Sweet Life in the City

We awake to a very rainy and dreary day. Thankfully the skies cleared up and we were able to spend the day outside at the beach and at the pool. I do not have time to write much because it is my night to make supper. Here are a few pictures from our day.

Well we are on our way to Gulf Shores. We were planning on leaving early this morning from home and traveling all day today, but totally unlike us we decided to be spontaneous and leave last night. The kids were (are) about to burst with excitement so we decided to drive half way and spend the night. We are in Birmingham and are about to leave to for the beach. There has been a lot of drama surrounding this trip but thankfully it has all been worked out and it should be a very relaxing trip. All (yes, all 15) of Jeremy's family will be spending the week together at the beach. Jeremy's parents got a condo from some friends but we just found out last Monday the it was only a TWO BEDROOM condo. We (the daughter-in-laws) went into panic mode and started trying to figure this out. A very long and stressful story later we were able to also get the condo next door to the one they already had, so we are good now. Well, I better get going we are about to pack up. I did want to share so...

Last night was my nephew, Kaleb's, graduation. I was actually more emotional then I thought I would be. Kaleb was my first love. I was 14 years old when Kaleb was born. I thought it was so cool to be in Junior High and being an Aunt. That little boy changed our families life. My brother and his family lived across the street from us and we were always with Kaleb. At the age of 14 there are not many things that are important to you but Kaleb Scott Douglas was the most important thing in my life. When I was a junior in high school they moved back to TN and it crushed all of us. Two years later I left home and came to college in TN and was able to once again be apart of Kaleb's life. I have watched this little boy grow into a fine young man. He has struggled with many things in his life and his life is pretty turned upside down right now, but I see a strong young man who really wants to do what is right. I love him so much and I am thankful that he is in my life. He is a bit of a ...

We had a wonderful weekend! Here are a few pictures. The lighting was terrible in the church so all the baptism pictures turned out dark. We also had someone else taking the pictures and was not quite sure how to fix the camera to make the pictures lighter. ANyway, it was a sweet time and I am so proud of Samuel. Tonight we have my nephew's graduation and then tomorrow is the last day of school YEAH!!!

This morning was Sam's Kindergarten program. It was so sweet and of course I cried for most of it! I love all my kids. I also love all my kids equally but I hope this does not make me sound like a bad mother, I love them differently. Each child came into my life at different stages in my life. Each of my kids are blessing to me and each are a special gift. Samuel was my personal lifesaver. I know that sounds dramatic, but he was. After my cancer I was in a very bad place. I had so many doubts and I was a bitter and angry person. I was so good at hiding it but when I was home or by myself, the true feelings would surface. Samuel saved my life, my emotional, spiritual and maybe my physical life. From the moment I saw his picture he was knitted into my heart and life and I knew that life would never be the same. He brings so much joy and happiness to others and I love watching him grow into this amazing little guy. Well, I am on my lunch break so I better stop before I totally lose co...

We had a great weekend. By Saturday I was finally feeling better so that made just about everything better. I was not completely pain free because it seemed like the pain that was all over my body decided to join forces and settle at the back of my neck. I am not kidding, I had a knot at the base of my neck that hurt so bad but I did not have any pain any where else. By Sunday night the knot was going down and I have been sleeping so much better. We had an amazing youth service on Sunday and I am not sure if I have ever seen a better bunch of sincere teenagers. I love them all so much and could not be more proud of the young men and women they are becoming. Yesterday was back to work and then last night I got my house so clean that I almost cried! I stayed up an extra hour last night just to enjoy the cleanliness. I knew I could enjoy it while the kids were asleep. We have a very busy week and weekend so I probably will not be posting. My parents are coming in tonight. Sunday is my par...

Thank you all for your prayers concerning Sam and his ear. He is feeling so much better and is acting like himself again. I on the other hand have had a pretty rough week. It is mostly my own fault because I have been stressed out and because of my stress I have been in a lot of pain. My back and neck and most of my body has been hurting me all week, Last night was the first night all week that I actually slept through the night. I had to take some form of sleep aid every night but I still would wake up a few hours after finally falling asleep and would be hurting so bad I could not get back to sleep. I would use ice and heat. I would get in the floor and lay down but nothing was working. I actually found a couple of tennis balls and slept on them to take some of the pressure off the knots that had formed in my back. Jeremy thinks I should see a doctor because this happens quite often. I feel fine for a few weeks and then I can barely move from the pain. I can usually tell what trigger...

I got this video of the kids the other day. Sam loves pretending to play baseball and of course he is sporting our favorite teams the Chicago Cubs! http://www.youtube.com/get_player

Well I thought we were going to have major issues with Emma's tooth but come to find out her tooth is bruised. I had no idea a tooth could be bruised. She must of hit her tooth on something but I cannot think of a time she hit her mouth hard enough to bruise her tooth. The good news is that the tooth is in good shape and does not need to be pulled. The bad news is that the tooth will stay discolored until it falls out. After the dentist we went across the street to the doctor. Sam started crying at my work and the teacher came over to tell me that he was complaining of his ear and that he was running a fever. I called the doctor and got him an appointment. The doctor came into the room and looked in his ear. There was a piece of wax in the way so he had to dig it out. When he got the waxed removed he was surprised to see that his ear drum had ruptured. I stared crying because I could not believe it. I thought he just had another ear infection. He prescribed him a strong antibiotic ...

We had a pretty good weekend. Jeremy and about 25 people from our church went to help some of the flood victims. There was a certain street in the Donelson area that was destroyed. We know 5 or 6 of the families personally and I was happy so many people showed up to help. I could not find someone to watch the kids so I had to stay home. Sam woke up Saturday morning with a fever and an earache. I gave him a dose of medicine and Tylenol and he seemed to be better by Saturday night. I will keep watching it. He was fine yesterday but was complaining again this morning. Jeremy was trying to help so he gave him some pain meds that were prescribed to Sam when he was having his tooth issue. Well, it happen to be codeine so my poor child will probably be so sleepy all day. He does not go back to school until Wednesday so at least he does not have to sit in class. He is with me at work so the teacher said she would let him lay down if he needs to rest. Well, back to the weekend. I got some thing...

We are having a pretty slow week. Jeremy had to report back to school today but the students did not report. I think they had the teachers come in today to get an idea of how many teachers could actually get to school. Sam is still out of school and last night on the news they said that our county may not go back to school at all this school year. Thankfully Sam can come with me to work. Every one in our house seems to be healthy at the moment and I am hoping it stays that way. I finally got my camera out and got some pictures of the kids last night. We took the kids for ice cream at Sonic before church last night so I took a few pictures. I took some of Emma but she was looking crazy in all of them. Before I go I have a quick story about this morning. Sam is getting baptized in a few weeks but he has been getting a little scared. We have been talking to him about it more the past few days. Well last night Emma said she wanted to be baptized too. She then followed it by saying "Wh...

To say it has been crazy around MIddle TN would be an understatement. It started raining her last Friday/early Saturday morning and continued to rain until Sunday afternoon. I was near Opryland Saturday for that workshop and I was starting to get scared as reports started to come in that the Interstates were flooding and being closed. Several of the ladies at the workshop had to reserve a room because they would not be able to get home. The instructor of the workshop let the ones who could still get home leave early. The Opryland area is not flooded. I made it home safe but could not believe all the water. Sunday morning the road in front of our house was closed but we were able to get out and get to church. There were several times we thought we may have to turn around and go back home. After church we had to go to Clarksville. I had a severe reaction to the medicine I was on and the doctor had to call some different medicine in to the pharmacy. I had not gotten a chance to go pick it...