Preoccupied

I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a few days. But I've been preoccupied. Billy finally arrived home. He left Afghanistan on Sunday November 29. He flew by helicopter to Bahgram. He stayed in Bahgram for a couple of days and then flew to Kuwait. He stayed there for a while and then flew to Germany. There plane malfunctioned and they were layed over for two days while they waited for another plane to arrive from the US. Then they flew to Ireland where Billy called me Friday morning and told me he was getting on a plane headed for Atlanta, Georgia. I received a text message late Friday night saying that he arrived in Atlanta. Finally I was able to call him on his cell phone! I called him to get all the details. I wound up staying up all night Friday night because I knew I had to leave for the airport early and I was afraid of oversleeping. So I stayed up and made more banana bread and zuchinni bread, cleaned the house, shampooed the carpets, anything I could think of to stay awake. I left for O'Hare International Airport in Chicago at 5am on Saturday. I arrived at the airport around 5:45am. I thought I was way too early because his flight didn't arrive until 7:12 am. I went inside and found a restroom. Then I found out where I was supposed to go to get a gate pass so that I could go all the way up to the gate to get him like you could before 9/11. I bought a bottle of water and found a seat by gate 18. I took out my homeschooling magazine that I had brought along and read one article and then his plane arrived. I call that perfect timing. Anyway, we have been enjoying having him home. Right now he is asleep because he stayed up all night playing the new Wii that we just bought for the kids. He is so cute. I just sit and stare at him when he is asleep (and occasionally throw small toys at him hoping he will wake up. LOL) So, we are in the midst of a winter storm right now so this should make for a good blog next time I'm on.

Chores and a Movie

Today we worked on chores in anticipation of Daddy coming home next week. We cleaned the sinks, toilets, doorknobs, trashcans, vacuumed downstairs, dusted, mopped the kitchen and downstairs bathroom, cleaned the garage, cleaned inside the van and the truck, washed the van and the truck, and swept the porch and the patio. I also aired up the tires on both vehicles. I cleaned out my purse and wallet. We celebrated by going up to the navy base to watch a free movie. Harry Potter was absolute torture and we left before it was over. Megan and Grace were the ones that wanted to see it and they were bored. We came home and I made Carne Asada. It was very, very good! All in all it was a good day, very productive. Now I'm going to sit back and enjoy a cup of coffee and work on my Mom's afghan I'm crocheting.

I'm back!

I'm sorry that I haven't been blogging in a few months. It has been very busy with the husband deployed. I don't remember where I left off but we spent the summer doing as much as we could as a family. We went to Six Flags, Medieval Times, camping in Wisconsin, Texas, Jelly Belly factory, you name it, we probably did it. Then Daddy was deployed and we tried our best to continue on. We started our homeschool year on September 1st. We are back to using A Beka. That is hands down our favorite. My mom and daddy took the Amtrak up here to visit us in September. That was so much fun for us. We went apple picking while they were here and mom made lots of yummy treats with the apples. We got a dog this summer. She is a one-year-old Cockapoo named Ella. She is as sweet as can be and a very good dog. Three of the kids had birthdays in October. Megan turned 16, Lawson turned 9, and Grace turned 8. Yesterday we had Thanksgiving. It was just me and the kiddos but we had fun. I made a turkey breast, stuffing, green bean casserole, rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, jello, pumpkin pies, buttermilk chess pies.....This past week we have been in the crafting mood. Lawson painted a bird feeder. I taught Grace and Chloe how to cross-stitch. Megan and I have been crocheting. Her and I are in an unofficial race to finish our afghans. I also attempted to start a cross stitch sampler for our house that we will build some day. Eek, it looks hard! It's one of those that doesn't have the pattern stamped on the material! We'll see how this goes. Billy will be home on R&R in a few days. We are very excited! He will be home for two weeks. We are discussing the possibility of the kids and I going down to Texas after he goes back to Afghanistan. We would stay for a few weeks, however long the orthodontist says Megan can go without a tightening. I am very excited about the possibility. We would be gone for the worst part of the winter but back in time for some sledding and snowball fights. Everyone here stays inside all winter and that's not me. I like to be out doing things and I like to have lots of people around. That's another perk of homeschooling, you can do it at home or at Grandma's house! Well, the dog says it's time for bed so I must get off here! I promise to blog at least every day or so!

