Spring Break 2015

Spring break has come and gone. I can honestly say that I enjoyed having my kids home this past week. They behaved and played together so well with each other. It was a nice week off. We had lots of rain so we didn't have too many options in what we could do. 

Monday and Tuesday we stayed home during the rain and I got some housework done and the kids cleaned their rooms. 

Wednesday we decided to get out for awhile. First stop was the library where the kids read books and played on the computer. Then I had to go to Corbin to pick up my glasses. Of course the kids were starved by then so we went to the McDonalds Playplace. While the kids were playing, I looked up to see the Cumberland Falls sign. My mind began to go in overdrive. 

"Should I take them to Cumberland Falls?"

"The sun is finally shining?"

"I've never driven there before by myself with just the kids."

"I'm only 15 miles away."

"The kids would love it."

"Can I handle all 3 kids by myself?"

"Will Titus mind me and not jump in the water?"

I debated and debated and finally mentioned it out loud to the kids. 

"YES!!!  Please, Mom. We promise we will obey you."

"Can we get ice cream there", asked Amelia. 

We left McDonalds and headed for the Falls. I am so glad I took them. They were little angels and so very appreciative that I took them on an adventure. 

The water was muddy and raging from all the rain we have had lately. It was still pretty and the sun would peek through the clouds every now and then. 

We walked along and went on some trails. It wasn't very crowded and we enjoyed taking our time and having fun. 

Titus and Amelia climbed every rock they could and posed for a picture. Josiah was a little more reluctant. 

Shew!!  That boy is quick on his feet!!

After we walked and climbed around we decided to go back and look at the mining thing they had set up. 

You could go buy a bag of dirt and sift for gems, jewels, and fossils. 

Well y'all know I'm not gonna pay for a bag of dirt, so we just played in the water finding fragments other people left. When I say we, I am in fact talking about myself because it was a lot of fun treasure hunting. 

My boys made some friends with experts who gave them lots of advice and tips. 

They may have gotten a tad dirty. 

I let them play until about 4 when the park came to close that part down. We needed to head home anyway because we had church that night. 

Since the snack bar wasn't open for the season yet, we stopped at a store for slushies. 

I can't even tell you how many hugs, thank you's, and "I love you's" I got that day. My kids had a good time and they we're thankful for the time we spent together that day. I am so glad I did take them on that adventure. I also kind of like that the older my kids get the easier it seems to be in doing stuff like that together with them. 

Thursday we woke up to some beautiful sunshiny weather. I texted some friends to get to the park stat!!  We got there about 11:30 and didn't head home until after 4. 

There's a new park here in town that has a skateboarding park. Titus found a skateboard in the woods, near the park, so he thought he would try it out. I was a nervous wreck. Thankfully, he didn't get too brave and only sat on it going down the ramps. Of course, I had to walk away because I couldn't stand to hardly watch that. 

We enjoyed the sunshine, a picnic, and just being with friends. 

Friday was our last official day of spring break. The kids had asked all week to go to "Mr Sketti's" so I thought I would treat them for lunch. Plus, Josiah had won a free kids meal in his Easter egg so that was a plus. 

Amelia ate a salad, with no dressing, and goldfish. She said she was sick of pizza. Ha ha 

This goes to prove they don't like Gatti's for their food!!!

I used the money we saved on Josiah's meal to use in the game room. 

I took pictures but they were too dark. 

We left there and ended up at the library again. They had a special program and the kids wanted to go. 

All too soon it was over and they went back to school today. 

I really did miss them, but they were anxious to get back. 

Easter 2015

I love Easter. I'll be honest though, it stresses me out. I fret over getting everyone coordinated and with matching outfits. It has to be just right. My boys are more difficult because they are not your average sized boys and everything has to be altered. I try to do the alterations myself to save money. I'm not real talented in that area, but the more I do the better I'm getting. 

Then, once I get them dressed I worry about them staying clean until we can get pictures and make it through church without any crazy accidents. 

So as soon as church is over and the egg hunts and pictures are done, I finally can relax. 

Why am I like that?

I remember almost crying one year because I thought I forgot to pack their matching socks to go with their outfits. I felt condemned after I ended up finding them though. 

We started our Easter celebration by going to an egg hunt on Saturday at the fairgrounds. Maynard went off with the boys and I took Amelia to her age group. I forgot to remind Maynard to take pictures so I only got pictures of Amelia.  It's been nice having Maynard home on Saturdays.  Last year I had to take the kids everywhere by myself and I am so thankful he can be with us now for special fun Saturdays. 

She found so many eggs that she couldn't fit anymore in her bucket. Even after the hunt was over she kept walking the field to make sure there wasn't any straggler eggs. 

