The Cleaning

I think I am have just gotten to the point where I can almost admit full out that I am materialistic. Not materialist in the way that I want all that I see, but more on the sentimental aspect of materialistic. I have difficulty throwing things out. I know it needs to be done, but I have a hard time doing it. I'm not a complete pack-rat, but I come close when things have meaning. This becomes difficult when I live in a house with four other people. I do enjoy cleaning out an area, but it's hard to do with little hands of help always nearby and it's sometimes hard for me to figure out what to throw out and what I want to keep.

Tonight, I hit my breaking point. I knew it was coming. I had been seeing it come down the road for a number of weeks. Tonight was it's night to finally reach our house. My girls share a room. Usually, it's not a problem. Overall they play well together and bed times are too big a problem. Sometimes, it's even interesting to listen to their conversations in the dark as they rehash their days. Anyway, it was time to clean up their room. They picked up a couple of things then went back to playing, not really making any dent in the chaos of their toys. After dinner, we told them to go finish cleaning up before bath. At this point, Trinity decided to debate the true meaning of "clean". This is where it ended for me.

I went into their room and began gathering everything up. Toys, puzzles, books, crayons, coloring books, I mean everything. At this point, Trinity and Kalyn joined in putting anything in the big box. In my mind, their help made it worse. This was supposed to be punishment! In fact, they actually cheered when it was all taken out. All that's left in there is their bookshelf of books, their CDs and a few stuffed animals (in addition to their clothes, beds and dressers). By the way, this is the second time this has happened (the last one was probably 18 months ago).

So now I have the fun task of figuring out what to reintroduce to their room and what to leave out. It's all sitting in the front hallway in two boxes and one trash bag. We have a playroom downstairs, so it's not as if they have no toys at all for their entertainment. We just have the same issue that most of America has - too much stuff. I am thankful for the numbers of people who have showered us with toys, books and clothing when their kids are finished with it, we are just overwhelmed with stuff. I am seriously looking forward to a huge yard sale in the near future. Hopefully we can make some cash off our overabundance.

And that's my rant for today.

Hand in Hand

A few weeks ago, we attended a Casting Party. It was great!! This was my introduction to the art of casting. I know you're asking, so let me explain. Craig and I went to our friends' house and stuck our hands in a bucket of dental plaster to create an amazing sculpture of our hands. Sounds kind of weird I know, but the idea of having a sculpture of our hands, intertwined, seemed like something I couldn't pass up. I know that this is truly one of a kind and it can't be duplicated. Plus, it was a great opportunity to get together with some of our good friends.

Our wonderful casting party hosts - Chris and Jennifer get ready for their casting

Our first stage is done

Well, this week, we were given the final product.

I am so glad that we did it. It's a visual reminder of how Craig and I are truly one. I'm still trying to figure out the perfect place to put it in our house - Craig suggested hanging it on our front door as our door knocker, but I'm still on the search. The important thing is that I know it is so special to both Craig and me.

I Did It!!

Well today was the big test. After a few months of running on the treadmill and a few runs around Trinity's school running path, the big morning arrived. I ate the "runner's meal" of spaghetti last night and headed to bed early. The alarm went off this morning at 6 AM to give me plenty of time to eat breakfast before the race began. My wonderful husband loaded up the kids and their breakfasts and we all drove over to the mall to experience my first 5K run.

I met my running buddy (and trainer), Jen, and we got our race numbers and headed to the start line. It was cold - just below 40 degrees. It was raining - that slow, cold drizzle of a rain. But run we did. We started out near the back, where true slower runners should start. I was anticipating running for a bit then walking a little bit. We crossed the 1 mile mark and I was feeling pretty good. We got our cup of water around the 1.5 mile run and I was still feeling pretty good. We hit a little hill right around the 2 mile mark and felt great relief when we got to run back downhill. At that point, I was running on adrenaline and the possible thought that maybe I could run the whole thing. We could see the final turn into the finish line. We were so close. We crossed the 3 mile mark. We could see the finish line and made the final surge. 34 minutes!! It felt great!!

everyone's off

starting out the race

my trooper kids cheering me on in the cold and rain!!

crossing the finish line!

I truly enjoyed the run. I think it was a great combination of race-day adrenaline, knowing that I would be quite colder if I walked and the knowledge that I wasn't going to have to do a painful arm workout when I finished this run. I am looking forward to my next run!! I couldn't have done it alone. Thanks Jen for pushing me each step on the treadmills. Thanks Craig for coming out to cheer me on as we started and ended, for taking care of the kids and for simply (and greatly) braving the yucky cold and rain to be there to support me!!

Movie Outing

Friday was a teacher workday, which meant Trinity and Kalyn were out of school. I wanted to make sure that we did something fun as a family. We headed for a fun morning at Lifetime, which the kids love. It's a special treat for Trinity and Kalyn since I usually go in the mornings they are in school. Then, I checked our semi-nearby dollar theater to see what was playing and if anything was family-worthy. Thankfully Bolt was playing. It was a cute movie and the kids had a good time.

Unfortunately, Xander was not feeling well. We had to wake him up from his nap and just thought that he was a little zoned just from not getting a full nap. We were watching him closely nervous that he was having a delaying response to a fall he had taken Wednesday night. However, by the time we got home, he was back to his normal, lively self.

Family Night

I love the emergence of spring. Tuesday was a beautiful day. Just after lunch, I texted Craig with an idea for a relaxing family night. He was all in for it so I began preparing. I made cut out sugar cookies in the shape of the kids' names. I made sandwiches and gathered all the little side items.

When Craig got home, we loaded everyone in the car and headed to a nearby park. We pulled out the picnic dinner and had a great dinner.

