Lately,

we've been staying really busy. Matthew is on days now on the new ATV/AirBoat unit at work and he seems to really like it, although he is usually exhausted and literally covered in dust when he gets home. We're getting into a nice routine where we're all able to go to bed around the same time, the kids and I get up earlier, go to the gym, play, nap, and wait for Matthew to get home. So far it's working out really well, compared to when I would put the kids down around 9, then wait up with Matthew until after midnight before I went to bed. I get ALOT more sleep this way.

I am searching for the perfect Father's Day gift for Matthew, and I was pretty stumped until today. You see, for some reason, ever since we were in college, Matthew has become a huge fan of Neil Diamond. He's always liked singer-songwriter stuff, and somehow he got turned on to Neil Diamond and became an instant fan. Last week on Idol, they sang ND songs, but most of them were horrible, and he was sadly disappointed. Today he mentioned to me that Neil Diamond is coming to San Antonio! THE PERFECT GIFT! Yay, me! Now I just have to order them on Monday when they go on sale before all the old ladies buy them up! Problem solved.

Also, this evening, I went to a church service directed at women, and I really enjoyed it. I am really ashamed that I have yet to find a church home here, and tonight made me realize how much I miss an actual worship service. So, now I have to start a search for the right church for us. I suppose I will start with the Methodist church since that's where I was raised and will probably feel more comfortable. I'm a little nervous, because back in New Edinburg, AR, my church was SMALL. I'm talkin' 30 people on a fairly good day, and half of them I was related to, and the other half I'd known my entire life. Finding a church away from home is actually intimidating to me for some reason. I'm not a particularly outgoing person, and I don't like attention being drawn to me, and then there's the kids. I know I probably shouldn't worry about this, but it makes me nervous to leave them in a nursery where I don't know anyone!

I know most of that is irrational, but that's how I feel....

Lastly, if you would, say a prayer for my hubby... he is the peer support co-ordinator at work and on top of his normal every day worries, he had some emergency in a town about 30 miles from here this afternoon. One of the chiefs called him after he was home today to go on an emergency call, and he didn't get home until 8 pm. All of that stuff is 100 % confidential, so he can't even talk to me about it and it worries me that he can't. After he got all of that squared away, the chief called with horrible news from a neighboring station...a supervisor's child who was 16 took his own life, and to complicate things, he did it with his parent's service weapon. All of that is sure to cause quite a stir arround here, but those families need prayer. I just wish there was some way for me to help ease the load on some things.

Thanks for listening to my rambling! God Bless!

Thankful...

I have so much to be thankful for, we all do. But, sometimes it's hard to look past all the worries and stress of everyday life and see exactly what we should see. At least that's how I felt the past week or two. I have the most wonderful husband, two beautiful children, and lots of great friends who are as close as family. By all accounts, I should be the happiest person on Earth!

I saw the doctor on Friday, got a ton of antibiotics for my sinus infection, a B12 shot, and apparently the kick in the pants I needed to shake my funk. Later that day, the kids and I went to watch Abby's friend Isabelle play softball.

I spent Saturday with friends letting the kids play, then on Saturday night we had several people over to watch the UFC fight. We ate WAY too much junk, but we had a blast. The kids played, the guys watched the fight, and us girls just relaxed and "kicked it old school" and played a little Pictionary. It was an awesome night.

The kids slept in this morning since they were up late last night, and since Friday night was Matthew's last midnight shift for quite a while, we all got up at the same time! We went outside and played, worked in the yard, and cleaned up a few things outside that needed to be done. By the time we were done it was lunch time, then I gave the kids a bath and put them down for a nap. Matthew and I got to have a little quiet time alone together, then we dropped the kids off at our friends' house and went to see a movie! Yay, us!

Today was the 12th anniversary of our first date.........April 20, 1996 when we went to his Jr. Prom. That seems like a lifetime ago to me, but I wouldn't trade a minute of it. I am an incredibly lucky girl, and for everything I've been given, I am truly thankful.

I could not have imagined a more perfect day than today has been!

Feelin' better...

Here's a pic of Ethan eating his peanut butter sandwich the other day. Needless to say, he went straight to the tub when he was done! I just love this pic though, he's just too adorable!



I am starting to feel better today, thankfully. Maybe part of my funky mood was because it was "that time of the month", and now I'm getting out of it. I have an appointment tomorrow morning to check on my iron level and B12 levels, so maybe I'll get another B12 shot. The last one gave me lots of energy, maybe my house will get cleaned this weekend!

















