Family Photos 2008

Here is one of the 622 photos taken at our family photo shoot....

More later!

Fondly~ Fit

The Holidays....already?!?!?

Here it is -- December 17th and I'm realizing that I haven't posted since September! Time flies, huh?

We have spent most of the last few months completing a house project. Due to some "unmentionables" (as my dad calls them), aka termites, we were forced to gut the downstairs bathroom and part of the kitchen. The bathroom is almost completely finished, except for some difficult tile work we keep putting off; and the kitchen is done. Everything looks GREAT! Now...on to the next project...LOL

We are in the midst of Basketball season. Jake plays for JV at Garland High School and Nick just started Upward (age 5). Jake's games have become exciting. I admit, I get a little loud sometimes..... By contrast, Nick's games are hilarious!! Needless to say, I have labeled them as "organized chaos." But--let me brag for a moment..... ahem.... MY son scored three baskets and was named offensive player of the week! Woohoo! Seriously, if he wasn't picking his nose, he did well.

We had our family pictures taken this past weekend, so I will post some as soon as I get them back. It was a lot of fun....

Random Numbers:

7 shopping days left until Christmas

9 days to begin shopping for next year's Christmas

622 pictures taken by the photographers during our photo shoot (really!)

13 days until I get to see my precious nephews and nieces (Josh's kids)

4 pounds I've lost since last week

3 pounds I gained at lunch today (LOL)

0 miles I have run since November (I've gotta get back to running~)

1 Christmas program Nick was in (and his first!) [he sang his little heart out...]

We are supposed to get the pictures tonight, so I will try to post some.

More later....

Fondly,

fitafter4

For my faithful readers (all two of you) ~

My only excuse for not posting is simply lack of time....

Let me remind you of my hectic schedule:

1. I have four children: two in high school, one in middle school, and one in kindergarten;
2. Said four children are involved in the following activities: basketball, marching band, Upward cheerleading, drum lessons, etc.;
3. I work full time;
4. My husband is a school teacher, which requires ALOT of time (teachers DON'T get paid enough!);
5. I am in school;
6. I've been involved in our corporate olympics (5K, softball, volleyball).

That's all I can think of right now - although I've probably forgotten a few.

Here are some of the highlights from the last month (since school started).

My baby started Kindergarten!

Tyler (and his best friend, Jacob) in his MOB (Mighty Owl Band) Marching Uniform:

Jake - came to visit me at my office.....

I don't have any pictures of Miranda right now -- but I'll post one as soon as possible.

Anyway ~Life is good - hectic - but good!

fondly,

fit

Has it REALLY been almost a MONTH?

Sorry, dearest blog readers....time has slipped by! I had two back-to-back vacations (one long and one short) and simply have NOT had time to post. I would love to say that I have a ton of pictures to add to my post; however, that is not the case. Our camara has issues. Not sure what they are...but looks like we might have to purchase another one.

Our first vacation was the first week in August in Branson, MO with my WHOLE family.....all 20 of us! My mom and dad, sister & family, and brother & family all met us at a resort. It was very nice and relaxing. We didn't really do much---which was exactly what we preferred. We swam alot, ate alot, played games alot, sang alot, etc......WE HAD A BLAST! I'll try to get some of my sister's pictures to post. I was able to spend some quality time with my nieces and nephews who live in Northwestern Arkansas. I must admin--they love their "aunt tonee". Can you blame them? lol

One of my fellow bloggers, Kristi, mentioned in one of her posts a few weeks ago about a park that she took her sweet girl to. She refers to her fear of her daughter catching some kind of parasite, given the amount of children running around naked (yuk). For those that are aware, the North Texas area has had a breakout of Cryptosporidium, an evil parasite that hides in the intestines (lovely, huh?). Apparently, it started out in a lake and spread to everyone that happened to be at that lake that day. Before those recipients were aware of the parasite they carried, they took it to other locations--public pools, daycares, etc.

*So....what does that have to do with me?*

Well....while we were on vacation in Branson, my youngest son came down with a terrible case of diarrea. Little did I know..... When we returned from vacation that following Saturday, I had contracted the nasty bug. [still oblivious to what it was] It wasn't until Monday morning when I took him to school that I saw the HEALTH DEPARTMENT warning that there had been an outbreak of crypto. Nice.... Let's just say that it has been at least two weeks since I was infected and I still don't feel well. Gross, Gross, Gross.....

