If...

Christy is having a no pants summer and Tisra is having a no microwave summer then the Buttons are having...wait for it...a no cable summer! Yes, it's true. I have to give up HGTV and Food Network for a whole summer, sniff, sniff. But I think we're having much more fun than if my kids sat around at night and watched me watch Good Eats. And I really, truly love Alton Brown. So here are some pictures of what we're doing instead.

We finally went to Fort Granger which you can access through Pinkerton Park (just a little FYI, they're showing Ratatouille on August 23rd at 8:00 and find the other movie nights and times here). It was a little disappointing that the fort wasn't still standing but the hike was very nice and was easily doable by the little ones. Besides the extreme humidity (and I'm talking FL humidity here) it was perfect.

I love summer!

Eureka! I Found It!

This is going to sound silly but I'm going to write about it anyway. And this post would be much better with a picture that I don't have but I'm going to write it anyway. I should say though that Kris and Mary have lent us (until it breaks then we can just throw it away) a beautiful little camera that takes really good pictures so it's not for lack of camera that I don't have a picture- it's for lack of a cable to upload them. So you can use your imagination.

Shortly after Travis and I moved here, 1 year 8 months and 2 days ago, I started reading the Williamson county part of the Tennessean that they deliver, for free, on Wednesdays. I don't know why they do this but they do and it's a nice little perk. In this paper they have columns from different communities of Williamson County- and one neighborhood. I though it odd that a neighborhood should have a column but later I found out that there are 2,100-ish houses in said neighborhood. Which almost makes it a city. Actually I'm pretty sure that there are cities smaller than that. One day in that column the writer mentioned some hoodlum activity in "the tunnel" of the neighborhood. A tunnel you say? Yes, a tunnel. From what I gathered it connects the neighborhood to shopping across the street. So I searched. Not a lot really, only if I thought about it- which wasn't often and was usually if I was at Publix. But no dice. So tonight we took the girls to the park to enjoy the incredibly mild temperatures and afterwards I told them that I had a surprise. It just so happens that if you take Spencer Creek Road (by Battle Ground Academy) at just the perfect time it is a light show of fireflies. After I wowed the family with the fireflies we stopped in at Publix. Travis mentioned the tunnel and referred to it as "snipe hunting" so of course I was even more determined to find it. And this time I went *completely* around the parking lot and still no tunnel. So I decided to check out Walgreens across the street. Where I finally found the tunnel. I probably would have found it sooner if I'd though that someone would build a tunnel to Walgreens. It was 9 o'clock by this time and the tunnel was dark (it runs under Hillsboro road) but it's not that long so we decided to walk through it anyway. In hindsight, even though this is Franklin, it probably wasn't the best idea to take an unlighted tunnel at night. And there's actually another one that goes under Fieldstone Pkwy to where the houses are but we didn't take that one. I'm only taking one creepy dark tunnel a night, thank you. Apparently it used to have lights but according to the article they've never been able to find a light that vandals couldn't break within hours after it was installed. And yes, I had that in the back of my mind as we were walking through.

I'm going back, maybe tomorrow...I'm such a kid.

More Vacation Days

I went outside a little while ago to plant some sunflower seeds and wouldn't you know it, that was the *exact* time that the rain decided it would *finally* like to make an appearance? We've been waiting on rain forever now and it has even been cloudy but the clouds haven't managed to squeak out more than a few measly drops and now it's a deluge. I will refrain from complaining though because I never complain about rain in the summer after the drought we had last year.

So this gives me time to sip a smoothie and talk about our vacation some more. So where was I? Oh, yes, we were leaving Lakeland and heading to the land of ubiquitous mouse ears. We got a later start than we wanted to but it has to be in the genes because we actually passed Shane and Angie on I-4 and Trav's parents, brother, sister and his brother's girlfriend were only 15 minutes behind. So we followed Shane and Angie to the Old Key West Resort and while the guys were checking in (don't you love it that "the guys" do that stuff? I really do and it's one reason I got married) the little girls decided a potty break was in order and I'm glad they did because we got to explore everything a bit. And in true Disney fashion the attention to detail was incredible. I'm pretty sure that the resort was built in the 90's though and I felt like that was pretty evident in the pickled oak cabinetry and the abundant use of peaches and greens in the room but I was probably being overly picky. As we searched around the check in area we quickly found out that they offer a complimentary boat service to Downtown Disney- so very cool! The girls and I decided that we'd be taking the boat that evening.

