Bright Shining Moments

Seth's Preschool Graduation-- June 9. 2011

2011-08-09T23:39:00.000-04:00

Graduation Day Cookout--Elm Street Park

Hannah's 3rd Month

2011-08-09T23:22:00.000-04:00

Our First Baby....

2011-07-25T12:47:00.000-04:00

Not to be outdone, I discovered this one day in May....

Yes, that is Doodle, our first cat in Hannah's playpen....

Hannah's 2nd Month

2011-07-25T12:42:00.000-04:00

Hannah's First Month

2011-07-18T23:56:00.000-04:00

April 16, 2011--Tornadoes in ENC

2011-07-18T23:30:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, April 16, my family huddled in our bedroom closet because of the tornado threat. Little did we know so much destruction was happening such a short distance away.

Aerial view of where I work (Greene County Middle School)

End of one of the halls--the doors were sucked off!

Our gym

Closer picture of the gym

Front of the school--this was a courtyard with a bell tower and the marquee...the bell tower is no longer there. Those long things laying on top of the building are our flag poles, they were bent at the bottom.

Our cafeteria

Our bus lot--many windows were blown out of the buses.

Propane tanks blown around in the back of the school

One of our hallways

Melissa Boyd's classroom (6th grade teacher)

Entrance to our school--the front doors were sucked off!

6th Grade Hall

GCMS Media Center--many of the books remained on the shelves and the carts! AMAZING!

I wanted more tables and chairs....just NOT this way!

Another view of the media center

Being on maternity leave during this time was a blessing and a curse. I felt very disconnected from my GCMS family, not being able to be there to help. Luckily many things were able to be salvaged and we only lost a small percentage of books from the media center.

At Home with Hannah

2011-07-05T10:58:00.000-04:00

Being at home with Hannah is very interesting. Having an older child definitely has its benefits in that your expectations are very realistic this time around. You know she is going to have a hungry cry, a sleepy cry, a my diaper is wet cry....Breastfeeding this time around has been a better experience as well, and again I resort back to knowing what to expect from having the first one. The second baby might not get all the new stuff, but I feel she is definitely in a more comfortable parenting environment.

Sporting her flower hairband

Meeting Mumsie--Hannah's great grandmother

Relaxing with Aunt Lesley

After bath

Entertained by big brother


Closeup!

The first few weeks at home were an adjustment, for sure....and I will say that I was terribly overwhelmed....I had a hard time wrapping my mind around how everything around the house was going to get done with two kids! Between being tired and knowing how much had to be done, I had to re-prioritize a lot of things...

FINALLY....Hannah's Birth Story

2011-06-20T23:11:00.000-04:00

Before Hannah's birth story, let me just say that I must apologize for not writing before now. Some things have had to 'go lacking' since her birth and my blog has been one of those things. I hate not writing, but it is difficult to put coherent thoughts together when you have had a couple of hours sleep. I am going to try and make a concerted effort to get back into blogging because it is a release for me, and a great way to share our lives with our friends and loved ones. Hannah is a joyful addition to our lives and although having 2 is a challenge as opposed to 1, it is also something we do embrace. My next several posts will be retroactive--because so much has happened in the last 3 months (which I hope you will understand the reasons behind my blogging absence).

Hannah’s Birth Story

We were to report to PCMH on March 31 between 7-7:30 for my scheduled C-section, which would actually take place around 9 a.m. We went in as scheduled and filled out the appropriate preliminaries and were put into a prep room, which of course I would not stay in since I was not using the birthing center. I received an IV and the nurse put the heart monitor on my belly so we could hear her heart while we waited. I also had some blood work done and a MRSA test (didn’t have this when Seth was born). Some time went by and there was a delay in getting back my blood work. During that time, the anesthesiologist and his team came in and talked to us about the procedure explaining the risks and what would exactly take place. They went back out and came back in with my doctor to tell me that my platelet count was very low for me to have a spinal block with my C-section. They informed me that this does happen sometimes with pregnant women and that it was important I know the risks of what could happen. One thing that could happen would be that there could be a pool of blood around my spinal column, and that I would have to have an MRI done after the procedure to determine exactly where the site was so that they could go in and drain it out (Sorry for being so graphic.). It would be another surgical procedure for me to go through. The other option would be for me to be totally ‘put under’ to have my C-Section. Rob would not be able to go in the OR with me and the anesthesia could have some effects on my newborn.

We did not know or plan for this kind of bump in the road and although it was a difficult and emotional decision to make, it was plain to me what to do. I did not feel I could endure 2 surgical procedures to bring this new life into the world, but I did not want to upset Rob by not allowing him to be in there when his daughter was born. Rob told me that he would support me in whatever decision I made, and we had to make a quick decision because the doctors had walked out for us to discuss it and they had just walked back in. I decided to be ‘put under’ to avoid running into other complications.

