Some prayer requests...

Lord, I am so thankful for a 4-day weekend with Andy. It was nice to have some time with him and spend time together. I pray that You will provide this apartment this week for my Mother-in-Law. I think it will do all of us some good to get her in her own place. I think it will give her her own dignity and it will give us a chance to get our own family going in the right direction again. I pray that You will continue to bless and show favor to our businesses and increase our sales. I pray that You will help us find where this attitude is coming from Deidra and that You reveal Yourself to her more and more. I pray for blessings over all of our family. Also, real quick as Melina just woke up...but please continue to speak to my heart about the book that I'd like to try my hand at writing with Your Holy Spirit's guidance. Also, please bless the kids at school today. Amen

Date Night for Andy and I

One of the local churches wants to be an available resource for foster and adoptive parents. They are going to try to do something every quarter. We didn't go to the first one as I didn't know that we could since we no longer foster. However, we made arrangements to go to this one. The kids were all excited since they were going to have a lauau (sp?) theme and got to do water activities. I had a hard time handing over Melina, but I knew that she'd be in good hands with all the other foster parent activities that we've gone to. This was the first time that I've left her with someone other than family, let alone someone I didn't even know. I fought the tears and we had a good time together. We went to eat at Olive Garden and then to get Emily's birthday gifts from Walmart and then home to talk and snuggle for a bit before it was time to get the kids. It was really nice. We did learn though that 3 hours without the kids goes much faster than 3 hours with the kids. lol. The kids had a great time and are already asking when the next event is going to be and Deidra met a new friend that invited her to go to Hurricane Harbor with them over the weekend. However, she couldn't go as she has a volleyball game. I told her too that I'd like to meet the family and do some smaller playdates before I let her go off with someone for the day like that. So, in a way it was good that she had a volleyball game anyway. But, the kids had fun and Andy and I had a good time together. Andy was supposed to work late, but he made arrangements so that he could come home and we could spend that time together and then he went back in. I'm glad that we were able to get out as we hadn't been out in months and we needed some time alone without other distractions.

Appreciation

Lord, I want to lift my husband up in prayer and ask for your blessings over him today. I am so thankful to have my husband. We take each other for granted sometimes and I think we're going through one of those phases. I wrote him a little note today to let him know just some of the ways that I appreciate him.

"Just wanted to tell you that I really do appreciate you. I appreciate how hard you work to support our family. I appreciate the way that you help with the kids t-ball practices and games. I appreciate the way that you help cook and clean. I appreciate the way that you help with the kids. I appreciate the way that you can fix computers. I appreciate the way that you try to put family first. I appreciate your storm prediction skills. I appreciate how you’ve been embracing this coupon thing and finding the deals and so forth along with me. I appreciate all that you do for our family and I just wanted to let you know."

Yes, there are things that I wish that he would do more of sometimes and times that I get upset with him over things, but when I make lists like these I realize just what a lucky girl that I am to have a husband like Andy. Thank you for the gift of Andy in my life, Abba. He is such a wonderful husband and father. Please shed your blessings over him today!

And my hubby just responded to his note with a little note back to me: Can I say "awww!?"

"Now you’re just makin’ stuff up J



But in all reality, I do appreciate you too! Yes, I really do! I appreciate how you’re such a good mom to the kiddos. I appreciate the fact that you always put others first. I appreciate your big heart! And I appreciate the fact that you love me – despite my obvious shortcomings.



I love you! :-)

---->---@"

The sickies...

Abba, please give our household a clean bill of health. We've been battling one sickness over another since Thanksgiving. Josiah was sick over the weekend with a fever and the runs and saying that his tummy is hurting and a bad cough and runny nose and now Tracie woke up with it this morning. Andy is coughing and saying his chest hurts as well, but he went to work this morning. I just want us all to feel well again.

Novena to St. Joseph

I started a novena today for Andy. Something to help him with his troubles. :-)

Something to focus on...

