Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Happy Birthday!
Today is my wonderful hubby's 36th birthday! He and Mary Elizabeth were vegging on the couch when I snapped this pic:
Happy birthday honey, I love you!
Happy birthday honey, I love you!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
My Surprise For Jonathan
I have been wanting to surprise Jonathan by having our landscaping done so he wouldn't have to fool with it. The problem was that I had no idea who to call that would do a good job. When I found out that my friend Chrystal's husband mowed yards and did landscaping on the side, I was PUMPED! Needless to say, we have kept him quite busy!
Yesterday, Jonathan found out he got a new job at an awesome company about 10 minutes from our home (no more 60 minute commute ONE WAY to work anymore! He's been doing that for 11 years). I didn't realize he would get the job yesterday, but I already had the landscaping surprise planned so it was an awesome CONGRATS present for him.
Travis Duke showed up and tilled the area that needing planting (we were landscaping the backyard too!):
He then laid down the landscaping paper, mulched, planted, and added stone:
Next, he planted a beautiful new Japanese maple by the front door:
He then went on to plant the shrub that he took out to make room for the maple by the mailbox (not to mention he laid paper, mulched, etc. by the mailbox). Last but not least, he took the extra mulch he had left over and laid on our front beds. Mind you, he had just done our front beds two weeks ago, but isn't that awesome that just out of the goodness of his heart he went back and refreshed them!
THANKS so much to Travis and Mr. Duke (his dad) for making my yard beautiful! I can't tell you how much it meant to both Jonathan and I that you guys did such a beautiful job!
Travis also mows our yard every week and let me tell you...you will not find a more reliable guy that does your yard for a cheaper price around! If you live anywhere between White House and Brentwood and need an estimate, leave a comment and I'll send you his phone number!
Yesterday, Jonathan found out he got a new job at an awesome company about 10 minutes from our home (no more 60 minute commute ONE WAY to work anymore! He's been doing that for 11 years). I didn't realize he would get the job yesterday, but I already had the landscaping surprise planned so it was an awesome CONGRATS present for him.
Travis Duke showed up and tilled the area that needing planting (we were landscaping the backyard too!):
He then laid down the landscaping paper, mulched, planted, and added stone:
Next, he planted a beautiful new Japanese maple by the front door:
He then went on to plant the shrub that he took out to make room for the maple by the mailbox (not to mention he laid paper, mulched, etc. by the mailbox). Last but not least, he took the extra mulch he had left over and laid on our front beds. Mind you, he had just done our front beds two weeks ago, but isn't that awesome that just out of the goodness of his heart he went back and refreshed them!
THANKS so much to Travis and Mr. Duke (his dad) for making my yard beautiful! I can't tell you how much it meant to both Jonathan and I that you guys did such a beautiful job!
Travis also mows our yard every week and let me tell you...you will not find a more reliable guy that does your yard for a cheaper price around! If you live anywhere between White House and Brentwood and need an estimate, leave a comment and I'll send you his phone number!
Gin the Dancing Dog
If you do nothing else today, watch this video. It's really awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bt4kguLPTU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bt4kguLPTU
Junking
For all of you that always say that you never find anything at yard sales, take a glance at this picture:
Included in this picture are 13 Longaberger baskets, 3 pieces of Longaberger pottery, a Longaberger Generations side table, multiple pieces of Gymboree clothing including the ADORABLE Gymboree cherry backpack, a Baby Einstein book for M.E., a Longaberger purse, and a framed picture (not pictured). It was a good day junking yesterday!
Included in this picture are 13 Longaberger baskets, 3 pieces of Longaberger pottery, a Longaberger Generations side table, multiple pieces of Gymboree clothing including the ADORABLE Gymboree cherry backpack, a Baby Einstein book for M.E., a Longaberger purse, and a framed picture (not pictured). It was a good day junking yesterday!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
So what do you do...
