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