Here are just a few pictures of Katie, Samantha, and Brian in soccer.
Leslie
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Leslie's New look
Hey all,
I got my hair cut....finally. What do you think of it? Let me know.
Leslie
Sorry the pictures are kinda bad, but it has been rough lately.
I got my hair cut....finally. What do you think of it? Let me know.
Leslie
Sorry the pictures are kinda bad, but it has been rough lately.
Homeschooling Begins
For all of you curious at how we are doing with school, let me just tell you that we started out rough, (like anything new and challenging) but we are definitely progressing toward the more positive side of things.
Our first week was awful. 12-14 hour days trying and still not finishing the minimum. Neglecting little ones and frustrated with older ones.
But I tell you Tuesday things really turned around. But before I tell you, I just want you to know that I was crying all day Monday. I was at rock bottom. But, I remembered a story that I had heard on Sunday at church about a mother who had her family to care for plus an additional family to care for and she had to do everything, cleaning, laundry, meals, etc. (and to top it off she lived in the 1800's) Well, as the time progressed she became burdened with her trials and was very down. She went to pray and was visited by an angel who helped her. She did not know that it was an angel, but later found out that it was.
So I was reflecting upon this story so I decided to pray also. I asked Heavenly Father to help me to sustain me in my burdens so that they would become light, so that I may do all that was required of me. I opened my scriptures in the Book of Mormon and read D&C 121:7-10 which reads:
7. My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8. And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
9. Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.
10. Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as thy did Job.
Then during our family scripture study I had Katie pick a story from the Friend magazine. She happened to choose a story about the prophet Joseph Smith and read how he is a true prophet of God in these latter days.
This again bore a second witness to me that God does live, He knows me personally. He sent his son here to the earth to establish his gospel and teach me what is true. I know that my prayers have been answered and that I can find those answers in the scriptures, through modern revelation, and through others, even virtual teachers.
On Monday in the early afternoon, the girls teacher called me to ask me some questions. As soon as she asked me how I was doing I began again to cry. I expressed to her my struggles and all the trouble I was having about juggling my schedule with my older kids with my younger kids. She listened to me cry and yell and really listened to me. She was an answer to my prayer, because I was able to get all that tension off my chest and she took no offense to it and was a stepping stone for me to leave all that behind and start again. She helped me change the girls schedules so that I don't have to do everything every single day. She bore my burdens and told me she would research what other moms are doing to balance school kids with non school kids. How awesome is that! A teacher who has time for me and my family.
Let me tell you this has made all the difference in the world. Yesterday, the girls had a dr. appt. so I printed out their worksheets and explained to the girls that we were taking our schooling with us. They were OK with that and so off we went. We finished at the dr.s and had one more appt to go to. Both ended taking up all of our morning. I dropped Robert off at school (where he stayed till 8am the next morning) and headed home to feed the kids. We spent another two hours-3 hours on homework and stopped at 4pm. We went to the YMCA and played. I walked for 1.5 hours and we came home and had dinner. Then took baths and went to bed. I even got to stay up and watch a movie, the one I wanted to watch! (I didn't go to bed till midnight) but that was beside the point I was not bound to my house, I was able to see the sun and daylight. I was able to enjoy me kids. I was free! This is what it is all about! Fitting school into my life--rather my life fitting into school.
I am a new person. I am elaited and ready to begin my quest....again. Renewed and afresh. All thanks be to Heavenly Father.
(By the way for any of you curious, I started school before the K-12 people gave me advice about the first 5 days....to start out slow one subject a day then add to that. I jumped in with both feet and sunk quickly....I won't be doing that again.)
Next week we get to tackle more juggling...three of the four are starting soccer, and the girls are starting girl scouts (maybe). Go Hagen's.
Our first week was awful. 12-14 hour days trying and still not finishing the minimum. Neglecting little ones and frustrated with older ones.
But I tell you Tuesday things really turned around. But before I tell you, I just want you to know that I was crying all day Monday. I was at rock bottom. But, I remembered a story that I had heard on Sunday at church about a mother who had her family to care for plus an additional family to care for and she had to do everything, cleaning, laundry, meals, etc. (and to top it off she lived in the 1800's) Well, as the time progressed she became burdened with her trials and was very down. She went to pray and was visited by an angel who helped her. She did not know that it was an angel, but later found out that it was.
So I was reflecting upon this story so I decided to pray also. I asked Heavenly Father to help me to sustain me in my burdens so that they would become light, so that I may do all that was required of me. I opened my scriptures in the Book of Mormon and read D&C 121:7-10 which reads:
7. My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8. And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
9. Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.
10. Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as thy did Job.
Then during our family scripture study I had Katie pick a story from the Friend magazine. She happened to choose a story about the prophet Joseph Smith and read how he is a true prophet of God in these latter days.