They began to prep me for surgery and as they wheeled me away from Rob and our parents, the tears started to flow. Rob was crying too. My nurse told me that she would be worried if I was not crying and that they had already prayed for us that morning. I thought that was very nice. Once in the OR, I gave one of the nurses my camera so that she could capture some moments that we would miss. Of course I don’t remember a lot about being in the OR, just that it was cold, I was very uncomfortable, and before I went out I felt like I was in a hole and they were piling bags on top of me. Of course, all they were doing was preparing the surgical field. My anesthesiologist was very good and he kept telling me what was happening. I also had a nurse at my head telling me what was going on.

The next thing I remember is being in recovery and my nurse bringing me Hannah. I heard her say that we wouldn’t be staying in this room, but I was still kind of out of it. I remember seeing Hannah for the first time and seeing all of her dark hair. She looked just like Seth did. She weighed 8 lbs. 8.5 oz. and was 19 ¼ inches long. Rob and our parents got to see her before I did, and here are some emotional pictures.

Our hospital stay was okay; I could not wait to get home, though. I understand that folks have to do their jobs and it means taking care of you but it seemed that each time a hospital employee exited the room, another came in. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for their care, but I got NO rest in the hospital.

Hannah seemed to be doing well, but our pediatrician told us that she tested Coombs positive, which means that there is a difference between mom and baby's blood type (it can be the A, B, AB, O major "types", the Rh+ and Rh- "types", or any number of other lesser-known blood "types"). It also means mom's body sees the baby's blood as foreign, and makes antibodies against it. Some of mom's blood and antibodies get into the baby's blood and attacks; it starts to break some of the baby's red blood cells. This also caused her to be jaundiced. We were told to take her home and put her in the sunshine and they would do several weight checks in the coming days.

I was not in the hospital long to have a C-Section…I was admitted on March 31, and I came home on April 2. I remember staying longer with Seth, probably because he was not a scheduled C-section.

That is pretty much it for Hannah’s birth story. We did encounter some bumps when we returned home, like having to go to the hospital 4 days in a row to have her heel pricked. That was not fun. She was also prescribed a biliblanket that she had to wear for about a week to get her billirubin down. The pediatricians seem to be pleased with her weight gain—she had gotten down to 7 lbs. 15 oz. when we left the hospital, but she was up to 9 lbs. after using the biliblanket.

In the sun and in the biliblanket

Pricks on her little heel

She's Here!

2011-04-07T23:07:00.000-04:00

Apologies are given for the delay in my post! Bringing home a newborn is an awesome and rewarding experience, but it is also an exhausting one! The past week has been quite a ride with a few unexpected bumps in the road, but we have plowed forward and I feel we are at a pretty good place right now. I do plan to share some of Hannah's birth story up here, but for the time being, here are some pictures of her arrival and her homecoming.

More to come!

Can't Believe IAMSOCLOSE!

2011-03-22T20:34:00.000-04:00

Bassinet assembled and ready.....check!

Swing assembled and ready.....check!

Bouncer ready......check!

Burp cloths and blankets washed and ready....check!

We are definitely becoming 'more ready' for baby girl around here. And we should be, because it is almost time....in fact, it could be ANY TIME! I was a little nervous this past weekend, when we had the Supermoon. Rob and Seth went to Washington on Saturday to work on a shelving unit for Seth's room, and I was feeling nervous because of the Supermoon and the fact that they were 30 minutes away. I had a lot of movement and pressure on Saturday, but she decided to stay put. I pulled out my pregnancy journal (that I wrote in quite frequently when I was pregnant with Seth--this time not so much) and saw that there was also a full moon around the time I was 38 weeks with him. After reading that, I figured she would stay put and I was correct. I do think I am experiencing more pressure and movement than I did with Seth at this time. I think the idea of her coming quicker and earlier this time is a strong possibility, but it's just as strong a possibility for her to stay put until our C-Section date. I have reached the point where I am uncomfortable--I can only sit on a barstool or a straightback chair. I can sit in a recliner with my feet propped up, but it takes ALOT of effort to get out of the recliner.

Her room is coming together slowly but surely. While I was home on Saturday, I completed cleaning out her closet, boxed up some stuff, and got most of the stuff off of the desk that will be moved out to make room for the crib. I also washed her crib bedding, so when it is time to set up the crib, her bedding is ready. I still have to go through some baby clothes, and bless her heart, she is set. I have 4 boxes of newborn-3 months clothes from my sister and a friend at church. Needless to say, she has a good start on clothes.

And so we wait for her arrival....when do you think she will make her appearance?

Happy Pregnant Woman, Not to Be Confused With Happy Family at Chinese Restaurants

2011-03-15T21:50:00.000-04:00

Being happy when you are pregnant is a challenge in itself. I have been fortunate to have had 2 good pregnancies without significant complications. I have experienced some bumps in the road such as leg cramps, sciatica, stretch marks, to name a few. I have tried to maintain a positive outlook through both of the pregnancies regardless of the comments ~~uncouth~~, ~~unmannered~~ people make. Ahem, see below....

Co-Worker #1--"Wow, your roots are really dark!"

