My Leave of Absence

Hello my friends and family! It's been a month since I have posted and from the content of my last blog, my leave of absence could have been very easily caused by my two beautiful children driving me crazy! But I am here to report, that is not so! Here's the 411 on our family (not in any order):

1. A couple of days after my last post, my husband and I made a consequence box for Forrest and Sadie with every kind of chore we could think for inside and outside of the house, including dusting the baseboards to raking leaves in the yard. If it is a chore that has to be done, it's in the consequence box! We held a family counsel meeting and discussed the negative behavior we didn't like and that with each offense, they would have to pull a card (chore) from the consequence box in addition to their daily chores. OMG! The first day we put this box into effect, it was a day from h-e-double hockey sticks! BOth Forrest and Sadie had to pull four cards from the box. That was four weeks ago and since then, ony three cards have been pulled. Effective baby! And on the flip-side to this consequence box, we have always taught our kids that every choice has a consequence, either positive or negative, so on each consequence chore card, there is a dollar amount. So if the kids want to earn extra money, they can pull from the box and earn as much as they want! We are very happy with the outcome this system giving to our family. Hopefully this consequence box will keep the gray hairs away! lol

2. I was asked to teach the ladies at church how to make their own altered star with pictures. Twenty signed up, but only half came and five hours later, they took their stars home to hang on their wall! I thouroughly enjoy making these stars!

3. I used alot of my free time this past month to re-read the Twilight Series again. OMG! They were so much better the second time around! I savored every word and even marked in my books like my I do my scriptures! lol George doesn't show my love for Twilight. He made the comment, "I'll be glad when I don't have to go to bed with Edward anymore!" 4. The past several days, I have been gaining my strength back from being sick for 10 days with pneumonia. As soon as I was on the mend, Sadie decides this past weekend to run a fever and have a cough for three days straight and missed three days of school. (Today was her first day back.)



5. I made 50 of these invitations to send out for my best friend Cay's birthday party. I have never made anything of this magnitude and was a little nervous after I said, "Sure, I can make that!" My friend Rachel helped me gather the supplies and also volunteered to punch out the tags and flowers for the cards. It took three trips to Hobbly Lobby and one to the local scrapbook store for supplies and a total of 2 1/2 days to perfect the invites. When I showed Cay her invitations, she was flabbergasted! I knew by her reaction, she was well pleased, and so was I! ( Cay's mom told me after she recieved her invitation that Cay didn't want a birthday cake, but had requested a lady at church to make her favorite cupcakes for her party and that the stamp, "celebrating one cupckake at a time" was perfect for the invitations!)

6. George is almost done converting our carport into a garage. He has done a great job so far and only has the back wall to finish. I am very proud of what he has done and he is proud of himself, as a lot of this was a "first" for him, like putting up garage doors and the automatic door openers. He really facinates me with his knowledge and talents. By him doing this himself, he is saving us thousands of dollars! And in the next couple of weeks, when the garage is finished, I will have the utility room as my big pantry as George will move the water heater, washer and dryer outside in the garage. YEAH! I would love to have that space for my scrap room, but that idea didn't "fly" with George. I sometimes have to remind myself to stay FOCUSED! lol

7. Forrest's soccer season began a couple of weeks ago so that means games several times a week along with traveling, eating dinner out and getting to bed later. It's all worth it to see him play. The only complaint I have is that admission into the games are $4 each! I'm upset that I have to pay for me to see my own child to play, along with paying the $250 soccer fee, buying his equipment and gear, travel expenses for all the practices and all of my time that we spend supporting him and the team! It drives me crazy! I remember my mom telling the money collectors at the gate of my softball tournaments that she didn't think she should have to pay to see her own daughter play. it used to embarrass me to death, but I understand now! For us to watch Forrest play, at $4 each, times a minimum of two games a week, it comes out to $128 a month! OUCH! I found out if you teach in the county, you get yourself in plus a guest for free! Even if I was still teaching, it wouldn't apply to me, as I taught in the city. What about the parents? I vote for a parent discount! I have found a way to get Sadie in for free-if she works the game on the sidelines chasing after the soccer balls, she gets in free plus she gets a free drink and snack! And she loves doing it!

Run, Forrest, Run!

8. Sadie was one of four students in her school to be invited to go on a four-day field trip to Daulpin Islands in Mobile, AL. We loaded the charter bus on Feb. 19 and headed for Mobile. It took us eight hours to get there. We stayed in old dorms that haven't been updated since the 1950's, but it was the adventure of staying somewhere new that overrided that complaint. The field trips were amazing! We had the absolute best time ever! It was so nice to see Sadie experiencing this trip with her friends and to learn about the ocean and all of the residents that call the ocean HOME. The food was fantastic! I was really suprised. We were able to visit Fort Gaines Sunday before we headed back to Home. The night before we left, two kids started to throw up. The next morning, two other kids followed suit. By the time we left for home, another two started throwing up. On the bus ride home, another two joined the sick club and by the time we arrived back in town, twelve kids had become sick! The stomach bug was everywhere and I'm just thankful it got to me and Sadie before the trip (see next topic) I would not have wanted to be sick on the ride home!

Daulphin Island trip

(disecting a squid!)

Marching off to the marsh! Sadie walkes into the marsh and

is up to her thighs in mud! It was so funny seeing her try

to walk in all that mud! The instructions said to bring clothes that you

could throw away immediately after being in the marsh. I was

quick to discover why-the marsh's mud is very stinky!

Group shot at the Beach -we all

had the best time ever!

Gathering plankton to put under the microscope

9. Here is Mr. Clean again! He represents Sadie and I getting the 24 hour stomach bug 1 1/2 days before we were to leave for the Daulphin island trip! I'm very thankful that we were able to go, because I never found out if our money would have been reimbursed and I had a feeling, it would not have been! When we walked on the bes, it had been 24 hours since we had fever or had thrown up. We weren't the only ones who had the stomach bug right before the trip either. Like I said in before, I am so thankful that we got sick BEFORE the trip, because it would have been horrible being sick on the trip and especially on the bus on the way back home! After we get back from our trip, Forrest and George get the stomach bug! Mr. Clean needs to take up residence in our house premantely!

I hope you have enjoyed the 411 update and my longest blog post ever! And I hope that I will never have to repeat this long of an absence again, as I have missed blogging and have missed visiting with you in Bloggersville!