This again bore a second witness to me that God does live, He knows me personally. He sent his son here to the earth to establish his gospel and teach me what is true. I know that my prayers have been answered and that I can find those answers in the scriptures, through modern revelation, and through others, even virtual teachers.
On Monday in the early afternoon, the girls teacher called me to ask me some questions. As soon as she asked me how I was doing I began again to cry. I expressed to her my struggles and all the trouble I was having about juggling my schedule with my older kids with my younger kids. She listened to me cry and yell and really listened to me. She was an answer to my prayer, because I was able to get all that tension off my chest and she took no offense to it and was a stepping stone for me to leave all that behind and start again. She helped me change the girls schedules so that I don't have to do everything every single day. She bore my burdens and told me she would research what other moms are doing to balance school kids with non school kids. How awesome is that! A teacher who has time for me and my family.
Let me tell you this has made all the difference in the world. Yesterday, the girls had a dr. appt. so I printed out their worksheets and explained to the girls that we were taking our schooling with us. They were OK with that and so off we went. We finished at the dr.s and had one more appt to go to. Both ended taking up all of our morning. I dropped Robert off at school (where he stayed till 8am the next morning) and headed home to feed the kids. We spent another two hours-3 hours on homework and stopped at 4pm. We went to the YMCA and played. I walked for 1.5 hours and we came home and had dinner. Then took baths and went to bed. I even got to stay up and watch a movie, the one I wanted to watch! (I didn't go to bed till midnight) but that was beside the point I was not bound to my house, I was able to see the sun and daylight. I was able to enjoy me kids. I was free! This is what it is all about! Fitting school into my life--rather my life fitting into school.
I am a new person. I am elaited and ready to begin my quest....again. Renewed and afresh. All thanks be to Heavenly Father.
(By the way for any of you curious, I started school before the K-12 people gave me advice about the first 5 days....to start out slow one subject a day then add to that. I jumped in with both feet and sunk quickly....I won't be doing that again.)
Next week we get to tackle more juggling...three of the four are starting soccer, and the girls are starting girl scouts (maybe). Go Hagen's.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Many more changes...as usual
Hey,
We have been in a whirl wind trying to get this and that done. We worked many hours trying to get our house ready for the housing assistance inspection. So much so that I have missed Dr. Appt's. and mailing in important paperwork, etc. Anyway, I have been under a lot of stress lately and to top things off, the lady I babysit for bounced yet another check. So I have given her notice and told her that I will not be babysitting for her after August. (2weeks notice). One less thing on my overloaded plate. We are no longer in the Georgetown ward and so we had to say good bye to our wonderful calling as Nursery leaders. Tears come to my eyes as I think about not doing that anymore with those great kids. Robert and I really enjoyed it there. But as you may as well know that it is just yet another part of our life that has been uprooted. We have also begun homeschooling with the K12 program. Georgia has accepted it as an online public school called Georgia Virtual Academy. They just do their work at home.
This started on Monday and officially on Wednesday. They give us a few practice days. There have been some materials missing, which makes school go a little slower. But as soon as we get in our groove we should succeed just fine.
But until then my throat will remain sore from yelling and my head will hurt from my headaches. And my tears will keep flowing until we can complete school work in 4.5 hours rather than 14 hours.
But if you think this is a very depressing blog, so be it, but I have already learned that these things must happen in order for us to raise above and learn from our mistakes. I have already learned some valuable lessons:
"Gentle ways often prevail when rough ones fail"
"Unity is strength"
this next one came out of our August 2008 Ensign (church magazine) entitled Grasshoppers, Purple Bathtubs, and Other Surprises "I’ve learned some of life’s most valuable lessons from preschool children: to greet each day with enthusiasm and eagerness; to pursue adventure despite obstacles; to delight in new discoveries; to enjoy spontaneous fun; to regard the eating of toothpaste and the emptying of sand-filled shoes on the carpet as minor problems, not major catastrophes.
We have been in a whirl wind trying to get this and that done. We worked many hours trying to get our house ready for the housing assistance inspection. So much so that I have missed Dr. Appt's. and mailing in important paperwork, etc. Anyway, I have been under a lot of stress lately and to top things off, the lady I babysit for bounced yet another check. So I have given her notice and told her that I will not be babysitting for her after August. (2weeks notice). One less thing on my overloaded plate. We are no longer in the Georgetown ward and so we had to say good bye to our wonderful calling as Nursery leaders. Tears come to my eyes as I think about not doing that anymore with those great kids. Robert and I really enjoyed it there. But as you may as well know that it is just yet another part of our life that has been uprooted. We have also begun homeschooling with the K12 program. Georgia has accepted it as an online public school called Georgia Virtual Academy. They just do their work at home.
This started on Monday and officially on Wednesday. They give us a few practice days. There have been some materials missing, which makes school go a little slower. But as soon as we get in our groove we should succeed just fine.