Trip to Texas

On June 8, 2009 my super awesome Papa joined Granny in Heaven. Billy was in New Jersey so the kids and I hopped in the van and headed down to Texas. We saw cool things along the way, including the St. Louis arch. For some reason our GPS took us on a different route than usual and I am so glad because we saw some really neat things. Here is a picture of the arch and some pictures taken at the Enon Baptist Church after the funeral. The pictures are of my parents and all six of their kids. Enon Baptist Church is a church in Tyler County Texas that my great-grandfather c0-founded. His name was Joseph Richardson and is listed on the stone thats shown.

Chloe's 5th Birthday party

I'm so sorry that I haven't blogged in a while. We have been so busy spending time with Daddy before he is deployed next week. Here are the pictures of Chloe's 5th birthday party. She invited some of her friends: Madison, Anastasia, Andrea, Caitlin, and of course Grace. We did manicures, pedicures, make-up, and dressed up like princesses. Then we ate chicken salad sandwiches, fruit salad, and cupcakes. Happy Birthday, Chloe!

Trip to Texas

Sorry, I don't have any new pictures downloaded. I'll do that next time. Here is the update.

Monday, June 8, 2009 Around 10 am my brother, Adrian, called to tell me that our grandfather (Papa) died. This was not a surprise because he was 96 years old and had been in a nursing home for a while. I packed our bags real quick and we left at 10:30am. That was fast packing, it helped that all the laundry was done. We stopped at Target here in Highland Park so I could buy a laptop case (Billy borrowed mine). I also bought stuff to entertain the kids on the trip. We drove eight hours the first day. We were going to go a couple of hours longer to make it half way but there were storms. We were north of St. Louis and the clouds ahead looked very ominous. I turned on the radio and there was a tornado in such-and-such county but I didn't know what county we were in. The radio said there was a tornado between Troy and Edwardsville(?). I looked at the GPS and guess where I was? So, I took the next exit and we ran into a Cracker Barrel restaurant. Once the all clear was sounded we had some Chicken N' Dumplings. I heard that there were more storms south of St. Louis so we went next door and got a room at the Holiday Inn. The next morning we left the hotel at 6:45 am and drove until 8:30pm, finally arriving at Mom and Daddy's house. Mom and I went to Walmart at 1am so that she could get a dress and I could get some shoes. The next day we went to the funeral and then had to drive 3 1/2 hours south to the burial. On the way home we were about 20 minutes from my parents' house and my sister-in-law called and said not to go any farther. She said there was a tornado warning. Mom wanted to keep going but Daddy and I didn't think it was safe. We went to a Walmart and I had to walk in bare footed and buy a very ugly pair of flip flops. We waited about an hour and then headed out. There were trees down everywhere the whole way home. We even saw a truck in the ditch. My aunt and uncle were caught in the tornado and had a very interesting account of it. The rest of the time there was less eventful thankfully. I got to go to Greenville and saw most of our friends but missed a few, too. We left Tuesday morning at 7am. We drove all the way to Marion, Illinois and stopped at 6pm. Billy's sister, Donna, lives in Marion so she joined us for dinner and then we got a hotel. The air conditioner went out in the van right after we crossed into Illinois. I am so glad it made it that far because it was so hot in Texas. The weather was perfect in Illinois so no a/c wasn't that big a deal. We got home about 1pm on Wednesday. The trip should actually be three days and I made it in a day and a half. I wasn't speeding but I didn't stop much either and we ate in the van. When I told Billy he said "You hauled butt!" So, today we cleaned the house, did all the laundry, cleaned the van, paid the bills, bought groceries, and still had time to sit on the porch with a friend and a cup of coffee. Tomorrow will be rest and relaxation or reorganize the garage, I haven't decided yet.

Catching up on my blogging!