So, Kris....wanna send Olivia over to play? lol

Anyway, once we got back from Branson, we were home for a few days and then headed off to "the World's Largest Water Park", Schlitterbahn, in New Bransfels, TX. We met my best friend, Susan, and her kids at a real nice resort. We spent one day floating on the Comal River (bbrrr...) and one day at the water park. Had a great time! Came back Sunday afternoon and started preparing for the beginning of another week. Ugh--reality.

So---I'm back at work trying to uncover from all the mounds and mounds of stuff I missed. Aside from all that, my next class at LU (distance learning program) started Monday. I'm still waiting on my book; hopefully it will be here tomorrow!

Now that I have returned from the blogger's land of the lost, I will attempt to catch up on everyone's posts and respond to a few.

Hope all is well---
fondly,
fit

Found this article this morning....priceless!

Olympic athlete's grandmother, 78, chased and caught a mugger
The 78-year-old grandmother of an Olympic sprinter has shown that athleticism runs in the family, after she chased and caught a mugger who stole her purse.

Pearline Williamson, whose grandson is 100m runner Simeon Williamson, was out shopping when a young woman ran past her, pulling the purse from her hand.
Without a thought for her own safety Mrs Williamson sprinted after the woman, believed to be in her early 20s, and managed to catch her.
The furious pensioner then shook her attacker in front of fellow shoppers in Edmonton, north London. The thief dropped the purse and escaped.
Mrs Williamson said: "She must have thought I was an easy touch because I'm elderly.
"When she took my purse I had to do something so I ran after her and grabbed her as hard as I could. She said she hadn't taken it at first, so I shook the life out of her until she finally gave it back."
Olympic hopeful Mr Williamson, 22, said: "It's typical of her as she stands up for everyone else, so it's no surprise she stood up for herself.
"She can be very friendly but also pretty scary when she wants to be – you wouldn't have wanted to be the thief.
"And there's no controlling her – you just have to stand back and hope she's alright as she doesn't think about the consequences."
Mrs Williamson said she had her purse stolen four-years ago on a bus and since then she has vowed to fight back against criminals.
She added: "I have never been scared of anyone. If I see someone being taken advantage of I do something.
"It makes me so mad when people try and take your things. Back in my day you had to work so hard for every penny. "My kids tell me not to get involved, but you have to try – if you don't do anything then bad people get away with bad things."
Her grandson will race at the Beijing Olympics as Britain's number one sprinter. He clocked a personal best of 10.03sec at the recent Olympic trials.
Mr Williamson said: "Her attitude would make her an Olympic gold medallist if she were just a few years younger.
"She's from a different generation and had to work for everything she has, so if someone takes what's hers then she will defend it. "It's that sort of stubborn belief that makes you a champion and that's exactly what she is."

It MUST be me.....

It's H-O-T!! And--it seems that I can't escape the heat. I received a call from my husband yesterday that our air conditioner at home wasn't working. Ugh. The temperature DOWNSTAIRS was 89 degrees...and who knows what it was upstairs. We have a supremely old unit, so there is only one for the entire house. We are trying to let it limp along--since it's covered under warranty. Eventually, we will get two new units for each floor; however, we have too many expensive projects going on right now to update the house!

So, one of my co-workers followed me home last night and was able to diagnose the problem. We were able to locate the part that was faulty and voila~ it was fixed! We decided to stay at a hotel last night since it would take all night to cool the house. My job puts me in contact with many people, one of which is a nice hotel chain manager. He put us up in a nice suite for free. Can't beat that! Okay -- so I'm walking into work this morning and guess what?!?!? The air conditioner isn't working!! All I could say was, "You've got to be kidding me..." It was 85 degrees in the office. Finally, it was fixed and it's tolerable now. I'm almost afraid to drive my car---should the a/c quit working!

Last night we had planned on going over to some friends house, but the whole a/c thing put a kink in the plan. We decided (after much deliberation) to go ahead and go, even though it was much later than anticipated. We had a great time....and it turned out to be very therapeutic!

