Calling all Divers

Who needs a flea market when you can go dumpster diving with me? If you're ever in the Plano area and see some CRAZY woman out toting around unusual objects, chances are, it's me. Like I said in a prior post, I love to walk. I don't seek out treasures on trash day but have periodically found them.

Here are some of my fun finds:
I found this slide over by Glendale School when we lived on 15th Street.


I found this chair when some neighbors had moved out and pitched everything (moves are the best time to find treasures). I had FULL intentions on painting it and making it look cute which hasn't happened yet.

I found one of those plastic turtle sandboxes. We used it as a shaving cream pit last summer. I gave it to my mom who now uses it as a sandbox.

I found a hula hoop which was pretty warped, but Karson still had a good time with it. We eventually had to toss it.

This big blue bin was a super find to house all of our balls and outdoor gear.

I found one of those HUGE Honeywell air humidifiers. It looked like it was in good shape. I loaded it in my arms and hoisted it home--in the rain--only to find that it didn't work. SHOCKING, I know, but I still wanted to see.

I had to save the BEST find for last. This week I found a box turtle. It wasn't in the trash piles but a neighbors yard. I guess it had been washed up with the rain. I didn't want to lug him/her (who knows) around for my entire walk, so I left. I was thinking...seriously, how far could it move in 30 minutes??? Turtles are QUICK little suckers (they've been given a bad wrap on their speediness). When I retured to the neighbors house, he/she was gone. Before I started snooping around the property, I knocked on the door. When no one answered, I turned around and noticed the turtle had buried itself in the mulch under a shrub. When I tried pulling it out, he/she started swinging its arms and poking its head out. Aaahhhh! I had about a 1/2 mile to carry this thing and didn't want to drop it. Finally, I got it out of the mulch and toted it home. The kids had spent the night with their uncle Andrew so I had to find a way to contain my mini-Carl Lewis until they arrived. Our lovely recycle bin became his temporary home.

I knew the turtle would especially tickle Karson. She lost her pet snail "Snaily" on Friday. She accidentally cracked the shell and told me she threw it in the trash. I fished it out and put it outside. I don't think it died but am certain it was relieved to FREE from the mason jar. I explained to Karson that we could not keep the turtle because it's not happy being with people. There is no telling how many others have possessed this thing. I imagine he/she has spent most of its life being trapped in boxes. Karson understood and we let it go on to the next capturer =). The turtle moved quickly and got out of the yard. SO, for those of you living in Plano, you may soon find a box turtle roaming around your property. Give him a big hug from his friends on Plainfield Court.

Preschool Photo Session

Ms. Melissa DeVries did a fabulous job on Greenwood Park EEP's spring photos. I had to showcase this photo of my 2007-2008 bunch. There are times when I question my decision to work part-time as a preschool teacher, but I, honestly, get a great deal of satisfaction from it. This job has allowed me to be with my children who get to attend EEP for free while receiving a paycheck that goes into our "fun money" account (a.k.a. an envelope of moola in the underwear drawer). I have also formed some wonderful friendships with the ladies I work with, the parents that allow me to influence their kids, and the precious preschoolers who truly understand how to live in the moment. Years back I read the book "Making Children Mind Without Losing Yours" (I started reading LOTS of disciplining books when Karson was about 15-18 months old), and I feel like this title appropriately states how I feel in this chapter of my life.

On My Mind

I felt a post coming and although this will be a lot of nonsensical nothings with no clear point, I wanted to write. We're gradually getting back into the swing of things at home. As you can tell, Miles is feeling much better. He's almost finished his antibiotic and is getting used to his breathing treatments. I want to say that I really appreciate our pediatrician Dr. Chris Smith. I believe he had just started at Pediatric when Karson was born and we selected him to treat our children. I'm not sure why I believe that other than the fact, he looked young and seemed reserved. TODAY, however, I am grateful for our choice. Dr. Chris has true concern for my family. He spends a lot of time caring for my children, and I have even talked to him on the phone--WOW. A few weeks back when Miles had a breathing episode, I took him in to see Dr. Chris. At the time, Isaac was having some terrible eye problems and I was telling him about them. And, guess what, he gave me a prescription for Isaac w/o seeing him. I mean, really, the man cares, and I feel lucky having him as our physician.
School is winding down (only two weeks to go). My mother keeps our children on Tuesday and Thursday while I'm at preschool. This week she is in Washington D.C. with my grandfather and uncle visiting some relatives there. SO, I had to make other arrangements for the kids. Isaac has tagged along with me to school. All I can say is, OH MY! We call Isaac our delicate flower. He wants Matt or I in his eyeline at all times. There is no running back into the house to grab something when Isaac is outside or in the car. He absolutely loses it! I love his tenderness and need for us. Karson and Miles aren't that way at all. Isaac is sensitive and a people pleaser. HOWEVER, he will do anything for a laugh. He makes up words, falls down and acts silly in an attempt for a chuckle. Mom was watching the kids a few weeks ago and some neighbors came over to play. Isaac was performing his shinanigans, and the older child looked at mom and said, "Is something wrong with him?". You can imagine how fun Tuesday was for me. He had an audience of 10 at preschool to practice his comedic skills on. I had NO expectations since he had never been to preschool before, but it was a BUSY day for me trying to contain him and manage a class. He LOVED being there and was ready to go with Karson on Wednesday. That makes me happy.

