There's so much to be thankful for this year I can't begin to list everything. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Have a safe and happy holiday.
Anyone shopping on Friday?
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The Clark Griswold Moment
We had a Clark moment Saturday afternoon. Cade was at the table eating a bowl of cereal, I was taking Christmas tubs back to the garage and Jay was somewhere on a ladder hanging Christmas lights...
This is a good time to explain Jay and when he yells. I think I've heard rumors that he inherited this trait from someone...but he tends to overreact sometimes with his actions. I don't know how many times he's scared me to death because he's yelled so loudly I go running to him to find out he dropped something or bumped his head. I know he over reacts but I'll always go check because I think what if this was the time it really was serious. Just explaining that so you'll understand my part of the story.
I was sitting a tub outside and Cade was asking me to come and look at something. At that moment I heard Jay yelling for me. It took a moment to register that Jay really was yelling for me. I told Cade I'd have to look later, dad needed me. His yelling was louder and more urgent sounding then usual so I really was worried. I tore out of the house with no shoes on. I had no idea even where he was at outside. In the two seconds it took me to get out of the house and around the corner I was imagining all sorts of horrible things that could've happened. Once I rounded the house I saw him on the ladder with the Christmas lights. Everything appeared fine so I quit running. I thought if he yelled like that just to get me to come out and pick up something he dropped I'm going to be so mad. As I was walking up to him I was telling him pretty much the same thing. About that time though I noticed the ladder. It had tipped over to the left side and Jay was hanging onto our guttering. I ran over and tried pulling it (and him) back over. Then the ladder got hooked on the downspout and got stuck. I didn't know what I was going to do. I pulled harder and finally I got the ladder down. Jay nor our guttering suffered any damage. As I was leaning against the ladder trying to recover from the weak kneed feeling you get when you get scared I looked up and saw Cade standing there (without shoes). I thought that we must've scared him to. Wrong - as soon as Jay got off the ladder Cade said can I show you this now. I said yes, go ahead. It was Chex cereal and two pieces were stuck together. That was what he wanted to show me when the yelling started and he was determined to show me no matter what. He certainly is a persistent little thing. As soon as I made the appropriate response to two Chex pieces being stuck together he went back inside.
I told Jay that he looked like Clark Grizwold on the ladder. Luckily we don't have any ice or the neighbors might of came home to find a window busted out and their CD player destroyed. Jay said the whole time he was on the ladder that was the scene going through his mind. He said he could've jumped and been fine, but he was afraid the guttering would've gone with him. Then when he saw me he thought everything would be fine, but I stopped running once I saw him and started lecturing.
I went back inside and put on some shoes so I could stay outside with him. My heart couldn’t take any more scares.
Charity said that it was a good thing Charlie didn't find Jay on the ladder before I could get there. With all of his hostility towards Jay he probably would've pushed the ladder over. I guess there's always something to be thankful for in any situation...
This is a good time to explain Jay and when he yells. I think I've heard rumors that he inherited this trait from someone...but he tends to overreact sometimes with his actions. I don't know how many times he's scared me to death because he's yelled so loudly I go running to him to find out he dropped something or bumped his head. I know he over reacts but I'll always go check because I think what if this was the time it really was serious. Just explaining that so you'll understand my part of the story.
I was sitting a tub outside and Cade was asking me to come and look at something. At that moment I heard Jay yelling for me. It took a moment to register that Jay really was yelling for me. I told Cade I'd have to look later, dad needed me. His yelling was louder and more urgent sounding then usual so I really was worried. I tore out of the house with no shoes on. I had no idea even where he was at outside. In the two seconds it took me to get out of the house and around the corner I was imagining all sorts of horrible things that could've happened. Once I rounded the house I saw him on the ladder with the Christmas lights. Everything appeared fine so I quit running. I thought if he yelled like that just to get me to come out and pick up something he dropped I'm going to be so mad. As I was walking up to him I was telling him pretty much the same thing. About that time though I noticed the ladder. It had tipped over to the left side and Jay was hanging onto our guttering. I ran over and tried pulling it (and him) back over. Then the ladder got hooked on the downspout and got stuck. I didn't know what I was going to do. I pulled harder and finally I got the ladder down. Jay nor our guttering suffered any damage. As I was leaning against the ladder trying to recover from the weak kneed feeling you get when you get scared I looked up and saw Cade standing there (without shoes). I thought that we must've scared him to. Wrong - as soon as Jay got off the ladder Cade said can I show you this now. I said yes, go ahead. It was Chex cereal and two pieces were stuck together. That was what he wanted to show me when the yelling started and he was determined to show me no matter what. He certainly is a persistent little thing. As soon as I made the appropriate response to two Chex pieces being stuck together he went back inside.