I'm sorry that I haven't been blogging as often as I should but it has been so nice out that I want to spend every waking moment outside. I last blogged about our trip to the zoo so I'll back up to Mother's Day. In April we all got new bikes (except for Billy because he is leaving soon). On Mother's Day Chloe was sick so she and I stayed home from church. After church Billy took the kids to Target and they all picked out cool accessories for my new bike! I got a bell, a water bottle that mounts on my bike frame, a basket that is removable in case I need it at the farmer's market or library or wherever, and a lock. I have the prettiest bike in Highland Park!

Last week Grace also got sick. I took Chloe and Grace both to the doctor and they were diagnosed with strep throat. Grace got pretty sick one morning and had to be given a breathing treatment at the emergency room. They said she had croup. Chloe and Grace were both on antibiotics and Grace was also taking a steriod for the croup. Lawson was also on antibiotics for an ear infection. That's a lot of dosing to keep up with! Megan wasn't feeling well, she had a sore throat. So last week we took off school because only Lawson was feeling well enough to do anything. This weekend I planted 119 flowers. I planted one geranium that Megan's friend (and our neighbor) Skylar gave to me on Mother's Day. The rest are petunias which are my favorite flowers to plant. I also planted a couple of pots. Billy put down three stepping stones thru a part of the flower bed that people are prone to walk through anyway. The pictures don't look like much but once the flowers fill out it should be really pretty. I did all red, white, and blue to be patriotic. I really hope I get hard of the month! But you should see the yard across the street! Her yard at the last place that she lived was in Sunset magazine! I don't have a chance!

Lincoln Park Zoo - May 9, 2009

I know, I know, I haven't blogged in over a week. I'm sorry, it's been a little busy here and I was waiting for the camera fairy (Megan) to transfer pictures from my camera to my laptop.

So, to catch you up...

Saturday, May 9, 2009 we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. We took the long way in order to take the scenic drive on Sheridan Road. It was absolutely beautiful!

Lincoln Park Zoo was really nice. We got to ride the carousel and tour a farm in the zoo. The farm was my favorite part. They had a farm house, barn, animals, dairy building where you could watch them milk the cows, and my favorite part was the garden. On Saturdays the garden is open to visitors and they have Master Gardeners there to give you a tour and let you help out. Grace and Chloe got to plant Morning glories. We got a tour and a lot of good information about planting and tending a garden, organic pest control, composting, etc. They had the most beautiful compost bins I've ever seen! Only my mom can understand me calling a compost bin beautiful. It was chilly but we had a wonderful day. There is no admission fee to the zoo but we wound up spending a hundred dollars! It was ten dollars for me and the kids to ride the carousel. It was forty five dollars for a very unhealthy lunch. And it was thirty dollars for parking. And of course add bottled water to that. Wow! Next time we are packing our own water and snacks.

To Answer Gena's Question...

Gena, you asked what "Chloe clothes" were per the March 24 blog titled "Go Against the Flow". In this blog I stated that "I have never had to buy Chloe clothes." This is rather embarassing considering that my children rely on me to insure they don't grow up to be stupid. I intended to say "I have never had to buy clothes for Chloe." Thank you for reading my blog and I look forward to meeting you, too!

Where has the time gone?

I cried on Chloe's first birthday. Not once, but all day. She has been a "big girl" since that day, June 7, 2005. I struggle to hold on to babyhood with all my might. I still let her crawl in bed with us in the middle of the night. She likes to sleep on top of me by the way. I still push her in the stroller. I even bought a new stroller a couple of months ago. I still lift her up and put her in the shopping cart even though her legs are much too long. I still walk through the baby department at Target even though I don't need anything in that department. I decided on Chloe's first birthday that babyhood wasn't going to end that day. Instead, I decided to stretch it out and make it last until her 5th birthday. Well, that day is near. Chloe will be 5 in a little over a month. Are those blisters on my hands? I am still holding on to the rope of babyhood. Will I let go on June 7, 2009? Or will I tighten my grip? I told you last week that Chloe is reading. Yesterday Chloe learned how to ride her new bike, without training wheels. It only took a few minutes, just long enough for me to run in the house to grab the camera only to miss the whole thing. So, enjoy these pictures. I'm going to go look at wedding dresses because I don't have as much time as I thought I did. I love you Chloe, happy birthday.

