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I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. ~Phil 4:10-14 Thursday, October 2, 2008Misc stuffPosted in Kudzu LifeWow. As much as I'm on the computer you'd think I'd update more here. Time has a way of getting away from me these days. I'm not sticking to my schedule and it shows! Misc rambling #1: Update on me. A couple people have sent a few messages asking about my weight loss. It's going well. As I sit here reading Tereza's blog about coconut covered chocolate cakes (yum!), I am down 92 lbs from when Kelsie was born. I'm hoping to reach 100 lbs GONE by the time her first birthday rolls around next month. I just need to get back on track with my exercising and paying attention to what I'm eating more. I get relaxed and will go a few weeks ignoring it and then I'm surprised when the scale doesn't go down. I need a big sign that says "DUH!" to hang in my bathroom. Misc rambling #2: School. It's going well. We've slowed down some and it's mostly my fault. I have a very pretty schedule and I like to ignore it a lot. We're still getting things done, just not as much each day as I want to. I'm praying for discipline (for me) in this area and I know the kids will follow along when that happens. Christopher's reading is progressing in leaps and bounds. I'd like to convince myself that eventually he'll love to read like his momma, but I'll settle for the ability. Erin, on the other hand, is a sponge. She's progressing through 1st grade language arts and reading like it's nobody's business. I've caught her a few times helping Christopher figure out a word too. She's going to pass him up...soon. Sean's working on his blends and has mastered /ck/ - /sh/ - /ow/ - /ee/ - /nd/ and a few others I can't think of right now. He wants to do math now too. So I have to find something fun for him that keeps him interested. He can spell his name now when you ask and is started to write his letters, but that's a long road yet. Misc rambling #3: Birthdays. Oh boy. This is the time of year when fun abounds! Erin has a birthday this month (along with her Nannie and Mamaw) and she'll be having her horse themed party in a couple of weeks. Kelsie and Sean have birthdays coming up too. Kelsie is just before Thanksgiving and Sean is just after, so we're going to combine them for a party this year. Sean's wanting an Elmo party and Kelsie could care less, so she's getting Sesame Street too. We usually do a smaller party in the fall than we do in the early summer for Christopher, but I think I'm going to try and do up Erin's party a little this year too. Not a lot of people, but LOTS of fun! Misc rambling #4: Andrew. I tell you what. I am so blessed. Andrew is one of the most hard working dedicated men I can imagine. He pours himself into work and then comes home and pours into me and the kids until he collapses into bed every night. There are lots of things in my life I may not have done right, but convincing that man he needed me was the best move I ever made. Fortunately for me, he agreed with me! Funny thing is, I was sneaky...the truth is I need him more than he'll ever know. Misc rambling #5: Outside activities. Here I thought I'd have this spare time on my hands by not participating in the MOPS steering team this year. Boy was I wrong. Christopher has joined cub scouts and is really enjoying it. Last week his pack spent their meeting picking up trash along the rail/trail and you know what he said to me when he got home..."Mom, I never thought trash could be fun." Really? Figure out how to make it fun at home, because we've certainly got enough of it. And don't tell me I have to invite your cub scout pack here to clean it up. There's only so much embarassment a mom is willing to take. He's been selling BoyScout popcorn as well and I'm rather impressed with him. I hated fundraisers when I was a kid. My ability to sell things consisted of sending the form with my mom to work and MAYBE asking my dad to buy something. There were plenty of times that I didn't even bother with that. He seems to like it though, so I'll give him that. Last week, he was even in the local Buckwheat Festival parade. I'll try to get some pictures up of that soon! He had a blast! And, it didn't hurt his momma's heart ONE BIT that as he passed us in the parade he was blowing kisses to his mom. Nope. Didn't even get one tear...nope...sure didn't. Misc rambling #6: Garden. I don't know if I'll be able to make anything of it or not, but I'm planning a small garden for next year. Our land if really a lot of rock, so I'm going to try and do one small raised bed garden and see what happens. This is going to be a LONG learning process I'm sure. I'm not a person with a green thumb at all, and I tend to kill things that are supposed to be green. SO...my goal is to try. I can do that, right? Of course, the deer and rabbits and squirrels and foxes and any other animal I can think of will be trying as well. Adding a fence to my list of supplies.... Misc rambling #7: Prayers. For those of you that don't mind joining me in prayer. I have two ladies that could really use it right now. Teresa and Julie are both heavy on my heart today. Teresa and I have been friends for 8 years now and I've never even met her face to face. I love her like a sister and she's going through a really rough time. Prayers for her health and recovery from surgery are much appreciated. Julie is a local friend and a pastor's wife. She and her husband are having a baby and they could use some prayers as well. Thank you prayer friends. I appreciate it. Okay, I think that's enough rambling for now. I need to get a grocery list finished and get a shower while the babies are down and I can. Hope everyone is having a blessed day! ~Michele | 3 comments | | Link Friday, September 5, 2008Blog Contest (Not mine, but ENTER!)Posted in Kudzu LifePlease go to: http://fairburytales.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/lets-celebrate-100-thousand-words/ scroll down to the comments section and put in one word. pretty please? Even if you don't want the prize, or are not into contests please do it for the rest of us. You can even tell her if you win, just to give it to Michele. Yes, I have no shame. Thanks! | 0 comments | | Link Wednesday, July 30, 2008Update on the sickiesPosted in Kudzu LifeWow, who knew having four sick kids would be so much fun?? Certainly not me. I really thought it would be a nightmare. I thought the antibiotic would wreck havoc on their poor tummies and we'd have lots of bathroom visits. I thought the baby would end up needing something for a yeast diaper rash. And of course, I thought the baby would decide NOW is the time to get her first teeth. I thought we'd cry over watching our favorite movie and eating our favorite foods. I simply thought it was going to be bad. Uh huh...that's what I thought. ![]() SO, now that we have 2 days left on the antibiotic, it seems most everyone is better. Kelsie's coming out the other side with two beautiful teeth and a newfound love of Cheerios. I never would have remembered to give them their medicine all at the right time on the right days, but I had made up a nifty little chart and put it on the fridge. Every time we did medicine (they were on different schedules! 