I told Jay that he looked like Clark Grizwold on the ladder. Luckily we don't have any ice or the neighbors might of came home to find a window busted out and their CD player destroyed. Jay said the whole time he was on the ladder that was the scene going through his mind. He said he could've jumped and been fine, but he was afraid the guttering would've gone with him. Then when he saw me he thought everything would be fine, but I stopped running once I saw him and started lecturing.
I went back inside and put on some shoes so I could stay outside with him. My heart couldn’t take any more scares.
Charity said that it was a good thing Charlie didn't find Jay on the ladder before I could get there. With all of his hostility towards Jay he probably would've pushed the ladder over. I guess there's always something to be thankful for in any situation...
Sunday, November 22, 2009
How We Indirectly Ruined a Surprise Party
We had a couple of big happenings this weekend...one was how we managed to ruin a surprise party. The second incident was a Clark Griswold moment concerning a ladder and outdoor Christmas lights. I'll get to that in the next post. Right now I'll explain how our family managed to ruin a surprise birthday party.
An important note to remember about this story is Saturday morning I did some cleaning and Christmas decorating. I was thinking about random thoughts and I thought about this surprise party. It was for a dad that helped with the baseball team. His name is Chez. He has two boys (Kaul 2nd grade and Joel 1st grade). I thought "I bet Joel and Kaul didn't know about this party until today when their dad left the house. That should be exciting for them."
So we get to the party and got in the food line. We then sat down by Austin, Chez's nephew and Jay's FFA President. Jay started making small talk with Austin. We knew he was the one that was supposed to be resonsible for keeping his Uncle busy that morning. Jay asked if Chez was surprised. That's when Jay and I got a surprise.....Austin said that Chez had an idea because Cade went to school and asked Kaul about his dad's surprise party. Great, our kid had a part in ruining the party. Here we came in talking to everyone, wishing Chez a Happy Birthday. We would've never known what happened if Austin hadn't said anything. How embarassing.
Obviously we had to make the rounds again offering our apoligizies. Which worked out good because we got to hear the rest of the story and how it exactly took place....Kaul didn't know anything about the party, which isn't surprising (remember my thought from Saturday morning). I'm sure he didn't want someone knowing something about his family that he didn't know. Kaul's dad just happend to be at the school the day this 2nd grade conversation took place. Since Kaul needed to know what was going, rather than waiting to ask his mom, he asked Chez what the deal was with his surprise birthday party. So when Lanette, Kaul's mom, found out about him asking his dad she had to find out where he heard about the party. That's when she found out that it was Cade that had started the whole thing. Lanette said that Kaul was irritated with her because he didn't know anything about the party. She said "it's a SURPRISE, why in the world would you ask your dad about his SURPRISE party". Kaul said "because you hadn't told me about it" Lanette said "I know because it was a SURPRISE."
Jay and I laughed over this all Saturday afternoon. Luckily everyone in that family is extremely easy going so no one was upset. I think (or at least I hope) everyone thought that the whole thing was pretty funny. What is amazing to Jay and I is that we really didn't talk about the party very much. Jay brought home the invitation, it was a mutual agreement that we'd go, we didn't have to discuss it or anything. I thought I then put the invitation in our bill basket, but maybe I didn't. The only other thing I can think of is maybe I left it on the table for awhile? I sometimes forget that Cade can read. Maybe he read the invitation? The other thing that's funny is that Cade and Kaul aren't in the same room this year. When did they even have time to have this conversation? Jay and I have always wondered what the kids talk about at school. Now we have somewhat of an idea. Kind of makes me wonder though what else Cade's picked up on around the house and is spreading it around.....