Chloe can read!

Chloe learned to read a couple of weeks ago. We are using a curriculum called "Teaching Reading for the Oridinary Parent". She learned to recognize the letters and learned their phonics sounds. Then she started sounding out words and now she is reading simple stories. She is the only one of my kids to learn to read before the age of 5. She won't be 5 until June.

The date stamps on these pictures are wrong. I need to reset it on my camera. These were actually taken August 25, 2009.

Bits and Pieces of My Life

Well, I was scolded again for not blogging. I didn't realize that my sister was a reader and now I'm nervous because I have so many readers that it's intimidating! I don't have anything big to blog about but I'll throw out a couple of old pictures and put a few bits and pieces of everyday life in here.
Currently Billy is showing me the cake-eating technique that he says he has had since he was a little boy. We just got back from Vernon Hills. We went to On The Border for dinner, then we went to the christian book store and bought the Left Behind DVD series and a book for each kid. Then we went to Sam's Club and bought a huge chocolate cake that we totally didn't need, but it was delicious. Now Billy is doing his college homework and I'm fixing to read my new InStyle magazine.
Today we homeschooled, did chores, and gave away three bicycles and a desk on freecycle.
Yesterday I tried to unlock our front door with my van remote (not my brightest moment). The embarrassing thing was that I tried several times and then rang the doorbell. I told Megan that my clicker wasn't working and she explained how to unlock the house with a small gold key, interesting. See, I always enter the house through the garage door via a remote control in my van and if I want to unlock the van I use the clicker on my key chain. So, house doors are hard for me!
Also, yesterday I cooked a casserole for an hour before I realized that the oven was off.
I tried to swipe my library card at Target.
Despite my recent brain farts I've done a lot of redecorating. I really should take some pictures and post on here. Eventually I will get around to it. I redecorated the homeschool classroom and made it look so awesome, like a real classroom.
Tomorrow is our shopping day. We will be going to Target and Walmart(Lawson likes the Star Wars Legos at Walmart better). Then we will go to Sam's Club, the commissary, and Jewel Osco(grocery store). Somewhere along the way we will have lunch and I vaguely remember promising Lawson that we would go to Starbucks. Oh, and Old Navy (Grace said she needs white flip flops). I'm exhausted already but I like to get it all done in one day. Then I can go to the teacher supply store all by myself on another day.
Chloe is a reader now! I'm so excited! She has read three stories so far and has a thick stack of word cards that she can read. She is only four by the way!
Thank you all for reading and I'll try to blog more often and hopefully something more interesting!

Homeschool Field Trip

Yesterday our homeschool group had a field trip to Sunshine Craft here in Highland Park. Each child got to choose a piece of pottery to paint. They had a great time. We spent about two hours there and then we went to The Mean Weiner in Highwood for lunch. I just love our homeschool group!

Chicago Tea Party

Wednesday Megan and I took the train into downtown Chicago and walked several blocks to attend the Tea Party. It was amazing! This is the first time we have been on the train and we were amazed at how easy it was to get into the city. Union Station was not what I imagined. It was more like a fancy shopping mall than a train station. Despite what the liberal media are saying (sometimes not saying) there were several thousand people there! And this was Megan's first protest. Here are some pictures that Megan took. The last picture is the poster that I was holding. And yes, I know, I'll probably be audited.