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I've been reading through a couple of posts that include new exercise routines that people have started. I love to walk, not sure if I have ever mentioned that. I could walk all day but am usually limited to 3-4 miles for time purposes =). I recently read an interesting article in April's Good Housekeeping that I wanted to share with those of you in your early to mid-30's and struggling with weight loss or maintenance. I've noticed that the things I used to do to keep weight off are no longer working. I realize that's mainly because of metabolic changes, and this article was super insightful. Here's the link: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/advice/boost-metabolism-lose-weight?click=main_sr

The Perfect Storm

Hooray, the hardwood floors are down and look super. Unfortunately for those of you chomping at the bit to see them (I can't imagine any pictures being more interesting than those of floors), we have taken up temporary residence with my in-laws on Dye Ford Road. We have to live out suitcases until Saturday when the floor finishing process is complete. I titled this post "The Perfect Storm" because it's been a tumultous few days. Karson came down with a secondary sinus infection on Friday and is being treated with antibiotics. She's also having the worst time with eye allergies. Her poor little peepers are swollen and red. Isaac has had a terrible cough and runny nose. AND, our sweet baby Miles is, again, suffering with his breathing. Matt took him and Isaac in to see the doctor yesterday. Doc Chris said that Isaac was okay (phew). Miles, on the other hand, has double ear infections and is on antibiotics. He's also taking an inhaler of Albuterol twice every four hours and Qvar twice a day forever I guess. I've included a photo of the lovely aerosol inhaler contraption that might as well be on the movie "Saw" as far as Miles is concerned. He CANNOT stand it, but it's better than the nebulizer for 10 minutes. Six breaths for each aersol puff, not to bad for our mini Brett Michaels.

We solicit all the prayers we can get. Mine and Matt's sanity is dependent on it.

Tag, you're IT!

I've been tagged!

Here's how this one works...
1. The rules are posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and ask them to read your blog.


What I was doing 10 years ago:
Hhhhmmmmm, I can barely remember 10 minutes ago, but I believe I was probably planning for my wedding, graduation and move to Georgia which would be taking place the next summer of 1999. I've got nothing. I'm assuming that's what I was doing on top of preparing for final exams. I think I may have gone to Costa Rica that summer or just returned from there on Spring Break. Do any of you HFC's remember? I remember taking a 13 hour trip with Weston and Larie Vernon to visit Abilene Christian and finding my wedding dress there--not sure when that happened? 10 years ago is seriously a blur. Why wasn't I blogging then???

Five things on my to do list for today:
1. Call Dr. Chris to discuss Miles's current issues. He's wheezing again.
2. Check out new individual health plans.
3. Walk for an hour--it's my physical energy source
4. Pack our bags b/c we'll have to move out for a couple of days while the floors are being finished.
5. Visit my friend Jill Justice who just gave birth to a son, Henry David, on Saturday.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
I would certainly do my share of splurging--new iBook, new (er) vehicles, pay off the house or move, travel, build a new church building where Matt would not become chronically ill because of the mold, mildew and dust. I would help speed up the process of repairing the bridge on Carter Sims Road (can I hear an Amen on that?). All kidding aside, I would hope to tithe most of the money and trust the church leadership to put it to good use. I'm certainly content with everything I have now. God has blessed my life. I haven't gone to bed hungry, cold or sick without care as long as I can remember.
"Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all." Proverbs 22:2

Three of my bad habits:
1. I don't like to run out of anything without a back-up.
2. Getting aggrevated at SLOW or totally unattentive drivers. Not sure why getting behind the wheel means I must get to the place I'm going at light speed???
3. I make a run through the house prior to leaving picking up toys, straightening and making sure everything is in it's proper place. I'm obsessed with order.

Five places I have lived:
1. 1014 Ridgecrest Way (BG)
2. 4th floor of 0McCormack Hall with my roomie Summer (BG)
3. 5406 Worthington Triangle Street, Apt. E-1 (Lake Park, GA)--a nightmare to write on the return address.
4. 1206 AND 1204 East 15th Street (BG)
5. 110 Plainfield Court (Plano)

Five jobs I have had:
1. Island Sno (breaking up ice, dodging syrup-hungry bumblebees and making the perfect snow cone requires MUCH skill).
2. Kentucky Korner retail shop which is unfortunately no longer in business. I remember a customer becoming irrate because we didn't carry U of L paraphenelia. Uh, hello, it's a UK owned store.
3. Courier Journal summer internship. One morning at work there was quite a stir because there was a suicidal jumper on the building next door. Good stuff going on in Louisville.
4. Country Peddler which was a decent job, but I was the only employee without grandchildren. I didn't even have children at that point. It wasn't a good fit for me.
5. MDO at Greenwood Park the summer I was pregnant with Karson. Me, Melissa D., Elizabeth A. and Millie C. were all pregnant at the same time. I'm sure those kids thought we were hormonal nightmares by July.

