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Sunday, April 26, 2009

Why, Hello!

So, where have I been for the past two weeks? Well, I can tell you where I haven't been...
  • at Twilight in Athens yesterday, even though Chris and I really would have liked to have gone
  • at the Fox seeing Dennis Leary or Gone With the Wind
  • out getting tickets for Dave next weekend
  • sitting on a blanket at the park playing Frisbee (which sounded fantastic for yesterday and the unbelievable weather we had)
  • going to the big yard sales in Kingswood this weekend
  • hanging out with friends Friday night
Nope. None of the above. We have been up to our eyeballs in grad school work. I am sure if you keep up with me on facebook you are tired of seeing my grad school statuses, but its true. It has consumed our lives for the past two weeks. Last Saturday I had my last EVER Saturday class! I am majorly thrilled about this, but it by no means, means that its over...yet, anyway.

Of course, because Chris and I were up to our eyeballs and functioning on very little sleep - thanks to our middle of the night screamer - our patience has been short and then the unthinkable happened. Quinn decided last week that not only was he going to be up throughout the night, but he also did not want to even attempt going to sleep. This was a crisis for us. The child who was normally sound asleep and in lala land by 6pm, to let us have a quiet dinner with the girls, spend time with them, work on homework, lesson planning and laundry, was now UP and in our living room until 9:30, 10 o'clock at night. Which one would think that at that point he would be exhausted and sleep, but no, wake up calls at 1am, 3am, 3:45am, 4:30am...You get the picture. Needless to say, I had a melt down. While crying on the phone to my mother, I said (while weeping) "I just need a shoulder to cry on." As the words came out of my mouth, Casey came down from taking a bath and plopped down on the couch. I could not get her to leave the room. When I got off the phone and was starting to head up stairs to retrieve the screaming child, Casey (very sweetly) said to me, "Mama, I can be your shoulder to cry on." Ugh! Breaks my heart just thinking about. No 7 year old should ever have reason to say this to their mother, so of course, I sobbed even harder. Big sigh. I think I am out of the running for mother of the year...and its only April.

So, my mom took all three kids for a slumber party this weekend. Chris and I were able to get lots accomplished and I am feeling much better about things now. I finished all of my internship paperwork and submitted it. I have pretty much wrapped up all of my assignments for my Instructional Design class (group meeting tonight at 9 to make sure we're good to go), and I have knocked out one of my 3 incompletes. Which leaves this - 2 more classes to finish up (which are research classes for my Applied Project on fixed v. flexible scheduling in the media center) before June 26th, which is when I have to present my project and portfolio to the faculty at UGA as an oral exam to complete my Ed.S. program. (I've decided that June 26th is not such a great day for me - last year I was sliced open and had a 9lb child yanked from my body, this year I have to stand before UGA faculty.)

And then I can live a quiet life as a mom, child chauffeur, wife, scrapbooker, reader, shopper, scrapbooker, and laundry queen.

Monday, April 13, 2009

New Pictures - God Bless Frankie!

Oh my God! Can you get over the cuteness of this picture??? My baby boy is definitely creeping into being a toddler! Now if only he could look this adorable at 2am when he is screaming in teething pain... (I can't get this stupid underline to go away!)Oh, artistic heaven, is it not?? This is Chris's favorite picture (so far) from the session. It will definitely be huge somewhere in our house - quite possibly the foyer.
Note...who is watching Quinn? No one. What was Quinn doing? Eating sticks. He felt he needed some roughage in his diet.
Note...the only one smiling in this picture is the baby. What's up with that???
My new favorite family picture. Chris hates this tie. I told him it was a non-negotiable and I think it is a delightful tie. In about 6 months he will like it and he will tell people that it was his idea. This is how he rolls.
Have I told you how much I love Frankie? Because I do. I love her A LOT! She is not only an AMAZING photographer - check out more of her work here at www.stylizedportraiture.com
but she is also an AMAZING friend. Awwwww...how's that for some mush on the blog? :)

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Gifts from Grandpa

For every holiday (Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Memorial Day...you get the idea) my dad and stepmom send the kids a box of "treats." In the past, the box has included umbrellas with whistles attached to them, cheerleader megaphones, microphones, tambourines and foot long marshmallow sticks. Chris and I began pilfering through the box before letting the kids open it - we felt like wardens at a prison. I am quite sure that I have done something in life to make my father hate me. Well, the Easter 09 box arrived this week...two movies for the girls, clothes for them and Quinn, office supplies (the girls adore them), books, rubber duckies and a million lollipops and chocolate bunnies. Quinn preferred the box that it all came in.