Easter Trip to Grandma Wayer's house

Saturday we left the big city behind and drove south to the little town of Tamaroa in southern Illinois. We stopped at Amishland on the way which I have wanted to do for a long time. We stayed at Billy's mom's house and had a wonderful time. Sunday we drove an hour away to Marion and went to church with Billy's sister, Donna, and her two boys, Trevor and Trenton. After church we drove all over Marion until we finally found a restaurant that was open. I'm not crazy about Western Sizzlin' but I didn't have to cook so that was nice. After lunch we went back to Grandma's house and had an Easter egg hunt. Monday we went to Billy's grandparents house to see them. I was happy to learn that Billy's grandma watches my favorite TV show, 18 and Counting. She said that she was expecting us to have another child with us this time. She knows we are wanting to adopt and she said "I just knew you were bringing me another grandchild!" I hope we have one for her soon. Tuesday morning we left the small, quiet country behind and headed back to the hustle and bustle of the big city. In spite of the crazy traffic it was great to be home.

Happy Easter!

This picture of my Momma and Daddy was taken last summer as we were leaving for Chicago. Love and miss you Mom and Daddy!

The past two days have been chilly but beautiful days. The kids have played outside from sun up to sun down. All the kids are on spring break this week so I gave our kids the week off. They have dozens of kids to play with and every one has been having so much fun. When they came inside for dinner this evening they all had sunkissed faces with the beginning of their summer tans. After dinner the whole family walked down to the lake. If you haven't heard me say if before we live right on Lake Michigan. It is absolutely beautiful! Last year we used to walk down to the beach just about every day and we took tons of great pictures but unfortunately I can't seem to find them right now.

Saturday we are leaving to go to southern Illinois to visit Billy's mom and sister for Easter. We will be there until Tuesday of next week and then we will come home. Then on Wednesday Megan and I will be going on the train into the city to Daley Plaza for the tax day Tea Party rally. We figured it was time Megan learned how to participate in a good protest march. :) Then, if we don't get arrested, we will go to lunch somewhere cool!

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

Just So You Know...

I don't know if you have noticed the new advertisements at the top of my blog now. I don't necessarily endorse any of these. I need to work on the filter so that certain ones don't come up. Anyway, I just thought that I would put that little disclaimer in there. It's like on TV when it pops up and says "The views expressed on this show are not necessarily the views held by this station." which for some odd reason only shows up when there is something "Christian" on. But that is another blog entirely. Anyway, love you all!

Billy

Now that my wonderful husband is reading my blog I thought that I would blog about him.
This is how we met...
I had just signed up in the Army on the delayed enlistment program. I was to go to basic training on June 20, 1993. A few days later my geography teacher gave us an assignment to write a letter to someone in the field that we want to work in and ask them how they use math in their job. Well, I didn't know anyone in the Army but my sister gave me the name and address of one of her friends that worked with her at Walmart. He was currently in basic training. I wrote the letter and turned it in to my teacher. I don't know if she ever sent it and Billy doesn't remember ever getting it. A few weeks later, on November 12, 1992, my sister invited me to her house for dinner and to meet Billy, the guy that I had wrote to. She said he had just gotten back from basic training and she thought that he could tell me more about basic training. So, I showed up at my sister's house. My sister called to say that she couldn't make it. Go figure...
And I had to babysit my neice. So, Billy and I talked for a few hours until he had to go on the night shift at Walmart. He gave me a handbook that he got from basic training. A few days later he called to see if I wanted to go to a Christmas party at Walmart with him. I said that I had to work. The next day I quit my job and called him back. We went out on a date to Arnold's in Mineola. I got a job at Walmart so that I would be closer to him. Two weeks later he asked me how he could keep me from going into the Army. I said "You'll have to marry me." He said "Okay." He bought me a promise ring for Christmas. I got out of the Army contract. We got married February 22, 1993. Yes, that's only 3 months later! We have been married for 16 years.
Billy is so absolutely wonderful. I am the luckiest woman alive. He always picks up after himself. He is so sweet and caring. We are complete opposites. I am crude and he has manners. I am loud and hyper and he is quiet and subdued. I like the blinds open and he likes them shut. I could go on and on but you get the picture. But we love the differences in each other and we balance each other out. If we were both like me we would drive each other crazy and if we were both like him it would be too... quiet.

I love you, Billy! I love you more than anything in this world!

Wow, what a day!

