Swim Lessons

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This week has been usual, of course I am beginning to wonder if we will ever have a “normal” week again. The girls have had swimming lessons every night this week. On Thursday, there was a really bad storm that force lessons to be canceled and Friday lessons were cut short by another storm. I did remember to take my camera on Friday and got some awesome pictures! Lily has really started to swim, she goes off the diving board with only a noodle and can swim short distance without anything! Kendall is my little fish, she will jump off in the water with only a ring float from ANYWHERE. They worked with her on blowing bubbles and kicking!

YUCK

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When I originally thought about this post in my head it was going to be an upbeat but honest reflection of how difficulty the transition has been for me. Last week on Tuesday, I went from the stay at home mostly full time parent to working enough to support our household. But once again Life has a change in mind. About Midnight of Monday, I started feeling yucky which soon lead to a stomach virus. Matt followed shortly behind me and Lily an hour later. So this morning instead of having time to blog and tell about how it is working for us, I am waiting till Matt wakes up so I can lay back down. Kendall and Zach both have had some awful diapers already but Lily is better. I hope this is less than 24 hours

Monday Menu Post 8/2

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I know this is a day earlier but hey at least I got it posted! So even tho things are dramatically changing over here, I am still doing the menu planning for now with the rule that he can change if he feels like it! Last week we stuck to plan except for the cabbage rolls which were replaced by a trip to Applebee’s and we had them at lunch on Sunday with friends. Next week the post will be about how we plan to eat on vacation at the beach :).

Monday: Chicken Fried Rice (double portion, one to be frozen to be consumed at the beach), egg rolls
Tuesday: Hamburger steaks (Angel Food) and corn on the cob
Wednesday: Seafood night (Angel Food)
Thursday: Lasagna (Angel Food)
Friday: Steaks and left over sides from the fridge to clean it out!
Saturday: Grilled chicken, pasta, and peanut butter desert with awesome friends from Africa
Sunday: MYRTLE BEACH, here we come!

A Dime

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My intention was to place a picture of a dime at the top of this post, unfortunately I could not figure out how to do it so just pretend…

I had never really thought a lot about a dime or even find one until the Sunday after Remington’s funeral. My parents (Granny and Paw paw) came over to see the little kids. They had been to the cemetery earlier and were excited upon returning to the car to find a dime in the front seat of the car. Why were they excited? Granny proceeded to tell all of us that she had been told by her mother as a young child that when someone died that if you found money in unexpected place that was a sign from them that first they were safe and happy then secondly that they loved you and wanted you to know this fact. I was kind of skeptic at first. Haley was the first to find her dime, Amanda also found one the next day. Lily found 2 which she happily says it was one for her and one for Kendall. As you can see, we believe that it is a dime that Remington chooses to leave for us. Matt found his first one in the washer. I have currently found 3. The first was on the end table in the living room, the second was at the foot of our bed on the covers and the third was by far the strangest and the most unexplained. I was working with a patient at the nursing home and she decide to remove her jacket. I had her clean out her pocket before folding it up. Her pocket contained 3 things.. a safety pin, a Kleenex and the dime. Patients do not usually have any money with them and a dime what are the odds. I personally don’t believe in odds or fate so this was my sign. We all keep our eyes open for dimes and each one puts a smile on a face as well as a tear in some eyes. Small things help me remember and go on!

July in Review

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Let me just say out loud that July 2010 has been the worst month in my entire life! I honestly didn’t think it would ever end. Low points of the month include the week of Remington’s death, Matt losing his job and the dishwasher completely not working. So is anyone surprised that I have came even close on any of my goals?
The one thing that I have improved on is my devotions because honestly God is the only one support and carrying us right now! I am able to spend time at least 2 a week and usually 3 to 4. I am encouraged by a devotional book that Haley bought me at Life.

I have spent around 800 again on groceries this month that is on top of all the wonderful food we have been blessed with. But the bright side of that is that our freezer is of officially full and we should be able to reduce the grocery budget in August even with our beach trip!

I have only blogged 12 times including this post.

Preschool is on summer vacation!