By the time we checked in the rest of the Johnson's had caught up with us and we all headed over to our room. It was funny but the two bedroom villa was 370 sq. ft. bigger than our house- with one less bedroom. But as you would expect, it was really nice. It wasn't incredibly luxurious but it was very comfortable and functional. And thankfully, it was roomy too. Because there were 15 of us packed into the living room. And, as per usual, it was *loud*. We don't see Trav's family often enough so when we are all together there's lots of talking and laughing and louder talking, trying to be heard over the other loud talking. I don't think we'd have it any other way. So we ordered pizza, scarfed it down and headed to the boat that would take us to Downtown Disney. Which didn't happen all that quickly because any time you have 4 small kids and a newborn baby in tow, nothing moves fast. But we made it to the boat and took the 20-ish minute boat ride to the shops. And if you liked you could take a boat from there to Pleasure Island (which I've always thought it was strange that they would name a place that. In Pinnocchio all the little rebellious boys went to Pleasure Island to drink and smoke and they turned into jack-asses- I'm just sayin') or to Disney's West Side. It would have been nice if we'd been able to go to the latter since they've got some great restaurants (Wolfgang Puck & Bongo's), Cirque du Soleil and a very large Virgin records but it just wasn't possible in the time we had and again, 15 people. So, everybody headed off and somehow we found the really large fountains that shoot up out of the ground for the girls to play in. While they were doing that, Amanda and I decided to head to the Bath store for a bath fizzie that I'd been dying to have and to get an ice cream cone for her. While we were in line at the Ghirardelli's I got a phone call from Travis who was trying to find us and then I heard "hold on, hold on!" and the line went dead. Criminy! So we set off to find Trav and the girls and to see what injury had just occured. And sadly that's the last time I saw my cellphone. I remember holding somebody that was crying, Chloe with a really big lump on her noggin and nothing else about my phone. Of course, I was so distracted that I didn't notice until we left the resort two days later that it was gone- serious bummer. My phone was in pristine condition and now I have to use Amanda's old phone that has been dropped 80+ times-sigh. We headed back to the boat just in time to make it's last run and headed back to the resort.

The next day was filled with swimming and enjoying the big waterslide that looked like a sandcastle. We all went down, including Halle who needed a little kick start (yes, I shoved her down the slide into the waiting arms of her daddy) and then I think we just chilled. I really needed to rest because we'd been moving fast forward for days but that's really hard with a room full of little ones. But we visited another resort that evening. Shane and Angie wanted to see if trading their points for a stay at Disney's Animal KingdomLodge would be worthwhile. It was pretty cool with all sorts of African wildlife roaming about a big plain but the resort itself wasn't really my style. All of the Buttons (especially very vocal Chloe) decided that it was just too dark for us. We like things lighter and brighter.

And that's all for today. This is starting to feel like it's taking as long as my actual vacation did.

Summer Vacation Days 2 & 3

I'm really antsy to write about the last day of our vacation because it's the one I remember the best but as I'm looking back we did a ton of fun stuff that I should mention.

After the 15 hour drive, cat drop off and trip to Lakeland we visited with my brother and his family for about an hour before collapsing into bed. I think we were both expecting to be able to just take it easy but as soon as we got up we found out that we were going to go to Orlando. Apparently our daughter that slept for 12 out of the 15 hours that we were traveling decided that we were going sightseeing. And since it was her graduation present we (mostly) happily obliged her.