But until then my throat will remain sore from yelling and my head will hurt from my headaches. And my tears will keep flowing until we can complete school work in 4.5 hours rather than 14 hours.
But if you think this is a very depressing blog, so be it, but I have already learned that these things must happen in order for us to raise above and learn from our mistakes. I have already learned some valuable lessons:
"Gentle ways often prevail when rough ones fail"
"Unity is strength"
this next one came out of our August 2008 Ensign (church magazine) entitled Grasshoppers, Purple Bathtubs, and Other Surprises
I had thought my college classes prepared me to control my environment so things would always go smoothly. But I’ve learned that when five children are hungry or tired or both, things don’t go smoothly. When I accept this as an inevitable—even adventurous—part of daily living, I can be more flexible and less demanding. When I can scoop my mud-covered two-year-old into my arms and deposit her into the bathtub for an unscheduled bath—and remain unruffled—I know I’m making progress."
Each day is a learning experience and it is up to me on how I react to it. As I began this blog entry I was down and depressed, overwhelmed with despair. But as I enter the words of the article above, I feel a glimmer of hope and desire to rise above this....and I know I will.Tuesday, July 22, 2008
We have Moooooved!
Hey all,
Life has sure been crazy since our last post. We packed up the rest of our belongings and moved a couple miles down the road. It was bitter-sweet, but since the highway is coming and the car dealership behind us is buying out our neighborhood, I guess we had no choice. But we have worked many, many hours and our house is almost put back together. Here is a picture of our new house in case you were interested.
Talk to you later
Me
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Trip to Missouri Part II
Friday, June 13th: When I woke up, I walked Tiki our dog and when I got back I saw my Mom. I apologized as soon as I saw her and everything is OK. Later that day we went to my sisters house again! She had made this massive pot of homemade chicken noodle soup. It was really good. We ate in shifts since there were so many children there. The kids played on the trampoline out back. I walked out there and saw Katie do a flip! It just about scared me to death. I didn't know she could do it. But I guess kids can do things that we adults can't do anymore.
Saturday, June 14th: The day of the Big Surprise 75th birthday party for my Grandma Peters. My mom and dad left early to help with setting up. Kim and her family and my family car-a-vaned to Dupo, Illinois. The party was to be at my Aunt Debbie's house. My grandma's and Aunt Debbie's yards are back to back. We were expecting a large crowd, so we thought we could park at my Grandmas so we could avoid the traffic. We thought that would be OK since Grandma would be out with my Great Aunt Bonnie. We pulled onto my grandmas street and there in the front yard was my grandma and great aunt Bonnie! Yikes.
Luckily we were able to drive right past them without them noticing it was us. Can you believe that! So we drove to the street parallel to grandmas and parked at Debbie's. I was surprised though, there were no cars. Then I found out that everyone parked their cars at a vacant building near by. We said our hellos and then it was time for the big moment. We all gathered in my Aunts Living room while grandma and Bonnie crossed the back yards. They came to the door and passed it. They were headed to the side door where all the food was. Yikes! But luckily my cousin, Anna, went out the door and asked, "Grandma what are you doing here, come in this door." She took the bait and we all yelled Surprise! And sang Happy Birthday. It truly was a surprise. Her kids had pulled it off Perfectly! She asked how they planned it with out her knowing. My Uncle Danny said, "what do you mean we planned it right in front of you!" Everyone had a good laugh at that. They had even gathered pictures and made a movie of her life. She thought they were taking pictures because she suspected that they thought she was going to die soon or something. She was just amazed at how many people were there and some of them she hadn't seen in years. I have to admit I hardly recognized my cousins all grown up with their girl/boy friends. All who came had a good time.
After we left we went home and finalized things for Katie's baptism. Things did not go as smoothly as we thought. We ended up making a trip to Walmart at 10:30pm to print out her bulletin and picture to display on the table but because I left the original CD with the signature giving permission to print it, I could print it out, but I could not buy it. Bummer! The bulletin was the wrong size. It was supposed to be a half sheet folded, but instead I made it wrong in InDesign as a full sheet of paper. So we headed home to print them off the computer. But we figured out how to resize them, but it through some of the pictures off center. Bummer.
Sunday, June 15th: Father's Day. I forgot my Dad's Father's Day gift at home. I forgot the Father's Day cards that I bought Robert from me and the Kids. Oops. Both were very understanding since there will be more Father's Day. So today the focus was Katie. You only get baptized once. This Sunday did not run as smoothly as last Sunday. Our systems converted over to Central Time.
On the way home from church I was hoping that the Kids would fall asleep. Nope. And it was about 30-45min drive! When we got home we had a quick lunch and packed Katie's bag of panty's, change of clothes, hair dryer, etc. We packed the kids back in the car and headed back to the church to set up everything. I put Katie's bags in the bathroom. Set up the display table, bulletins in place, etc. Everything was in place. I assigned my sister to be in charge of taking pictures with a list. She was busy with Katie and Robert. The meeting started in the Relief Society room and all went well....almost. Brian, who didn't get a nap, wanted Robert.