This is the question that the ER nurse asked me last night. He had four children so I was pretty surprised he asked me that as I had already told him that we also had four children. I simply laughed and said, "well, I'm a stay at home mom to four kids" Maybe I should have really told him what I do...maybe like a typical day in the life of Brea. That got me thinking...what does a typical day look like for me? Well, I'll tell you. This was Brea's Tuesday (4/15):
*woke up at 5am to hear Mary Elizabeth puking on the living room floor (Jonathan was feeding her and she has been sick with an ear infection and some light drainage which causes her to puke more than usual). Checked to see if he was ok, went back to bed
*woke back up at 7ish to tell the kids goodbye and to have a good day, kisses, etc. M.E. is still sleeping. Laid back down but didn't go back to sleep.
*8ish and M.E. is starting to wake up. I have already had my shower, gotten dressed, tried to eat cereal and I get her ready for her 10am doctor's appt.
*9am: Feed M.E. 2 oz of milk as she typically pukes when she gets a shot and although I know she is now hungry, 2 oz. will tide her over until she gets the shot at 10am (she is going for her RSV preventative)
*10am: arrive at pediatrician's office for what is supposed to be a quick shot like it usually is. At this point, I have already returned several phone calls.
*10:30am: finally called back to a room and I am fuming (which I typically don't do but if you keep reading you will understand why- I have a busy day ahead and didn't plan to sit in the waiting room for 30 minutes- this is not like my doctor's office)
*11am: Jonathan comes to meet me as I am supposed to meet Angie V. at 11:30am. Again, still no shot for M.E.
*11:30am: meet Candy and Angie at Gymboree where she and I swap out some inventory that I need to ship at UPS store later that afternoon.
*12pm: as I am grabbing a quick bite to eat, Jonathan calls to inform me that she has not gotten the shot and that the doctor wants to send M.E. to Vanderbilt for a chest x-ray to make sure she doesn't have pneumonia. I am officially freaking out. He tells me everything is ok and that she is fine/he is fine and to keep going with my day.
*12:30pm: go to Chic-Fil-A to get a food platter to take to funeral home
*1ish: go to florist to pick out plant for funeral home
*2pm: arrive at said funeral home to spend time with my dear friend Lisa who lost her dad on Sunday. Take food upstairs, go potty (first time today mind you), and spend time with the family.
*3:30pm: leave funeral home to start the journey back home
*4pm: stop at post office to mail my dumb taxes to the IRS (I'm not bitter)
*5pm: arrive home and Jonathan and I look at each other and sigh because we are both exhausted.
*5:30pm: neighbor kid knocks on front door and tells us to come quick! Jonathan and I both take off through the front yard to find that Isaac has fallen off an 8 foot retaining wall. He is hysterical until I mention the ER and then says he is fine but wants to come inside. We come inside where he immediately says he wants to lay down. This is very unlike him, so we load the kids up, drop the other kids off at my sister's house (one street over THANK GOD!) and head to the ER
*5:40pm: yes, we did all of the above in 10 minutes and yes, at 5:40pm we are at the ER. Isaac is still crying and mommy feels like crying and daddy is mentioning something about stiff drinks and vacation. Isaac gets triaged.
*7:40ish: after an IV, CT scan of his head and abdomen, we are all clear to come home. Isaac is fine, just going to be sore.
*8pm: arrive home after collecting food, kids, but alas, no liquor or vacation plans.
*8:30pm: eat said food, Isaac takes a bath, Luke is now wailing b/c Isaac gets to sleep downstairs which is no fair which leads Anna to start crying because she doesn't want to sleep in her room if no one else is.
*9ish: kids are all asleep in our room on the floor
*10:30pm: lights out for mommy and daddy
So that's what I do. Now granted, it's not always that dramatic, but it is usually that chaotic. And yes, I wouldn't trade it for anything (well, except a vacation now and then)
*woke up at 5am to hear Mary Elizabeth puking on the living room floor (Jonathan was feeding her and she has been sick with an ear infection and some light drainage which causes her to puke more than usual). Checked to see if he was ok, went back to bed
*woke back up at 7ish to tell the kids goodbye and to have a good day, kisses, etc. M.E. is still sleeping. Laid back down but didn't go back to sleep.
*8ish and M.E. is starting to wake up. I have already had my shower, gotten dressed, tried to eat cereal and I get her ready for her 10am doctor's appt.