I do color my hair. I don't try to hide it. I get highlights done every 5 weeks or so. As part of my prenatal care, I take prenatal vitamins, which accelerate the growth of my hair and my nails, so it does not take long for my roots to get dark. Now, this is not something you want to point out to a pregnant woman. I know that my roots are dark, I don't need to be told. I guess some folks don't have anything better to say than the obvious.

Co-Worker #2--"You have really popped out there!'"

I do have another human growing inside of me. With this current pregnancy, I lost 15 lbs. before I got pregnant in an effort to keep my weight gain down. Seth was a large baby--10 lbs. 6 oz. and I wanted to try and avoid a 10 pounder this time. I really did not start showing alot until January. I do have to say that my stomach has grown quite much in the last 6-8 weeks, and I realize that. I do not have to be told, but obviously some folks believe I need to be reminded.

My Mama--"Do you think you will get as big as you were with Seth?"

Me--"I hope it doesn't happen."

My Daddy--"You are not far away!"

Yes, my own Daddy. I am smiling all through this because I aim to be a happy pregnant woman, not one who wears her emotions or hormones on her sleeve. Not one who keeps a chip on her shoulder and uses a pregnancy as a crutch or an excuse to be ill or unhappy. Not one to snap someone's head off just because they do not tell me I am glowing.

Seth--"Wow mommy, your belly is really big. How many more days until the baby comes out?"

Sooner than later buddy, sooner than later.

35 Weeks....

2011-03-03T22:27:00.001-05:00

This pregnancy has gone so fast this time. I sent Rob an email this week and told him that we were starting to 'hatch' at school. I say that because last week there were 6 teachers at our school who were pregnant. One had her baby on Tuesday and she was due March 10. Mrs. G. is due on March 6, I am scheduled on March 31 (my actual due date was April 3), we have another teacher due the first week in May, and one due in June, and one in August. Mrs. C. started off this fertile period in October when she had her baby. Needless to say, this school year has been most interesting with all these co-workers being able to go through pregnancy together. It has been eye opening watching the "first-timers" go through it along with me. Sometimes they have come to ask me questions about their experiences and it is great to be able to commiserate and rejoice with one another.

This baby girl has gotten bigger and stronger in recent weeks. Last night, I tried laying on my right side for a while and she did NOT like it at all. She kicked and rolled across my belly several times, so I moved to make her happy, because I was starting to feel like a dirty rug that was being beat. I have started to have some aching in my pelvic area when I sit for long periods as well as some pressure. She is pushing on the internal wall of my stomach ALOT and causing me to have some significant Braxton Hicks contractions.

We got a new carseat and stroller this past weekend. My friends at church also threw me a "sprinkle." I wouldn't let them call it a shower, because I didn't feel I needed that much. Apparently several church members thought differently and blessed us with a lot of pink stuff!

We are looking forward to doing more baby stuff this weekend. The bassinet and the swing are coming down from the attic and we are going to be working on cleaning off the desk in the front bedroom so that we can get the crib down. Now if I can only get this laundry pile to shrink....yeah, right!

Karate Kid

2011-02-19T17:01:00.000-05:00

We recently enrolled Seth at the Charles June Karate Institute.

We are hoping to utilize their after-school program when Seth begins Kindergarten in the fall. He is currently enrolled in the Little Dragons program, and it is a great class full of little boys and girls exerting their energy.

Sometimes though, when students do not want to cooperate and pay attention, Sensei Michelle will sit them out and/or make them do extra push-ups. Seth has had to do this many times, but we do know that he is getting something out of this class. He goes around the house chanting and showing off his karate moves. At the end of each class, he gets a dragon stamp on his foot if he has done a good job. I look forward to him wanting to test for a different level--we are not there yet, but we are working towards that.

32 Weeks

2011-02-08T22:33:00.001-05:00

Good grief, I can't believe we are at this point in the pregnancy! Time is just moving so much faster this time. My belly seemed to have popped out after Christmas--all that good cooking--and I have continued to 'blossom' as a co-worker put it recently! I guess it is time for that to happen considering I am about 7 weeks or so (I hope) from delivery.

Baby girl is moving a lot more these days....her movements have progressed from little flutters to strong punches and kicks. She is especially active early in the morning and at night. We do not have a name yet, but we are working on it. We hope to get the car seat, the bassinet, the bouncer, and the swing from the attic either this weekend or next. We continue to work on the front bedroom, little by little in order to get it looking like a baby's room--it's just tough to give up space you have become so used to! Enter creative storage solutions. I feel like I am in full nesting mode, I just do not have the energy to 'nest' like I want to! I am not too worried though because I know it will all fall into place.

4D Look at Baby Girl

2011-01-23T21:46:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday, we got to look at our baby girl through the 4-D ultrasound. She was not very cooperative, I am sorry to say and insisted upon keeping her hands up around her face most of the time. She currently weighs 3.5 lbs. and based on her growth is in the 59th percentile. Here are some pictures!

We are looking forward to meeting her in person and cannot believe she will be here so soon! Only 10 weeks to go!

Time Acceleration....