Amanda's happiest memories are from her childhood in central FL and she's even considering moving back there. I really can't imagine her leaving us without a really good reason- college mabye- but she's still considering it; or Los Angeles. I bet you all can't wait until your kids grow up and think about moving other places. But back to the story. For most of the first 9 years of Amanda's life I was single and I took her *lots* of places but the place I took her most often was Downtown Disney. My parents took my brother and I there a lot as kids. I remember getting enormous lollipops that we'd try to eat and give up and stick it in the fridge where it would get all gooey until Mom threw them out. We always got one though- it was a Cezar thing. It was a quaint little village surrounding a lake. We called it Lake Buena Vista in the 70's and 80's. It became Disney Village after that and then Downtown Disney; it feels a whole lot more commercial now but it has fond memories for Amanda and me. And Amanda is very much wrapped up in nostalgia and happy memories so Downtown Disney it would be. Along with her *new* favorite place the Mall at Millennia.

We Found the Mall at Millennia last July when we stayed with my family in a rented house in Kissimmee. I wasn't all that excited about trudging all the way to a *mall* of all places after we'd driven all that way but when we pulled into the parking lot what did I see? Why, an Ikea of all things! Now, I don't know if you all know this about me but I'm a shopper, I like-no- I love to shop, if I have money. Anyway, so I was excited. *AND* they have a Crate and Barrel which I have loved for years but I've never been in an actual store. And their stuff was just as fabulous as I thought it would be. And they had a Pottery Barn bed and bath store. My poor husband was a really good sport about being dragged to those stores though. Ikea wasn't as exciting for me as it was completely overwhelming. Of course, anything that involves 14 people is usually overwhelming. They had some great deals on things I would have liked to have but I wasn't transporting anything home and I also wasn't spending vacation money on house stuff. It really was so big that I felt like I was wandering through a labrynth with a squirmy, cranky 3 year old and a husband that was becoming less of a good sport. Until we got to the kitchens....super awesome kitchens. Well, we only actually saw one because everybody was ready to go by then but it was still really cool. *Then* we headed to Disney village and took a lot of pictures. And the pictures of the sea serpent and t-rex are made out of Lego's. They have a huge Lego store there which isn't a big deal to me but Amanda loves it.

We didn't stay there for a real long time because we'd already been out and about forever so my brother's family + Chloe headed home and The Buttons and my parents and nephew Ashton headed out to find dinner. Which we did at Quiznos. A Quizno's you say? Yes. But it wasn't just *any* Quizno's- OK, yes it was- but it had an outdoor eating area with a beautiful fountain in front of it. So we sat outside in the late afternoon with an amazing breeze, palm trees, and the sound of a beautiful fountain and had a *great* time.

The next day was Memorial Day and my brother was up at 6am (all of the Cezar's except for me are early risers) to start smoking meat for a big cookout that day. I saw some friends that I knew as a kid that I hadn't seen in a really long time. The food was incredible and it was nice to see old friends. Then we got ready for the next day and our stay at Disney's Old Key West Resort....it was really nice.

A Berry Good Night

Ah, yes, there's more to post about vacation but that is in the past and life keeps going so I'd like to post about the more recent past...and berries, I love berries.

Yesterday I went to Costco to restock the Button pantry and saw berries, lovely berries in the walk-in cooler section (which felt really, really good because it was really, really hot outside). So I picked up some strawberries and blueberries and a Grand Parisian salad mix. If you haven't tried one you should. It's a salad with a white balsamic dressing, candied nuts, craisins and feta-yum. My initial thought for dinner was to make burritos since it has actually been months since I've made them but we got home fairly late and I didn't think I had time. My brain had actually been clicking all day with a hankering for berry tea and I wanted to ask Tisra if I could take some lemon mint or mint lemon or whatever the heck she has growing in her garden but I left my cell phone at home and couldn't (but I plan to ask for some in the near future :) . Anyway, since the salad is kind of sweet anyway I thought that I'd add blueberries and strawberries to the mix and make berry tea and have a berry centric dinner-mmmm. So Travis took the girls outside to play on the slip-n-slide while I made the salad and some pan seared chicken breast and the berry tea. I'll spare you the details on all of the making but if you decide to boil berries and then need to puree them you should definitely *not* put them into the handy dandy new food processor your husband bought you for mother's day. If you do you will end up wearing nearly boiling hot berry juice and so will your kitchen. Use the blender instead.

