Time For Change

Many of you know that Jason has been working in Dallas for the past 5 months as a contractor, but now that job is over. The kids and I went to Dallas over Christmas and just didn't get that, "this is where I want to live" sort of feeling. So Jason started looking else where for other contract jobs. This past Monday he started a new job in Greenville, SC! Yay! I think I like Greenville, the only down side is that it gets colder there vs Savannah because they are clearly more towards Mountain territory. :-( I have a very strong aversion to cold.....I mean I really really HATE the cold. Other than that, Greenville seems fine. Still not sure if we are all going to move there or if this will be a long/short term job. For now Jason is only 3.5 hours away and will be coming home every weekend! Yippee! It is a better arrangement for sure! Continue to pray for us as we still need to figure out where and when to go from here.

Oh and Easter pictures will be posted soon. We have to have an Easter "re-enactment" sometime this weekend since the sun was in Lexi's eyes and my camera battery died. Obviously we got NO pictures, but I will get some and I will get them posted! :-)

A fun day out with girls

PICTURE LEFT: Me looking like I'm still in my 20's! Ha-ha!

Yesterday was a great day! A good friend of mine was going up to Hilton Head for some shopping with her 12 year old daughter and asked if Stephie and I would like to come along for the day. Her AWESOME husband offered to watch the other 2 for me just so I wouldn't have to worry about finding a sitter for the day. It ended up being 3 moms and 3 12 year old girls. It was really a lot of fun! They spent about a half hour in the shoe store trying on silly high heels and clunky old "grandma shoes". Then they went to Claire's and spent about a half hour in there. Then we went to Limited 2 and found some AWESOME deals! $1.99 sale on all sorts of stuff. Stephie got a cute little I-pal thingy that she can hook her iPod up to for speakers for just a $1.99. She also bought a Kelly Clarkson CD for $1.99....can we say bargain shopper?! And what shopping trip is complete without a stop at Old Navy of course?! I had some serious shopping to catch up on for my boys and summer clothes but I also bought all three girls a pair of matching flip flops...because you have to have a pair of Old Navy flip flops to get you through the summer! :-) Of course with 6 girls out shopping we had to stop into the chocolate store for a treat. Even though I am not a big chocolate lover one of my greatest weakness's is chocolate covered strawberries! I mean, oh my word....the only thing missing with the chocolate covered strawberry is a little champagne bubbly and a room with my hubby...but I digress.

We then went out to lunch and just had an all around good day. We wanted to take the girls to the beach too but we just ran out of time. So sometime over spring break we have promised the girls a day at the beach, that will be nice! Then all the kids can come and I can start working on a tan! This old white body of mine needs some color! :-) Oh and you want to hear the best part of my day? I was checking out at the Eddi Bauer counter and the conversation went like this:
STEPHIE: Oh mama, I need a new hoodie can I get one here?
ME: Of course, those over there are on sale. Do you like them? Pick one out?
MAN BEHIND THE REGISTER: Did she just call you mama? You are not her mama?
ME: Yeah, she is mine....she's only 12 (knowing she looks older than she is these days)
MAN BEHIND THE COUNTER: Still, you must of had her when you were 10
ME: Ha-Ha...No, I was not 10 when I had her but I was only 19
LADY BEHIND THE COUNTER: You still don't look old enough for her to be your daughter
ME: Thanks!
Come on, what better complement than for someone to tell me I look like I am still in my 20's and 12 year old daughter is no where young enough to be mine!
Yes, yesterday was a good day!

School pick up line

Ok, this is going to sound really petty but I had to vent and what better way than via my online blog.
When I go to pick up Stephanie from school every day there is a pick up line. They have some guy stand out in the middle of the parking lot to tell all the cars where to go for pick up line. I always feel like it's an insult that he needs to stand out there all year long. Like we don't know the order by now! But today was a reminder of how much we really do need that guy out there.
It might be hard to explain how the pickup line works but I will try. The way they work it is, there is one line that starts in front of the school and goes straight back to the end of the parking lot. Once that line is full the rest of the cars are directed around the parking lot to meet at a T right in front of the school. This way all the cars can get into a line and no cars are out in the street blocking traffic. Simple right?
Well today the guy was not there to guide everyone back around the parking lot once that first line of cars was full so instead of everyone doing what they know they are supposed to do they just kept getting into that front line. I'm sorry but it really really bugged me! There were cars going into the parking lot like they were supposed too but then because the other cars were in that front line, the rest of us had to wait longer! It just really ticked me off that someone was in that much of hurry or thought that because the "guy" wasn't there they didn't have to "follow the rules".
No wonder our schools have so many kids in them that can't follow the rules, obviously their parents can't follow rules either!

