last night for Lexi's birthday dinner we had steak, ribs, cheesy scalloped potatoes and fruit cocktail. It was all soooo good AND I get to eat up the leftovers since Jason had to leave again today. Yay me! :-)
Of course I am sooo tired since Jason and I stay up way to late after the kids go to bed but it is all worth it. I so just want us all together again so please pray for us as we look for Jason's next job and where we should go. Wisdom on what to do with this house here in GA and just all the little details that go into moving. Agh!
Oh, my "adopted sister" Abbi had her baby this weekend! He was born on Alexis's birthday at 12:15 in the afternoon. Awwww! I've seen one picture so far and he is cute! Looks a lot like his mama! :-) Congratulations friend!
Ok, guess I'll go make some dinner! Hope you all have a great week!
10 more days and Jason will be back home! :-)

Happy Anniversary Jason!

Happy Anniversary Jason! Today marks 13 years in the life our marriage to one another! Honestly it does not seem like that long! You are my best friend Jason, my confidant, you are my encourager, my protector and you are my wonderful lover! I love you so much and can only imagine how much more our love is going to grow over the next 13 years and beyond! Thank you for all you do for me and our family! I know that life right now is not easy but also know that it is the best decision for our family right now! Can't wait to see you on Saturday and celebrate our Anniversary together! I LOVE YOU JASON!!

I can't believe tomorrow is FRIDAY!

I can't believe that it is Friday tomorrow and the end of the week! Yay! How did the week go by so fast?! Not complaining though because it means one week down and only 8 more days until Jason comes back home! I know I sound like a hopeless pathetic record repeating the same thing over and over again but what can I say....I love and miss my hubby SO much!
On Monday when I took the kids over for Nicholas's speech therapy, I drove the Mercedes. The Mercedes is not always the most reliable but very fuel efficient. Anyway, came out of the therapist office and guess what....the car would not start at all! I tried not to panic but knew my husband was in a plane somewhere between Atlanta and Dallas and I had 3 kids and a car that wouldn't start! I called a friend to see if she would be able to come help me out and in the process lost all sense of pride and broke down in tears! Pulled myself together and walked the kids to a nearby restaurant for lunch hoping that when we came back the car would start then. Thank you God for warm 77 degree days in January in Savannah (and people wonder why I love it here). So we went and had lunch, walked back to the car, still a no go! Was about to sit and cry some more when a sweet lady asked me if I needed help. I figured a battery jump was worth a try but I had no jumper cables. She had cables and claimed she knew how to use them. We got everything hooked up and guess what, my little Mercedes started right up! THANK YOU GOD!! We took the little Mercedes right back home and traded it off the gas hogging but reliable Suburban!
Jason called while I was in Wal-Mart and asked if we were ok. I told him that we were fine but had he talked to me 2 hours ago I was not fine and had been stressed and crying. You know what his response was? Why were you crying? I was just like, WHAT? Why was I crying? I just dropped you off at the airport, I have 3 kids with me and a car that won't start. Why do you think I was crying?! Now it was his turn to say, WHAT? Ahhhhh! Gotta love the husband/wife dynamic! :-) 13 years on the 13th of this month and guess what I LOVE that man more today than I did the day I married him!
Tuesday was a long let's get school done sort of day
Wednesday was beautiful outside and we did little school but lots of outdoor PE time! :-)
Today I had a Dr appointment in the morning and then went out to lunch with a friend. We still managed to get some school work done and once again the weather was just beautiful!
I think all of these things have helped make the week go by super fast. Tomorrow is Friday, have school to finish up for the week and then the annual pizza and a movie night (I wonder which new wine will go best with pizza?) :-) Saturday is grocery shopping day, Sunday is church and then it's back to school again. I know that next Saturday just can't come fast enough and then once Jason is home....the time flies by! :-( So here's to the past week and getting back into routine! It's been a good week and I hope everyone has an even better weekend!

Back to life, back to reality

Does anyone remember that song from like the 80's....90's? Back to life, back to reality, back to the hear and now, oh yeah! Oh yeah, that is so how I am feeling today! Jason came home before Christmas, spent the holidays with us and then whisked us off to Dallas. In Dallas he spoiled us by putting us in a hotel with an indoor pool and hot tub, taking us out to the movies, and out to eat more than we should have. On top of that, we were in the town of Grapevine. True to it's namesake Grapevine is home to about 7 different local wineries. Since I really love wine tours and sampling new wines we decided to try 4 while we were there. They were all GREAT and my wine cabinet is now full! The kids HATED it but for one hour out of their lives for a couple nights in a row...they survived. :-)
We left Dallas on the 4th of January intending to drive part way to Greenville, SC and then the rest of the way on the 5th. Instead of stopping, Jason decided to just drive us all the way through the night and straight on till morning (Movie quote from????). We decided to stay the night in Greenville and head back to Savannah on Sunday. We didn't get back into Savannah until around 6:30 last night and now it is back to life! So to ease back into life, this is what has been done in the past 12 hours:
Come home unload truck
Clean out truck from garbage, happy meal toys and other "goodies" left behind by kids
Do 2 quick loads of laundry and help Jason pack back up
Run a load of dishes
Make sure Stephie is all set for school and has lunch money
Give Jason a much needed hair cut
Go to bed
Get up at 6:30 in the morning
Take Jason to Airport
Come home, get 3 kids ready by 9:30am
Go back over to Pooler for Nicholas's speech therapy
While Nicholas is in therapy, figure out a grocery list
Go out for lunch
Go grocery shopping
Stop at Kroger to pick up more milk (we don't like Wal-Mart milk...yes, it tastes different)
Come home, unload groceries
Do more laundry
Get ready for dinner
Open a new bottle of wine.....ahhhhh! :-)
Feed kiddos dinner
Put kiddos to bed
Try to relax and go to bed myself!
Phew, I'm tired already and I still have to do all this stuff!
Have a GREAT day!