2011-01-08T23:07:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone! Time is moving way too fast! I can't believe that I am almost 28 weeks pregnant! The baby will be here very soon....and I am not too stressed about things. Since we have been down this road before, I feel like things will go pretty smoothly. I had another ultrasound yesterday after my glucose tolerance test. This ultrasound was to mainly see if my placenta had moved because it had been low-lying early on in the pregnancy. We got good news--it had moved and the baby's head is down...so that is GOOD! She is measuring right on target and has a strong heartbeat. The ultrasound tech even took some 4-D shots so that we would have a good facial picture of her in case she did not want to cooperate when we had our 4-D ultrasound. She did have her hand over her eyes in a couple of the pictures.


Profile Picture


Hand over her eyes, but you can clearly see her mouth is open!


Closeup where you can her eyes, nose, and mouth.....this looks a lot like Seth's 4D ultrasound picture.


I did not know what I was looking at here, but the U/S tech said that she has a thin layer of hair already on her head.

We hope to have some more pictures to show as we go for our 4D ultrasound in a couple of weeks. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and well-wishes!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2010-12-26T01:00:00.000-05:00

It seems we have been Christmasing since the beginning of December. We recently enjoyed a crazy gift exchange with my dad's family and had Christmas this past week at Rob's parents' house and at my parents' house. We are so blessed to have our families close by and schedules that warrant everyone getting together and celebrating the reason for the season! Here are some pictures from the festivities!

Roberson Family Christmas--Crazy Gift Exchange


Aunt Nette drew first!


Katie and Brent work on their strategy!

Jeffrey can't believe his gift!

Seth opening one!

Aunt Nette helping Mumsie open her gift from Brent and Katie

Katie and Brent 'model' their tacky Christmas sweaters borrowed from my mom (They have a party to attend.)


Guests leaving in the snow (just like in the movies!)

Bright Family Christmas

Margaret and Seth pose in front of the tree

An ECU Market Tote from Brian, Jacque, & Margaret

Seth and Margaret help Jacque unwrap a gift

Seth's 1st Spiderman toboggan (he got 2!)

Playing the Tinkertoy can like a drum

Looking at the photo calendar with Papa Paul and Grammie

Roberson Family Christmas #2

Cousins in front of the tree

Seth talking with Mumsie

Spiderman Toothbrushes and Toothpaste!

Seth's traditional ornament from Mama Jane and Papa Gene

Askew Family opening gifts

Our traditional Christmas ornament from Mama and Daddy

Helping Papa Gene open his gifts

Lesley opening gifts from us

Mama Jane shows off her R plate

Carson and Caitlyn show off their Scrabble Slam game


Seth making sure Mama Jane has the camera right for the family photo (which I will post later). Our Little Family Christmas Here's hoping your Christmas was as blessed as ours was!

Our Manger Scene....a Child's Perception

2010-12-10T17:24:00.000-05:00

We recently decorated our house on the inside for Christmas....we haven't gotten all of the outside done due to the frigid temperature and not being home. As Seth gets older each year, his interest peaks in the decorations, recognizing symbols and characters associated with the Christmas tradition. This year, he has shown a lot of interest in our manger scene. We have had to caution him about "playing" with the manger scene because he thinks the figures are like his plastic animals and action figures. The other night after he went to bed, I found this....

Yes, that is a lion and a squishy frog visiting Baby Jesus. The lion has been put back in the toy box but the frog continues to visit daily. I decided to take a picture of this because I figured it would make for a great memory down the road and who knows? Maybe a great Christmas card picture.... Merry Christmas to you!

Five Years Ago Today.....

2010-11-28T17:32:00.000-05:00

Our lives changed forever....and in a wonderful way. We were blessed with a great little man. I can't believe how quickly those five years have passed!

I never knew how much energy you would have and continue to have...you have kept us on our toes these last five years!

You continue to amaze us and teach us every day. Thank you for being the blessing that you are.
Happy 5th Birthday Seth! We love you very much!

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

2010-11-24T22:38:00.000-05:00

We are truly thankful for all the blessings in our lives!

Seth and his friend Abby at their school's Thanksgiving feast!

Time for a New Post....

2010-11-24T22:34:00.000-05:00

Ughhh.....I think apologizing for not posting is a little late at this point, but I do have a few days off away from school, so I will use it to my advantage. Here lately, my weekends have often felt like work--not that they are any different from anyone else's, but we have been busy with things like.....soccer.

And other things, like birthday parties....Rob celebrated 40 years in October and it seems like we have had many birthday parties to attend on recent weekends--especially Seth's friends.

Here is another good one of Rob's 40th along with his appropriate gifts--denture cleanser, prune juice, senior vitamins and a notebook to remind him where he parked his car--courtesy of Joe!

And we had Trunk or Treat at church the Wednesday before Halloween. We as a family decided to be the Cat in the Hat (Rob), Thing 1 (Seth) and Thing 2 (me).

This is really A LOT more thrown together than it looks....makeup and white felt with black puffy paint can do a whole lot for a costume!

And then we had Halloween, where we went over to the Jetts' annual Halloween get together. They have a great neighborhood for trick-or-treating (ours is pretty good, too) because so many people decorate their houses and yards.