The difference between boys and girls

Before I start tonights blog, I must give you a little history. Bedtime rituals at the Granstrom house are pretty much the same night after night.

All four kids are sent down the hall with bed time instructions. Get your jammies on, brush your teeth, and no playing in the bathroom. After about 15 minutes all 4 kids get these things accomplished so they come back to me to get a kiss, a hug, and finally that one last drink of water. After this they are all sent back down the hall to go get off to bed. Only after they are in bed and quiet will I then go down the hall, tuck them in, say their prayers and again get one last kiss and hug goodnight. Ok? Great! Now on with my blog.

Tonight I sent the kiddos to bed and waited for them to stop talking so I could come tuck them in. I waited and waited and waited...to be honest it was really only the boys I heard talking but none the less there was too much talking going on tonight! Suddenly Ethan comes walking down the hallway and says to me, "Mommy, Nicholas is crying." I asked him why and he said, "I don't know but I heard like a rubber band snap and now he is rubbing his eyes and crying." I go down the hall to see what is going on. Sure enough Nicholas is sitting up in bed crying. As Nicholas tells it, he was doing something and he can't remember what but now he needs 2 dollars and we need to go back to Disney World. Ok?! Come to find out, his doing of "something" was playing with one of those rubber type bracelets he bought at Disney World for $2. Somehow while doing that little "something" he broke the bracelet. He can't remember what he was doing but says he has done it before and it never broke! Right! There was also a pair of binoculars and their case on his bed because it makes perfect sense to have your binoculars in bed, at night, just in case you need to see something close up. So, I gave him a hug and kiss, told him that I would make sure he gets another bracelet next time we go to Disney World and tucked him in. I also told both the boys I had not been planning on coming to tuck them in since there had been so much talking. None the less, hugs, kisses to both and then good night. NO MORE TALKING!

Next I went into the girls room. Stephie was all covered up and asked if I could put one more blankie on top of her. I covered her up, gave her hugs and kisses and went over to Lexi. Lexi has the night light practically on her bed. The outlet is just above her mattress so really, the night light is on her bed. She had a little notebook open by the the light, a pencil and some money. She said, "I know I need to go to bed but I just can't figure out how much money I have. She said, "I know I have a nickel but then I can't remember the rest...Actually she had a Quarter and some dimes. Helping her count out her money, she wrote it all down in notebook and said, "I just wanted to write down how much money I have. So she pulls out her little coin purse from under her bed and puts all her money back, plus the Dora necklace, and black bead bracelet all into her purse. I asked her if Stephie had given her the cool new pencil and she simply said, "no, I'm just using it for a minute". Then she put everything next to her pillow and said goodnight.
The boy/girl difference may not be obvious but to me it was just funny. In the boys room bracelets were being stretched and broken causing tears and pain. In the girls room we had the bracelets being kept in a coin purse and carefully being taken care of. Maybe it's just Lexi and her oh so cute 6 year old charms but really, I had to laugh as I said good night and came to write my blog! :-)

Good night!

A good reminder

Stop waiting.....
Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you clean the house
Until you organize the garage
Until you clean off your desk
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until the kids go to school
Until you retire
Until summer
Until spring
Until winter
Until fall
Until you die...

There is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don't need money.
Love like you've never been hurt, and,
Dance like no one's watching.

He's still here!

So about 2pm this afternoon Jason got a phone call from an 800 number on his cell phone. Not sure who was calling he went ahead and answered. It was Delta calling to say that his flight had been changed and he would therefore miss his connection in Atlanta and would therefore not get into Dallas until midnight tonight. Ugh, almost sounded like fun. So Jason called the little 800 number for Delta and asked if he had any other options. Not only did he get them to put him on the morning flight for tomorrow instead but he also changed his airport from Hilton Head to Savannah! Yay! So, one more night at home and I only have to drive him to the Savannah airport! I love un-expected surprises like this! :-)