I was kind of down in the dumps last night when we took the kids to Awana. I was hoping for some time with Andy and Melina to do something fun. Andy had it in his mind that we needed to go to the grocery store as it's something that we've been doing while the kids go to Awana. We have a schedule so that we make time for the things that need to be done, but I told him that I'm really missing time for "us" to just be and talk without getting interrupted. Neither one of us can say that we have friends that we do stuff with on any regular basis either. I told him that I don't want to get so regimented that we miss out on things that we need to make time for either. We wound up going to get Deidra's last Christmas gift and then while I thought we were going to find something to do for the last hour, Andy drove us home. By that time, I had come out of my funk a little bit as I had prayed that God would lift my spirits. I sat and enjoyed the Christmas lights that Andy had put up after we decorated the Christmas tree. Andy even held my hand and prayed with me. It felt really weird to do that together as this is very unlike Andy, but it was nice and I hope that we can make a point of doing that more often. I know that part of my deal is stress. The kids stress me out after awhile and Andy and I can't talk without interruptions. I told him that whether I have to run an ad in the paper or whatnot, we need to start getting out without the kids...and I'm going to have to try to make time to work on my friendships down here as well. He needs to do the same thing...he needs to find some people that he feels comfortable doing things with down here. We have so much responsibility on our shoulders with dealing with not only our own family but taking care of things with our parents too, that we deserve some down time as well. I'm not complaining about the responsibility when I say that...it's just that it all can be stressful at times...we need to have some fun to destress too.

Marriage and Faith

Andy and I have been married for 12 years and together for 14. Our first couple of years were kind of rocky in the religion dept. We couldn't agree on a church to go to. I didn't feel comfortable unless we went to a Catholic church...I just couldn't feel God's presence in any of the churches that we went to unless it was our Sunday to be in the Catholic church (we alternated Sundays for awhile). I'm not saying that God wasn't present there, I just didn't feel His Presence like I do when we went to the Catholic church. It caused so many problems that we just quit going for awhile unless it was a holiday or something. When we had Deidra, we talked again and I mentioned that it would be easier to parent if we were both on the same page. A friend told us about her Catholic church out in the suburbs that was big and awesome and had a ton of different groups for all ages and we went a couple of Sundays and Andy said he'd go through the RCIA program to learn more about it. I was shocked and it was an answered prayer of mine. I went through the program classes with him and he entered the church on Easter vigil that coming year.

One thing has always bothered me though our whole marriage was that while I knew he was a Christian we never really had heart-to-heart talks about our faith and what God meant to us and visions for our family. What the kids learn about God really comes from me and what they learn in Sunday school and Awana. Andy doesn't really talk about that stuff with them. I was working with Emma one day on memorizing John 3:16 and Andy just rattled the verse off. I looked at him in shock. He said "do you really think that I'm some sort of heathen or something?" I told him again that I didn't, it's just that we don't talk about this stuff. He said he just feels that it's between him and God and nobody else. I told him that I didn't feel that it should have to be that way and that husbands and wives should share this stuff together. I left it alone after that.

I have been watching Joyce Meyer in the mornings lately..something to feed my soul before I start my mornings with the kids. And I get the Crosswalk devotions in email. The day that the kids were all baptized, he went to Confession, and he went to church on lunch hour yesterday and sent me a picture of the Cathedral saying "wish you were here with me." He's been talking to me in bits about things concerning his faith. Those little things mean so much to me. God is answering my prayers and we are starting to share our faith together. So awesome! I am so glad that we are sharing more and more and that Andy is starting to share this piece of himself with me.