My pregnancy is going well, and I do have some more ultrasound photos to post, although I have not scanned them in yet--maybe I can add that to my list for Friday! :-) We are having a little girl, for those of you who don't know. Seth is excited as are we. It seems a little tougher this time to get into new baby mode. There is a lot to be done and I continue to put it off, and BOOM here we are at 21 weeks. I keep telling myself things will fall into place, and I know they will with the help of friends, family, and especially GRANDPARENTS! I continue to be tired, but nothing like I was. As long as I continue to move, I do pretty well. It's the sitting still that gets me.
We did have a family photo done a few weeks ago that we plan on using for our Christmas card this year. This actually accomplished 2 things--the Christmas card and a family picture before the baby comes. Some childhood friends of mine did the picture shoot and they do a great job--Sister Snaps Photography . Here is one of our favorite shots:

Rob and I recently celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. We shipped Seth off to my parents' for the weekend and went to Raleigh for the day to enjoy ourselves--Christmas shopping, Carrabbas', Aunt Anne's cinnamon sugar pretzels, decaf pumpkin spice latte (me) and hot chocolate (Rob). It was a nice, although tiring, day!

Changes.....They Are A Coming.....

2010-10-25T17:43:00.000-04:00

Fall Question Fest!

2010-09-23T21:07:00.002-04:00

My friend, Katherine tagged me in this Fall question fest. I love fall, so I felt compelled to participate---maybe if I participate it will FEEL more like fall.

Do you like Starbucks? And are you a fan of their seasonal coffees?
I do like Starbucks. I am a fan of their seasonal coffees.....the Pumpkin Spice Latte and the Peppermint Mocha are great. I am also a fan of their Caramel Macchiato and their Chai Latte. I don’t like the facts that they are so expensive and they do not want to serve a small size drink anymore.

How do you decorate and prepare for Fall?
We put out some Halloween decorations around the house and we always get a few pumpkins for our porch. I hang a scarecrow on the front door and we have a few wooden stick figures we stick in a hay bale in our yard. I love sunflowers and have a silk arrangement on my kitchen table.

Will you participate in your college's homecoming activities?
Probably not. I know, I am a party pooper. Go Pirates!

What is your favorite Fall clothing item or accessory?
My Dansko shoes.

What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid?
I don’t know if it was my favorite, but I can remember my mama dressing me like a little dutch girl complete with wooden shoes and braids.

Do you like Halloween/Horror movies? Do you have a favorite?
No I do not....I do like a good mystery though.

What is your favorite Fall Activity?
I do enjoy being outside during the fall. I look forward to spending some time on my screened in porch!

What is your favorite Fall recipe?
Anything with sweet potatoes or pumpkin in it.

And then she added eight more quickie questions, and here they are:

What movie coming out soon are you looking forward to seeing?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

What will you miss most about Summer?
Me time! And time spent at home.

When do you start your holiday shopping?
During the summer

Favorite exercise/activity?
I enjoy walking, I just wish I had more energy to do it!

Best book you've read lately?
The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews

Do you make your bed every day?
If I don’t, Rob does.

If you could choose a personal chef or a personal shopper, which would you choose?
Personal Chef!

Which TV show are you most excited for this Fall?
Dancing with the Stars, Glee, and Modern Family

I need to tag some folks to complete this as well, but don't feel any pressure to....it's all in good fun! Please let me know if you choose to participate!

Julie
Katie
Angel
Reiko
LeighAnn
Heather/Whitney
Lauren

Busy Times Make for Busy Lives

2010-09-14T21:20:00.000-04:00

Yikes, I can't believe it's been so long since I have posted. Let's see, school has started and we have gotten over the hump and back into the routine.....that's the hardest part, you know! Seth is getting along well in his Pre-K class and has taken up a new interest in drawing. All of a sudden, I see all these stick figures all over my refrigerator. Seth has also had a recent bout of swimmer's ear....from the bathtub...yes you read that right. Seth has had 2 sets of tubes and has one remaining tube in one of his ears. We still put earplugs in his ears for bath and swimming. One night, the earplug fell out when we were washing his hair, and water got into his ear. It was still hurting him the next morning so off to the doctor we went. Soccer season is starting and Rob is planning to coach Seth's team again. I think soccer will be more meaningful for Seth this year, with him being a little older. Maybe not so much rolling on the ground and hitting teammates.

I know this post is all over the place, but I would like to put in a prayer request for my best friend, Tammy Curtis. Tammy suffers from kidney failure and has been on dialysis for a year. For some reason her blood is still not being cleaned as it should be. This causes her hemoglobin to go down, she becomes very tired, and she has to get blood transfusions every so often. The doctors are unsure as to why this is happening, but are willing to take some steps to find out. Tammy is having her spleen removed tomorrow. She has been told that her spleen is enlarged and it is causing her some pain. We are hoping and praying that this will help the issue of her hemoglobin going down. Please, please say a prayer for Tammy and her family tomorrow.