But Robert was busy. So he was in and out of the meeting way too many times! When it was time to take Katie to the baptismal font I was expecting to go to the gym, since that is where I thought it was. Instead it was on the other side of the building. So I watched her be baptized. I went into a different bathroom where Katie was and then headed to the other bathroom to get her bags. When I returned I realized there were no outlets in the new bathroom. OK. We went to the primary room. Katie took her wet clothes off and wrapped a towel around her. I went to get her change of clothes (panty's etc.) I could not find them! I left them at my mom's house. Yikes!
Luckily my sister-in-law, Tia's, sister, Julia, lived just a few blocks away and ran home to get Katie some under clothes. We dried her hair and got her all dressed up-- Just in time for our 25 min intermission video of Katie to end. What good timing. It was time for the cousins and siblings to sing "I am a child of God" to Katie. It went as well as could be expected for their first and last time though it. After Katie's baptism was over we gathered in the gym for family pictures. That was a little stressful. But maybe the pictures won't show it.
Back home at the cabin on the lake everyone relaxed and enjoyed themselves. I was a little disappointed because my brother Brian and his wife, Chelsea, took off and headed home to Rolla. So my brother Ben and Tia, his wife, and their kids, our family, Kim and her family, and my parents enjoyed ourselves. I guess I had imagined all my siblings over at the lake where we could talk and reminisce about the our childhood while our kids played and had a good time. And we could take pictures on the lake. But I didn't verbalize that so how could I expect them to read my mind.
Monday, June 16th: Happy 30th Birthday, Leslie! I had planned to spend the day with my family and my friend Heidi, but she is expecting and has difficult pregnancies and so she ended up in the hospital. We went up to Herculaneum to purchase our bike rack. We returned home and put it together and got the bikes out for the girls to surprise them. We had to buy training wheels for them so they could ride. That evening my mom made homemade ice cream and a cake. I opened my presents. It was a low key birthday for this old lady!
Tuesday, June 17th: I can't quite remember what happened this day. My guess was Laundry. That evening my mom and I sat down and watched Phantom of the Opera, the movie. It was really good!
Although, at about 9-9:30pm finally got a phone call from Monica's grandma and she gave me grief to have to drive 30mins to drop Monica off to me and a few other things. I finally told her if you don't want to bring her then you can find a way to get her back to Georgia. But I was not going to let her give me another excuse. I told her I would be at our meeting place from X time to X time.
Wednesday, June 18th: Packing day. We gathered all our stuff to pack the van back up to head home. Robert and I went up to visit Heidi to see how she was doing. We took her to lunch again at our meeting spot for Monica and then Heidi took us around the Old part of Herculaneum and showed us all the houses and streets that were bought out by Doe Run's lead factory. I couldn't believe how many houses were gone. We stopped off at a park to look at the flooded Muddy Mississippi. Got a few pictures and then took Heidi and her son home. It is never easy to say goodbye.
After we got home I went swimming with my sister and the kids. My mom made S'Mores for the kids, then they played in the sand box.
Thursday, June 19th. It was so hard to leave. I'm Missin' Missouri. It took us longer to get home. Everyone was a trooper.
Thanks for reading about our trip to Missouri.
Thank you to everyone who made it possible for Katie to have a memorable baptism. Thank you to all our friends and family for being there for us.
Saturday, June 14th: The day of the Big Surprise 75th birthday party for my Grandma Peters. My mom and dad left early to help with setting up. Kim and her family and my family car-a-vaned to Dupo, Illinois. The party was to be at my Aunt Debbie's house. My grandma's and Aunt Debbie's yards are back to back. We were expecting a large crowd, so we thought we could park at my Grandmas so we could avoid the traffic. We thought that would be OK since Grandma would be out with my Great Aunt Bonnie. We pulled onto my grandmas street and there in the front yard was my grandma and great aunt Bonnie! Yikes.