Here are my random numbers for today:

9 - days until my kids are all home

15 - minutes it took for the judge to shoot down my ex-husband's attempt to gain custody of our three children AGAIN (fourth time)

15,000 - dollars my ex owes my attorney for his repeated attempts

infinity - times I will thank the Lord for his protection from repeated attempts

250,000 - dollars a U.S. citizen can be fined for having Cuban cigars

10 - years in addition to the $250,000

1 - acquaintance who has said cuban cigars

0 - times I will admit to knowing acquaintance who has said cigars to anyone who asks

1 - day I've been back on the weight-loss-bandwagon

0 - pounds I have lost...lol

Have a great day!
fondly,
fit

It's Monday--- ALREADY?

Where did the weekend go? Seriously....


Had a great weekend, but I couldn't tell you what I did. I know I took a really long nap on Saturday--FOUR hours. Whew! I was tired! I know we went to church yesterday. But aside from that--it's all a blur. Oh well, I guess some weekends are just like that, huh?

Oh yeah, I remember -- I took Jake to basketball practice. Yet AGAIN, his father fell through on taking him. I find it interesting that since he's been at his father's house the last 3 weeks, I have taken him to practice all three weeks. Hmmmm....Can you say non-committal? self-absorbed? convenience-minded? yeah--all those things [and more]

Speaking of Jake, he's playing in the Primetime Sports National Basketball tournament this weekend. Over 700 teams are expected to play from across the country (ages 8 and up). He's very excited. Last year, it was reported that over 300 college scouts were present at the tournament. Talk about great exposure!! Anyway, his first game is Thursday morning at 8am. And guess what?!?! His dad can't take him. Imagine that. So--I'll be taking off work to make sure he gets to the game. I'll probably keep stats for the team, too. Oh well, I keep telling myself that Jake WILL remember who supported him. Right?!?

Here is Dirk Nowitski, Jr.--he's actually grown several inches since this picture. He's 6'4" (maybe a little more) now. He's the tallest on his team as well as the youngest....lol. [Okay -- enough bragging...]

Church was good yesterday. We haven't been in a few weeks due to all our traveling, so it was good to be back in the Lord's House.

Sorry for such a boring post....I'll do better next time.

fondly,

fit

T-G-I-F!!

Love this picture...it really depicts my week (and maybe even my hair). Been a tough one--but it's almost over!

Not quite sure what exactly has made it so tough. I haven't seen much of my sweetie, which I'm sure has added to the situation. And--it seems like when I saw him, I was a total crab. [sorry baby] I haven't seen my three older kids in a week. Work has been busy. I was given clearance to run by my doctor (Yay!) after a cortizone shot in the foot (ouch!) and some orthotics for my running shoes. Still dealing with the ex-spouse (referred to as "bump") and his insanity.

Maybe I'm feeling just a bit nostalgic today....so bear with me. I came to a realization yesterday that was very upsetting. I grew up with a close-knit group of friends. We have known each other for practically our whole lives. Well, some have moved off and we all have different lives now...duh. I miss having that closeness. I miss being able to be myself with someone and not feel judged or evaluated. I came to this realization after I had an emotional situation come up yesterday and had no one to call to talk to. My husband is my best friend, but he was tied up at work; and I grow tired of dumping my problems on my family. I have prayed for years for God to bring a friend into my life that I can laugh with, share with, cry with, support, etc. I have a wonderful friend (probably my closest aside from my husband), Susan, but she lives in Tyler and I never get to see her. Most of the ladies in my class at church have "get togethers" during the day with all their kids (none of them work outside the home) and it leaves me feeling isolated and alone. Then, there's the issue of having a wide range in the age of the kids. I have teenagers AND a preschooler. I know, I know....quit having a pity party.........................Okay - I'm done.

Anyway, I have a friend who refers to her belly fat (you know--the part that hangs over your pants when you sit down?) as "muffin". I think that is hysterical and I laugh everytime she uses it. I would like to introduce you to "the shelf", as I call it. You know---it's the fat that hangs over your c-section scar? Yeah, it looks like a big blob of fat hanging over a shelf. Now--all you that had "regular" births won't really understand. However, if you've had a c-section...you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. [Unless, of course, you have less than 10 percent body fat. If that's the case, then I hate you...no offense.]

I wanted to post a few more "before" pictures of the house:

I plan to take some pictures this weekend and give you some idea of the progress....

Have a great weekend!

fondly,

fit

Ouch!!

I like to run. More importantly, I like to run with no pain.