An important note to remember about this story is Saturday morning I did some cleaning and Christmas decorating. I was thinking about random thoughts and I thought about this surprise party. It was for a dad that helped with the baseball team. His name is Chez. He has two boys (Kaul 2nd grade and Joel 1st grade). I thought "I bet Joel and Kaul didn't know about this party until today when their dad left the house. That should be exciting for them."
So we get to the party and got in the food line. We then sat down by Austin, Chez's nephew and Jay's FFA President. Jay started making small talk with Austin. We knew he was the one that was supposed to be resonsible for keeping his Uncle busy that morning. Jay asked if Chez was surprised. That's when Jay and I got a surprise.....Austin said that Chez had an idea because Cade went to school and asked Kaul about his dad's surprise party. Great, our kid had a part in ruining the party. Here we came in talking to everyone, wishing Chez a Happy Birthday. We would've never known what happened if Austin hadn't said anything. How embarassing.
Obviously we had to make the rounds again offering our apoligizies. Which worked out good because we got to hear the rest of the story and how it exactly took place....Kaul didn't know anything about the party, which isn't surprising (remember my thought from Saturday morning). I'm sure he didn't want someone knowing something about his family that he didn't know. Kaul's dad just happend to be at the school the day this 2nd grade conversation took place. Since Kaul needed to know what was going, rather than waiting to ask his mom, he asked Chez what the deal was with his surprise birthday party. So when Lanette, Kaul's mom, found out about him asking his dad she had to find out where he heard about the party. That's when she found out that it was Cade that had started the whole thing. Lanette said that Kaul was irritated with her because he didn't know anything about the party. She said "it's a SURPRISE, why in the world would you ask your dad about his SURPRISE party". Kaul said "because you hadn't told me about it" Lanette said "I know because it was a SURPRISE."
Jay and I laughed over this all Saturday afternoon. Luckily everyone in that family is extremely easy going so no one was upset. I think (or at least I hope) everyone thought that the whole thing was pretty funny. What is amazing to Jay and I is that we really didn't talk about the party very much. Jay brought home the invitation, it was a mutual agreement that we'd go, we didn't have to discuss it or anything. I thought I then put the invitation in our bill basket, but maybe I didn't. The only other thing I can think of is maybe I left it on the table for awhile? I sometimes forget that Cade can read. Maybe he read the invitation? The other thing that's funny is that Cade and Kaul aren't in the same room this year. When did they even have time to have this conversation? Jay and I have always wondered what the kids talk about at school. Now we have somewhat of an idea. Kind of makes me wonder though what else Cade's picked up on around the house and is spreading it around.....
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Another Thing Off the List
After a long delay of people sitting on papers, messed up bloodwork and pictures on a CD that refused to open....Our new letter and pictures have finally appeared on Bethany's website.
I really hope we won't have to update it again.
I really hope we won't have to update it again.
Disneyland
I added a ticker for a countdown to our vacation. After the day I've had, I'm really really ready to leave!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Adoption update
It's been awhile since the last update on this subject. Since I'm at the Cassville office today without a computer I'll try to do it on my phone. I'll apologize up front for the typos. Typing with two fingers is not easy.
Things are pretty much the way they've been since the beginning of this ride almost three years ago. I've started to think adoption is very similar to what I've heard about the military - Hurry up and wait. It seems like we get in a rush to get things done and then someone somewhere ends up sitting on the paperwork. We finally ( just in the last week) got everything back to finish the homestudy. We also got back our profile that the socialworker looked at for us. I've got it corrected, copied and in the mail to Bethany. We should finally be getting the letter and pictures updated on the site anytime now...
We've had our profile looked at several times over the last few months. Obviously we haven't been picked. I had a lady that I work with proofread the profile. Afterwards she said she didn't understand why we hadn't been picked yet. I told her that was what I kept thing too!! The new profile is a little brighter and the pictures are bigger. I'm hoping that will make it stand out more?