So having finished preparing dinner, I made myself a plate, poured the berry tea into a turquoise goblet and went outside to have dinner. The weather was perfect, the sun had just set, the tiki torches were lit, there were two beautiful little girls running around in bathing suits on the slip-n-slide, there was a warm and humid breeze, the moon looked like a little sliver in the sky and the fireflies started putting on their show. I closed my eyes embraced by the breeze, breathed deeply and knew that it would be a great summer.

Vacation Part 1

Our graduate graduated as the valedictorian of her class on the Friday night before we left for vacation. I had forgotten but I did a very similar thing to her last year in July. She'd been at Gov. School for 5 weeks and my parents and I picked her up from the dorm, whisked her off to B'ham and then to Fl the next day. I had forgotten how stressful it was then which is why I did it again. Actually it was more out of convenience to my parents both times as they were going to be in town for Amanda's final production for Gov. school and for her graduation and they went with us to FL both times. But now I've written it down and will (hopefully) remember to not schedule a big trip after a life changing event. But the graduation itself went beautifully. She gave her speech and Trav and I got teary eyed. Tisra was so sweet to photographically document her every move before and after the ceremony. And Eric filmed the whole event which was a total lifesaver since we rushed out of the house without the video camera. And the day itself I was really kicking myself for planning things the way I did. I would have loved to have had coffee and a bagel with her the morning of the ceremony and just chit chat instead of cleaning like mad and ordering everybody around. The upside to all of the cleaning and remodeling was that we came home from an incredibly long trip to a nice clean house. That's always the goal but it really never happens. And if you read this far and stopped you'll realize that I just hit enter twice on accident and published this, argh. Anyway, the party we had afterwards was so nice. Our Nashville family was here along with my parents and *all* of our kids. I remember when Amanda and Grant were the only kids we had and now there are 9! And hopefully this year we'll get to meet #10 (Eric and Tisra, in case you don't know, are adopting from Taiwan.) There was lots of fun, lots of laughing and lots of food. It makes me miss the good 'ol days when we spent every weekend together during the summer.

The party went kind of late and we were scheduled to leave at 4am. There were many an expression of doubt from party attenders, including my parents who were leaving with us, but most people don't know that I get very stressed before we leave on a trip and typically can't sleep. And true to form, I didn't sleep a wink. OK, actually we decided to try to sleep about 1:30 and I dozed off for a minute before Amanda started banging around her bedroom. I got up to tell her to be quiet and that was it, no more sleeping for me. So I finally got up at 2:30 and showered. I can't take a long trip without a shower- yuck! Travis got up a little after three and we were checking the weather when my Dad got up about 3:30. He looked pretty surprised to see us up. So fast forwarding through the actual drive (yawn), we arrived in Riverview at 8 PM. Yep, 15 hours (FL in Eastern time so they're an hour ahead). We stayed there for about an hour, had some dinner with Trav's parents, left our cat with them and headed to my brother's house. Then we passed out. I'd had about two hours of sleep in two days and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Which, as I found out later, was a total blessing since we were sleeping on a futon and the bars stuck into my back. It was really nice to see everybody though. And now since I've already published this and it's gotten freakishly long I'll post more later.

Busy, Busy Week

The week started out with Travis, Amanda, and I attending an awards banquet for the top 10 students in each high school in our county. At least it was supposed to be the top 10; some schools had the top 12 or 15 but Amanda's little school had the top 3. We had a nice dinner and were fortunate enough to be at the table that was released to go to the buffet quickly. Some poor people that sat in the middle of the room hadn't even gotten their food by the time we were done with dessert. I guess you can't complain about free food but it seems like there should be a better way of doing things. Then after dinner was the announcements of all the top students, their awards and accomplishments. And not to be cynical or anything but *yikes* was that boring. All of these kids had the same GPA, were in the same clubs, they all helped little old ladies across the street, found the cure for cancer and solved world hunger. OK, I made that last one up. I do think it's great that they recognize the kids and I got teary eyed at one point thinking of Amanda and everything that we've been through, the things she's accomplished and the doors that God has opened for her. I'm just really proud of her. Ooh, and if you think of it say a prayer for her on Monday because she has a job interview at our hair salon for a receptionist position. I'd love it if she gets that job- and so would she.