Our 12th Anniversary

On the 6th, we celebrated 14 years of being together. (Last year, little Miss Melina was conceived on that day...although we wouldn't find that out until the middle of October...tmi...well, it is my blog and I'll share if I want to. ;-) Anyway, we've been looking at each other all googily eyed this week...Emma's been making fun of us all week. She asked Andy why we hold hands one day and Andy said to her "well, you know how you hold our hands sometimes so that you feel safe or that you don't get lost?" She says "yup" and he said "well, I would be lost without Mommy if I didn't hold her hand sometimes too." Totally made my heart melt. And then we were sitting at the dinner table one night and Emma says "why do you guys keep staring at each other and smiling? Does that mean you're in love?" She is totally into asking questions about relationships and marriage and all that right now. I worry about her sometimes, but as Andy was quick to point out...this may be the first time in her life that she's seen Mommy's and Daddy's who stay together and that truly love one another.

Today is our 12th wedding anniversary, My Mom watched the kids last night for us so that we could go to the Melting Pot for dinner, which was totally delicious. Then, we went and did some birthday shopping for Miss Tracie and then we had to pick up stuff for the kids lunches this week. We had some great conversation about the plans for our marriage and for our family. I'm totally in love with my husband right now...I love him more with every passing day. We talked about some of my insecurities that came about when my parents divorced and we talked about what we wanted for our family over the next few years. And it was fun to walk through Walmart laughing, shopping, and holding hands. We were almost giddy with each other. We came home to see how Mom survived and the kids were all good for her. This is the first time that she's ever watched all 5 of them...she fed them, watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with them and even brought them their own bandana to wear, made them popcorn, got them in their jammies and put them to bed. She said that Josiah and Emma only got sent to their rooms once and she had to give Josiah a spanking once. And Josiah did try to test her when it was bed time. He came back downstairs and said "Grandma, there's a ghost in my room." She said to him "Josiah, I guess you better tell that ghost to get in his own bed...now you need to go to bed." He marched back upstairs and went to sleep. I thought that was hilarious. He's the "king" of coming up with stalling techniques. He's not scared of the dark or anything...he was just seeing what he could get away with. lol. I was glad that the kids behaved well for her and she said she'd watch them again if we wanted to get out. I know that it's something that we need to do more of in our marriage....I was trying to remember the last time that we'd gotten out and I think it was in june when my friend had come in from MI to see us and Melina and she watched the kids so we could go to dinner and a walk in the park. The time before that, I think was our last anniversary when Mom watched them so we could go to the Olive Garden for dinner. We need to start doing it at least every 3 months or so at a minimum. It was good for us!

We came home and put Deidra and Miss Melina down for bed and went to bed ourselves. Mom called us and said she got locked out of her house as her garage door wasn't working and so Jimmie was going to meet her in front of our house with his house key so she didn't have to break a window. I told her she could wait inside, but she said she didn't want to disturb us and she'd just sit out in the car and read her books. I decided to wait on the couch to see who got there first so they could come inside, but I laid down and a minute later I was asleep. Andy said that he didn't think anybody ever showed up, so I'm wondering if they decided to meet at Walmart instead like my brother wanted to do. Anyway, please bless Mom, Abba, and help her through her trials with her house repairs that have come up over the past couple of days and I thank you for Andy and our time out together. Please continue to bless our marriage. We had a really great day together!

Had a wonderful time!