1 was 3 times a day and the rest 2 times a day!) they got to put a sticker on the chart. They thought medicine was pretty neat. LOL And, I managed to get my curriculum for next year ordered too! Life is grand again. Hope all of our friends and family are doing well! | 2 comments | | Link Saturday, July 19, 2008Free Photo Book Offer - WOO HOO!Posted in Kudzu LifeI don't know if you've seen the promotions from a company called Artscow.com or not, but I've been enjoying their deals! I got my first photo book today in the mail and it is GREAT!! I am so pleased with how it turned out. You can design your own pages (if you're a digiscrapper) or use their templates (what I did). It's a 30 page, 8x8 photo book for $11.99 with free shipping. I have several coupon codes that I can give out and if you redeem it for the discounted price and free shipping, I get an additional credit for another photo book. Great deal, huh? I know you're wondering about the quality...SOOO I took pictures! I'm not going to crop these or anything so you can get the best idea. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I'm so excited. I can't wait to order my next one! If you are interested in using a code to get the discount and free shipping, you can leave me a comment or email me and I'll zap a coupon code right to you!!! Thanks for looking!! | 6 comments | | Link Saturday, July 19, 2008Wow! Summer is crazy!Posted in Kudzu LifeWow. I can't believe it's the middle of July already. Where is it going?!? I still have to finalize my curriculum lists for next year and get things ordered. It's going to be time to start soon. I need to get on the ball. I thought I'd take a little bit of time and give quick updates on us. Christopher has been experiencing some growing pains. He wants to be grown up so badly, but refuses to accept with growing up comes more responsibility. We're working on him, but he's a tough nut to crack. He's started sharing in our Bible reading time at night and seems very proud of himself that he's doing so well. I'm expecting LOTS of progress with him this year. Erin is so ready for school to start she can taste it. She's reading pretty much on her own now...which should make things go a lot smoother next year. As great as she's doing, she still lacks confidence in her own abilities though. We've been working on a few things that are just for her to help with that and so far so good. Sean. Wow. Is this the boy we had to do speech therapy with?? Sometimes he's still a little hard to understand, but he doesn't stop talking these days! It's so nice to see him finally growing into his own skin. Kelsie is 8 months old already!!! When did that happen!!?? (Yeah, 3 days ago! LOL) She's crawling all over the place now and started pulling up and cruising around on her own a lot too. Looks like she's going to follow in the trend of an early walker. She finally got her first tooth last weekend too!! After several cranky nights she seems to have settled in and is relaxing now. It hasn't effected her nursing or eating any yet either...which I say is AWESOME! Daddy is working like a crazy man. Between work and work at the church and keeping up with the yard work and things that need attention on the house (summer jobs), he barely sits still. Mom, you'll be happy to know I finally cut his hair. So at least he's not so shaggy and that should help him stay cooler when he's out in the heat. I'm doing well. Still working on getting things more organized and decluttered around here...including me. I've lost 68 lbs since Kelsie was born and REALLY can't wait to loose more. It's hard work, but I'm okay with that...for now. ![]() I've taken a ton of pictures the last few weeks, but haven't been online much to post. We had our niece and nephew here for three days last week and that totally threw my schedule out of whack. I'm trying to get laundry and all those fun things caught back up now and then I'll post some pictures. So, that's us in a nutshell. | 0 comments | | Link Tuesday, July 8, 2008God's CovenantPosted in Kudzu LifeI have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth." Genesis 9:13-17 ![]() | 0 comments | | Link Wednesday, July 2, 2008RSS Feed is messed upPosted in Kudzu LifeHey gang, I know a lot of you have figured it out already, but the RSS feed for my site is acting weird. There is an error in the source that points to a homeschoolblogger site that doesn't exist. I've contacted HSB twice and haven't heard anything back. It's not in the template (thanks for that suggestion) but it does show up if you view source on the page. With any luck it will get fixed soon, but I wanted to let everyone know. You can still get here by a direct link but the RSS takes you off to the land of error pages. Sorry. Michele | 0 comments | | Link Tuesday, July 1, 2008Lucky #13!Posted in Kudzu LifeWell, it's lucky to me. Yesterday, Andrew and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. When did I get old enough to have been married for 13 years? I guess that happens when you've been out of high school for 16 years. I met Andrew my first year at WVU and we were good friends right off the bat. We both dated other people, but even before we woke up and smelled the Oreos (Andrew will get that...) we were always there for each other. It's hard to believe all that has happened in the last 13 years. We've both graduated from college, the jobs we've had, the move to Illinois for seminary and the move back. Andrew's mom's struggle with cancer and her death after she lost the fight. FOUR incredible children here!! One waiting at Jesus' feet. There has been a lot of sadness. But there has been so much happiness and joy. We've had a lot of firsts together and a lot of lasts and a lot of in the middle too. Last night Andrew asked me "so what do you want to do for the next 13 years?" What a question!! In 13 years, Christopher will have graduated from high school. Erin should be doing the same. Sean will be close. Kelsie should be starting high school.