Today was one heck of a day! This morning while eating my bagel I got an overwhelming urge to puke. I had this urge all day today and spent most of the time in bed. If I owned a set of fallopian tubes I would swear I was pregnant. But since I don't I guess it was a bug. Which means everyone in my house is a potential bomb for the next week! AAARRRGGGG!!! I woke up at 4pm this afternoon feeling much better and very hungry. Billy arrived home a short time later with a menu from a new restaurant called "The Mean Weiner". He just had to have one of their 1/2 pound, foot long, Chicago-style hot dogs. So, the whole family had these amazing hot dogs while I ate a "safe" salad. I just had a thought...How many people in my house are going to hurl 1/2pound hot dogs in their beds tonight? Just great!

Go against the flow!

I just read a good friend's blog and she mentioned that people see her as "weird" because she is different. Her suburban is full of kids of many different colors. She has two biological daughters and four foster children. Because they are a single-income family they buy most of what they have from garage sales and thrift stores. They have even started homeschooling their two daughters. People where she lives thinks she is weird.

I can understand this. Freecycle is my favorite place to shop. If I can't find it there I check garage sales and thrift stores. The only time I buy something new is if I need it and can't find it used or if it is on sale. For larger things like appliances and furniture we buy new and good quality. This is the only thing we spend on because it is what we want to last a long time. I admire her devotion to children that need help. And you know I am totally in agreement with homeschooling. People have called me weird. People have asked me why we want to adopt. They wonder why we would want to have to take care of more children instead of spending all we have on our current children. "Kids are expensive" they say. No they aren't. They don't eat enough to affect the grocery bill a whole lot until they are teenagers and I have never had to buy Chloe clothes. We spend less on our four kids than some people spend on one. And my kids are perfectly happy.

There is a show on TV called "What Not To Wear". On this show they take a person in and tell them how badly they dress and how they should dress. Similarly, on decorating shows they don't care what the person wants but what the designers think will be best. What I want to know is who decides what style of clothing is in or out? And who decides how a home should be decorated? It's fine to not like something but to tell someone else they shouldn't like it?

How about we all be who we individually are and let the world go on spending all of their time and money trying to impress the people that look exactly like them? Think on that for a while. In the meantime...."friend who's blog I read" I admire you more than you will ever know. You may envy my organized clean house but I envy everything about you. So flaunt your individuality!

Nutmeg

Megan, my oldest. She is 15 1/2 years old. She will be driving soon. I remember the day she was born, it seems like yesterday. Megan is very sweet and quiet. She is very responsible (most of the time) and is a great big sister (most of the time). She is doing very well in homeschool. She is studying things that I never studied in school. She is probably already smarter than me. Every day she looks more and more like Billy's mom. Megan is very girly but you will never see her in a dress. Her room is always perfectly tidy, her closet, too. But she will have an empty dirty clothes hamper and dirty clothes piled around it. What? Megan loves listening to her ipod, playing on facebook, and hanging out with her youth group. She loves watching House Hunters, Clean House, Jon & Kate plus 8, and 18 and Counting. She is a lot of fun to be around and makes the best chocolate cookies ever!

Lawson

Lawson is the cutest boy in the world! He is very sweet and loves his family. When we go shopping he holds my hand in the parking lot "To keep you safe, Mom." He wants to be a preacher and a soldier. He tells people about God everywhere he goes and even gave a sermon at Chick-fil-A one time. He absolutely adores his Daddy and wants to be just like him. He loves playing Star Wars and playing with his best friends Takumi and Syon. He likes riding his bike, going to the park, fishing, and camping. He is very neat and organized. I never have to clean his room with a garbage bag the way I have to with Grace and Chloe's room. He is doing well in homeschooling. I taught him how to read which is the greatest feeling. He loves math and science. He likes to read but only if it interests him. He can actually make the sounds and movements of several different dinosaurs and he is really good! I remember when he was a newborn he looked so little in his carseat that we were scared to take him anywhere. He has always been aware of safety. Even when Chloe was a baby he would bring me things that were choking hazards. He would tell me if there was an outlet missing a childproof cover. He is still like this. He will point out any safetly concerns that he has. Lawson is a great kid!