Also, we got a cat yesterday. It's a male, and Abby was determined to name him Cinderella even though we gave her lots of boy names to pick from. We kind of forced her to change his name, and we agreed on McLovin' Cinderella to satisfy us as well as her. He's a very sweet cat, and doesn't seem to mind at all that Abby never wants to put him down. Britches, our oldest Boston Terrier (dog) didn't mind him at all and McLovin' didn't mind her either. Rando, on the other hand, (our other BT), thought the cat was attacking his kids or something and chased him a few times, so we're still working on that. I won't leave them alone together for now, so the dogs have to go into the kennel when I leave. Anyway, I'll throw in a pic of the cat too!

I'm holdin' on...

This week has been incredibly rough for me. We had a very good friend, Sal, come in from NY and spend a few days with us. He is going through a very rough time with a divorce and custody battle, which he lost on Monday. There are a ton of circumstances that indicate to everyone with a brain that he should have custody of his two beautiful little girls, but for some strange reason their mom won custody. I am devastated by the judge's decision in this case, because their mom has no stable place to live, she's been at 4 different places within the last two months. She has no transportation, she has no job, she's had two entire months to get something going, and still, there's nothing.

Sal has an apartment which is set up for the entire family, and was before their mom took the girls all the way back across the country. He has a GOOD job, a stable job, one that can provide for his girls. He has vehicles to get them to and from anywhere they could need to go. He is established in his home, job, and has a stable environment in which to raise those girls, yet the judge that he got in his hearing decided that it would be best for the girls to stay in Texas. That's it, that was what his judgement was based on. Whatever happened to "the best interests of the children?"

I just don't get it. The judge said that he didn't want the state of TX to lose control over the girls. But, there is no order for their mom to stay in this state. She has no family here, they are all in Florida, and she's not even speaking to them, they wanted the girls to go to their dad! I mean, seriously, the state doesn't have anything to do with kids until something bad happens, why does it matter what state they are in? New York has the same courts that Texas has, and neither one would be keeping close watch over them.

After all of this, I am incredibly upset. Those girls are like family to me, and it breaks my heart to know that they are so close to me yet I can't see them. I've struggled with depression for a while now, and this is definitely not helping. I've gotten into a funk that I can't seem to shake, and the bad part is I realize it, and there's nothing I can do. I made an appointment with a counselor for next week through the Employee Assistance Program that is provided through Matthew's job, so hopefully that will make me feel better. I saw her once before, right after I had Abby, I think, and it did make me feel better to have someone listen to me and tell me that I wasn't just nuts.

Anyway, thanks for listening to my worries, it's always better to write things down for me.

Houseguests...

Our house has been full of guests lately, and our newest ones are our friends who moved to New York around Thanksgiving. Abby is ecstatic to see Emma and Alyssa, and they are having a blast playing together. We went out to Lake Amistad today where they are having a big bass tournament and they had activities for the kids. The kids got free fishing poles, and they got to make their own wooden fish or truck and decorate them. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed it surrounded by friends, which is always a blessing. I love this pic of the girls....... Abby just looks SO happy!

Words, words, words...

They are so important. It's how we communicate with the world. Well, a few weeks ago when Ethan went to the doctor (the first time he'd seen this particular lady) it came up that he didn't talk very much. He has a few words, and several signs, but he's just not interested in talking. He's only 17 months old. It just didn't seem like a big deal to me, I mean, Abby has been talking since about 13 months, but all kids do things at different times, right? So, the doctor recommended that he be referred to ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) to evaluate his language. As of today we have had three sessions with ECI, and they are truly a wonderful group of people, they were only interested in trying to decide if Ethan was really behind enough to be concerned and to require their services.

This morning three different people came in and observed Ethan and asked me a ton of questions. Ultimately, they were impressed with his gross motor skills, his fine motor skills, and his socialization skills, all of which he was either right on target with other kids his age, or even more advanced than he should be. His language, after much discussion and observation, was determined to be 1 to 2 months behind. At 18 months, they want him to have about 20 words, and if you count his signs, he has about 15 or 16. To qualify for their services the child must be about 4 months behind, so he doesn't qualify. They said that if he doesn't expand his vocabulary in the next three months, to give them a call and they would re-evaluate him at that time.

I still don't think he's really behind at all, although I'm not the expert, and I am positive that by the end of the summer he will be impossible to keep quiet for any amount of time. He's such a sweet, loving little boy, and I think he's just more interested in throwing things and climbing than he is in talking right now!

More pictures...

So, I guess I should post a few more pictures of my kiddos, so here we go! These are from Easter, and our get-together at my friend Judy's. Since we are on the Mexican border there are a few "different" traditions........like the pinata.......we have pinatas for practically every occasion. Also, there are cascarones, which are confetti-filled eggs, that you are supposed to crack over other people's heads. I never really knew why this was done, but I looked it up and it's supposed to be good luck. Ethan did NOT like this tradition as you can see from the pictures. Abby, on the other hand, busted so many over my head that it was actually sore for a while.