The Easter Bunny made his grand appearance, but he at least sang a song about the resurrection. They also told the story about the crucifix and resurrection to the crowd before they started the egg hunt. I was horrified at how rude the people were during the story. No one was listening and they were all talking. It was so rude and I felt sorry for the speaker. No one wanted to hear about Jesus. They were just there for the free food, prizes, and the egg hunt. It bothered me. Actually, it bothered me so much that I walked up to the pastor's wife and apologized after the hunt. According to her it happens every year. 

Later that day the kids had fun dying eggs. 

They were begging to eat the eggs before the dye was even dry yet. Well, Amelia wasn't. Me and her are the only ones who don't like boiled eggs. 

And because y'all love my "blonde moments" here's one for you:

I had went to Krogers to buy eggs for them to dye. I was gonna get a carton of 18 eggs thinking that would be plenty. Almost all of them we're gone except for maybe 6 cartons. I opened all of them and each carton had 2 or 3 cracked eggs in them. As I was looking, another man started going through them too. I explained to him that each had cracked eggs in them and I would just have to get a dozen carton. I walked away and as I rounded the corner I noticed the man doing something brilliant. He exchanged the cracked eggs for good eggs out of the other cartons. Then I got tickled at myself. I never ever would have thought to do that and I thought he was a pure genius. He on the other hand probably thought I was an idiot.Ha ha 

Saturday evening the boys got haircuts and we started baths. They were so dirty from playing outside all day. Plus they kept forgetting to use the egg dipper and kept sticking their hands in the dye. They were finally clean and sent off to bed while I started all the ironing and panicking when I realized the boy's new shirts were made irregular. They just wasn't going to work, so we had to pull out their matching white shirts instead. I was so thankful we had something they could wear instead. 

Easter morning the kids woke up to finding their baskets in their bed. 

We all got dressed and took some pictures outside before we left. 

Silly boys. 

Can y'all believe I wore a dress?  It's been years since I wore a dress. I fell in love with this one though. 

We made it to church and Amelia passed out treats in her classroom we all had made at home. 

It was a group effort, but we all had a lot of fun and it turned out cute. The boys took some to share at school too. 

Church seemed to be a blur because we had Sunday School and then I taught children's church. All too soon church was over and it was time for the egg hunt. 

I think this was the only 2nd time my kids got to have an egg hunt at church. 

Once again Amelia scoured the field for any eggs that may have been missed. She had no problem wearing her heels so all her worrying was in vain. Lol

Josiah was rolling them sleeves up getting ready for action. 

The kids got tons more candy and Josiah  even found 3 prize eggs. 

We took a few more pictures. 

I am so happy for Amelia's new little friends. She's never had anyone close to her age before and she truly doesn't know how to act!!  Lacie is 4 months older than Amelia, but look how big Amelia is compared to them. 

I'm also happy for my new friend Heather. When I was so lonely and my heart was broken, God sent me a friend to help keep my chin up and heal those wounds. 

After church we went home to change clothes and do some last minute cooking for our Easter dinner at Maynard's brother's house. 

Some of the Parker cousins ready for their final egg hunt. 

We enjoyed the evening spending time with family and the kids had a blast going on 4 wheeler rides with Uncle Frankie and Daddy. They loved everything about it. The weather was perfect for it. 

Maynard rode Amelia and Titus and Josiah rode with Uncle Frankie. 

Here are some collages I made from all the Easters years back when we first started our little family. 

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!  

We played a resurrection game in children's church. I put a blanket over a table and the children took turns playing Jesus. They would sneak out the back of the table and then I would jerk the blanket off and the "tomb" would be empty. One child, in particular, had pure joy on his face every time the tomb was empty. Over and over again we played until every child had a turn. Every single time David squealed with joy and amazement when Jesus was gone from the tomb. I don't ever want to lose the awe and amazement of the crucifix and resurrection. I want it to be as real and fresh as it was to a 3 year old  in children's church. 

Overdosing my kids per the Dr's orders.

I was for sure and positive my kids just had viral colds. Titus ran a fever one evening earlier in the week. I gave him Motrin and he went straight to bed. Woke up declaring he felt just fine and never ran a fever again. 

Friday morning Josiah woke up with a high fever and sore throat. He missed his first full day of school, but he too felt fine by that evening. 

Come Saturday both boys had red eyes. 

So I was like okay these kids have pink eye. Their throats and ears started hurting really bad on Saturday and then I just knew it was strep. 

Sunday morning they continued to feel worse so we didn't take them to church, but instead to a brand new urgent care. 

They tested negative for strep, but they both had really bad ear infections. Titus had double ear infections. 

The dr said it wasn't pink eye, but infection from the ears seeping out of their eyes. Yuck, I know. 

I was tickled to death with this urgent care. We were in and out in less than 30 minutes. So very nice. 

We went to CVS and got their medicine. 