Thursday I chaperoned a field trip for Chloe's class to the zoo. I learned several years ago chaperoning Trav's class (when he was a middle school teacher) to Busch Gardens that a chaperone isn't there to have fun. You're there to make sure that *they* have fun. And stay in line, and get to the bathroom, and don't get lost, and get their lunch...etc. *But* it meant so much to Chloe having me there. If she squeezed my hand and looked up adoringly at me once, she did it a thousand times. She only let go of my hand once the whole time we were there and I think it's just because she forgot. I did have a great time being with her and I met some other moms from her class and one wants to get together for coffee sometime. It was a great day.

Today was a great day too. Halle woke up with a pretty high fever yesterday morning so I couldn't take her to church today. She seemed fine though and after Travis and Chloe got home we had a quick lunch and then headed out to the park to fly the girls kites. Chloe did a great job and ran like crazy to get her kite up in the air. Halle ran too but refused any manner of help repeatedly and with huge temper tantrums so she had what Travis referred to as a "ground kite". She finally gave up and decided to play on the playground and then we played on the big rocks (at Jim Warren park). The weather was perfect at just around 70 degrees. It would have been helpful if there had been more wind but we still had a great time.

I love being able to hang out with my family on the weekends and am so thankful that Travis isn't working at HD anymore. *And* if Amanda gets the new job she'll have Sundays off...yes, we're really praying. And I'm looking forward to this new week and everything that God is going to do.

We're a Week Into February...

and I haven't posted anything yet. It's not that I think you're all waiting with baited breath at the awesomeness that comes from my keyboard, I just start feeling that "gaaa, I need to blog about something". And as per usual I have stuff to blog about I just haven't felt like writing. It's kind of like working out, as long as I'm doing it regularly I'm fine and keep doing it. But if for some reason I get derailed it's hard to get started again. It's the whole "object in motion" thing. So here goes:

This past weekend was really nice. We went to downtown Franklin with a group from church to take pictures and the Kelsos and Fadelys were there too. So there were 14 of us and 8 of those were little ones so the atmosphere wasn't that conducive to picture taking. So we headed back to the Fadely's house and all had dinner like old times. It was really nice for us to all be together again because it had been an entire year since we were all in the same place at the same time. Actually, all of us except Travis had gotten together a couple of times but it's not the same without one of us.

Sunday was the Super Bowl at the Fadely's. Fun!

On Monday, after I took Chloe to school, I had to get all dressed and makeup-ed to go pick up something so I figured I'd take advantage of being all ready and took Halle to the mall. We looked at puppies, had lunch, smelled candles (which is one of her favorite things just like Chloe and Mommy), went to the Disney store, and played in the play area. It was so nice to just be Halle and me. I don't know if any of you ever go someplace with just one of your kids but it is so worth it. I highly recommend it. It reminded me of days with Amanda when she was younger and Chloe too since there is such an age gap between them. It's just time to really focus on one kid and I think (although they haven't told me, but I can tell by their excitement level) that it makes them feel really special. I'm going to take Chloe out to get a milkshake and to a home improvement warehouse soon. Have I mentioned that she *loves* Lowe's and Home Depot? Because she seriously does. Oh, and the carpet samples at Costco. She says she's going to be a designer when she grows up.

Tuesday was tornadoes and the whole day feels pretty much taken up with that. Wednesday was class and Thursday was mentor day, so that brings me to today.