Now for an update and plan/idea of what is going on over here! Matt is officially unemployed and as we had established as our plan 3 years ago, he will become the full time daddy and housekeeper. I already have in the works a part-time position that will guarantee me 16 hours a week and full benefits. I also plan to continue working a second position for around 12-16 hours a week depending on what they want and how busy my schedule is. We are confident that this will allow us to not only maintain a budget but actually start to reduce debt and save. I add this to my monthly update as to what we have been able to accomplish. For the month of August, the goal is to go on vacation, find a second car for me to drive and met the budget we establish prior to him being unemployed. Matt will be taking over the responsibility of teaching Lily to read but I am still going to do a “preschool” time with her to work on writing and math. I am excited to get these details in place! If you are reading then please pray for us these first weeks of August that we establish a routine and find peace and comfort in it!

Monday Menu Post 7/26

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Still treading water and the waves are really rough today. I may be able to blog about it soon.

Monday- Baked chicken in microwave, leftover sides
Tuesday- Meatloaf (Angel Food) carrots
Wednesday- Steaks, salad and bread
Thursday- Cabbage rolls
Friday- Mexician??? or what ever Matt choses

Treading Water

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I know I need to write something but exactly what to blog is kinda of like answering the question “So how are you guys doing?” Let me first say that I can not imagine going through this with out the love and support of our family and friends. Each time I am asked this question, I am reminded how much we are cared and prayed for. But I am still trying to come up with a response. I guess part of the problem is I really don’t know. Matt and I have returned to work, which means the little kids are spending time at home with Haley babysitting. We are attempting to plan our trip to the beach. Amanda is going out with friends. So we are somewhat returning to normal. But that does not mean we are okay or forgotten or even dealt with the grief. It simply means that just as Life goes on so must we. Lily is starting to have some behavior issues, I am sure that they are part due to the horrible sleep schedule she has been on the past 2 weeks. The other reason is that she feels a loss and is dealing with it like a 4 year old. Both Kendall and Zach have a nasty cold. Last night was the first night in a week that Kendall did not wake up several times, we decided that she could not suck her pacifier and breath at the same time and gave her medicine.
So in a nut shell treading water describes our life right now.

Update

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I am going to use this post as a short catch up list and also some explanations for the future as to the events that have been happening the past week.

First I will not be posting a Monday Menu this week as we will be consuming left-overs and several other meals that have been offered and planned for us.

Last Tuesday night around 11:15pm, I received a call that Amanda and Remington had been involved in an accident. I rushed to the scene. At around 2:00am, Remington was pronounced dead. I am not including any other details at this time due to how this is currently a very sorrowful time and I am also afraid that anything I post could be taken out of context and used in a hurtful manner. When I first started this blog, one of the things I did not think I would have a problem with is total and complete openess. I still do not have a problem with this and but I do have to show discretion to also protect my family. I may at some point in the future include more details of this awful night but they would not add anything to this post.

Over the past 5 days several things have stood out in my mind:
1. My strength and faith remain in the personal relationship I have with Jesus Christ. Without this, I could not have survived any of this.

2. I am blessed with not only an awesome extended family but also an awesome church family. They have picked us up and carried us in loving arms over the past days.

3. The media as a whole are solely concerned with ratings and getting people to watch. Out of the 4 organizations that I have had to talk with last week, only one was human enough to not only honor our wishes but also to remember that we are grieving and not attempt to “imply” anything to make the story more interesting.

4. The kindness of strangers still exists and in my own mind outweighs the evil mentioned above and the evil that is lurking in alot of our society.

5. Life will never again be the same for anyone in this house but not all changes are bad.

6. God is in control………

Wordless Wednesday

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The new favorite thing at my house is my tub! The girls could spend hours in it with and without bubbles!

How can you EVER say no to this face?

WOW MOM you really like us playing in here?
Zach HATES the water so he does not even want to join them!

Random Thoughts Tuesday

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I need a random list this week..going to try to do an outline form.

– CVS trip yesterday..I did start with 3ECB but spent 10.38 and saved 38.63 or 79%.
– I am working between 18-24 hours a week and it is as much as I EVER want to work
– Working half days makes my life ALOT easier than trying to do longer days!
-We placed a deposit on a house in Fla for our Disney trip next year.
-I plan to save 200 a month in addition to use most if not all of our tax refund next year for this trip.
-We went shopping on Saturday and I also shopped today and I *think* except for a couple of bras and new shoes for Matt and I we have finally bought clothes for everyone
– Haley brought me home a devotional book from Life. It is awesome!
-I plan to upload pictures to Facebook from the photo shoot on Thursday..I sent out an email to my loop with Kendall pictures on and I have already scheduled a Wordless Wednesday post for tomm!