I hope you'll indulge me as I take a quick trip back 13 years... Here is our engagement photo:
![]() After we were official! (Wow don't they look happy?!) ![]() One for the peanut gallery... since 2 people told me today that there was NO WAY I wore boots with my dress. ![]() A couple of formal shots... ![]() ![]() And one, just because. I've been trying to learn more about Photoshop and was playing with this one. Still could do a couple of changes, but I like how it turned out. ![]() | 4 comments | | Link Wednesday, June 25, 2008Monday, June 23, 2008Manic MondayPosted in Kudzu LifeWhat is it about Monday?? I really enjoy weekends. I didn't used to. I used to see weekends as a chance to get the house ALL clean and ready for the next week and well, it drove me nuts. I'd never rest. Not anymore. Especially on Sunday. I try really hard to do very little in the way of work and just enjoy having Andrew home and the kids around. It's great. But then Monday hits and by 11:00 in the morning, I look like this: ![]() Today was no different. I believe Kelsie is working on her first teeth. She's 7 months old now and doesn't have any yet. I'm okay with that. But Christopher didn't get his first ones until 8 months and teething was HORRIBLE for him. He'd scream for hours on end. I love the Hyland's Teething Tablets though, and those do help. It's just that the crying is enough to break mommy's heart! Normally when we get up in the morning, Kelsie will spent a couple of hours playing on the floor while we do breakfast and some school etc. These days she is cranky when she wakes up and stays that way all the way until her morning nap around 10:30. If I have any hair left by the time she gets teeth, I'm sure it will be gray.
The other aspect of Monday (at least today) that has me pulling my hair out is potty training. If there is one aspect of parenting (yes, there is OH so many more) that I dislike, it would be potty training. I'd put it off until they are in college if I could. Some kids were easier (Christopher) than others (the rest of them), but I'm not sure Sean grasps the concept yet. He's wearing underwear and plastic pants during the day and if I tell him to go potty, he will. If I don't tell him to go, he will go...just in his pants! If you ask him if he has to go, the answer is "No, I'm not wet yet." Logic isn't helping me any either. Grrrrrrrr... To give the boy credit though. I told him this morning to go and he gave me the glazed over look that tells me he's getting ready to say "Um, I just did" and he said "Okay, I go before I wet!" and took off. Maybe....just maybe...{seeing the glimmer of hope here, even if it doesn't truly exist.} Personally, I'm doing well. I turn another year older tomorrow and I think I lost a few years on the way to church yesterday. I was driving and there was a wild turkey on the side of the road that decided to take flight just as we were approaching. I'm not quite sure HOW I didn't hit it head on with the windshield, but I know it was as close as it could have been. Totally terrified me! I did take last week off from the blog (and just about everything else too) but I did start up the diet again last week. I'm doing really well and lost 6 pounds this week! Now....to keep it up for the next three years and I might just get down to an acceptable weight. HA! Otherwise, we're still working on finishing up school for the year. We do a year round plan, so we aren't behind, but I like being satisfied that this year is officially done and we'll take a small break before starting up next year. Christopher's reading has really picked up. He's got 1 math test left and he's done with 1st grade math. We've gotten his test scores back and I need to get those into the Board of Ed before the month is over, so all-in-all we have had a great first grade year! I'm hoping to do a trip to the zoo this summer and maybe a camping trip too. I'm sure I could ramble on about more things, but that's about it from our end! Hope everyone else is doing great and enjoying summer!! ~Michele | 1 comments | | Link { Last Page } { Page 1 of 5 } { Next Page } |
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