Luckily we were able to drive right past them without them noticing it was us. Can you believe that! So we drove to the street parallel to grandmas and parked at Debbie's. I was surprised though, there were no cars. Then I found out that everyone parked their cars at a vacant building near by. We said our hellos and then it was time for the big moment. We all gathered in my Aunts Living room while grandma and Bonnie crossed the back yards. They came to the door and passed it. They were headed to the side door where all the food was. Yikes! But luckily my cousin, Anna, went out the door and asked, "Grandma what are you doing here, come in this door." She took the bait and we all yelled Surprise! And sang Happy Birthday. It truly was a surprise. Her kids had pulled it off Perfectly! She asked how they planned it with out her knowing. My Uncle Danny said, "what do you mean we planned it right in front of you!" Everyone had a good laugh at that. They had even gathered pictures and made a movie of her life. She thought they were taking pictures because she suspected that they thought she was going to die soon or something. She was just amazed at how many people were there and some of them she hadn't seen in years. I have to admit I hardly recognized my cousins all grown up with their girl/boy friends. All who came had a good time.After we left we went home and finalized things for Katie's baptism. Things did not go as smoothly as we thought. We ended up making a trip to Walmart at 10:30pm to print out her bulletin and picture to display on the table but because I left the original CD with the signature giving permission to print it, I could print it out, but I could not buy it. Bummer! The bulletin was the wrong size. It was supposed to be a half sheet folded, but instead I made it wrong in InDesign as a full sheet of paper. So we headed home to print them off the computer. But we figured out how to resize them, but it through some of the pictures off center. Bummer.
Sunday, June 15th: Father's Day. I forgot my Dad's Father's Day gift at home. I forgot the Father's Day cards that I bought Robert from me and the Kids. Oops. Both were very understanding since there will be more Father's Day. So today the focus was Katie. You only get baptized once. This Sunday did not run as smoothly as last Sunday. Our systems converted over to Central Time.
On the way home from church I was hoping that the Kids would fall asleep. Nope. And it was about 30-45min drive! When we got home we had a quick lunch and packed Katie's bag of panty's, change of clothes, hair dryer, etc. We packed the kids back in the car and headed back to the church to set up everything. I put Katie's bags in the bathroom. Set up the display table, bulletins in place, etc. Everything was in place. I assigned my sister to be in charge of taking pictures with a list. She was busy with Katie and Robert. The meeting started in the Relief Society room and all went well....almost. Brian, who didn't get a nap, wanted Robert.
But Robert was busy. So he was in and out of the meeting way too many times! When it was time to take Katie to the baptismal font I was expecting to go to the gym, since that is where I thought it was. Instead it was on the other side of the building. So I watched her be baptized. I went into a different bathroom where Katie was and then headed to the other bathroom to get her bags. When I returned I realized there were no outlets in the new bathroom. OK. We went to the primary room. Katie took her wet clothes off and wrapped a towel around her. I went to get her change of clothes (panty's etc.) I could not find them! I left them at my mom's house. Yikes!
Luckily my sister-in-law, Tia's, sister, Julia, lived just a few blocks away and ran home to get Katie some under clothes. We dried her hair and got her all dressed up-- Just in time for our 25 min intermission video of Katie to end. What good timing. It was time for the cousins and siblings to sing "I am a child of God" to Katie. It went as well as could be expected for their first and last time though it. After Katie's baptism was over we gathered in the gym for family pictures. That was a little stressful. But maybe the pictures won't show it.Back home at the cabin on the lake everyone relaxed and enjoyed themselves. I was a little disappointed because my brother Brian and his wife, Chelsea, took off and headed home to Rolla. So my brother Ben and Tia, his wife, and their kids, our family, Kim and her family, and my parents enjoyed ourselves. I guess I had imagined all my siblings over at the lake where we could talk and reminisce about the our childhood while our kids played and had a good time. And we could take pictures on the lake. But I didn't verbalize that so how could I expect them to read my mind.
Monday, June 16th: Happy 30th Birthday, Leslie! I had planned to spend the day with my family and my friend Heidi, but she is expecting and has difficult pregnancies and so she ended up in the hospital. We went up to Herculaneum to purchase our bike rack. We returned home and put it together and got the bikes out for the girls to surprise them. We had to buy training wheels for them so they could ride. That evening my mom made homemade ice cream and a cake. I opened my presents. It was a low key birthday for this old lady!
Tuesday, June 17th: I can't quite remember what happened this day. My guess was Laundry. That evening my mom and I sat down and watched Phantom of the Opera, the movie. It was really good!Although, at about 9-9:30pm finally got a phone call from Monica's grandma and she gave me grief to have to drive 30mins to drop Monica off to me and a few other things. I finally told her if you don't want to bring her then you can find a way to get her back to Georgia. But I was not going to let her give me another excuse. I told her I would be at our meeting place from X time to X time.
Wednesday, June 18th: Packing day. We gathered all our stuff to pack the van back up to head home. Robert and I went up to visit Heidi to see how she was doing. We took her to lunch again at our meeting spot for Monica and then Heidi took us around the Old part of Herculaneum and showed us all the houses and streets that were bought out by Doe Run's lead factory. I couldn't believe how many houses were gone. We stopped off at a park to look at the flooded Muddy Mississippi. Got a few pictures and then took Heidi and her son home. It is never easy to say goodbye.
After we got home I went swimming with my sister and the kids. My mom made S'Mores for the kids, then they played in the sand box.Thursday, June 19th. It was so hard to leave. I'm Missin' Missouri. It took us longer to get home. Everyone was a trooper.
