How I Know It Is Fall ...

#1 - these:

and yes, those are pink! We wanted total pink shoes, but they were out of our size :(

And then there is this:

And finally this:

We are up to our ears in school and practice schedules. Between all 3 playing soccer, we are at the fields 4 nights a week and then games on Saturdays and Sundays - and some of those may be out of town. Last weekend, we were in a jamboree and played 4 games on Sunday afternoon! I sure was ready for a bath and bed by the time we got home. I did learn one thing though - umbrellas aren't just for when it's raining - they're great for shade while sitting through numerous games on a hot day!

And then we also have Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts for the kids and of course, my Junior Service League meetings.

We've also had a new addition to our family - meet Sonny...

Long story short - my oldest had fallen in love with a cat that was through the Humane's Society - they were outside Kroger one Saturday morning - I waited to long to call about adopting the cat (2 days!) and he had already been adopted. My son was heartbroken. I put out feelers to some friends about the specifics we wanted in a cat - not a kitten, orange, fixed preferably, etc. One friend is a vet and the very next day called that someone had brought in a cat matching my criteria that they could not keep. They had actually rescued the cat themselves - it had gotten dropped off on the local college campus. I'm sure whoever dropped the cat off figured some college student would pick up the cat and take care of it. So, we adopted the cat. And my child used all of the remainder of his birthday money to pay the adoption fee! That is a huge thing if you knew my child and how he feels about his money. So, Sonny became ours the Wednesday before Labor Day weekend. We want him to be an inside/outside cat. The vet told us to keep him in for about 2 weeks to make sure he knew we were his family so that once he got outside he'd want to come back. We haven't let him out yet. The kids are so afraid he will 1)run away 2)get run over or 3) get eaten by a dog. Any suggestions about how to do this?

Live and Learn (& Help Needed)

I need some help here.

How do you cook fried okra?

I got a whole mess of okra last week from a local farmer and was so looking forward to having some for supper.

Well, I fried up some and it was just awful!

So, how do you cook fried okra?

Lordy Mercy!

Has it really been since May that I posted? I'll be surprised if anyone out there is still poking around - I don't blame you - I've been such a slacker at blogging lately. My apologies.

No excuses really - just enjoying my summer with the kids.

Last year when I started blogging, I posted regularly every night mostly, but I remember putting my kids off saying, 'Just a minute, just a minute, let me finish what I'm doing.' Now that I think back on it, I feel so bad. They are my children - not this dang computer. They deserve my attention.

I always get guilt ridden since I work full time and they are always at day care or after school care. And then in the summer, full day camps. They don't 'get' a summer - they still get up every day and are gone from the house by 7:30 am! Just like during the school year. And we don't get home until 5:30 pm. Will they ever get to sleep late? Lay around the house complaining of being bored?

So, this summer I've tried to make it a little more fun for them. We got a membership to a pool and go just about every night after work. I figure that they enjoy the refreshing cool water of the pool after being outside at camp all day long in the hot GA sun. They love it! And most days, there is only 1 or 2 other families left at the pool at this time of day. Everyone else has packed up and headed home after spending the afternoon there. It is so peaceful! I really feel like my $$ has been well spent. And then we go as a family on the weekends also.

So, no excuses besides just spending time with my kids - which I think is well worth it.

We're heading out of town for the 4th and I'm really looking forward to it. The kiddos got a fun break from their summer routine and went a few days early to spend time with the various grandparents and cousins. This is the first time in 8 years that I've had no children at home - all gone at the same time overnight! But I sure do miss them. The house was way too quiet last night - I think I was actually bored myself.

I can't wait to get some hugs and kisses tonight. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mom's out there. I still have my mom and my 91 year old grandmother who is in extremely good health. I have lots to thank these special women for. They have the most faith and gentle spirit's of about anyone I know. If I could be even a quarter of what they are, I would be so better off. I personally have had a great day. The weather was sunny, although a bit windy. To church and out to lunch. And then home for a relaxing afternoon. And then grilling out for dinner. What a day.

Of course, I should now get the bad mother award for this:

Yes, they are playing in a Ninja turtle sprinkler and it was way too windy and chilly outside to do it. But I let them anyway. At least I didn't have to hear them whining if I'd told them no. And it is Mother's Day and all - I deserve no whining for at least 15 minutes!

A while back my sister came up and we did a fun project that I've been wanting to do for a while... doing a little work around the mailbox to make it look better. Tell me what you think:

Before:

After:

And yes, ignore the child in the background who is creeping into the trees.

We had so much fun doing this and I never realized how heavy those individual bricks are - try pushing a cart at Home Depot with 30 of those and 3 kids sitting on it. Man, we got our workout!

My friend had her premie twins several weeks ago. Please visit her caringbridge site and keep them all in your prayers. I don't know how they do it. More strength than I could ever imagine having.