I am sooo glad it's Friday. I'm tired and don't feel like getting up at the crack(ish) of dawn to take Chloe to school. And since we've been out all weekend for Trav's last two weekends off, we're not planning on doing anything but house stuff. It doesn't mean that we'll paint (although we might) but we need to clean the patio up and patch some holes in the driveway and just really, really clean. And rest. Last weekend we were out all of Friday night (grocery shopping), then almost all of Saturday and Sunday. When we finally collapsed into bed Sunday night we both very much wanted to do nothing (except the aforementioned things) this weekend.

I Wonder If...

I can complete a post in the time it takes Travis to get ready for bed? It's not likely but here goes in machine gun form.

Travis had the whole weekend off- errands, giggles from girls, sitting on the couch with my feet in his lap, church together, dinner with the Fadely's, lots of fun, I could get used to this.

Sickness relapse because I'm a dummy and worked out with a fever- much worse the second time but I survived and am fever free- yay! I wonder if I'm "allowed" to work out tomorrow?

Halle telling the Zaccheus story (again) after church on Sunday- "Zaccheus come down!"

The Fadely boys and Chloe jumping on the computer as soon as we got to their house. Chloe had to show off her Webkinz.

New and (somewhat) exciting sugar alternatives. No bake cookies sweetened with Blue Agave Nectar. Reduced the sugar content by 1 cup and they turned out very yummy. It has a glycemic index of 27 which is very low and you don't get a sugar rush. The cookies also don't get hard but stay kind of gooey as you can imagine but you can still pick it up and eat it with one hand.

And he's done, so I'm done. I'll try to post complete thoughts later.

Happy Weekend- End

Hmmm, could it be that I totally forgot to blog about taking the girls to see The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything? How could I? It is a super huge deal since Travis and I hadn't taken the girls to see a movie since Pooh's Heffalump movie came out when Halle was just a month or two old. Anyway, Travis had the day off because he was going to do an acting thing that didn't pan out so he had the whole day free. Tisra was kind enough to babysit Halle and Travis and I had a few hours to ourselves. As per usual we had too many things to do here and dropped Halle off about an hour after we planned to. And as per usual we tried to cram too many things into the day so we only had about tow hours together but hey that's two more hours than we've had in a while and we appreciated it so much.

We decided we definitely needed to see a matinee because it costs *a lot* to see a movie these days. So we checked Chloe out of school in time for the 3:15 showing. And just in case you ever want to know the matinee prices are good until 5:59 PM. The movie was very good. The animation was fantastic-amazing-wonderful. I got a little bored at times, but I got a little bored during Ratatouille. But Chloe was plastered to her seat. She declared it the bestest movie ever and was able to get a free movie poster which she personally hung on her wall as soon as we got home. It was a great family time and I was really glad to be able to support Big Idea.

And speaking of movies, Amanda went to see Cloverfield tonight with a friend. I was unsure about her seeing it since she cries like a baby anytime she gets scared- no seriously. She actually ran out of a screening of a film that was done by some of her Gov. School friends. But Travis read the review by Plugged in Mag and was OK with it and said she could go. But I told her she's not allowed to sleep in our room if she gets scared :)

And it seems that my precious Chloe has passed along her illness to me. I was on a really good streak of not getting sick too, so that's a little frustrating. I thought I'd be better by today but no dice, maybe tomorrow. *But* I think I may have ruled out wheat as an allergen or at least an aggravator to my health and well being. I haven't had any bread in at least two weeks and I'm still constantly having sinus issues so I guess I'm allergic to something else- maybe it's my house. Or my cat. I know I'm allergic to my cat. Or maybe it is wheat but I'm allergic to my cat too so I'm not noticing a difference from not eating wheat. So maybe I should go see an allergist and quit bugging you guys about it.