Thanks for reading about our trip to Missouri.
Thank you to everyone who made it possible for Katie to have a memorable baptism. Thank you to all our friends and family for being there for us.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Trip to Missouri Part I
Well so much has happened in the last couple of weeks that the best way to put it into words is by typing it out. So here it goes (this could take a while).
June 6th, Saturday: Robert and I woke at 3:30am to pack a few more things and hit the road with the kids to Missouri. The car rolled out of the driveway just before 5:ooam. Less than an hour on the road Leslie hit a opossum. At about 6:30am Samantha said she had to go potty. I asked, "do you want me to pull over on the side of the road or do you want me to find a place to stop?" She wanted to find a place to stop. A few minutes later Brian said he had to go potty. I asked the same question. He wanted me to stop on the side of the road. So I did. Then Katie, Samantha, Monica (the girl I babysit-I'm taking her to her grandma's in St. Louis--more to come on that), Brian and all the girls said they had to go potty. OK I am fine with that. Samantha was the first to get out of the car. She had already had an accident in her seat. She squatted and went all over her already wet clothes, shoes, and socks. Lovely. No problem I am prepared for this, she changed while Brian went potty. Then Katie and Monica found a dry spot on the grass and took a turn. I could see the hesitancy on Monica's face (she's 8 yrs too) -- I could see her thinking--you want me to pull my pants down right here while cars are driving by and do what? Yes, Monica. On the road again. Two miles down the road and what would you know--there was a rest stop. Thank you very much. OK, the rest of the trip went very well we made it in 12 1/2 hours and we only had to turn the DVD player on the last hour. We unloaded the car and said our hello's. Grabbed a bite to eat and called it a night.
Sunday, June 7th: Sunday morning was a breeze for once. Our bodies were still on the eastern time zone and so we were ready a good hour and a half before it was time to leave. I wish every Sunday was like that. The kids were good at church and just with my "4 plus one" we doubled the size of the primary. There was no Nursery because no one in the ward has a baby old enough. Except my sister and her son will be 18 months in about 3-4 months. So Elaina stayed with me for Sunday school and Relief Society.
After church the kids changed their clothes and had a bite to eat and we had a little "Luau" birthday party for Savanah and Katie at the beach. The kids went swimming and we all enjoyed a little pineapple cherry up-side-down cake and melted ice cream. I forgot to put a swim diaper on Elaina and so she "blew-up" and waddled like a duck. She was quite proud of it.
Monday, June 9th: My brother Brian and his wife Chelsea made arrangements to spend the day with us since they will be moving to Oklahoma soon for Brian to pursue a law degree. So Chelsea rode up with me to drop Monica off at our designated meeting spot to see her Grandma. We made arrangements to meet with Monica's Grandma at Butler Hill Road. We were traveling from about 45 mins away plus Georgia and Grandma had about 30 mins to travel. Well Grandma through a fit and said it was too far for her to drive to meet us and she wasn't going to meet with us again until it was time for us to go home. Well I was shocked by this and couldn't believe my ears. Katie wanted so very much to have Monica at her baptism and now Grandma did not want to drive a short distance to make this possible, especially since we told her that we were going to be in St. Louis on Saturday, for my Grandmas surprise birthday party, and would be able to meet her closer to her house. More to come on that drama.
When Chelsea and I returned home Brian had made arrangements to hang out with one of his friends that he had not seen for a while. His friend, Chad, had set up a BBQ lunch get together so Brian and Chelsea went. I am glad they were able to see their friend (whose living in Arizona now).
Robert and I gathered the kids and we headed up to the town that I grew up in (Herculaneum) to check out the bike racks. (My mom got the girls bikes for their birthday's and she gave us two of theirs and so we needed a way to bring them back to Georgia). We chose the Yakima Double Down 5 bike carrier. But it was out of stock, so they ordered it for us. Later we found out that it was back ordered and would not be in till after we were to arrive home in Georgia. So we ordered the Double Down 4 Bike carrier. We stopped by my friend's, Heidi's house, but she was not home. So we took the kids to St. Francis State Park and let the kids play on the play ground.
When we were finished with that, then we went on a short walk down the trail. But before we did I told the kids not to touch anything green. Kind of silly, you say, since everything is green in the state parks, but if you only knew how terrible/horrific I get poison ivy. After the park, we headed home and hung out with Brian and Chelsea for a little bit longer then said our goodbyes till next week when they would be back for Grandma's Party.