I went to see a foot and ankle specialist yesterday to find out why after about 1.5 miles of running my foot is in escruciating pain. Well--now I know.
I have "neuromas" on both feet. Here is the clinical definition:

"A neuroma is the swelling of nerve that is a result of a compression or trauma. They are often described as nerve tumors. However, they are not in the purest sense a tumor. They are a swelling within the nerve that may result in permanent nerve damage. The most common site for a neuroma is on the ball of the foot."

Ouch!


My doctor, Dr. Korpinen, [http://www.premierfootankle.com/], is very good. He came highly recommended from a co-worker and fellow runner. Although I had done a large amount of research before the appointment, he was very informative on my condition. He gave me a cortizone shot in my foot (P-A-I-N!) and put me in orthotics for my running shoes. I'm supposed to continue running (supposedly with no pain...) and come back and see him in 3 weeks. If I'm still having trouble, then he will proceed to Plan B, which is deadening the nerve itself. But--all in all, he seemed very upbeat that it was not an issue that would keep me from running. Yay! Now--since it's been over a month since I last ran--it's going to be interesting to see how out-of-shape I've become! I've done "some" cross training; however, I haven't wanted to overdo it, so it was minimal. I have a 5K on September 14th and a 10K on September 20th. Guess we'll see, huh???
fondly,
fit

Pleasing God or Trusting God?

I found this devotional this morning and it made me stop and take a look at my relationship with the Lord. I have decided that I give more effort to "pleasing God" rather than "trusting" Him. Read this -- it's quite insightful:

TODAY’S VERSE “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)
TODAY’S MESSAGE In their book “True Faced” the authors pose this following scenario. “As we’re walking down life’s road, we arrive at a tall pole with signs pointing in two different directions. The marker leading to the left simply says Pleasing God. The one leading to the right reads Trusting God. It’s hard to choose one over the other, because both roads have a good feel to them. There is no third road. We must choose one.”

At first glance it seems obvious to me. I want to “please God” more than anything. I want to bring Him joy and thank Him for everything He does. Or at least that is where my mind starts. In truth, who is “pleasing God” really about? Is it really about God and how much I want to thank Him by pleasing Him? Or is it really about me and how I want to make God happy with my behavior?

The real answer is we should take the “trusting God” fork in the road. Why? Because with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we already please God. Paul reminds us that we are saved by God’s grace, not by any of our own works. No behavior on our part could ever please God the way His own grace does. God loves us and we don’t need to earn it by “pleasing” Him. Instead, when we really realize what grace is all about, we will want to trust Him fully. When that happens, it will be our praise and adoration that pleases Him, not our vain efforts to gain His love.

******

WOW...I think I just had an "ah-ha" moment! For many of us, we concentrate so hard on pleasing others that it naturally just rolls right over into our relationship with Christ. The fact that I accepted His precious gift of salvation pleases Him most. All I have to do now is trust Him. Sounds so simple....but can I do it?

fondly,

fit

State of the Union...or rather Dis-Union

For those of you that know, we are remodeling our house. We bought for a great price as an investment. It needed some serious updating, but was in really good condition. Well-this endeavor has proven to be a L-O-N-G and drawn out process. I'd love to say that it's because we're "just doing things right" but truthfully....it's a matter of $$$!! Everything is SOOOO expensive! Anyway, we just re-did our living room floor--removing some OLD, yucky, gross carpet and replacing with wood floors, or rather, laminate. It's looks very nice, but I'm not quite used to the "clicking" sound.

In our kitchen, we have put in new counter tops, new oven, new stove, new sink and a new floor is on the way. I will post some before pictures --and when the living room and kitchen are done, I will post the after pictures. It seems that all we do is work on the house. Every bit of spare time is jammed full of work, work, work. Ugh. I know it will pay off, but good grief! I'm tired!

Here is the living room with the carpet pulled up:

I have more to post, but have run out of time.....see ya tomorrow!

fondly,

fit

26 and Counting...

Only 26 more days until I see the kids....

Here are my random numbers for today:

5 - Number of times I woke up during the night

5 - Really weird dreams I had!

2 - Number of loads of laundry we were able finish before the washer broke...AGAIN.

24 - Hours until the washing machine guru looks at it to see how much $$$ it will cost to get it fixed.

0 - Number of contacts I could put in my eyes this morning....My allergies are terrible!

25 - Number of people who asked if I "just got glasses"

10 - Amount of push-ups I can do (that's pathetic!)

