spring break

we've been on spring break this week. little princess and stone are at the boss' parents house. super t was there; but he missed us, so we picked him up early. i was happy to get that call telling us that we were gonna have to come pick him up. it was sweet.

we went fishing with super t yesterday.

super t and the boss getting their poles ready

super t did a good job casting

...so did the boss

they caught one... yeah!

the boss had to show super t that the fish didn't have any teeth before he would put his thumb in it's mouth.

it was nice to get alone time with super t... that doesn't happen too often

i think he enjoyed it, but this morning he's begging to go back to his papaw's house. i guess we're just not as much fun.

good-bye ole barn

this was our barn

this is what i saw when i pulled up from work today...

when the boss decides to do something, he gets right to it. we had been going back and forth about keeping this barn. then one day last week, the boss told me that he was gonna start tearing it down.


my thought when i heard the news was that he is going to kill himself trying to get that barn down.

so, i was debating whether i should voice my concern about losing him forever, or voice my support for him... you know, build him up... saying stuff like you can do it because you're so strong and so manly.


well, i did both. i told him that i thought he could do it, but that i hoped he didn't kill himself. the way i figure it... i balanced out the negative with a positive... and if this was math, it would be like i hadn't said anything at all... because an equal positive and negative cancel each other out. so, no harm done... right?


remember us in your prayers... i'll keep you posted!

tagged!!!

i've been tagged, here are the rules:
1. go to your documents/pictures
2. go to your 5th file
3. go to your 5th picture
4. blog about it
5. tag 6 people

ok... so i had to cheat a little on this. my 5th file was before and after bootcamp pictures. the 5th picture in that file was an after picture... so it was a better option than the before pictures... but i will not subject my loyal readers and fans (whom i love and respect) to that vulgarity. i won't do it.

these are the rules i followed...

i've been tagged, here are the rules:
1. go to your documents/pictures
2. go to your 5th file (unless you notice this file may be full of pics of you in your bikini... if this is the case, go to your 4th file... if your body is completely covered, stick with the 4th file)
3. go to your 5th picture
4. blog about it
5. tag 6 people

this is a pic of me at the asu women's football clinic.

it was really a lot of fun. in this pic, my team and i were racing to dress a team member (that would be me) in football gear. i couldn't believe how heavy all that stuff was, once i had it on.

we won, by the way!

i went to the clinic with a great friend of mine... my fellow fantasy football lovin,

flag football in the backyard playin,

sunday afternoon nfl watchin,

ny giants cravin,

victorious secret gal pal.

i can't imagine having gone with anyone else.

i love you, girl!!! ps... you're tagged!

also tagged are...

mike

erica

misty

mistya

amanda

archerhill 09

we've been doing a garden for the past three years with friends of ours. this is our garden from last year.

this year, we're starting earlier than we ever have before. the boss decided to start our tomatoes early from seed and just let 'em grow in the house until it's warm enough to put 'em in the ground outside. i'm sure there's a name for this... but i don't know all the garden lingo.

he's labeled the cups and everything... fancy and official, i know.

little princess noticed the cups in the window and asked the boss about them... this is the conversation i heard... little princess: what's in the cups? the boss: i planted tomato seeds in there. when the plants get bigger we'll put 'em in the garden. little princess: ohhhh... brief pause... why did you name 'em all tom?

bless her heart.

oh... how i've missed you!!!

we got power yesterday... and i'm so thankful.

this is a run down of the events that have taken place since my last post. i'm gonna try not to be too boring... but... beware, a lot has happened!

we lost power during the ice storm on tuesday night... that would be tuesday, january 27th.

while we were getting ready for a great game of sorry... sitting near the wood burning stove... with candles...

our sweet neighbor came over to offer us his generator. we gladly accepted his offer. although at the time, i didn't realize how important that generator would be for us.



my thoughts on this day... tuesday, jan 27th: wow... this is sorta cool. we probably won't have school tomorrow... the boss probably won't have to work. maybe we can play outside tomorrow.


we got more ice... much more ice tuesday night and wednesday morning.



our great friends came over on wednesday afternoon to spend the night. that was fun. we played mexican train, mafia, and sardines. good times, good times.



my thoughts on this day, wednesday, jan 28th: this is fun... having another family around... to sit in the dark with... much better than being alone.


stone got sick thursday... he couldn't eat, had fever and a headache. our friends left... probably cause they didn't want to get the sickness (i don't blame them). they also needed to get a generator, and set up a way for them to live in their house... b/c by this time we are all realizing that it may be like this for a while. thursday night... in the middle of the night... stone couldn't make it to the bathroom (and i'm not talking about vomiting) . so the boss and i had to clean up... in the dark (super dark)... in the middle of the night... and we couldn't even wash the sheets. we just threw 'em outside. it was terrible! friday was much of the same... except the boss had to go back to work. i was on my own. stone was still sick.


my thoughts on this day, friday, jan 30th: this is terrible... i don't know how much more i'm gonna be able to take of this... should i just throw those sheets and blankets away?



on friday afternoon, in my very unstable mental state, the lights came on! i could hear the angels singing. i called the electric company immediately b/c we had a down power line from our night light... that i'm sure was hot. and our main line was splintered but... my power was back... not 100% b/c we couldn't use the big stuff (dryer, microwave, treadmill, etc), but that was ok for now... at least we had hot water! and my mind was recovering.