*9am: Feed M.E. 2 oz of milk as she typically pukes when she gets a shot and although I know she is now hungry, 2 oz. will tide her over until she gets the shot at 10am (she is going for her RSV preventative)
*10am: arrive at pediatrician's office for what is supposed to be a quick shot like it usually is. At this point, I have already returned several phone calls.
*10:30am: finally called back to a room and I am fuming (which I typically don't do but if you keep reading you will understand why- I have a busy day ahead and didn't plan to sit in the waiting room for 30 minutes- this is not like my doctor's office)
*11am: Jonathan comes to meet me as I am supposed to meet Angie V. at 11:30am. Again, still no shot for M.E.
*11:30am: meet Candy and Angie at Gymboree where she and I swap out some inventory that I need to ship at UPS store later that afternoon.
*12pm: as I am grabbing a quick bite to eat, Jonathan calls to inform me that she has not gotten the shot and that the doctor wants to send M.E. to Vanderbilt for a chest x-ray to make sure she doesn't have pneumonia. I am officially freaking out. He tells me everything is ok and that she is fine/he is fine and to keep going with my day.
*12:30pm: go to Chic-Fil-A to get a food platter to take to funeral home
*1ish: go to florist to pick out plant for funeral home
*2pm: arrive at said funeral home to spend time with my dear friend Lisa who lost her dad on Sunday. Take food upstairs, go potty (first time today mind you), and spend time with the family.
*3:30pm: leave funeral home to start the journey back home
*4pm: stop at post office to mail my dumb taxes to the IRS (I'm not bitter)
*5pm: arrive home and Jonathan and I look at each other and sigh because we are both exhausted.
*5:30pm: neighbor kid knocks on front door and tells us to come quick! Jonathan and I both take off through the front yard to find that Isaac has fallen off an 8 foot retaining wall. He is hysterical until I mention the ER and then says he is fine but wants to come inside. We come inside where he immediately says he wants to lay down. This is very unlike him, so we load the kids up, drop the other kids off at my sister's house (one street over THANK GOD!) and head to the ER
*5:40pm: yes, we did all of the above in 10 minutes and yes, at 5:40pm we are at the ER. Isaac is still crying and mommy feels like crying and daddy is mentioning something about stiff drinks and vacation. Isaac gets triaged.
*7:40ish: after an IV, CT scan of his head and abdomen, we are all clear to come home. Isaac is fine, just going to be sore.
*8pm: arrive home after collecting food, kids, but alas, no liquor or vacation plans.
*8:30pm: eat said food, Isaac takes a bath, Luke is now wailing b/c Isaac gets to sleep downstairs which is no fair which leads Anna to start crying because she doesn't want to sleep in her room if no one else is.
*9ish: kids are all asleep in our room on the floor
*10:30pm: lights out for mommy and daddy
So that's what I do. Now granted, it's not always that dramatic, but it is usually that chaotic. And yes, I wouldn't trade it for anything (well, except a vacation now and then)
It just doesn't get better than this...
THANKS to Kim T. for sending this to me. Pretty sad that she thought of me when she saw this and had to take a pic and send it to me huh? Seriously though, love you girl! (you may have to click on the pic to see the words, trust me...it's worth it)
Friday, April 11, 2008
I'll Give You A Dollar...
Ah, those famous last words. I have figured out that my children have figured out not only how to earn a dollar, but to save, spend and tithe on that dollar they earned (I am really proud of them by the way). Anyhoo, back in Feb. we went to Buca di Beppo, a fabulous italian restaurant in Cool Springs, for dinner. We were so excited to be able to go with JuJu, Papa Eddie, Aunt Ali, Uncle Josh and Baby Maggie. Needless to say, we were quite the sight as the party of 11 walking in! Although Jonathan, Dad and I had been to Buca before, everybody else was new to this family style dining concept and we had tons of fun picking out what to eat.
When the spaghetti came to the table with the HUGE meatballs, I suggested that Luke eat a meatball. In his best country accent he promptly said "No-o wa-ay" to which I then said "I'll give you a dollar!"