Janet, Me, and Tammy (August 2010)

Seth's First Day of Pre-K

2010-08-29T23:15:00.000-04:00

Aunt Glenda's Spaghetti Sauce

2010-08-15T18:30:00.000-04:00

We have enjoyed Aunt Glenda's spaghetti sauce recipe for the last 25 years during our family vacations at the beach. Everyone always looked forward to spaghetti night, when we would enjoy that flavorful sauce on angelhair pasta along with garlic bread and salad. My mouth waters to just think about it. In recent years, Aunt Glenda passed along the spaghetti night responsibility to me and I have worked to make the sauce as good as hers. Last week, I fixed up a batch to store in the freezer so that I could have some easy meals upon going back to school. Many people have requested this recipe, so I will share it with you now.

It is not as homemade as you might think, but it is GOOD. Here are the ingredients:

1 large bell pepper
1 large onion
2.5-3 lbs. ground chuck
olive oil
2 large jars of spaghetti sauce
1 can tomato puree (tomato paste diluted with water if difficult to locate puree)
1 large can sliced mushrooms (drained)
Romano/Parmesan grated cheese (green bottle)
Salt to taste
3/4 cups sugar

Chop up bell pepper and onion. Saute chopped pepper and onion in small amount of olive oil until tender--I usually cook them until they are a little brown around the edges.

Add ground chuck and brown it with the peppers and onions. Drain this mixture and salt it well on top. Add mixture to crockpot/regular pot and pour 1/2 bottle of the romano/parmesan cheese onto the meat. Add the mushrooms. Coat the meat with the cheese and mushrooms.

Pour in jars of spaghetti sauce and add puree or paste mixture. Stir this all together.

If it is too thick, add some water to it--it is not supposed to be very thick. Add 3/4 cup of sugar to the mixture. Put on low and add salt or sugar to taste. Be sure to watch it so that it doesn't stick. If I am cooking it in the crock pot, I will cook it about 8 hours on low.

We usually make 4-6 meals off of this pot of spaghetti sauce depending on if we are having guests. I also try to get mileage out of it as hot dog chili--it's wonderful on hot dogs! If you try it, let me know how you like it! Bon Appetit! And thank you Aunt Glenda!

A Day at the Museum

2010-08-07T23:20:00.001-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, we joined my parents, my sister, and her twins on an excursion to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh.

We had a fun time and the museum does a great service in representing our state. I think the last time I went was when I was a senate page in high school. We had several funny moments that day, but two are really blogworthy. We sat in a movie at the museum about space and in an effort to get Seth to sit still and be quiet, I told him to look for Buzz Lightyear in the movie. The movie was actually AWFUL, and we left early. Seth was upset because he had not seen Buzz Lightyear yet.

Right before we left the museum, we sat through the alligator presentation. Seth was still bummed about the space movie until the presenter brought out the real alligators. At the end of the presentation, Seth got UPSET because we would not BUY him a pet alligator. We are talking serious meltdown--a very, very tired little boy. (For those of you who do not know, Seth still takes 1 hour- 1 hour and a half naps....and we had sailed through his naptime that day.) We left the museum to return home at around 3:30 and Seth was OUT by the time we passed Wake Med.

New Normal

2010-07-26T22:27:00.000-04:00

As I begin this post, let me just say that many folks will probably think I am looney to continue to write about my cats. These cats have been with us for a long time and they are part of our family. Maybe not as important as Seth, but still important.

It has been interesting getting used to Roxie not being here with us. Every night when we get ready to go to bed, she has always been lying on our bed, waiting for us. Rob said the other night that he misses her being on his clothes. It never failed that if Rob had a shirt on the bed that Roxie was lying on it. I think it was her way of being that much closer to us.

Doodle and Jack are missing Roxie as well. Jack has been around us a lot more than he usually is and he and Doodle are actually getting along. Doodle has always had issues with Jack from the time he came to live with us. Roxie was kind of like the mediator--she got along with Doodle and she got along with Jack.
Seth has asked about Roxie a few times. He is still quite young to understand that she is buried in the back yard. He keeps asking if she is coming back. We tell him that she has gone to kitty heaven and that she is not hurting anymore. That seems to appease him for that moment but I think that he still misses her.
It is so odd to get up in the morning and not get a request from Roxie to go outside on the porch. She loved to sit on the couch out there to watch the birds and just enjoy being outside. Whenever we got ready to go to work, we almost had to fuss at her to get her to come back into the house!
We are adjusting (although it is NOT easy) and I am very thankful for the memories we have with our pets. Hug yours today!

Roxie

2010-07-23T10:34:00.000-04:00

I may be posting this too soon. My emotions are still pretty raw. So excuse me if this post gets wrinkled with snot and tears. A cat is just a kid with fur.

We got Roxie in January 2001. Rob's mom picked her up off the side of the road at her workplace. She was a full grown kitty and looked a lot like our first feline child, Doodle except that she did not have white on her face.

We believe Roxie was abused before she came to live with us. She was very skittish of us in the beginning and would hide under the bed all the time. She would swallow her food without chewing it and this would cause her to regurgitate it a lot of the time. We tried several things to help her with this problem--surgery, different foods, feeding her separately from the other cats, but nothing really ever solved this problem. We called her our "special needs" kitty.