Their bag contained 14 syringes. I remember thinking that was a lot of syringes, but I never really questioned the dosage amounts. My boys are bigger boys, therefore it would make sense if they took a higher dose of liquid medicine. 

Josiah was taking 70 Mls a day and Titus was taking 48 Mls a day. I gave it to them faithfully for 4 days. 

On the 4th day I got a phone call from CVS. They wanted to know if my boys were showing any unusual symptoms such as kidney or bowels. To my knowledge they hadn't. The only thing I noticed was Josiah was a walking zombie. Even his teacher asked me about it. 

They went on to let me know that the Dr they had seen on Sunday had written the incorrect dosage on their prescriptions. In fact they each should have only been taking 12 Mls a day. As I said earlier Josiah was taking 70 and Titus 48. That's quite a bit difference. I was feeling myself begin to panic. 

CVS said everything had been taken care of and the Dr had been notified of the error and blah blah blah. Sorry. I still wasn't feeling any better about the situation.  I almost feel like CVS was partial to blame as well. I mean, shouldn't that have been a red flag to them as they were filling the medication?  I told them I was calling my pediatrician right away. 

The kid's pediatrician was not happy. He told me to lessen the amount to what it needed to be and keep an eye on their bowels and kidney function. If they didn't show any symptoms presently then he didn't see a need to do any further testing. 

Maynard and I both agreed to not give them anymore medicine at all. Hopefully their ears will heal up on their own without any more medicine. I mean they already had their full dose in only 4 days instead of 10. 

It's been a week now and I've been getting these text messages on my phone. 

What?  More medicine?  Are they trying to kill my kids or what??

Apparently, they re-entered the correct dosages into they system and the system thought it was a refill. I am still not happy about all this confusion. 

I am very thankful that CVS found this error before my kids could have been hurt or made really sick from taking too much medicine. 

I have learned to always question the Dr and the dosage of medicines from now on. 

Everyone makes mistakes, even drs and pharmacies.

Welcome to the family Chester.

We promised our kids that we would get them another dog when it turned spring. They have missed Jack horribly, but I didn't want to get another dog with the weather being so cold outside. 

My friend Michelle called me and said that a stray dog had been dropped off at her house and wanted to know if I wanted it. My first response was, "No, thank you."  Then she said it looked like a black lab and sent me this picture. 

So then I wasn't as quick to say no because how cute is this dog?  It was a lab and a puppy. The 2 main things our kids had been asking for. Plus, Michelle reminded me that technically it was spring time. 

We went a few days later to look at the dog. 

If was love at first sight. 

We wrapped up that wet, dirty dog and brought him home with us. 

I'm not sure who was the dirtiest in this picture. Josiah or the dog. 

Josiah held on tight while maynard ran in the store to get a chain and collar.  We discussed dog names while in the car. Some of the names we debated on was Jasper, Flynn, Ryder, Brownie, (yes, the dog is black), Buddy (Amelia always chooses Buddy. She said I killed Buddy so she needed a new Buddy. Kill a kitten one time and you get a rap for life.) Of course some other crazy names I can't remember. I happened to spout out the name Chester and everyone agreed. He has brown and white on his chest and it just seemed fitting. Oh how I love to win at anything, even if it is naming a dog. Ha ha

They stayed out in the rain and played with him for several hours. (Possibly why they have ear infections right now)

Of course he was a stray so he had to have some special treatment to get him all feeling better. 

This probably felt as good to him as it would us at a day at the spa. Ha ha. I've never seen a dog enjoy a bath quite like Chester did. 

He also loved being brushed by Amelia. 

She is a bit apprehensive because Chester is still a puppy and so he jumps on her and has scratched her a few times. At first, if he barked or made a quick jump she would take off running. She got bit by a stray a couple years ago and so she's a bit squeamish of dogs if she doesn't know them. 

Chester is already feeling better and he eats like a horse. We've had him almost 2 weeks and he has grown so much. Hang with the Parker's very long and it don't long to gain weight around here. 

We are in the process of teaching him how to sit, fetch, come, and hopefully to stay in our own yard. We do keep him chained up for now, but have started letting him run awhile each day to exercise and play with the kids. We all have that one neighbor if ya know what I mean. I wish we had a fenced in yard  maybe one day.........

Less than 2 weeks of having Chester and he's proving to be a smart dog. I can get him to sit and give me his paw now. 

https://youtu.be/9E7li1uaGOA

Hopefully we can keep this dog alive and well for many years to come. 

"Mom! Is my name in God's special book?"

On March 02, 2015 Amelia was doing her Preschool work, through Abeka academy, when her teacher began to ask the students if their names were written in God's special book.  Some of the students began to raise their hands and tell their teacher that they knew their names were in that book. 