Oh, and another little thing that I forgot to post about is that our Life Group leader called and asked if I was ready to lead worship at Life Group yet. She'd asked me late last year and I told her that I just didn't feel released to do that yet. But the beginning of the year brought some new freedom for me and that includes leading worship. So I'll be leading worship (with Travis) the first Life Group in Feb. I'm excited but I haven't done it in such a long time that I'm not sure I remember how. But since this is a new season for us my hope is that I'll lead worship in a new way as well. I'm also considering playing the piano for one song that I want to do so I'll really need prayer for that. I can play the piano but I don't play as well as some other people *and* I get crazy, crazy nervous. When I was a minister of music I practiced all-the-time. Mostly because in a church of 250 with a choir of 13 there isn't a whole lot to do. But the pianist and organist kept encouraging me to play for a worship service, which I never did. So I think that this intimate setting might be better suited for me to see how it goes. Um, except that we have professional musicians and a manager for a huge Christian band in our group. Hmmm, maybe they won't be there that night? Or maybe I will just practice like crazy and do this for the Lord and trust him to help me.

And for huge, huge news- drum roll please- Halle went to the three year old class today! As you know, she started going to the potty just days before her third birthday. We've had our ups and downs since then; mostly ups. But she had to be completely potty trained before she went to the three's class. So she's been in the two's for at least three weeks in panties and hasn't had a single accident and Travis decided to take her to the three's class today. I was worried that she might be overwhelmed with pottying and a new class but she did completely fine. Actually, she did even better than she has done in the two's class because her new class does projects and other fun stuff. She even told me about Zaccheus climbing the tree tonight and that she had "so much fun" in her new class. With the trouble I've had getting her to go to her class and her all around clingy-ness, her newfound independence has happened pretty quickly. She's a bit mommy-clingy during the day at home but all in all she's doing so much better.

And tonight was Trav's last night at HD. I'm more excited than I though I would be and I'm not nervous- which I thought I would be. Absolutely everything is in God's hands and I am very excited about what He has for us.

And I guess that pretty much sums it up. And now I'm going to crash because I don't feel well. But at least I had a small respite from sitting on the couch watching TV.

Snippets

Every day I've thought "hmmm, anything blog worthy?". And my answer has come as "um, no". So maybe if I try to sum up the week I'll have something somewhat interesting.



Chloe is sick. Wednesday she kept saying how cold she was and I told her to put on more clothes since she was only wearing one of Trav's t-shirts. So finally she hunkered down on the couch with a blanket and I noticed that her face was really flushed so I asked Travis to take her temperature since I was about to walk out the door-102.5. Well, that explained some things.



And that night I started my very first Life School of Ministry class at church. It's a pretty exciting ministry in that they offer college level courses for anyone- I'm pretty sure you don't have to go to our church to go to them and I know you don't have to for the class I'm taking. But they offer Pentateuch, Apologetics, and Life of Christ. I had the last one in college but didn't have to take the first two. But they also offer Fiercely-Focused Parenting and Freedom in Christ (my class) along with a myriad of other classes. The exciting thing is that there is an expectation that church members will take the classes and learn and grow and be informed. To have a strong theological base is critical and I'm so happy that they offer it here. Yeah, yeah, I've been there for two years and this is the first class I've taken but it's been the first class I've been able to take because Travis has been taking a class *and* working two jobs.



But all that's about to end because his last day at HD is Sunday! I'd love to throw a party but I can't fit all of our friends in our house. So we'll celebrate and I'll make a nice dinner for him- ooh, probably Monday because Amanda is out of school *and* she doesn't have to work. I haven't blogged about it much mostly because I don't want to sound like I'm complaining but this has been an incredibly difficult season for us. I'm nervous about him quitting HD because we need for him to. But things have changed for him at work (he got a bit of a promotion) and I'm taking a class at church so it just won't work. We're at peace with everything and trust that God will lead our steps day by day.



And speaking of parties- do you realize that Amanda graduates in four months and five days?!? My AL relatives want to come and I want to throw a big bash but I know that I won't be able to fit everyone in here. I'll figure it out. But my little girl is growing up.

Now my two little girls are awake and are asking for breakfast. Actually, Chloe just yelled from her bedroom that she's much too sick to come to the kitchen for breakfast and needs breakfast in bed. I guess I'd better get crackin'.