unexpected

I love it when I am surprised by unexpected things. Today my new blackberry arrived 2 days before it was supposed to...how great is that!
Yesterday was also an "unexpected day". I am trying to work on training for my three day walk, which is 6 weeks away. I have decided to try to walk on Wed. at Stone Mtn. with a couple people from my team. Both women are a good bit older then me (one in her 50's and one in her 60's). Other then the fact that we are walking the 3 day we have really nothing else in common. So yesterday I arrived at the mountain 30 min. late. I had told them to get started so I knew I had to work at catching up to them...not that hard since they walk a great deal slower then my normal pace. It was raining, bordering on pouring, and I was thinking how crazy I was to be running in the rain to catch up to two women that I don't know all that well. I finally caught them (about 2 1/2 miles later) and was happy to settle into the slower pace. Ended up being the most enjoyable walk ever! They are both the most courageous, warm, funny, women I have probably ever met. I laughed harder then I think I have laughed in a long time. One has raised over 10K! How amazing is that. The other I call McGuiver. She is the most prepared person ever and will share everything she has without a second thought.
The three day has been the most amazing experience. I have had to challenge myself to complete task I never thought possible. But the most amazing thing so far has been the people. The one's that have given financially without hesitation, the ones that have shared stories with me and offered prayers and encouragement, and the ones that I now have the privilege of calling friends.
My last "unexpected" thing of the day. I have raised $2900! Never thought I would get above $2200. To all you out there that have helped I send out a big Thank You!!

little changes

It's amazing how quickly kids change. It's hard to notice the changes when they are your own kids and you see them everyday. I took some pictures of Callie today. When I looked at them this evening I realized how much she has changed. She is starting to look more like a little girl then a baby. Her hair all of a sudden seems a lot longer. Thought I would share some pics with you so you can see the changes too.

Callie loves to be silly. She loves to ham it up and then wait for your reaction!

Don't get the idea that she is walking...still not ready!

Pretty soon we will be able to pull her hair up! Exciting for me, not so exciting for her. She hates to have things in her hair and pulls them out as soon as you fix it just right.

Question of the day

Bryce never ceases to amaze me. It is so much fun to just hang out with him now. He comes up with the craziest things!
today's question of the day: Do you need an elevator to go north?

Eating dinner and silly faces

I realized recently that I rarely ever use our video camera. I have decided to keep it out and try to remember to use it more often. Last night (after the fiasco described below) I took a little video of Callie and Bryce at dinner and thought I'd share. They are both growing like weeds!
Callie's new favorite thing to do at dinner is to stick the spoon in her mouth, bite it with her teeth, and let it hang out of her mouth until everyone laughs....quite the little ham!

One of those days

So everyone has one of those days every once in a while. Had one today. Started off waiting 50 min. with 2 kids in a tiny doctor's office (yes, I am still sick. they now think it's a sinus infection and sent me home with steroids and antibiotics). Bryce thought it was fun to pull and climb on everything in the office. He also pulled out the stirrups and asked the doctor what they were for. After she stumbled thru an explanation we headed off to work. Took us over 2 hours to get home from work. On the way I hit a huge thunderstorm. It was so windy that a huge piece of plastic (like a really, really, really big trash bag) blew into the front of my car. Shortly after a very nice man waved at me to roll my window down and told me that the plastic was wrapped around my rotor and that it could really damage the car. He said I should try to remove it asap. I pulled over into a church parking lot to remove the plastic. I literally had to crawl under the car, lay on my back and cut away at the plastic with my keys since I had no knife. Meanwhile it is still down pouring. And then I hear Bryce yelling at me frantically so I crawl out to see what's going on. I quickly realized what the trouble was....some stray dogs wanted to check us out and were actually about to hop in the truck to get out of the rain!! After shooing away the dogs (they ended up being pretty friendly thank god!!) I got back in the truck soaking wet and said a quick prayer that we would make it home with the remaining plastic still stuck around the bottom of the truck. We finally made it to the house and the kids have since been fed, bathed, and put to bed. I would be in bed as well but the steroids that the doctor prescribed have kicked in. Perfect ending to the day!!!

FYI.....should you ever hit a huge trash bag and get it stuck on your rotor there is no need to remove it in the pouring rain with stray dogs standing by. My husband has since told me that it won't cause immediate damage and it can wait to be removed. Would have been nice to know a little bit earlier!!

Why do toads swim?

Bryce's questions of the day. After catching a new "friend" (toad) and taking him for a swim in the kiddie pool.

Why is he a toad and not a frog?

Why does he hop and not run?

Can frogs swim to?

Do they like to swim?

Would they rather swim or hop?

Can Toad's swim?

Why do toads swim?