We left around 8:00 on Friday and headed to Austin. We went and hung out at 6th street and seeing all the young people made us feel old. We drank a margarita at the Iron Cactus and just people watched. Some guy came up and blew us all kisses through the window and we just busted out laughing. Had fun laughing at all the outfits (or lack of coverage) that the girls were wearing and how everyone couldn't seem to walk with their high heels on. We saw some drunks who could barely walk and we just talked and had some laughs. Not our crowd really at all, but it was funny. Think we got back to our hotel (The Sheraton)around 2 am and went to bed. Andy woke me up around 6:30 or 7 the next morning with an update with how the kids were doing. Meshawn and I went down and got some breakfast and sat outside. It was fun talking and getting to know her better. We went upstairs once Julie and Amy were up and we got ready to head to San Antonio. We ate lunch at CiCi's and shopped at Big Lots on the way down. Once we got to San Antonio, we stayed at the Drury Inn on the Riverwalk and the room was really nice. We walked on the Riverwalk and took the bus down to the Marketplace. We all got Pina Coladas and shopped. We went back to our room and just talked and shared stories for awhile and had a good time just relaxing. We went back down the Marketplace for dinner and ate Las Margaritas. It was slow to get seated, but once we got our food it was good. We walked back to our room and watched some tv and talked some more before we headed to bed. Sunday, we got up and Meshawn and I went down and got breakfast while Amy and Julie got ready. We checked out and headed to San Marcos to shop at the outlets. Meshawn took us to get lunch at Centerpointe at an antique store that had really good burgers. We even saw some $400 flip flops (no joke). It was crazy! Got the kids all some new outfits at Ross, Carters, and Osh Kosh. I even got myself a couple new tops at Ross. I didn't find anything for Andy, although it wasn't for lack of trying. We got home around 8ish and I went and said good night to the kids and showed Deidra her new jeans and shirt that I got for her. She was excited. Of course, I had to shower Melina with hugs and kisses. I missed her so much. Andy sent me a picture of her while we were driving home of her smiling and it made me tear up in the car...I really missed her. I rocked her to sleep last night and enjoyed cuddling with her. I got up with her last night to feed her and I laid her down with me, I just wanted to cuddle her. Everyone enjoyed their surprises that Mommy brought home for them. :-) Mommy came home nice and relaxed. It did me good to get that break and to have some "girl" time. We're already trying to figure out where we want to go next. Thank you, Lord, for bringing me some friends and for giving me this weekend to get to know them better and to relax.

Going to Austin and San Antonio for the weekend!

I got invited to go to Austin and San Antonio for the weekend with some friends that I met while fostering. I'm so excited to go. Andy will be here with the kids. It will be good to get away for awhile, but I'm going to miss my baby girl. This is the first time I've left her for more than just a couple of hours. I know that she is in good hands though.

Tornado too close to home...

I was sitting here this afternoon rocking Melina while Tracie and Josiah were napping and the tornado siren went off. I thought it was a drill at first, but it didn't shut off. I looked out the front door and didn't see anything alarming. Called Andy to have him check the radar and he said he'd have to call me back in a few minutes but when he looked a bit ago it didn't look bad. The dog started scratching at the back door and so I went to go see what was up and that's when I saw the clouds behind us and new that something was definitely up. Andy called me back and says "yes, it's not a drill. There's a warning." My cell phone went off and it was my Mom saying that they saw 2 funnel clouds at Carlisle Chevrolet but that they never touched down. There was also a tornado touchdown in Midlothian. Andy told me to go ahead and get the kids into the bathroom and not to come out until he told me too. A few minutes later the sirens quit and so I assumed that it was safe to go outside. It was almost time for me to go get Emily from school. I got the kids loaded up in the van and started driving when Andy texted me not to come out of the bathroom that there was another wall cloud forming. I called him and told him that he was a bit late as we were already out driving. The clouds continued to look very freaky. I got up to Emily's school and a guy stopped me in the street and told me that the school was on lockdown and the tornado was on it's way. Yeah, that's not going to freak me out with a newborn in the car along with 2 toddlers. He tells me that the school is letting parents with small children into the gym. I knew if I took Josiah in there with all the kids in the hallways and the gym and he ran off on me that I'd never get to him, so I took my chances with going home. I wound up getting onto 77 as Brown st was blocked off and the hail hit. I called my Mom in a panic as I really didn't know what to do. I wound up driving to Carlisle so that I wasn't alone with the kids and took cover with my Mom. After the worst of it had passed, we went to the break room to watch the news. Josiah started majorly acting up in there. I was so embarrassed. People were trying to call to warn their families and he wouldn't stop jumping up and down, being loud, and throwing tantrums. I finally wound up having to leave even though the schools were still on lockdown. He just couldn't pull it together and the more I asked him to be quiet, the louder he got and just thought it was funny. I kept trying to explain to him that the weather was bad and that people needed to get in touch with their families to make sure they were safe and that it was a bit scary and he just needed to be quiet. Yeah, no such luck. An hour after school was supposed to be out, the schools finally called and said that they would release the students. I went up to get Emily and they had a NEWS van in the parking lot. It was pouring down rain and they wanted me to go to the office to get Emily. I wound up having to ask them to go get her for me as I wasn't bringing all the other kids out in the pouring rain. I didn't need Melina getting soaked or sick. Thankfully, the principal went and got her for me. I had Andy come home shortly after that. I was never so relieved when Deidra got off the bus and came home and then Andy came home a little after that. I was so relieved to know that we were all safe and sound at home.