He couldn't get the meatball on his fork fast enough and sure enough, he ate the whole thing! When I found these pics in my email today, I'm not sure what I laughed harder at...Luke with the meatball or the expression on Isaac's face as he is watching Luke. Luke was a dollar richer that night!
Josh snapped this one of Jonathan and I...we never get pics of us together!
When the spaghetti came to the table with the HUGE meatballs, I suggested that Luke eat a meatball. In his best country accent he promptly said "No-o wa-ay" to which I then said "I'll give you a dollar!"
He couldn't get the meatball on his fork fast enough and sure enough, he ate the whole thing! When I found these pics in my email today, I'm not sure what I laughed harder at...Luke with the meatball or the expression on Isaac's face as he is watching Luke. Luke was a dollar richer that night!
Josh snapped this one of Jonathan and I...we never get pics of us together!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
September's Restaurant in Hendersonville
ADDED 10/10/08: if you are reading this for the first time, please keep in mind that this was written in April of 2008. You can find more current reviews on this blog by using the keyword Septembers and searching. THANKS!
Anyone local to our area now knows about the beautiful new shopping center called The Streets of Indian Lake. One of my great friends, Beckie, is the manager at the new Gymboree there and I have heard nothing but wonderful remarks about her store and her team of workers. I got this email today from a friend and thought I would post it for two reasons. 1. There is a good chance I would have ate there as I have previously ate at the old location and loved the food even though I thought it was a tad bit pricey AND 2. I have had friends that were servers at restaurants that told me that servers will change your tip but I never believed it. Now I do...
Again, I urge each of you to form your own opinion, but this should remind each of us to not only keep a copy of your receipt that you signed but also to check your account later to make sure that they charged the right amount. Luckily, my hubby balances our checkbook daily so I don't have to worry about it, but if it was left up to me...well, let's just say, we would probably be living in a shack.
Septembers in Hendersonville from a friend:
We ate there on Saturday night. What a fiasco. Right from the beginning, the hostesses "forgot" to put our names down on the wait list. After about a half hour, we went to enquire about our status because they were seating parties that came in after us right away. They forgot us, even though we were the only people just sitting in the waiting area. We finally got a table (for four, not some huge party). Ordered drinks and appetizers. Appetizers came. Ate those. Still no drinks. Ordered entrees and asked about drinks- the waiter told us that the bar was backed up. I would guess we'd been seated for about 30 minutes at this point. Entrees came. We decided to go get our own drinks from the bar. My husband went to the bar and the waiter shows up with two glasses of white wine. He then proceeds to argue with me that Fess Parker Shiraz *is* a white wine. Um, ok. My husband comes back from the bar with the correct drinks, waiter takes wrong drinks away. We eat and pay, and My husband tips like five dollars on the seventy one dollar check, because the service was so rude and bad. He remarks on more than one occasion that that is the worst tip he's ever given, it was that bad. We talk to the manager on duty, who calls the waiter over. The waiter argues with him and us about our drink situation. The manager tries to get us to take a 9.00 coupon as compensation for the mess. Our wine costs almost 9.00 a glass, we refuse the coupon and tell the manager we just want him to be aware of the situation. This morning my husband checks our bank account. Our waiter has added TEN dollars to his tip, to give himself a nice 15.00. Called them today, and they agreed to refund the money because they found the receipt and it had been altered. Asked to speak to September, and she pretty much blew me off and said "big deal, these things happen, we're new". Nice. So with our new, nice local restaurant you get: bad service, bad management, and robbed.
**PLEASE SEE NEW POST ON 6/11/08 FOR A REVIEW BY ME!!**
Anyone local to our area now knows about the beautiful new shopping center called The Streets of Indian Lake. One of my great friends, Beckie, is the manager at the new Gymboree there and I have heard nothing but wonderful remarks about her store and her team of workers. I got this email today from a friend and thought I would post it for two reasons. 1. There is a good chance I would have ate there as I have previously ate at the old location and loved the food even though I thought it was a tad bit pricey AND 2. I have had friends that were servers at restaurants that told me that servers will change your tip but I never believed it. Now I do...