If you happen to know the answer to any of the above questions please let me know.

an end to the madness

The madness has ended. I have no idea what to do with my time. Actually, right now I am pretty much laying around as much as possible. Come to find out stressing yourself out too much can actually make you sick...who knew? And not just a little sick, fever (going on 10 days now), headache, body aches, swollen glands, etc. The doctor told me I wouldn't get better until I found a chance to rest. And now I can do just that!

This past weekend was a blast despite the stress. We had a surprise bday party for Jason and Jeff at my house on Sat (yes, not a smart idea to plan a surprise party for 30+ people the day before the golf tournament you are in charge of. I don't recommend this to anyone). The guys had no clue and were completely surprised. We had a great mix of old and new friends which was great. They both boycotted the cake since it had a picture on it that they weren't to fond of, but that just left more for me!! I would share the pic but I think Jason would probably never speak to me again. And I'm being completely serious.

The golf tourney went great! Everyone had a blast and I've gotten nothing but great feedback from everyone. We raised over $3000 which isn't to bad for our first try. Bryan's team ending up winning and Jason won long drive. My mom and dad's team won a prize too....for last place!!!

Here are some pics of the family foursomes. I'll probably be posting some more when I get some more pics from the weekend.

My mom and dad's team.

Bryan's team (the three Bryan's and Todd).

They won first place!! I promise it wasn't rigged.

Jason's team (John, Jeff, Jason, and Danny) Check out the view behind them!

fire ants, golf tournament, and a mental breakdown

Sorry for such a long delay since the last post. Life is completely insane right now. I have way to many things to do and absolutely no time. Seriously, can stress overload cause a mental breakdown? Just wondering. If I start typing in nursery rhymes or song lyrics then you know I have officially lost my mind and please send help!

Bryce got bit by a load of fire ants today. He was out back playing and all of a sudden he runs in screaming his head off. He just stands there and screams at us and Bryan and I are both saying "whats wrong?". But he just continues to stand there screaming. Then he just starts shaking his foot. When I looked down I realized it was covered in fire ants. My immediate thought was he looked just like Lauren when she got bit. Just standing there screaming and pointing at her foot with no attempt to remove the ants. Quite humorous on the flip side when you can laugh about it after the bites have gone away, but not to funny to a four year old with multiple stinging insects on his foot. Anyway, we brushed them off, and checked to make sure there weren't any more on him. They began swelling right away and we gave him a good dose of benadryl and some hydrocortisone to help stop the itching. He has refused to go back into the yard. poor kid!

My golf tournament is next Sunday. I am so ready for it to be over. beyond ready. I had such high hopes for it and they pretty much got crushed when I realized that I had pretty much no help except for one wonderful person. Just thinking about the whole thing makes my stomach hurt. No joke. I had all these stomach issues last Nov which they thought was my gal bladder but come to find out it's just how my body handles stress. Wish us luck next Sunday...we definitely need it!

On a happy note...I thought I would share a new pic of Callie that I took this week. She still is not walking but is getting closer!

It's all fun and games until...

We had a fun weekend. Had some friends over for a poker game, Went to the pool, and just really relaxed and hung out. I will complete the following statement two times for you to get a brief glimpse into our weekend.

It's all fun and games until......

1) Someone throws up on your dining room furniture.
We were having a great time hanging out and playing poker until one of the guys suddenly puked. He didn't run for the bathroom. Didn't even give any warning, just blllllehhhhh....all over himself and the chair he was sitting in. which happen to be one from the dining room set. which happens to be white. Poor guy felt awful and has called repeatedly to see if it came clean. which it didn't. If you happen to know how to get puke out of upholstery please pass on the tip.

2)Someone pees their pants.
Bryce had a friend over this afternoon/evening. They played, ate dinner, and then went back out to play. They were having so much fun that she couldn't make it inside and had an accident. Now I have lots of girl clothes, but they all are size 12 month which is kinda small for a 5 year old. I changed her into some of Bryce's clothes and called her mom. That pretty much was the end of the playdate.

The kids are both in the bed and I'm heading that way. Sometime weekends are more exhausting then the work week!

check-ups daddy style

Bryan took the kids for their well visits today (Callie's 1 yr and Bryce's 4 yr). I figured since I am currently working and he's not he has the time. I know it's awful but it made me smile a little every time I thought of him stuck in that itty bitty doctors office with both kids. And they both needed 4 shots. Why is it that most mom's are the ones to take the kids to the doctor? Dad's have no idea what a task it is! Well, Bryan now is completely aware of the monumental task it is to take not one, but two kids to the doctor.
Both kids are doing great. They both are on the lower end of the scale when it comes to weight but that is no surprise. Bryan and I were both string beans as kids.
Got to run. We are hanging and playing poker tonight with some friends. Beer and cards seems like the perfect end to a hectic day.