27 - Days until our family vacation

0 - Amount of money saved for vacation

This past weekend we were able to drive to Shreveport to see my brother-in-law who has been in Iraq for the last year. It was wonderful to see him! The sacrifices he has made for his country are unbelievable. He missed his firstborn's birth, Christmas, New Years, etc...while he was gone. Besides that, during the end of my sister-in-law's pregnancy she developed some serious problems and had to be bedridden [she lives about 1000 miles away from "home"]. Her parents were able to be there during her labor and delivery and then promptly packed her up and took her to Shreveport so they could help her. While there, she received word that a pipe had burst in her home and completely flooded it. She had to drive back home and deal with that huge problem. All by herself, brand new baby, flooded house, etc....Can you imagine??? Needless to say, this whole ordeal has given me a real look at the enormous sacrifices our troops make AS WELL AS THEIR FAMILIES.

We took a ton of pictures, so I will try to download some tomorrow. There are some beautiful pictures of their daughter's baptism Sunday. My brother-in-law was quite emotional....it was incredibly moving.

I tell you what, though....my little Nicholas had a real tough time "sharing the spotlight" with his new little cousin! He's used to being the only little one around......and getting all the attention. Whew! It took some real patience to get him to understand that the world doesn't revolve around him....lol.

Check back tomorrow...

fondly,

fit

How cool are these pictures??? My brother's church in NW Arkansas had a "Freedom Fest" this past Sunday. They all met on the lawn outside of the sanctuary and watched fireworks over the lake behind the church. I wasn't able to be there, of course, but the pictures of the event look incredible!

We don't have any plans for tomorrow, July 4th, but on Saturday we plan on going to see some family. I'll write more on that later...

Have a great holiday weekend!

fondly,

fit

All Alone???

The last couple days have been W-E-I-R-D. My friend, Susan, and her family came to visit this past weekend. She asked if she could take Nick back with her for a few days and I agreed. I had no idea how strange it would feel without him around! He's four (almost five!) and although independent, he's very much into EVERYTHING.

Anyway, I called yesterday to check on Nick and Susan asked if he wanted to talk to me and he said, "Noooooooooo!" Apparently, he was playing a spying game and hiding behind furniture and shooting at the t.v. with his nerf gun. Needless to say, he was too busy to talk to Mommy. LOL

Last night we decided to take the older kids to see a movie before they shipped off to their dad's house for a month. While we were watching the movie, I received a text message from Susan with a picture of Nick:

"Swimming in the bathtub!"

I know he is having a BLAST at Aunt Suzie's house.....She loves children and, in fact, was a preschool teacher for a number of years. Susan and I met when we were both on a Nursery Committee at a church we both attended. I was immediately drawn to her fun personality! Her oldest daughter, Katie, was our babysitter. Even though she moved away about 7 years ago, we have stayed in contact. My car can probably drive to her house on auto-pilot! She has been there for me through many, many trials. I know I can always go to Susan for whatever I may need. She's helped me through some very tough situations by praying for me and holding me through my tears. It now seems that the tide has reversed and now she is needing me to be there for her. She has endured much hardship over the last two years and it seems to have come to fruition in the last couple months. I pray for her as often as I can remember----that God will put a hedge about her and help her make it through the difficult times with His love to carry her.
So--tonight I will be parting with my sweet kids around 6pm. After that, I'm ALL BY MYSELF!! Robert has to work tonight....so it's just me. I can't tell you the last time that has happened. Seriously. It's gonna be weird.

fondly,

fit

July - A Hot and Depressing Month...

So you say..."I get the 'hot' part...but what makes July depressing?"

Well ~ I'm glad you asked!

July is the month that my three older children go to their dad's house for summer break. I don't get to see them except for a couple days out of the WHOLE month! It's like I'm a fish-out-of-water. I wouldn't go so far as to say that we close off their vents to the rooms (lol) but I will say that I don't even go into their rooms unless absolutely necessary. It makes me too sad. If it weren't for their cell phones, I probably wouldn't talk to them at all. It's almost like they get over to his house and feel like they have to completely forget me and focus entirely on him so as to not hurt his feelings. Whatever....