Again, I urge each of you to form your own opinion, but this should remind each of us to not only keep a copy of your receipt that you signed but also to check your account later to make sure that they charged the right amount. Luckily, my hubby balances our checkbook daily so I don't have to worry about it, but if it was left up to me...well, let's just say, we would probably be living in a shack.
Septembers in Hendersonville from a friend:
We ate there on Saturday night. What a fiasco. Right from the beginning, the hostesses "forgot" to put our names down on the wait list. After about a half hour, we went to enquire about our status because they were seating parties that came in after us right away. They forgot us, even though we were the only people just sitting in the waiting area. We finally got a table (for four, not some huge party). Ordered drinks and appetizers. Appetizers came. Ate those. Still no drinks. Ordered entrees and asked about drinks- the waiter told us that the bar was backed up. I would guess we'd been seated for about 30 minutes at this point. Entrees came. We decided to go get our own drinks from the bar. My husband went to the bar and the waiter shows up with two glasses of white wine. He then proceeds to argue with me that Fess Parker Shiraz *is* a white wine. Um, ok. My husband comes back from the bar with the correct drinks, waiter takes wrong drinks away. We eat and pay, and My husband tips like five dollars on the seventy one dollar check, because the service was so rude and bad. He remarks on more than one occasion that that is the worst tip he's ever given, it was that bad. We talk to the manager on duty, who calls the waiter over. The waiter argues with him and us about our drink situation. The manager tries to get us to take a 9.00 coupon as compensation for the mess. Our wine costs almost 9.00 a glass, we refuse the coupon and tell the manager we just want him to be aware of the situation. This morning my husband checks our bank account. Our waiter has added TEN dollars to his tip, to give himself a nice 15.00. Called them today, and they agreed to refund the money because they found the receipt and it had been altered. Asked to speak to September, and she pretty much blew me off and said "big deal, these things happen, we're new". Nice. So with our new, nice local restaurant you get: bad service, bad management, and robbed.
**PLEASE SEE NEW POST ON 6/11/08 FOR A REVIEW BY ME!!**
Monday, April 7, 2008
Adopting Again?
Any of you that are married and reading this will immediately know what I am talking about when I ask you to remember how people would immediately start asking you when you would start trying for a baby. I mean, seriously...like get home from a honeymoon and people want to know when the little one will be here. Then, once you have your first, people immediately start asking if you are ready for #2. Heck, I am even quilty of it.
Now that Mary Elizabeth has been home with us almost 6 months, we already have people asking us when we plan to start the process of adopting again.
The answer: we aren't sure.
Will we adopt again? Almost definitely (unless God's will is different)
When will we do it? If money were no object, we probably would start the process pretty soon. We want Mary Elizabeth and the final Freeman to be pretty close in age and since the adoption process can be lengthy, we really don't want to wait too long. We were very blessed to bring Mary Elizabeth home so quickly...many couples wait years to bring home a child. On the other hand, if the second adoption went as quickly as M.E.'s, I'm not sure how patient I would be with two children under 14 or 15 months.
So if you get a chance, say a prayer for us. We just aren't sure what direction to go. When I called our social worker today to ask some questions, I could tell she was so excited which got me excited! But then I realized that I am really enjoying my time with Mary Elizabeth right now and I don't want to take any time away from her right now. UGH...the decisions.
So, yes, we will probably be the wacko family of 7 but hey, we've never been normal anyway right?
Now that Mary Elizabeth has been home with us almost 6 months, we already have people asking us when we plan to start the process of adopting again.
The answer: we aren't sure.
Will we adopt again? Almost definitely (unless God's will is different)
When will we do it? If money were no object, we probably would start the process pretty soon. We want Mary Elizabeth and the final Freeman to be pretty close in age and since the adoption process can be lengthy, we really don't want to wait too long. We were very blessed to bring Mary Elizabeth home so quickly...many couples wait years to bring home a child. On the other hand, if the second adoption went as quickly as M.E.'s, I'm not sure how patient I would be with two children under 14 or 15 months.
