The BIG 3-0

Today Eric turned thirty. It is hard to believe that exactly 9 years ago today he was calling me at 4 in the morning to come and pick him up from the curb of his fraternity house. He had done the traditional 21st birthday celebration. Picked him up and took him home and as i was walking out i heard him make a mad dash to the bathroom....i am sure you know what followed. So did i, so i kept walking. I don't think i am upset about not having celebrated my 21st that way. Anyway, 9 years later and unlike that night i have stuck around. I have seen him grow into a wonderful man. I can't say he is much like the guy i first started dating but i love him now more than ever. Plus he my baby daddy. :)

The boys and i joined him for a birthday lunch,

After leaving the restaurant i got a call from Ella's school. She was running a fever of 99.9 and complaining that her ear hurt. I had to go get her and we made a few stops for party supplies. When she realized i was letting her throw her daddy a surprise party she perked right up. Stopped for another ice cream cake and then home to decorate and get dinner ready.

He loved the party hats and noise makers. :)

Dinner and then cake. 30 candles. 10 were the "magic ones". :)

After a handful re-lit for the third time he figured it out and asked for assistance. I am not sure if Jack and John were just blowing air.

He got some good stuff. The one thing he wanted most was a pair of Costa Del Mar sunglasses. They had to have the fancy lenses that cost $100 dollars more. I couldn't bear to pay $250 for sunglasses. I don't care how great they are. He had lost his last pair. In his defense the last pair has lasted for years. He just simply misplaced them shortly after the move and they haven't been seen since. I broke down and ordered the glasses. They showed up this morning. A few days earlier than i had anticipated but i was so thrilled. I knew he would be glad. I started to take them to lunch but i refrained. I wrapped them and put them with his other gifts. After all the decorating and preparation i got out my camera bag to look for the remote for the Nikon so i could try and get a picture of him walking in and i was having to help the kids yell surprise. I pull out on old lens and what do i find in my camera bag??? Yes, His sunglasses. Mad and glad at the same time. So today Eric got the sunglasses he really wanted for his birthday and i got to save my $250. The new ones are going back. :)

All in all it was a great day. Beautiful weather and good time as a family.

Eric, Happy 30th Birthday and many more to celebrate together. I love you. :)

Decisions....

Sometimes they are hard and sometimes it is as easy as tennis shoes or flip flops. Sometimes it is as easy as toilet lid up or down. Considering i found three Reader's Digest in the toilet (thanks Ben), lid down. :) Then you have times where decisions are a little harder. Like do you leave your family for a job? When Eric and i started our journey the deal was we would always go together. That doesn't mean that there won't be delays. Sometimes he needs to go ahead and we are separated for a few weeks or a month but as a whole we stay together. Well, we our in our new home and have officially been here a month. Eric got a call about an opportunity to run some (three) small jobs consecutively in Georgia. That is right a good 6-7 hour drive away from our new home. It was his decision. Stay or go? We talked for a couple of nights and he talked to co-workers and sought advice from an old Superintendent. After all was said, it was his decision alone. I prayed and today he decided. Eric is going to GEORGIA!! I am so excited for him. These are just small jobs but they are HIS jobs. :) The kids and i will remain here in Florida and he will come home as much as he can. These jobs will start in March and he should finish in June. It will be difficult on Eric and I but we will shield the kids from most of it. We will continue our routine and he will be home before we know it. This is such an exciting time. Congratulations Eric on finally getting your own job!!!

Jack man is 4!

Today is Jack's birthday. Hard to imagine that 4 years ago Eric and i walked out of our townhouse and drove to the hospital to have our second baby. I almost heaved my Cheerios in the parking lot. I am sure it was being up that early. :) Still seems so recent. He was fat and short and had a big square head. He has grown out of the fat and into his head so i think he is quite handsome. When he smiles real big you can't see his eyes and loves to help. He tells me i am pretty and loves on his brothers and sister. He is wild and loves to be involved in something even if he isn't the best. He still likes to win. The Wii has brought out his competitive side. He loves to say " I WIN, YOU WOSE!" So many things have changed in the last four years but he is a great kid. He grew out of his whininess and tantrums but still hasn't grown out of the Lighting McQueen birthday cake. This will be four years in a row. Maybe next year he will want something different. He settled for a football ice cream cake for today.

Jack loves to run, fish, swim in the hot tub (this is huge given his fear of water in his face), books, snuggling, Wii, my cell phone, anything electronic really, school work, helping cook, and his hopper ball. He is an early to bed and early to rise kinda kid. Usually laid back and ready to go....anywhere. He tried Karate yesterday. He said he really liked it. I asked him what he learned he said "Nothing, we just fight and we just did everything". He also thinks that now that he is 4, he knows EVERYTHING. Those were his words. HA! He wants to play t-ball too. It was a long day because I made him wait until Eric got home to open his gifts and eat cake.

It almost killed him so I let open one after lunch. He got the movie Up, a new beach towel, glow whistles, and walkie talkies from us,

a scuba set from Grandma and Grandpa,

water guns and a soccer shirt from Miss Wissa,

a cool nightlight from Aunt Kim,

money for pool toys from Nana and Papa and money for savings from Great Grandma and Papa Fraser and Robbie Dear. All he could say when he was opening all the different cards and gifts was "WOW, COOL, It is what i always wanted!" We had dinner and then cake. So big now. He makes me smile.