Tuesday, June 10th: We made another effort to go see Heidi, and so we talked on the phone that morning. She had no idea that we were in town and so when we arrived on her doorstep she was quite surprised. We talked and visited with much enjoyment and then we took her and Sawyer, her son, out to lunch. We picked up food and headed to the Crystal City Park. I had not been there for many years. But the kids seemed to really enjoy it. Heidi, and I reminisced about growing up here and talked about all the new things in town, and how the "old" part of town was like a ghost town because of Doe Run Lead Company. The time went by way too quickly, and it was time to take her back to her house and it was time for us to head home. My sister, Kim, and her husband, Robert, wanted to have Family Home Evening at St.Francis State Park, so we agreed and picked-up some grill'n food and FHE treats and went to the park. The kids had a good time while Kim's Robert made a fire for us to BBQ. Soon Kim's Robert ran out of "dead" wood so he headed into the brush to get some. Out of instinct I yelled at him to get out of the woods. He was surprised by my reaction, until my sister explained to him how bad I get poison ivy. I apologized and he was OK with it now that he understood. We ran short on time for FHE and so we talked about our lesson while we ate our cookies.
Wednesday, June 11th: I spent a great deal of time working on Katie's bulletin for her baptism. I thought I had everything ready to go. Robert did some laundry and helped my Dad with the building project that was thought to have been done before we arrived. (It didn't get finished until after we left). So I don't remember much that happened on Wednesday.
Thursday, June 12th: We spent all day at my sister's house and let the kids play. Robert and Robert were able to hang out a bit and watch movies, kids, and talk some. Kim and I went through some baby clothes and then went to a garage sale where I bought her some cute baby girl clothes. (She is expecting a little girl in the fall.) Then we rode bikes around town, just the two of us, so she could pay a couple of bills. It was great I felt like a kid again. I hadn't been on a bike for a good ten years--not counting YMCA exercise bikes--and to not have my kids with me, but just my sister was wonderful!! I will always cherish that time with her. We hung out at Kim's till it was time to go to Heidi's baby shower. Kim and I drove to my parents house where I could change really quick and be out the door. The shower was in Festus at the St. Louis Bread
Company (Panera Bread). It was good to see old friends and say hello. We gave Heidi some baby clothes that Kim was getting rid of (because Heidi said that her boy clothes were worn out from her boys) and Kim's clothes were practically brand new-mostly. When the party was over and I dropped Kim off at her house I gathered my little chicks and headed home to my parents house. My Mom was unhappy with me because this was her first day off and we had talked about her having the kids all day, but I blew it and forgot to call her. It took longer to go through the baby clothes at Kim's house and then we talked about Kim and Robert 's new house phone. They talked about calling Mom (I just assumed it was my Mom and thought that they got a hold of her). Well anyway. I blew it with my Mom and felt really bad about it. When we all got home I went up to the loft and went to bed. I felt like the biggest loser. If my mom was trying to make me feel guilty for dogging her well she did a good job.
June 6th, Saturday: Robert and I woke at 3:30am to pack a few more things and hit the road with the kids to Missouri. The car rolled out of the driveway just before 5:ooam. Less than an hour on the road Leslie hit a opossum. At about 6:30am Samantha said she had to go potty. I asked, "do you want me to pull over on the side of the road or do you want me to find a place to stop?" She wanted to find a place to stop. A few minutes later Brian said he had to go potty. I asked the same question. He wanted me to stop on the side of the road. So I did. Then Katie, Samantha, Monica (the girl I babysit-I'm taking her to her grandma's in St. Louis--more to come on that), Brian and all the girls said they had to go potty. OK I am fine with that. Samantha was the first to get out of the car. She had already had an accident in her seat. She squatted and went all over her already wet clothes, shoes, and socks. Lovely. No problem I am prepared for this, she changed while Brian went potty. Then Katie and Monica found a dry spot on the grass and took a turn. I could see the hesitancy on Monica's face (she's 8 yrs too) -- I could see her thinking--you want me to pull my pants down right here while cars are driving by and do what? Yes, Monica. On the road again. Two miles down the road and what would you know--there was a rest stop. Thank you very much. OK, the rest of the trip went very well we made it in 12 1/2 hours and we only had to turn the DVD player on the last hour. We unloaded the car and said our hello's. Grabbed a bite to eat and called it a night.
Sunday, June 7th: Sunday morning was a breeze for once. Our bodies were still on the eastern time zone and so we were ready a good hour and a half before it was time to leave. I wish every Sunday was like that. The kids were good at church and just with my "4 plus one" we doubled the size of the primary. There was no Nursery because no one in the ward has a baby old enough. Except my sister and her son will be 18 months in about 3-4 months. So Elaina stayed with me for Sunday school and Relief Society.After church the kids changed their clothes and had a bite to eat and we had a little "Luau" birthday party for Savanah and Katie at the beach. The kids went swimming and we all enjoyed a little pineapple cherry up-side-down cake and melted ice cream. I forgot to put a swim diaper on Elaina and so she "blew-up" and waddled like a duck. She was quite proud of it.