So if you get a chance, say a prayer for us. We just aren't sure what direction to go. When I called our social worker today to ask some questions, I could tell she was so excited which got me excited! But then I realized that I am really enjoying my time with Mary Elizabeth right now and I don't want to take any time away from her right now. UGH...the decisions.
So, yes, we will probably be the wacko family of 7 but hey, we've never been normal anyway right?
Sunday, April 6, 2008
More About Oprah
For those of you that don't read my comments on my blog, I hope that you will take 5 minutes to cut and paste this link into your browser and watch this video. Now, anyone can see at the end that it was put together with the intent of selling this person's book which I DO NOT WANT YOU TO DO (heck, I don't even know what it is) but what I do want you to do, is listen to what Oprah has to say in the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA&feature=bz302
We as Christians have a responsibility to tell others not to buy into this crap.
I want to take a minute to tell you why I chose to put this on my blog yesterday:
The other day I met a friend of a friend at lunch. I had never met this person before and although we had a delightful lunch, at the end he began discussing what he was currently reading. Since I am an avid reader, I immediately started asking questions on what he recommended and although I have read quite a few of Oprah's book club books, I must admit there was something about this new one that just seemed a little odd to me (A New Earth). This new friend immediately began singing it's praises and telling me how he was part of the class and how discouraged he got when on the night of the first online "meeting", the computer couldn't handle the number of people trying to get online and locked him out. He went on to say that he was ok with it because he became comforted because they fixed the problem and he was ready for the second lesson. I immediately thought to myself what the crap is this all about?
The above link will tell you.
Again, I think Oprah does wonderful things with her money and helps out many people...but so does people like Bill Gates and yet they don't need any credit for it. I encourage each of you to watch the short video and form an opinion for yourself, but most importantly, put your faith in JESUS, not people of this world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA&feature=bz302
We as Christians have a responsibility to tell others not to buy into this crap.
I want to take a minute to tell you why I chose to put this on my blog yesterday:
The other day I met a friend of a friend at lunch. I had never met this person before and although we had a delightful lunch, at the end he began discussing what he was currently reading. Since I am an avid reader, I immediately started asking questions on what he recommended and although I have read quite a few of Oprah's book club books, I must admit there was something about this new one that just seemed a little odd to me (A New Earth). This new friend immediately began singing it's praises and telling me how he was part of the class and how discouraged he got when on the night of the first online "meeting", the computer couldn't handle the number of people trying to get online and locked him out. He went on to say that he was ok with it because he became comforted because they fixed the problem and he was ready for the second lesson. I immediately thought to myself what the crap is this all about?
The above link will tell you.
Again, I think Oprah does wonderful things with her money and helps out many people...but so does people like Bill Gates and yet they don't need any credit for it. I encourage each of you to watch the short video and form an opinion for yourself, but most importantly, put your faith in JESUS, not people of this world.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Oprah is beginning to remind me of....
the antichrist.
I know, I know...I said it about Mitt Romney and I know Oprah does all this great and good for the world, but here lately her whole self empowerment CRAP is making me think this woman has lost it. My dad has never been able to stand her so I wouldn't be surprised if we actually see a comment from Papa Eddie getting a big AMEN on this one!
I know, I know...I said it about Mitt Romney and I know Oprah does all this great and good for the world, but here lately her whole self empowerment CRAP is making me think this woman has lost it. My dad has never been able to stand her so I wouldn't be surprised if we actually see a comment from Papa Eddie getting a big AMEN on this one!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
What is...
the weirdest thing you have ever seen Paula Abdul say or do on American Idol? She's like a train wreck to me, I just can't stop watching her!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
So much to say...
and yet, I find it hard to find the time to write it all out on here.
My digital camera is full of sweet pics of the kids that I haven't had time to upload. My head is full of funny stories from the sale (including my encounter with John Mayer), more autism posts, etc. and yet again, no time or motivation to post them.
I guess I am blogged out for right now, but I'll be back. Soon I hope.
My digital camera is full of sweet pics of the kids that I haven't had time to upload. My head is full of funny stories from the sale (including my encounter with John Mayer), more autism posts, etc. and yet again, no time or motivation to post them.
I guess I am blogged out for right now, but I'll be back. Soon I hope.
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