Going to miss him...

Andy went back to work today....he was such a huge help with the kids while he was home these past couple of weeks. I'm hoping it's not too hectic with him being gone...oh who am I kidding...I know it's going to take awhile for us to get a routine down.

Mother's Day

So happy that God gave me my Mother's Day present early...I love snuggling with my little Melina. She truly is a gift from above!

Andy took Mom, Jimmie, and all of us out to Sweet Tomatoes for Mother's Day. Talk about filling up a table. :-) Dinner was good and it was fun to spend the time together. Mom really liked the quilled cross that Andy made her as well. He started it almost 4 years ago and just finished it up since he was home from work while we had the baby anyway. It turned out beautiful!

I love my husband!

I love my husband. He sent me up to bed last night and I didn't wake up until this morning...he took the whole night of baby duty so that I could sleep. I haven't slept that good since before I went into the hospital. Love you SO much, Rew!

Thankfully it's Friday...

I'm tired, that's for sure. So glad that it's Friday. I'm missing my hubby. He's having to work a lot, even at home, lately. While I'm glad that he has the ability to do that, I wish we had more time to talk and connect with one another lately. The kids have had a lot of energy lately and some attitudes going on. Can't wait until the weather gets a bit warmer and there's not so much mud outside so that I can start letting them play in the backyard some more. They have energy to burn!

Going to try to get a list of things together (Andy and I started it) for what we need to finish getting for Melina and some stuff for the house. I need to price everything and make a list from lowest to greatest and start buying things as we can. The kids want to paint their rooms as well, so we're going to have to start doing that one room at a time. Lots of plans and ideas flowing around. The girls want their room in Dora, Josiah wants his room in Spiderman, and Deidra keeps going back and forth. Her latest is a zebra theme with pink thrown in. I told her she'd be better off finding some bedding that she really likes and planning her color scheme for her room on that. I'm going to get Melina set up in the sitting area of our room and I'm going to decorate her little wall in butterflies. I think she's going to be in our room for the first year and then once she turns a year old, we're going to transition Little E in with Deidra, and then Melina will go in with Baby T. I think that should work out well.

My brother, Jimmie, helps with a mowing and lawn business during the summer with his old football coach, so I'm going to see if they can give me a price on putting sod in our backyard. And then, we're going to put a kennel back there for Lucy. The dog pretty much has free reign over our backyard, but Baby T will not play outside if the dog is back there, so I usually have to bring the dog in while they go play outside and I don't really think that's fair to the dog. So, I think a kennel back there will help. I can just put her in there then while the kids play.

Lots to figure out and accomplish and I think next month I'm going to try and do a garage sale with my brother here at our house and get rid of their stuff and ours that we no longer use/need and is just laying around taking up space.

Really trying my patience today...

My gosh, I am trying to hang in there today. I really am....trying to find the humor in things to get me through. It's hard when I have all of them going.