Anyway, I think July is most difficult on Nicholas. He hates it when his siblings are gone. A few days---he can handle; but a month?!?!? He's getting to the age that he understands that "Mr. Gene" is their dad. What he DOESN'T get is when we see him, he feels compelled to run to him and give a big hug. Ummmm.....I don't think so. I know that he's a child and innocent, etc.--and I should get over it--but the way that "Mr. Gene" continues to hurt me, my husband AND NICHOLAS, is more than I can handle!

He actually had the "kahunas" to get on the stand the last time we were in court (for the millionth time) and state (under oath) that Nicholas was out-of-control and bratty. First of all, the instance he was referring to was when Nick was 18 months old and had a tantrum about something--as 18 month olds do. *&^%! He also testified that my husband abuses the kids. Don't even get me started on that one. And--that I'm a bad mother and I puposefully keep the kids away from him. Actually, there are so many issues that I can't go into all of them. Let's just say that he's a sad, bitter, pathetic man who needs the Lord. [I'm seriously NOT trying to sound overly-religious...it's just true]

**********Let's move on, shall we??**************

July is usually the month that we try to get as much done around the house as possible. We like to "surprise" them when they get home with something we've done to the house. One year we remodeled the entry way; one year we put up new fans throughout the house, etc. It's kinda fun to see if they can figure out what's new around the house!

After they return, we are planning a big vacation with my family to Branson, MO. Well, all of us EXCEPT for Tyler! I'm so bummed! That is the week that the MOB (Mighty Owl Band) starts their intense marching practice and it's mandatory! We planned this vacation over 6 months ago (or longer) and had no idea it coincided~ It really sucks. Tyler's extremely disappointed--he loves his cousins and they have so much fun together. We thought about flying him up there when practice is over, but by the time he got to Branson, we would be driving home. Oh well--nothing I can do about it, I guess.

Have a great Monday everyone!

fondly,

fit

Signed in Blood....not really!!

I had a revelation yesterday. [Yes--occassionally it happens...]


We have four children at home; three of which have cell phones. "Why?" you ask.... We live in a time where technology is taking over the younger generations. We also live in a time where crazy people surround us. So--why not use today's technology to our advantage? Give a kid a cell phone and you can basically hunt him down any time you need.


When the kids are at school, out and about, or over at the dad's house (ugh), I can reach them anytime. Now---- the problem comes in when there are no boundaries. If you don't set limits (on anything, for that matter) then you're not doing right by your kids if you expect them to handle the cell phone responsibly. I guess there is SOME kid out there SOMEWHERE who can be trusted with raw technology without screwing up. NOT MY KIDS.....lol


Let's just suffice it to say that one of my kids (tyler) messed up bigtime last month. For the month of May (just to be clear,--31 days), my precious child talked 58 hours. To whom? About what? Are you kidding? Not only that--he texted over 10,000 text messages. Yeah--this is an issue.



So....... I came up with a cell phone contract that each of the kids had to sign. I know this is not a new concept, but nonetheless important.



I know it's probably too small to read, so here are the eleven points I made:

1. I understand that the cell phone does NOT belong to me; it belongs to Mom and Robert. Once I start paying the bill, that will change;
   
2. On school nights, the cell phone will be turned OFF at 9:00 p.m. unless otherwise stated by Mom and Robert;
   
3. During the summer, the cell phone will be turned OFF at midnight unless otherwise stated by Mom and Robert;
   
4. I will not send nor receive any inappropriate pictures or texts, including but not limited to, any nudity or profanity;
   
5. During the school year, my texts will be limited to 1,000 per month;
   
6. I will not go above 50 peak minutes per month as outlined in cell phone bill;
   
7. Any overage of minutes per month will be paid by me as well as any accountability or punishment accompanying the overage;
   
8. I will NOT access the internet;
   
9. I will NOT purchase ringtones, unless otherwise stated by Mom and Robert;
   
10. Cell phone is subject to review at any time. Mom and Robert will ask before taking cell phone;
    
11. Unless absolutely necessary (as determined by Mom and Robert) phone should not be used for long distance calls. All long distance calls should be made from home telephone (long distance is free).
    
    
    I understand and agree to the above items. Failure to follow the above stated rules will result in cell phone confiscation for one week or over, as determined by Mom and Robert.
    
    I understand these rules to be in my best interest and accept them as a means to learn responsibility.