I do check the website often to see what families had been chosen. I kept thinking something was different but couldn't figure it out. Finally last week it hit me. The older couple is gone. Since I never saw them with either a placement or placement pending across their face I'm thinking they didn't continue their contract with Bethany. This really made me sad. I feel for that couple because you invest so much into this - money, time, emotions - that it would be horrible to quit. But on the other hand I can understand their need to let this go because it is so emotionally draining. It also bothers me for a selfish reason. Will we get to that point? How long do you keep doing this? How many homestudy updates do you do? I know that's a personal decision that's different for everyone. How close are we to that point? I'm not sure Jay and I have an answer for that. Right now we are approved for another year. We've got some time to evaluate where we are and how willing we are to continue this. I say this every year, but surely next year is the year.!?
On another note - I've mentioned Skyler on the blog before. He's the 7 year old with a brain tumor. I used to work with his dad, Ryan. Please check out his site www.skylersanders.com. He and his family could use all the prayers they can get right now. They are such a special family and it's hard to see them go through what they are right now. Thanks
Things are pretty much the way they've been since the beginning of this ride almost three years ago. I've started to think adoption is very similar to what I've heard about the military - Hurry up and wait. It seems like we get in a rush to get things done and then someone somewhere ends up sitting on the paperwork. We finally ( just in the last week) got everything back to finish the homestudy. We also got back our profile that the socialworker looked at for us. I've got it corrected, copied and in the mail to Bethany. We should finally be getting the letter and pictures updated on the site anytime now...
We've had our profile looked at several times over the last few months. Obviously we haven't been picked. I had a lady that I work with proofread the profile. Afterwards she said she didn't understand why we hadn't been picked yet. I told her that was what I kept thing too!! The new profile is a little brighter and the pictures are bigger. I'm hoping that will make it stand out more?
I do check the website often to see what families had been chosen. I kept thinking something was different but couldn't figure it out. Finally last week it hit me. The older couple is gone. Since I never saw them with either a placement or placement pending across their face I'm thinking they didn't continue their contract with Bethany. This really made me sad. I feel for that couple because you invest so much into this - money, time, emotions - that it would be horrible to quit. But on the other hand I can understand their need to let this go because it is so emotionally draining. It also bothers me for a selfish reason. Will we get to that point? How long do you keep doing this? How many homestudy updates do you do? I know that's a personal decision that's different for everyone. How close are we to that point? I'm not sure Jay and I have an answer for that. Right now we are approved for another year. We've got some time to evaluate where we are and how willing we are to continue this. I say this every year, but surely next year is the year.!?
On another note - I've mentioned Skyler on the blog before. He's the 7 year old with a brain tumor. I used to work with his dad, Ryan. Please check out his site www.skylersanders.com. He and his family could use all the prayers they can get right now. They are such a special family and it's hard to see them go through what they are right now. Thanks
Monday, November 9, 2009
A Charlie Story
It's been awhile since I've posted a good Charlie story. Not that I haven't had any, I just haven't taken the time to write out the post. As most of you know, there isn't any love lost between Jay and Charlie. For some reason Charlie knows exactly what buttons to push on Jay. Charlie is better at that then Cade is. He knows exactly what to do to irritate Jay. His latest thing is dragging off Jay's shoes. I've watched Jay take off his shoes to run into the house to get something. In the 30 seconds he's in the house Charlie will grab his shoes and drag them into the yard. Now Charlie is running with a neighbor's dog who's quite a bit bigger than him. I've seen them running and Charlie can fit underneath this dog. I think Charlie will pick up Jay's shoes and drag them to the yard and then the other dog takes over. He'll drag them to his house. One night Jay had a flashlight out going through the neighbors yard looking for his shoes. He couldn't locate it that night and had to get up and search again in the daylight before we could leave for Fayetteville on Halloween. They don't seem to bother mine or Cade's shoes…just Jay's.
Probably the funniest thing though happened on Friday. Jay got home from work and walked out to check the mail. We had a receipt from where we'd paid $15 for Cade's dues to the Hereford Association, so it wasn't a big deal. Jay opened up the letter as he was walking to Charlie's pen to let him out. Charlie saw the letter fluttering and he jumped up and grabbed it out of Jay's hand and then took off with it. Jay said it felt just like when a kid grabs something out of your hand. Jay was yelling and trying to run him down to get the letter out of his mouth. Once Charlie got a safe distance away from the yelling man he dropped the letter, lifted his leg and peed on it. Luckily it was just a receipt and not our personal property tax statement or something even more important. Jay just left the letter in the yard. That was fine with me.