Then we divided up and enjoyed the playground. We love our this park because there are three sections, but all right next to each other. The kids had a great time running around. Kalyn did a great job climbing up a little rock wall (we can't wait to take her to the big climbing wall at Lifetime).

After our play, it was time to head home for baths and bed. It was a great outing!

Our Home Has Been Taken Over

It's that time of year. Time to begin pulling the winter clothes our of the kids' closets and pulling down the next season's clothes from the attic. This year, I've decided to take the time to try and sell some of our clothes. We know we aren't having any more kids and we know that selling them can make a little bit of extra money for our family. So, Craig and I pulled down all the clothes from the attic. Over the years, I have tried to keep most of the clothes organized by gender, size and season. However, I also knew that we had a number of small bags of clothes of clothes that had been given us but didn't fit our kids at that season. So, my goal was to put all those clothes where they should be and then pull out the clothes that I can sell in the next few weeks. This is what ended up -

























We have a lot of clothes. Most of them were given us. Most of what we've bought was purchased at consignment sales. I've taken my first box to a resale store and made a whopping $12. I've since found out that baby clothes (which is what I took) are the clothes that they are most picky with. I'm hoping to get another box packed up to resell this week. Hopefully, I'll be a bit more productive with the following boxes.

Three Teeth Gone

Trinity has been messing with her third loose tooth for a few weeks now. Monday, it was very loose. As in she could turn it a full 90 degrees. Not the best trick at the dinner table. After she finished eating, she left the table and immediately headed to the bathroom to watch her dangling tooth. Craig offered to pull it. She did not want that.

A few moments later she returned, tooth in hand. Yes, she had pulled it out herself. I was so impressed. I don't think I ever pulled out a tooth on my own. She put it in her special tooth pillow - she was so proud. Unfortunately, the tooth fairy had a busy night and didn't get to her pillow by the time Trinity woke up the next morning. Fear not though, the fairy made it by the

time she had finished breakfast. She looks so cute with her front tooth missing. Her other one is loose and we're trying to keep her from messing with it constantly.

Hotlanta Snow

I grew up in Florida. Needless to say that snow is not a big part of my childhood memories. Any thought of snow obviously included travel. There were a few Decembers that I remember going swimming in our neighbor's pool. All that to say that any mention of the possibility of snow still gets me excited!

The weather forecasters said that we might have snow, but I was weary. They've said that before and nothing has come of it. But this time they were right!! Craig and I were working with the three years olds during our morning church service as we watched the transition from rain into snow. The kids loved watching it come down also.

We got home and immediately got some lunch. Then it was snow play time. The flakes were huge! We even had enough snow on the ground to make great snowballs which made for tons of fun snowball fights. It continued snowing the entire time we were out there. We all had a blast.

Dax was done with the snow and found a cozy place

That night, the ice got pretty bad so Trinity and Kalyn were even out of school on Monday. Unfortunately, most of the snow had melted so they were just stuck in the house. It was fun while it lasted, though!

Final Trinity's Birthday Post

We had her party. We had her family dinner. Finally it was time for her final birthday activity - the school friend playdate. Due to her illness, we had to move it, but it worked out well. The new day was scheduled for one of her short days, when she gets out of school at 11:15 instead of 2:15. Eight of her friends joined her on the bus home from school while three more came by their parent's cars. We planned a pajama party and we had a great time. It was interesting watching Trinity interact with this large group of girls. The dining room table was decorated as a big bed. They decorated socks with fun puffy paint. Trinity had all her friends even sign a pillowcase to commemorate this exciting gathering. They had fun jumping in the jumpy house. We played a game of charades. There were cookies in the shapes of Zs and stars for the girls to take home. It is always very enlightening to put faces with the names that I hear Trinity talk about during her stories of the days. She is such a social butterfly, always finding friends wherever she goes.

Belated Birthday Dinner

The Tuesday night following Trinity's party, we went out to celebrate her birthday as a family. She has wanted IHOP, so that's where we headed. We had expected a huge crowd, since is was Free Pancake day. But, we were able to get in and get out without too much of a problem. We decided to let Xander take advantage of the free pancakes and the girls took advantage of the "kids eat free with an adult entree purchase" deal. They both really enjoyed their pancake topped with strawberries, bananas and yogurt.

Following dinner, we headed to our neighborhood fire station. This was the station that responded when Trinity was born. Each year on her birthday, we visit them with a gift of our appreciation. This year, we took them a few different types of coffee. It's just a way we say "thank you" for all that they do to protect our area. It always brings an unexpected smile to their faces and is fun for us to reach out to them.

Trinity's Party

A couple of weekends ago marked the great celebration of Trinity's seventh birthday. A couple of years ago, we began splitting her parties - she has a huge Sunday school class and a lot of friends at school. Trying to put the two together is a nightmare. So, we do a family/church friends party and then a school friends girl playdate. Saturday was the party. We were nervous as the date neared as we watched Trinity to see how she was recovering from her illness and two days home from school.

We were excited to welcome our friends into this celebration. Our parties are pretty relaxed, so we had the basement open, the jumpy house inflated and and cupcakes cooked. My parents had come in from out of town on Friday night, so it was a good chance to hang out with them during the weekend. We think everyone had a great time with the party. Craig's parents arrived a bit later that afternoon so we had a good time with them as well. I was glad that even with the work schedule to plan around, they were able to make the drive over.

We took in lots of goodies that we were set to deliver to the Foster Cares Support Center after the party. After everyone left, we and another family caravaned over to the location. However, there seemed to be a miscommunication because the center was closed and there was no one nearby. But, we'll be taking another trip over there another day. It just extends the party.

We could tell that Trinity still wasn't back to 100%. After we got back home, she looked at us with very tired eyes and asked if it was naptime yet. Sleep is a good thing for her right now during her recovery.