Five People I Want to Know More About:
1. Kim K. (my sweet cousin in South Carolina). BTW Kim, I looked through my maternity clothes and could not find those gray Gap slacks. If you can't find them, don't worry about it. No biggie (love that word).
2. Shannon (my new-to-blogging sister). I know a lot about you but thought you might want to participate in your first blogging tag =).
3. Melanie
4. Kim H.
5. Heather R.

HUH???

Did you feel the 5.2-er? In all honesty, I was completely unphased by the rattling of our home on Thursday night. I actually thought one of the kids was up rolling a ride-on or car through the house. Our house is incredibly loud. I thought it might blow away with the recent wind storms we've experienced. It doesn't fair well in rough weather. BUT, it's even louder without carpet. Plus, the subfloor is creaky and splintery. Maybe we'll rip the hardwood back up when our kids are teenagers. Creaky floors would certainly be a deterent in the whole sneaking out phase. All the commotion (and the what could've happened) reinforced a thought that keeps "creaking" or creeping into my mind this week...

I've been reading a devotional book that my mother-in-law Debbie gave to me. I'm not a big book reader. I totally planned on reading a book while we were in Destin called "The #1 Ladies Detective Agency". I think I read a total of two chapters. The book was good, but my scattered mothery brain does better with short and sweet articles, passages, etc. That's why I enjoy devotional books. They are short, sweet and to the point. This quote by Max Lucado hit me like a brick wall this week:

If what we are doing in this face-paced society, is taking us away from prayer time for our children, we're doing to much.

I have to admit that I do not pray for my children as faithfully as I should. I ask for your prayers on my behalf and certainly hope to improve in this area. I have a plaque in my house that reads the following: Bless our house as we come and go...Bless our home as the children grow...Bless our families when we gather...Bless our home with love and laughter.

My prayer is that God will bless each of my blogging buddies and all the people I have contact with. Shine Jesus Shine, feel our hearts with your grace and glory! We all desperately needs his mighty protection for the storms in life.

I found a cool site on 40 ways to pray for your child. http://www.christianitytoday.com/cpt/2002/003/3.34.html

Tazzy Tiffany

I find myself suddenly involved in a couple of different projects. I'm not sure if it's the springtime air, freshly mowed grass, pollen allergies/headaches that feeds my neurosis for numerous undertakings. I become the tasmanian devil spring cleaning, tossing, sorting and organizing. I find comfort in it. Does anyone else have this disorder? Here are a few of my many happenings in order of importance:

#1 My word searches are VERY important to me. It was hand-held Yahtzee for a while. Okay, so this isn't a home improvement project but definitely an addictive project which keeps me from doing the physical projects at hand.
On to the more serious stuff =)......

#2 (small task)
Updating my terracotta pots which we inherited with our home. They were cracked and corroding. I purchased some Satin Finish spray paint and voila. I decided to add a couple of accents at the top with the gray paint I used to coat our shudders with last spring. We had some green shudders that made our house look yellow. We also changed out our brass light fixtures on the front porch. No kidding, our house looked totally different.
I'm looking forward to filling these pots with some beautiful impatiens soon.


#3 (medium task) keeping my van in good working condition. My van has had some MAJOR issues lately. I guess it's fed-up with the lack of attention it's received since we had Miles. I try my best to service it and wash it, but it decided to take a few months off to recuperate. I really HOPE that its repairs will help mend the "issues" of transporting three kids around and listening to endless hours of the Wiggles and Veggie Tales. The van was dying because of lack of oxygen to the engine and the heat went out. I've driven a Quest, Yukon and Bravada over the course of the last few months. All great vehicles but nothing compares to the JOY of having your own car back.

We (me, Karson and Isaac) washed the van this afternoon. Isaac makes it a full-body event.


#4 (large task) putting hardwood floors in our great room and hallway. I think a law should be passed banning white carpet. Although it looks great in some homes and I understand the "clean" look it yields and how it "opens" up a room, my family can destroy it in a matter of days. The last two homes we've owned have had white carpet. I guess we attract it. No amount of cleaning can solve our white carpet problem, SO we've opted for hardwood. Our mission will begin this Friday. Actually, our mission began Sunday night when I began pulling up carpet, pad, and tack board. I want this mess GONE by tomorrow when our trash is picked up.

The hardwood was delivered last Wednesday. It became an instant attraction at our house. Since it is unfinished, we didn't want the kids climbing all over it. Our brillant solution: putting a fleece blanket over it. Believe it or not, it helped.

During this process, I've also been working on our trim throughout the house. We will be getting quarter round at the baseboards of the floor which will be freshly painted. I want all our trim to look that nice. Translation: painting all the trim, an oil-based, stinky nightmare. BUT, I do love the finished look.

# 5 (a future project, maybe) A friend of mine is starting to paint wooden frames and various items for the home. I'm considering having my old bedroom suit done. I want to update Karson's bedroom before school starts. I want her transition to Kindergarten to be as positive as possible. I feel like a new bedroom may aide in the process? My full set is nice but could use a more modern look. It's currently being stored in our garage and attic and providing no useful means whatsoever.