we took the kiddos to the boss' parents, so that we could clean up the yard. we had a good weekend cleaning up... very productive. and we watched most of the super bowl at our friends' (whom we love so very much) place.


fast forward to tuesday, feb 3. super t and i left school a little early b/c super t had a 102 fever. i wasn't feeling great either. we went straight to bed when we got home. my stomach had been feeling weird all day, so all i ate was bread. super t felt better by wednesday morning... i didn't. as we were lying in bed wednesday morning, the power went off. i got out of bed, looked out the window, and saw a lineman on the pole. i thought he was fixing our lines, but i was wrong. he was just cutting our power off. i was sick all day. headache, stomach issues, and by wednesday night i was running a fever. i couldn't keep anything in me for long... no water, no gatorade, no nothing.



my thoughts on this day, wednesday, feb 4th: i hurt. it's cold. i'm glad super t's feeling better.




thursday was worse. i still had all the same symptoms, i couldn't get my fever to come down with meds. i was cold. i was going to the bathroom at least once an hour and i was vomiting, too. i didn't eat anything, and the gatorade i was drinking... wasn't staying with me... if you know what i mean. at this point, i couldn't even walk a straight line... the box squats had worn off and were doing nothing for my balance.



my thoughts on this day, thursday, feb 5th: i hurt. uh, oh... i've gotta go to the bathroom again.





on friday my fever went away and my headache was gone. everything i drank still went right through me. i made the mistake of eating a sub sandwich... which caused cramping... lots of cramping. and, of course, doubled the bathroom trips. it was not good.



my thoughts on this day, friday, feb 6th: if i don't feel better by tomorrow, i've gotta go to the doctor. i hurt. why did i eat that sub? uh, oh... i've gotta go to the bathroom again.




i went to the doctor on saturday and found that i'd lost 10 pounds. yeah, 10. i felt so bad, that i couldn't even enjoy it. i had pretty much convinced myself that i was going to need an iv... but i prayed that i wouldn't have to go to the hospital. we just couldn't afford it. the doctor did some blood work... i'm not really sure why b/c my mind was mush. but this is what i heard her say: blah, blah, blah... i'm gonna give you these pills... blah, blah, blah, blah... these pills will be your friend... blah, blah, blah, blah... try to eat bland foods, like mac and cheese... blah, blah, blah, blah. so, i went home and started taking those pills. they worked. and i lived off mac and cheese until tuesday.



my thoughts on this day, saturday, feb 7th: thank you, God, that i didn't have to go to the hospital. and thank you for doctors that give us pills that become our friends.



fast forward to thursday, feb 12th. we still didn't have power. well... actually, our neighbor noticed a day or so after our power went off the second time that we didn't have power and let us borrow his generator again... so we weren't completely without power. but still... our lines needed fixin'. so, i talked to someone at school who happened to know someone who worked for the electric company; and friday morning... 7am... the electric people were at my house. praise God for working things out for us!



my thoughts on this day, saturday, feb 14th: valentine's day... i love the boss (who took care of me... and everything else while i was sick), my kiddos (who make me feel special and keep me laughing), my friends (who've proved that they will do whatever it takes to help us out), my co-workers (who make coming to work more fun than it should be), my family (who i've grown to love and appreciate even more the older i get), and finally, the lineman who came to my house on friday (who i wanted to give a big hug and kiss).

happy valentine's day!!!

we've got damage

this is what i think... if it's gotta be cold, then it should snow.

i love the snow.

i like to play in it. i like to look at it from the inside... sipping my coffee and eating something full of sugar and fat. i like to watch the kiddos play in it. i like to have snowball fights in it... until i get hit, and then i like to look at it from the inside... sipping my coffee and eating something full of sugar and fat. aaaahhhh. it's so fun.

but, we don't have snow today. we have ice.

ice is sorta neat because it's something different and pretty and very fun to slide on. but oh my, it's dangerous. i walked outside this morning to snap a couple of pics... of our fallen tree.

as i was taking the pictures, the wind was blowing a little; and i could hear the trees cracking. it was creepy. and then, i heard a really big crack... and i went running inside. i ran like i had forgotten that the deck was a sheet of ice... which i had. i didn't fall (i credit all the box squats i've been doing... they've improved my balance). but... as soon as i made it inside, another big (and when i say big, i mean huge) branch fell.

here's another pic... i didn't take many. it's dangerous out there!

sweet, little moments

we spent the night at my mom and dad's this weekend. it was fun. it's always fun there. the kiddos spent time with their cousins. and we got to spend time with the rest of the family. good times, good times.







anyway, our sleeping arrangements at mom and dad's were... the boss, the kiddos, and me in the same bedroom. the boss and i had the bed and the kiddos slept on the floor with a ton of blankets and pillows and "fuzzies". ("fuzzies" are the really soft, special blankets... you know the ones.)







anyway, we were all in bed... the lights were off... and for some reason stone starts talking about how he is scared to go into the dark. little princess tells him that when she is scared she prays and asks God to be with her.







and then she says... it kinda feels like a blanket around me. but, do you know what that blanket is? it's Jesus.







ahhhh... i love that. i love that she is a christian and that she feels the presence of her Savior. i love that she showed compassion for her brother. i love the way she explained the comfort of our God. like a blanket.







i've felt that same comfort.







the same God that comforts me, wraps Himself around my daughter like a blanket when she's scared! wow!!! i will never look at a blanket... or "fuzzy"... the same. praise God for these sweet, little moments!