Roxie became more loving towards us when we moved into this TINY 2 bedroom apartment while we were looking for a house in late 2002. She was forced to live in a very small space with two humans and two other cats. She learned to be a little more sociable.

Roxie had this amazing purr. It was so LOUD. At times she would sound like a car motor idling. It was just a good feeling in the morning to be awoken by her at my side with that motor running.

This past Monday, I noticed a change in Roxie. She had been sitting in our windowsill and had not moved. Usually, she is an avid bird watcher and that day she had a very blank expression--it was like she was not even seeing the birds.

I picked her up to move her and I felt this lump on her right side that was not on her left. She did not want to do anything but lie down. We took her to the vet on Tuesday and found out she had lost 4 lbs. since April. Through an x-ray, we could see that she had a mass in her lungs and an abnormal bulge in her liver.

We decided to bring her home for a couple more days so that Seth could spend time with her. Roxie is a cat who has always kept to herself during the day...it was never unusual for her to hide out underneath the bed until late afternoon. What is so interesting is that she did not emerge these past couple of days until after Seth had gone to bed. I think Seth had too much energy for her.

We took her to the vet this morning to have her put to sleep. She lived out her last hours doing what she loved best--going into the garage, going out on the porch, laying on the trunk at the end of our bed, and spending some time with Jack, our third feline child. She was very weak and she went quickly this morning.

Rest in peace my feline child.

I Don't Have a Green Thumb, But Mother Nature Is Smiling On Me!

2010-07-18T21:43:00.000-04:00

I do not have a green thumb. In fact, I have killed an aloe plant before. :-( I don't think that I inherited any of my daddy's horticulture loving genes. This summer though, I (pardon the pun) turned over a new leaf.

This is my Lantana. Daddy planted it for me last year in this pot and suggested that I move it to a bed in the backyard last fall. I didn't do it and I really thought it had died especially with our terribly cold winner. Guess what? In May, it started to sprout new growth and this is what it looked like last week. I think I will get brave and divide this in the fall because I want to put some near our mailbox. I do not have a green thumb--I just water this at least once a day and fertilize it 2-3 times a week.

This is my pink geranium that I won as a door prize at a spring ADK meeting. My initial thought honestly was, "Oh great...something that will die on my porch this summer!" It has lived since April when I brought it home. Although it has a few blooms on it here, it has had many more and has been very full of blooms at least twice. You may notice the new growth on it that will bloom in the next week or two. My daddy raised tons of these in his greenhouse when he was an agriculture teacher, so I have seen him care for these. I hesitate to say that I have killed one of these before. I am making a good effort with this one and I hope that I can continue.

Also, you may remember this post where I talked about my Topsy Turvy growers. I have since pulled about 7 more cucumbers from the vine. I really don't think it should be marketed as a tomato grower--we have not had a lot of luck with tomotoes, but it could be the hot, dry weather that we have been experiencing.

I swear I do not have a green thumb, but this new leaf has inspired me with hope for next year. I would like to grow some green peppers and some squash. I also want to try my hand at some sunflowers.

What I Have Been Reading....

2010-07-07T22:58:00.000-04:00

I have been able to read some this summer...here are some titles I have recently completed.

The Shack by William Young

I recently picked this book back up after abandoning it about 3 months ago. Yes, my students--you read that right, Mrs. Bright ABANDONED a book. I did go back to it though and that is very important. This book got a little weird about midway, but it mixes tragedy and faith in a very interesting story. Many people are blown away by this book, but me not so much. I feel that I am pretty strong in my faith and that may be the reason why. It still is an interesting read and it puts a different spin on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews

A Washington lobbyist caught in a political scam tries to escape the public eye by journeying to small town Georgia to "fix-up" a house that was left to her father. Dempsey Killebrew learns how to restore this house while at the same time trying to avoid the FBI, learning how to live in a small town after living in metropolitan DC, and juggling the southern hospitality suitors seem to throw her way. Mary Kay Andrews does not disappoint with this selection and this is a great read if you are a fan of southern fiction....it really left me wanting more!

Two Little Girls in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark

I must be honest and tell you that I have not read a Mary Higgins Clark book in a long time. I went through a period several years ago when I could not get enough of them and then I got tired of them because they became so predictable. Mary Higgins Clark is a wonderful mystery writer, but I guess when that is all you read, you get burned out on it. I selected this title out of our professional book room at school. It is one of her more recent titles and I thought it was a good read. I saw that it was about twin girls, so I thought I could make a connection since I have twin nieces. In this book, the three year old twins have just celebrated their 3rd birthday. Their parents have gone on a date and the twins' baby sitter is drugged by an intruder who kidnaps the twins. The kidnappers demand a ransom and the twins' father's company comes through with it. The initial plan is for both girls to be left in a locked car to be rescued. One of the kidnappers does not go along with the plan and only one twin is returned to her parents. I do have to say that Mary Higgins Clark has not lost the magnetism that she uses to keep you reading. I went through this book in about 3 days. It did help that the chapters were short. This would be a great beach book or a good quick read.