Friday, April 10, 2009

Ester* is almost here!

After the Easter Bunny called our house this morning to let the girls know that they should leave out chocolate milk and carrots (thanks, Frankie, now I have to add those items to the grocery list), Casey also decided that she should leave out a priceless piece of artwork as a gift for EB as well...


Last weekend we participated in the annual Easter Egg Hunt at my in-laws house. Sharon out does herself every year with quality carp. The kids are always thrilled and amazed that they EACH get to pick 25 eggs. The parents are also thrilled and amazed by this. The best part about it all is how awesome the children are that attend - they help each other find eggs and once all of the eggs have been opened, they politely trade carp until each child is satisfied with their haul. You can witness the joy of the egg hunt in the pictures below...




At this point in the week, we are been busy preparing for Easter! We are having my family and Chris's family over after church on Sunday for lunch. The menu is as follows:
1. Ham (Honey Baked, of course)
2. pineapple casserole (you can't have ham and not this)
3. green bean salad
4. fumi salad
5. creamed corn (Chris's favorite)
6. homemade mac-n-cheese in the crockpot
7. steamed broccoli
8. Sister Schubert rolls

And various drinks and desserts. The best part is, I don't have to prepare any of it! I so LOVE having a husband that enjoys cooking. Sunday, whether he admits it or not, is going to be one of the best days of the year for him because he takes great pride in cooking for others. And I take great pride in eating until I can eat no more. I rationalize this by saying that it makes Chris feel good when he sees others enjoying his food.

My contribution to Easter was shopping for all the basket goodies, and making sure that everyone has the proper Easter attire and that we all match...right down to Chris's pink and navy striped tie and pink and navy argyle socks. I told him that they were non negotiable. I can't wait to share pics with you of this...and I am sure Chris will be wearing the same look on his face as he did in our Disney pictures!

Quick Apology

So apparently, titling one of the posts as "CRCT practice" wasn't my brightest move. In the past few days I have received 33 hits from people searching for "CRCT practice." As a teacher, I am glad to see that so many people are looking for a way to help their children prepare for the big test and feel slightly bad about them ending up on my blog. Especially when they then find that my children are smart as all get out and that I don't need to search for CRCT practice items myself because my children practice on their own...at a party. :)

Monday, April 6, 2009

Holy Shmoly!

Check this out...Quinn slept through the night! Went to bed around 6, woke up at 5:30am for a bottle, then went back to sleep until almost 8! Woohoo! We are livin large now!

The girls are playing with Savannah today and we are painting the spare bedroom. And, we're having Sugar N Spice for lunch! I think today is going to be wonderful. I love Spring Break.

Also, Congrats to Christy Beth and Drew on the birth of their baby girl born Saturday night. Loralai Brooke, weighing in at 6lbs 12oz and 20.25 in long. We can't wait to meet her!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Thursday nights

...are typically a little on the rough side for us. Chris has class on Thursday nights and while I can handle the children, I have a terrible time handling the dinner. Take two weeks ago for example...I was going to feed the girls and I lasagna. Not homemade mind you, but made by the good people at Stouffer's. All I had to do was preheat the oven, throw it in and wait. The problem occured when I failed to hear the timer go off and did not notice that we had been waiting for dinner for two hours. The girls ended up having peanut butter sandwiches for dinner. Not one of my finer mothering moments.

So tonight Chris asked me, "Are you going to be ok making pasta for dinner?" Which is code for "Are you going to f-up dinner again?"

Just so you know, dinner was a success. Of course, Chris made it before going to class. :)