Hey ~ in this day and age, you have to protect your kids...from themselves. What's sad about this is that most of their friends are allowed to do whatever they please when it comes to cell phones. I don't understand it!! Example: one of Tyler's friends came over several months ago. He is a nice kid, but definitely doesn't have the parental guidance he needs. He left his phone in my car, so when it rang, my husband answered it (he wasn't sure who it belonged to since we had several of tyler's friends over). What was discovered was a very inappropriate text/pic message including nudity from one of his "friends." My husband was livid! He decided to do some more digging and what was on his phone was AWFUL! After he discovered his phone missing, he started calling our house to retrieve it. I called his mom (whom I had not met--that was a fun way to meet her) and made her come over with him and get his phone. I would not give it back to him. I handed it to his mom and told her that we didn't allow that type of behavior in our home. Of course, she was embarrassed; but I really don't care. It's my house and I will control what comes in it! [whew....let me take a breath. I'm getting all worked up!]

Bottom line: A cell phone is just like a car. I wouldn't hand my kids the keys without equipping them with the knowledge and responsibility to drive it. The same rule applies to a cell phone. They are dangerous and should be treated with care.

fondly,
fit
chairperson of MAIM
(Mothers Against Inappropriate Mobile usage)

Camp is Over ~ the kids are home!

I mentioned in my post on Friday that I was to pick up the boys from camp around 1:00 a.m. Well ~ they actually pulled into the parking lot at 3:15 a.m.!!!! They were tired, smelly and, quite frankly, a little grumpy. [how is that different than any other day??]

When Jake was walking towards the car, I noticed he was limping. I asked him why and he said he had scraped the top of his foot playing basketball. I found that puzzling since you normally wear shoes while playing basketball....

Tyler was fine--just a little tired.

Anyway ~ we finally gather all their stuff and headed home. We arrived about 3:45 a.m. Jake stopped me on the stairs and asked me to take a look at his foot. OH MY GOODNESS! Not only was the "small scrape" infected, he had a serious case of sun poisoning in his feet and they were swollen almost twice their normal size! He had put sunscreen on his whole body, but forgot his feet. So, needless to say, his feet got sunburned and he didn't wear shoes all week (which meant he got MORE sun on his sunburn...duh). Actually, the whole barefoot thing was normal. The camp is right on the beach, so everything they did was in the sand. The basketball courts are outside, too, so naturally, he didn't wear shoes to play.

He seemed rather blase about the whole thing so I didn't want to overreact. Needless to say, at 4am I was looking for the hydrogen peroxide, antibiotic ointment and bandaids.

I finally fell asleep about 4:45 a.m. only to be awakened at 5:45 a.m. to leave for our family reunion. [for you non-math geniuses, that's ONE hour later lol] It was very difficult to get up and get going and even more difficult to get the boys out of bed! I had prepped them before they even left for camp on this scenario. They put their big, tired, smelly bodies in the car along with mounds of pillows and blankets. They were back asleep before we even backed out of the driveway.

The family reunion was non-eventful [boring!] It was nice seeing everyone, but honestly, I could have done without it. Due to Jake's swollen feet, he was unable to wear any shoes. I'm sure we were a real sight to see. All of us (except Nick, of course!) were exhausted--and part of us were quite fragrant (not!). I'm surprised my relatives didn't feel compelled to take up a donation for our low class, smelly family! LOL At one point, I looked over at Tyler and he was asleep sitting up. Jake was sprawled out on two chairs asleep. We were quite the entertainment.

Will post more later.
fondly,
fit

TGIF!

Friday has finally made it here! It seems as though it's been a long week---

Here are today's random numbers:

5,280 pounds of material delivered to my house yesterday from Lowes

4 times my sweet hubby had to go to Home Depot while trying to fix the shower faucet. [He persevered and it works!!]

8 times my son, Nick, asked to ride his bike then play baseball in the front yard

8 times I told my son to "Wait!" lol

1.7 miles I ran last night before my foot starting hurting. Ugh.

1 (a.m.) is the time I have to be at the church to pick up the boys from camp

7 hours of driving to go to my family reunion tomorrow. Don't really want to go, but I know how much it means to Dad.

120 dollars to fill up my gas tank [outrageous!]

24 cuss words from my boss' mouth when he called me from the airport in Paris on his way to Athens, Greece....he was just a little upset at American Airlines......