Amelia knew that she had to be saved in order for her name to be in that book. (The Lamb's Book of Life)

She paused her school and told me she wanted saved. I talked to her for a few minutes to make sure that she was serious. I could tell she was and she had tears in her eyes.

We went to my bedroom and kneeled down at my bench and we began to pray. (Yes, I stopped to get my phone first. I had to get this on camera!!)

 I was pretty impressed with her prayer. I say Kudos to not only her Abeka teachers, but also to all her teachers at church. My five year old knew how to pray and ask Jesus into her heart. 

My heart was melting. 

http://youtu.be/dH3Tvv86BUs

I listed the YouTube link above of some of her prayer. I didn't want her to know I was videoing her. 

After she got done praying I asked her if she felt like The Lord had saved her. Her reply was, "Yes!  I feel happy in my heart."

I asked her to raise her hands and praise Jesus for saving her. 

She was so bubbly and happy all day. 

She called her Daddy to tell him the good news. He was really excited for her. 

Titus?????  Not so much. Ha ha

His response was, "I pray and ask Jesus that stuff all the time and He won't do it!  I guess he will for Amelia though."  He scrunched up his nose and pouted. 

I'm going to have to work with Titus now. He is not happy about being the only one not saved in this family. Maybe he'll get serious now and actually get saved. 

Amelia has thoroughly enjoyed her salvation. I was in the back of the house when I heard her pray for her lunch. At then end of the prayer she thanked Jesus for saving her. It was so sweet!!

This morning when I woke her up I asked her if she was still saved. 

She grinned real big and said, "Yep!!  I didn't punch my brothers last night or this morning."  Ha ha

We are all excited that Amelia's name is now in God's special book. 

Is your name there????

Winter Storm Octavia

So as of February 15th, if you had asked me about our winter, I would have exclaimed the injustice of it all. We had only gotten enough snow to barely cover the ground the whole live long winter. I think maybe once we got 3" and school was closed. Spring kept getting closer and it looked like our chances of getting a big snow was slim to none. Then we woke up Sunday morning on February 15, 2015 to news everywhere declaring a winter storm headed our way. 

We were stinking super excited!!!

We had church at 2 o'clock that afternoon so everyone would be safely at home before it started snowing and plus the roads were a little icy from the night before. 

After church we went to the grocery store. Bad mistake, but we were for real out of toilet paper. 

I only needed a few things because we had groceries already at the house, but the lines were long and the shopping carts were scarce. I had several ladies waiting for mine while I unloaded my groceries in the van. I wanted to start the bidding, but decided these ladies may be armed and dangerous. 

We woke up to this Monday morning. 

It looked like my van was sinking. That's a lot of snow. It snowed and snowed and snowed. Maynard called and said his boss called all his Fed Ex trucks back in so Maynard was home by 11 which was nice. Then he didn't have to work at all on Tuesday because the interstates were shut down in places and their main trucks couldn't even get there to drop off what needed to be delivered. 

He still had to get Tara back and forth to work which was rough. We sure was thankful for his 4 wheel drive truck. 

The kids had a blast playing outside. I didn't set one foot out until Thursday evening and that was because our groceries were low. I mean what do you do all week when you are snowed in?  You cook, bake, and eat!!  We had some good meals that week for sure!!!

We had snow cream and "snow" cones. 

Lots of playtime outside for the kiddos!!

Daddy played with them and Tara did one day. 

Amelia was proud of her giant snowball. 

I wasn't much on getting outside and playing in it this year. Last year I almost broke my neck while sledding and I was a tad apprehensive this year so I opted out. 

Poor kid's sled didn't survive last winter so they used whatever they could find. They used tote lids, trash can lids, and their most favorite was a plastic kiddie pool. I kept meaning to get them a new sled and never did and now it was too late. 

School was canceled all week, but my kids still woke up between 7 and 7:30 every morning. They couldn't wait to get outside even though the temperatures kept dropping.

 Yep!!  That's pretty cold!!

Titus would have lived outside if I let him. I had to force him inside to warm up. 

8 days later, after I had only been out for an hour to the store, we had church on Sunday at 2 again. I was happy as anyone to get out of the house. After church I was the last one in the car because I did not want to go back home. I had been stuck in the house and it felt good to talk to grown ups once again. We went out to eat with friends and just took our time getting back home. 

The kids went back to school that Monday. Well, their school did, but the county has still been out for 2 weeks now.   There is still snow on the ground and I'm not sure if it's ever going to melt. The snow is so hard and crunchy that it's hazardous. I made it almost 2 weeks without falling and then I fell yesterday on the sidewalk. Titus was watching from the window and found it quite hilarious. 

I jut wanted to blog about our snow storm because it apparently hit some records of snow and temperatures. We ended up having almost exactly a foot of snow. I think the last biggest snowstorm was in 1994. This will definitely be a winter to remember and I'm glad to have it documented.