Andy's car is in the shop...since yesterday morning. He was going to get his rear brakes done. They called yesterday and said he needed front ones too. He said he'd come pick his car up in the morning. We went up to get it this morning to find it still up on the lift...they're still waiting for parts. I tell him if he needs me to bring him into work, I will. He's grumpy because he's got stuff that needs to be done right then and so he says he'll go home and make all his phone calls that he has for stuff pending. Around 10, he tells me that he's got to go into work...nevermind anything about the fact that I had Little E to get to school and therapy for Baby T. We get out the door and I bring him to work, I cancel Baby T's appt, and I barely manage to get Little E to school on time. The car shop calls saying that his car is ready. UGH! Guess we'll be bringing him up to get it in the morning.

I get a call from Little E's teacher saying that she won't quit making loud sounds, she won't go to time out without her teacher having to physically putting her in there and then she is refusing to stay in time out, and she's ripping stuff off the walls. She had no idea where her defiance was coming from...she just had a visit on Sunday and has been a handful since then...I explain to teacher...she says that makes sense as this happened at the last visit as well. She isn't going to let her go to library today and she'll have to wait in the office. I say that's fine.

Baby T has been screaming and whining all day and refused to eat her lunch, whined and screamed all during nap time that she didn't want to be in her room, she wanted Mommy, she didn't like Mommy, all sorts of stuff. Nothing I do today seems to make her happy. Of course, she fell asleep in front of her door 5 minutes before we had to go get the girls from school and when I woke her up she was even more full of cheerfulness (note sarcasm). She cried and screamed all the way to get Deidra.

Josiah dumped his lunch all over his head, so after he got cleaned up and had to clean up his mess he got put in his room. Stupid me assumed that he fell asleep...nope, he had gotten into Deidra's room, stuck a DS game in backwards that I cannot get out, snuck into our room, tore the blanket off of Andy's harpsichord, and dumped his teddy bear that he just got for Valentine's Day into our toilet. He got a spanking and put back in his room and after another screaming fit about having to stay in his room, he finally fell asleep.

I get Deidra from school and all I heard was scream, whine, cry for an hour from her. She later apologized and settled down.

Get the kids their dinner and Baby T refuses to eat yet again...I told her she wasn't getting down until her dinner was gone...she's been sitting there for an hour and a half. UGH

I call Andy to find out when he wants us to come get him from work and he says that he should be done around 6:30. I was really hoping to have the kids in bed by 7 and Deidra at 7:30. He asked what was going on and I told him how the kids have been behaving and that we really need to put a lock on Deidra's door...he thinks it's stupid...well fine, I guess we'll just continue to let her stuff get wrecked all because Josiah cannot or will not stay out of her room. I am SO tired of him getting into the bathrooms and her room or our room when he knows darn well that he's not supposed to be anywhere but his room up there.

I am trying to hang in there and practice patience. I really really am.

So tired of the sickes...

A couple of weeks ago, I got really sick with some sort of crud. I got over that and a week later, I got some cold and was feeling cruddy with that. Got over that and last night I couldn't get warm for anything, went to bed, woke up feeling fine. After lunch, it hit me all of a sudden that I was going to barf. Threw up once. Gave my stomach a rest and then I decided I wanted some coke or some sprite, but I had put my pajamas on and didn't feel like changing. Laid on the couch and watched some CSI and then Andy decided he was going to go to the grocery store. I asked him for a pizza sub from Subway, he came home with a sub that I didn't ask for and was kind of spicy. I ate it anyway as I didn't want to be rude, but I am a bit worried that it was too spicy for my stomach. It's hurting a bit. Sipping on my sprite...

Deidra was sweet and brought me home some peanut butter cups and some gingerbread and peppermint mocha coffee creamer.

I'm trying to take it easy on myself...going to try to take some vitamins before I go to bed as well. Andy's Dad is flying in a couple of days for 5 days and he has a lot of stuff planned that he wants to do/see while he's here. State Fair, driving to Oklahoma so he can check that state off of his list, maybe San Antonio, and he wants to do some stuff in Dallas like the JFK museum. I need to get the house in order before he gets here.