That's all for now!
fondly,
fit

Today's Random Numbers

6 Pumps of Sugar Free Vanilla in my coffee this morning (yum)

18 People in our Bible study at lunch today

22 days my boss will be traveling internationally. Yee-haw!

21 days I will be leaving early....lol

51 is the percentage of space left on our tivo after clearing
several recorded shows last night

6 cell phones in our house

94 days until the Tour de fleurs 10K

2010 is the largest number in Nick's vocabulary. If he says he "loves me 2010 (pronounced 'twenty-ten')"...that's ALOT!

4 months until my son turns 16 and starts driving [*WARNING*]

have a great day!

fondly,

fit

More Pics for my Long-Lost Friends

In an effort to catch you up to the happenings in our family, I thought I'd share a few more pics....

This is Tyler (on the left) with his friends at his 8th grade graduation dance. [YES--we dance...] lol

This is Miranda at her 5th grade graduation.

This was taken on our family cruise last year.

This is Jake's basketball picture last year (9th grade - 6'5")
Nicholas helping Daddy dig a hole....

Day #2--So far so good...

The day started well. I am recovering from a calf injury, so I've been on hiatus from running (which I love). The doctor told me I could start back today. I ran about 1.5 miles since I didn't want to overdo it. Calf feels okay --- but really tight. Ugh. It sucks getting old. I'm convinced that my calf injury is due to my weight gain. Ugh. It REALLY sucks getting old. Unfortunately, I don't have the metabolism of some of my peers (I hate you Kris and Wen *smile*) and have battled weight all my life. I'm extremely fortunate to be tall, which assists in masking some of the pudge. After my second child was born I contracted a virus which, in essence, killed my thyroid. I literally gained 50 pounds in one month....no joke. I've been on thyroid medicine ever since......thanks Tyler. lol


We are in the process of remodeling the house. We are almost finished with the kitchen, but still have a ways to go. Over the weekend we made a trip to Lowes to buy all the materials for the rest of the downstairs floors and we spent almost a small fortune. The materials should be delivered tomorrow and I'm exhausted just thinking about all the work ahead of us. It will look really nice when we're done, but I sure wish I could contract the work out.....


I really miss the boys [they're at camp this week]. It just about killed them to leave their cell phones at home, too. haha I have come to the realization that I sincerely miss texting them. That's kinda our way of communicating, especially on the weekends they are with their dad. It helps me feel connected to them, but doesn't intrude on their time with him.


Here's a picture of my youngest...he's so precious. I'm not a big Dallas Cowboy fan, but his preschool put him in this outfit....




fondly,
fit

I can't believe it's almost been a year!

Life is crazy....seemed like just yesterday I was in the habit of blogging. Guess not, huh? Been wayyyyyy too busy. The older my kids get the busier they become. I've become "mother taxi". I've also gone back to school--which is something I've talked about doing for years.

Well ~ hopefully my hiatus is over!

I thought I'd give an update of my life over the last year and where I am now:
1) supremely happy in my marriage;
2) amazingly proud of my four children;
3) profoundly thrilled to be called a child of God;
4) cautiously aware of my limitations in every aspect of my life;
5) vaguely conscious of storms heading my way (I'll explain later);
6) completely surrendered to what God has in store for me.

To explain further:
1) My husband, Robert, is truly an amazing person. He has weathered some pretty incredible storms throughout his life and he's fought his way through them. It has been a year since he settled his doubt about his salvation. Since that day, he has developed a desire to know God's Will and execute it.
2) My four children are absolutely incredible. My two oldest are at church camp this week having a blast, I'm sure. My daughter just returned from camp yesterday and is still trying to recuperate! My youngest is on a skating field trip today with his pre-school.
3) God is ever-present in my life. I do my best daily to reflect Him in all I do. He is first and foremost and I find myself having to "die to self" constantly. Regardless, He is an awesome God and Friend.
4) My need for more than 24 hours a day has increased. There's just so much to be done! Now that I'm back in school, I have to devote much time to reading and studying (which I don't have).
5) The storms that I am referring to are yet another court battle with my ex-husband. He's a sad, bitter man who, from all I can tell, doesn't know the Lord.
6) I feel that I'm at a crossroad in my life. I am completely unchallenged and BORED at my career and feel I am being called elsewhere......where--I don't know. Either way, I have to surrender to God and ask for His guidance on where I need to be.

The fam:

I must sign off for now-----back to work!
fondly,
fit