I feel like life is winding down some now - soccer is finally over, baseball is down to maybe 2 weeks (3 games left and then a tournament), school is out in 2 weeks, summer camp schedules are planned, and our pool package is all set up for the summer at a local pool. I know it won't be long now ... before the ants invade my house as they do every summer! What I have to look forward too -

Maybe I'll just spend all my time at the pool...

It's that time of year...

for that yucky yellow stuff that makes everything else so pretty - POLLEN! Ugh!! It is all over everything - the cars, windows, even my shoes when I come in from outside. Besides just needing the rain after the drought we've had, I pray for a hard downpour to knock some of this stuff out of the air. Maybe then I could breathe a little better...and sleep a little better... My poor man is just miserable this time of the year. His allergies get the best of him. Back when we got engaged 10 years ago, we even planned our wedding around allergy season - I did not want wedding pictures with him having red, watery eyes... Call me crazy.

I'm sitting here craving warm weather to get here and stay and then lo and behold I look at the calendar and realize school for the kids is going to be over in a little over a month! And that means summer is here! Woohoo!

I'll be sooo glad for no real schedules for them - except for going to day camp each day. We are in the midst of baseball and soccer seasons and I need a separate calendar just to keep up with practices and games.

Prayer request - I've got a friend from JSL that is almost 24 weeks pregnant with twin girls. She has been hospitalized for the past several weeks with intense contractions happening. She and the babies are astonishing the drs in Atlanta since she hasn't delivered. Please pray for those baby girls to stay in where it's safe until time for them to arrive, their mommy and for their entire family.

Gotta go - the kiddos are calling for me to feed them dinner!

Wordless Wednesday - Party Girl

Can you guess who got to go to a dress up party?

Some memories are hard to replay...

If you have been over at Rocks in My Dryer today, you know that Shannon posted about her first pregnancy that ended badly. There were so many comments that just brought tears to my eyes - not only because it was sad that so many had lost a child - but because I too have been there.

I still can't stand the 4th of July just because that is the time mine happened.

I'd become pregnant for the 2nd time. And we were so excited! But in retrospect I should have realized something was wrong. I didn't have morning sickness, but I just didn't feel good. I'd have sharp pains in the abdominal area and just really didn't want to eat b/c it made me all the more uncomfortable. I'd gone to my 1st doctor's appt and all had been well. We didn't hear a heartbeat, but weren't concerned b/c it was so early and we knew we wouldn't hear one until I was so many weeks along.

Then here I was almost 13 weeks. We went out of town for the holiday to my in-laws house on the lake. I had a dr's appt the next week. But then I woke up to blood. Not a lot. But enough to make me call my dr. who was 3 hours away. They tell me to come on in for an ultrasound. I had to explain how far away I was and what the earliest it would be getting there. I was told to then go the hospital for my ultrasound when I got in town since the office would be closed by that time.

Off we go with scrambled packing, no showers, pulling my husband in off the lake. Skethchy explanation to all the extended family who was all there for the weekend. On the drive, silent tears fell. I just had a feeling this wouldn't be good. My 1 1/2 year old didn't understand why we'd had to leave his cousins. And we were on the phone trying to find someone back home who was in town(since it was a holiday weekend) who could watch my him while we went to the hospital...and having to explain what was going on. We found some friends who agreed without a 2nd thought - and boy did I feel bad when we pulled up in their driveway - they were all dressed up and had been heading out for the evening. But they dropped their plans for us.

Once we got to the hospital, they sent me on up to L & D. It was change of shift time so we kinda had to wait around for our doctor. And we had to explain why we were there since it was a different dr from our group than who we spoke to on the phone at the office. Finally down for the ultrasound. I should have known once the tech told me she needed to do a vag* u/s instead.

Back to my room to wait on my dr. to tell me the results I already knew in my gut. Finally he came with the sad news that I already seemed to know without any medical confirmation. I was given a choice: go on into surgery for a D & C or I could go home and 'wait for nature to take it's course.' I am not a waiter. And then the dreaded phone calls to our family who hadn't heard from us in about 7 hours. And to our friends to see if they could babysit for a little while longer while I was in surgery.

That is the worst emptiness I have ever felt. And guilt - even though I did nothing wrong and there was nothing I could have done to prevent this. All I wanted to do was let my silent tears fall and rock the one baby I did have and mourn for the one that I'd never hold. I remember not wanting to talk to anyone - friends, family, anyone at all. It's still hard if it gets brought up. The tears fall down my cheeks even now as I type.

Will I tell my children later about the sibling waiting to meet them in Heaven that they never knew? Probably. How will it get brought up? I have no idea. How do I explain to my daughter that if this hadn't happened she wouldn't be here since that pregnancy would have continued? She is my miracle baby in her own story to tell later -