Leave it to lack of sleep...

I went to bed at 10 and woke up at 1:45. Came downstairs and watched some tv. Deidra got up around 3:30. She laid with me on the couch for about a half an hour. I've been coughing my head off and just feel like I'm burning up, although I have no fever. Sweat is just rolling off of me. Anyway, at 4, I put Deidra back to bed and tried to go back to bed myself. I tossed and turned and finally fell asleep. Andy's alarm went off and he got in the shower and I figured I better get up (I'm thinking it was 6 am) as I need to get Deidra to school early so I can take the others to the sitters as I have to go to Corsicana for a meeting for the girls this morning. Andy informs me it's super early and it's only a little before 5 am. I asked him if he was planning on going in early and he says yes. I sighed and off he went. The front door opens and shuts and all of a sudden I hear feet hit the floor. Yup, all 3 of the littles wanted to be up. I deal with temper tantrums as I put them back to bed and I called Andy. He's going on and on about how every time he goes in early it's a problem. I blew up...I told him that I had been handling it fine when he warns me the night before and that usually I haven't been up half the night and just managing to get some rest again before he does this to me. He started arguing with me and I told him "well, you didn't talk to me for half the night last night, how was I supposed to know?" Come to find out he was mad at me like I thought. All over a situation that I wasn't totally comfortable with and didn't want to do this weekend the way that he wanted me to do it. I told him I see how I rate...no anniversary gift or even a card...yes dinner was nice...we had a better night than we did the day together. And then, he had told me when he gave me my birthday cards and new jammies yesterday morning that he had something else for me after he got home from work. When I asked about it last night, he said he never had a chance to go get it. So, I told him that I just wasn't really feeling like I was a real prioritiy right now. It's all about what he wants lately...he can't even make me feel special on our anniversary or my birthday and this weekend...he wants to go buy another carboy so he can brew. It takes all day. I don't know why he can't ever do some things here and there, but nope, he's brewing on an every other weekend schedule now. And I'm emotional about what's going on today, I'm hurt at how he's treated me on our anniversary and then on my birthday...add something that somebody had said to me yesterday about foster care and add the lack of sleep to it....God, help me get through this day. You know my heart and my desires. You know what is best for the girls. Please just help me get through this day smoothly and not let us run into any problems. I'm praying that I will be back in time as well to get the kids from respite and then get the girls from school and then get the girls to play therapy.

11 years...

11 years ago today, Andy and I got married! I cannot believe that it's been 11 years...wow! I got him a watch (the theme to get this year was steel). He didn't know how to adjust the band and then said "we'll take it back and it will fund dinner." That told me how much he thought of that. He didn't get me a card or a gift which kind of hurts if I'm being honest. But, since in Bible study (went this morning) we were studying to rejoice in all things, I chose to thank God that I do have a husband that loves me and that he is faithful. Then, I wanted special doughnuts from Shipley's...we rode down there and Deidra and I went in to get the doughnuts. I ate one and went to grab another and he made a comment about "you're eating another doughnut?" I put it back and then didn't talk the rest of the way home. Deidra wanted it later and I told her to eat it. Andy said "geez, I didn't tell you not to eat it...you do what you want." I decided to put the girl's pages in their scrapbooks and I had to run to Wal-mart and to Target to get more pages and came home soaking wet from the rain. The whole way home, I had to tell myself "rejoice no matter what the circumstance." I'm trying. I've been cuddling with the kiddos most of the day. We're going to Olive Garden tonight for dinner to celebrate. He did figure out how to adjust the watch band, so he is wearing it.

Woo hoo!

I get to go on a lunch date with my hubby today. No kids tagging along...just us. That hasn't happened in forever. I'm laughing at myself with how giddy I am about it. Now, off to make myself all pretty...

We're in need of some time alone so we can talk without distractions. :-)