Monday, June 9th: My brother Brian and his wife Chelsea made arrangements to spend the day with us since they will be moving to Oklahoma soon for Brian to pursue a law degree. So Chelsea rode up with me to drop Monica off at our designated meeting spot to see her Grandma. We made arrangements to meet with Monica's Grandma at Butler Hill Road. We were traveling from about 45 mins away plus Georgia and Grandma had about 30 mins to travel. Well Grandma through a fit and said it was too far for her to drive to meet us and she wasn't going to meet with us again until it was time for us to go home. Well I was shocked by this and couldn't believe my ears. Katie wanted so very much to have Monica at her baptism and now Grandma did not want to drive a short distance to make this possible, especially since we told her that we were going to be in St. Louis on Saturday, for my Grandmas surprise birthday party, and would be able to meet her closer to her house. More to come on that drama.
When Chelsea and I returned home Brian had made arrangements to hang out with one of his friends that he had not seen for a while. His friend, Chad, had set up a BBQ lunch get together so Brian and Chelsea went. I am glad they were able to see their friend (whose living in Arizona now).
Robert and I gathered the kids and we headed up to the town that I grew up in (Herculaneum) to check out the bike racks. (My mom got the girls bikes for their birthday's and she gave us two of theirs and so we needed a way to bring them back to Georgia). We chose the Yakima Double Down 5 bike carrier. But it was out of stock, so they ordered it for us. Later we found out that it was back ordered and would not be in till after we were to arrive home in Georgia. So we ordered the Double Down 4 Bike carrier. We stopped by my friend's, Heidi's house, but she was not home. So we took the kids to St. Francis State Park and let the kids play on the play ground.
When we were finished with that, then we went on a short walk down the trail. But before we did I told the kids not to touch anything green. Kind of silly, you say, since everything is green in the state parks, but if you only knew how terrible/horrific I get poison ivy. After the park, we headed home and hung out with Brian and Chelsea for a little bit longer then said our goodbyes till next week when they would be back for Grandma's Party.Tuesday, June 10th: We made another effort to go see Heidi, and so we talked on the phone that morning. She had no idea that we were in town and so when we arrived on her doorstep she was quite surprised. We talked and visited with much enjoyment and then we took her and Sawyer, her son, out to lunch. We picked up food and headed to the Crystal City Park. I had not been there for many years. But the kids seemed to really enjoy it. Heidi, and I reminisced about growing up here and talked about all the new things in town, and how the "old" part of town was like a ghost town because of Doe Run Lead Company. The time went by way too quickly, and it was time to take her back to her house and it was time for us to head home. My sister, Kim, and her husband, Robert, wanted to have Family Home Evening at St.Francis State Park, so we agreed and picked-up some grill'n food and FHE treats and went to the park. The kids had a good time while Kim's Robert made a fire for us to BBQ. Soon Kim's Robert ran out of "dead" wood so he headed into the brush to get some. Out of instinct I yelled at him to get out of the woods. He was surprised by my reaction, until my sister explained to him how bad I get poison ivy. I apologized and he was OK with it now that he understood. We ran short on time for FHE and so we talked about our lesson while we ate our cookies.
Wednesday, June 11th: I spent a great deal of time working on Katie's bulletin for her baptism. I thought I had everything ready to go. Robert did some laundry and helped my Dad with the building project that was thought to have been done before we arrived. (It didn't get finished until after we left). So I don't remember much that happened on Wednesday.
Thursday, June 12th: We spent all day at my sister's house and let the kids play. Robert and Robert were able to hang out a bit and watch movies, kids, and talk some. Kim and I went through some baby clothes and then went to a garage sale where I bought her some cute baby girl clothes. (She is expecting a little girl in the fall.) Then we rode bikes around town, just the two of us, so she could pay a couple of bills. It was great I felt like a kid again. I hadn't been on a bike for a good ten years--not counting YMCA exercise bikes--and to not have my kids with me, but just my sister was wonderful!! I will always cherish that time with her. We hung out at Kim's till it was time to go to Heidi's baby shower. Kim and I drove to my parents house where I could change really quick and be out the door. The shower was in Festus at the St. Louis Bread
Company (Panera Bread). It was good to see old friends and say hello. We gave Heidi some baby clothes that Kim was getting rid of (because Heidi said that her boy clothes were worn out from her boys) and Kim's clothes were practically brand new-mostly. When the party was over and I dropped Kim off at her house I gathered my little chicks and headed home to my parents house. My Mom was unhappy with me because this was her first day off and we had talked about her having the kids all day, but I blew it and forgot to call her. It took longer to go through the baby clothes at Kim's house and then we talked about Kim and Robert 's new house phone. They talked about calling Mom (I just assumed it was my Mom and thought that they got a hold of her). Well anyway. I blew it with my Mom and felt really bad about it. When we all got home I went up to the loft and went to bed. I felt like the biggest loser. If my mom was trying to make me feel guilty for dogging her well she did a good job.
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