Anyone looking for a Corgi? He'd make a great Christmas gift!
Probably the funniest thing though happened on Friday. Jay got home from work and walked out to check the mail. We had a receipt from where we'd paid $15 for Cade's dues to the Hereford Association, so it wasn't a big deal. Jay opened up the letter as he was walking to Charlie's pen to let him out. Charlie saw the letter fluttering and he jumped up and grabbed it out of Jay's hand and then took off with it. Jay said it felt just like when a kid grabs something out of your hand. Jay was yelling and trying to run him down to get the letter out of his mouth. Once Charlie got a safe distance away from the yelling man he dropped the letter, lifted his leg and peed on it. Luckily it was just a receipt and not our personal property tax statement or something even more important. Jay just left the letter in the yard. That was fine with me.
Anyone looking for a Corgi? He'd make a great Christmas gift!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
A Halloween Story
Saturday morning we had a wardrobe malfunction with Cade's costume. He wanted to be a Northern Solider and mom was supposed to make him a haversack to use to put his candy in. I knew that mom was having problems with her sewing machine, but she never said she wasn't able to finish it so I never asked. Mom thought since I knew that her machine was broken that I would know that she didn't get the candy bag finished so she didn't say anything. Needless to say, Cade was disappointed when we stopped to pick up the unfinished haversack on Saturday morning.
Once we got back in the truck Jay and I knew we were going to need to stop to purchase him a replacement bag. We stopped at Wal-Mart and Jay got our stuff to tailgate with while I took our boy purse shopping.
Right off we found the perfect thing. Of course we didn't have to pay anythig for this years costume, but I ended up paying $14 for a purse that resembled a haversack to keep the peace. Cade told me I could have it after Halloween...I think we'll keep it in the costume basket.
Cade was so excited when we found the bag. Almost a little to excited. I thought back to James Dobson's Bringing Up Boys book that I read 7 years ago wondering if I was doing the right thing. I don't know that James would've bought his boy a purse. To ease my mind I had to make sure that Cade knew I was only buying this to go with his costume. I thought we were on the same wavelength. We were buying a "bag" to use as a haversack to put his candy in.
When we got to Nana and Granddads I asked Cade carry in the cookies we baked and give them to Nana and Aunt Mary. He said he would if I would carry his purse...
I think it's time to re-read Bringing Up Boys. If anyone needs me I'll be at the library.
Once we got back in the truck Jay and I knew we were going to need to stop to purchase him a replacement bag. We stopped at Wal-Mart and Jay got our stuff to tailgate with while I took our boy purse shopping.
Right off we found the perfect thing. Of course we didn't have to pay anythig for this years costume, but I ended up paying $14 for a purse that resembled a haversack to keep the peace. Cade told me I could have it after Halloween...I think we'll keep it in the costume basket.
Cade was so excited when we found the bag. Almost a little to excited. I thought back to James Dobson's Bringing Up Boys book that I read 7 years ago wondering if I was doing the right thing. I don't know that James would've bought his boy a purse. To ease my mind I had to make sure that Cade knew I was only buying this to go with his costume. I thought we were on the same wavelength. We were buying a "bag" to use as a haversack to put his candy in.
When we got to Nana and Granddads I asked Cade carry in the cookies we baked and give them to Nana and Aunt Mary. He said he would if I would carry his purse...
I think it's time to re-read Bringing Up Boys. If anyone needs me I'll be at the library.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Halloween
We went to Fayetteville for Halloween. Jay had a football game and Cade likes Trick or Treating at Nana and Granddad's. Terry decided to skip this weeks game so I got to use his ticket. Actually we lucked out because a couple of their other friends weren't there so we got to use their tickets. We were about 16 rows from the field. Since I mostly people watch it wasn't a huge deal for me except that the seats were way more comfortable than the regular seats...and we didn't have to climb 25 sets of stairs. I had a lot of fun. I've sat through more football games this year than I ever have. I've got a good story to write about concerning Cade's costume when I have a little more time.
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