We're walking....

sort of. Ben took his first steps Thursday, January 21st. (Excuse the date it is for when i make my blog book). I am not quite sure he realized that he wasn't holding anything and after the second step i squealed and then he noticed he was all on his on. He has taken a few more steps here and there. We are still taking two, three and four steps at a time but he gets a little better everyday. Another milestone. So proud! He has also made his maiden voyage up the stairs. He tries to get up them every chance he gets now. Hopefully he will learn to climb down the stairs so i don't have to worry. Another month and he will be ONE!

Sorry, about the video. It is a little hard to get him on camera. I will continue to try and get a better one. Consider this a preview. :)

I forgot to mention in the update that Santa did bring me a potty trained John for Christmas. We had a bit of regression with the move but things are back on track and he is more than happy to pee in the yard, off the porch, and anywhere else he thinks is cool. I am not complaining. :)

The Library

I am not a fan of libraries. I mean, i guess it is because i don't read. I don't really have the time. I will admit most of my childhood memories of the public library revolve around brown carpet, musty smells, and story time. Probably not a good way to start off. But this is what i remember..

Then i grew up and upgraded to this one....

The Ralph Brown Draughon Library at Auburn University. I went there a couple of times. I stayed lost most of the time. :)

Then as i got older and wiser i upgraded to this one...

The Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library. Have you ever seen a more beautiful library? I did use this library. I also got lost in it. Now that i am older, out of school and have kids I have no need for a college library and am now happy to downgrade to this public library.

Maybe it is partially for my sanity. A place to go, something to do, out of my house, mostly because it is free. I also like encouraging the kids to read instead of watching TV. Yesterday i registered for my first library card. We picked Ella up from school and went to pick out some books. I even got one for myself. I finished it last night. :( Maybe i will go get another one today.

The kids loved it and i can't wait to go back too. Any suggestions on your favorite books?

Update.. Part Two

I will get this done... I will get this done. That is my mantra these days. Now where did i leave off..oh yes, the snow. Wes arrived that Saturday and was a great help with the kids. While packing and preparing for the move we found time to go see Santa. Probably not the best idea but it worked. The packers where in Monday morning and out just after lunch. Tuesday they arrived bright and early to load. Melissa took the kids to her house for the morning. BIG HELP! We said our goodbyes to her and she was off to Ohio for Christmas. They finished loading about 5:30 and we finished up and headed to Alabama about 6:30 p.m. It was a good ride. Probably because i only had two kids. I forgot how easy it was to travel with just two. :) We got n late and had a day to rest before Christmas Eve. Eric had to work on the 23rd so he arrived in the early morning hours of Christmas Eve. Kim came over to visit and we went out for our traditional family Christmas movie. We did it a day early since we were having family over on Christmas day. Mom, Dad, Wes, Eric, Kim, the kids and I took in Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeakual.

We got home just in time for dinner and then get the kids in bed so Santa could come. Tree was lit, stockings were stuffed and gifts were under the tree. Off to bed in anticipation of an early morning.

11:30 Ella is throwing up. Was this really happening? Yes it was. By the time i got up Christmas morning Ella was running a high fever. Ben was up first and then Jack. No one was up early. I had to wake John and persuade Ella to come down to open gifts so Ben could go back down for a nap. We opened gifts and the kids LOVED it! Aunt Kim, Uncle Terry, Lauren, and Audrey arrived and then Grandma and Papa and Mawmaw and Shellie. It was a day full of fun and family. It was a GREAT Christmas. What more could i have asked for? Well, I guess it would have been better if Ella wasn't sick. Still a great day. We had to rest and get packed because we were off to Dothan on the 26th. We made it out early enough to stop by for a visit with Aunt

Dale and Aunt Betty before they left for their beach trip. It was a wonderful visit. The kids love their fish. (Aunt Dale, send me some of those pictures) On to Eric's parents.

We arrived and opened gifts. Ella was feeling much better this go round. We got to visit with his Mawmaw and his cousin Ashley while we were there. It was a short but good visit. The 27th we were headed to Florida. Movers arrived the 28th to unload all our stuff. Mom and Dad also made the trip down to help us unpack. Mom brought food so i didn't have to cook for a few days. Dad and Eric got the hot tub set up. It was on the top of the priority list. :) We had the house unpacked in about a day and a half. I am getting quicker. HA!

Flash forward to now, January 21, 2010. We are all settled. Ella is in school and loves it. Her teacher had her appendix removed so this week is Ella first week with her actually teacher. All has been going well and she is making friends. Last Thursday she got cornered on the playground by some boys from another class. She was separated from her friend Derek and they circled around her and wouldn't let her go. She said she asked them to let her go but they wouldn't and they were much stronger than she was. She began to cry as she told me the story. I could tell it scared her. I asked if they touched her and she said no and i asked if they said anything and she said the leader said she was a "hot chick" and she said " I am not!". Derek told the teacher and the boys got in trouble. I think she took "hot chick" as an insult. We also tried out two different gymnastics classes this week. At both gyms she is good enough to be place in a pre-team class. This would be more like what she was doing in Statesville. Of course, she likes the gym we don't. Prayers and consultations with her coaches so we can make a good decision.

The boys are all great. Ben is jabbering more and standing on his own. Also has another tooth on the bottom. Four on top and four on bottom. We have found t-ball for Jack in the spring and summer and a flag football for the fall and Karate. We will see what he chooses to participate in. No classes for John's age. Stinks.

We have started looking at churches. Haven't found it yet but will keep searching. This is my least favorite part of moving. Jack has been talking about Jesus and God a lot. Every time someone does something he says " that is not nice and that makes Jesus and God sad". You get the idea. Anyway, recently his take on the trinity has changed a bit. Now he says " that is not nice and that makes Jesus and God and Santa sad". :)

We've Moved!

I have these order and will send them out when i get them. Until then...