I am working on The House on the Gulf right now by Margaret Peterson Haddix (a young adult title from my school library), and I plan on beginning The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks in the next week or so. What book suggestions do you have?

**Images courtesy of Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Annual Roberson Family Beach Trip 2010

2010-07-01T22:19:00.000-04:00

Our 2nd Row Beach House, AlwaysNSeason

I think this is our 3rd year in this house.

Papa Gene showing Seth how to cast

Seth and Rob enjoying the ocean

Thanks Uncle Johnny for setting up this tent!

Cousin Katie and Cuz-in-law Brent

Seth floating around with Carson and Caitlyn

Brent and Lesley

Helping Cousin Jeffrey create a sand creature....what is it?

An octopus!

The Askew Family

Uncle Johnny and Aunt Nette

Cousin Jeffrey and Mumsie working on a crossword puzzle

Mama Jane and her grands 'farming'

The Bright Family

The kids buried Rob's legs in the sand

Seth following in his family's footsteps and their love to fish

A wonderful week was had by all, and of course it was the fastest week of the year!

Rain Dance

2010-06-29T14:20:00.000-04:00

We are t minus 9 days without rain. You may say that is not too bad, but when the temperatures are in the upper 90s and the low 100s it is bad. In fact, it is sweltering! We recently returned from our annual family vacation to the beach and found that our grass looked as if it had been burned. Luckily we have wonderful neighbors who looked after our vegetables and plants. Otherwise, I think our whole yard would be a dry, putrid, brown color. So we are doing a rain dance, along with a lot of people here on the east coast. We have a 30% chance of rain today and a 50% chance tomorrow. As I sit here typing, I see approaching cloud cover and the radar says pop-up thunderstorms are forecast for this afternoon. I pray that these thunderstorms hold a lot of rain that can quench our suffering yards and crops.

Beach trip summary and pictures to come soon!

Veggie Tales

2010-06-18T08:37:00.000-04:00

Back in May, we bought 2 Topsy Turvy planters and planted tomatoes in one and cucumbers in the other. I had done some research on these prior to purchase, and we saw that we could grow something besides tomatoes in them, so we decided to give it a try. They were not difficult to assemble, but are a little easier if you have two people. We first hung them both on our shepherd's hook in the back yard, but the vines quickly grew to the point where they were brushing the ground, so we had to make other arrangements. Our neighbor suggested that we hang them from the swing set, so we tried that next.

I apologize for the quality of this picture, but you get the idea. This is our tomato Topsy Turvy. It is really amazing how quickly vegetables grow with this thing. I have never had a garden, but the website says that vegetables are ready 4 weeks earlier compared to growing them in your garden. It just seemed like one of the cucumbers would grow overnight, especially when a decent rain passed through (not often).

Our first tomatoes started to appear before we moved the vines to the swing set. This was very exciting, and of course Seth wanted to pick them immediately. One thing about the Topsy Turvy is that you need to water it ALOT. We have had a few 90 degree plus days recently and we have watered the plants in the morning and late in the afternoon. Because the Topsy Turvy is not in the ground, it does not hold moisture for long. Here are a few more pictures of the tomato and cucumber vines before the first crop was picked.

And here is our successful crop. So far we have gotten 3 cucumbers and 1 tomato, but we feel it is early yet. We are looking forward to enjoying the fruits of our labor, and saving a little bit of money on summer vegetables. Who knows, next year we may try some peppers and squash!

Returning to the Blogosphere

2010-06-12T23:13:00.000-04:00

I am back I hope, at least for the summer time. School has been really demanding this spring (with testing, retesting, library inventory, and computer collection) and I have not had the time to post here like I have wanted to--hence the 2 month hiatus. We are all doing well and we are glad that the warmer months are here. Here is a recent picture of Seth 'fishing' with Papa Gene in his backyard:

Whenever Seth would stand up in the boat, Papa Gene would rock the boat a little and tell Seth they were getting into rough waters, so he needed to sit down. This kind of reminded me of the time the twins wanted to ride the animal ride outside of WalMart. My daddy and I placed both girls on the horse and my daddy proceeded to shake the animal to simulate the girls riding the animal. No coins were ever deposited into the machine to make it move.

Back during Easter break, I started Weight Watchers. I have lost 10 lbs.! I can really tell the difference in the waists of pants, shorts, and skirts! I am wearing my belts as tight as I can wear them and I have had to dig out clothes that I have not worn in a few years. It is exciting to be able to achieve this and to know that I CAN do it. Losing weight is HARD. I have learned to cut back and make healthier choices when it comes to eating. Portion control is key and I have learned not to eat to feel full, but eat to be satisfied. There is a difference.

We recently got a new car. We were due one....Rob was driving my 1996 green Geo Prizm that he had to enter from the passenger side. It was time for one. We got a 2011 Gray Toyota Camry.

I will be driving the Camry and Rob will be driving the Highlander. Rob is happy about driving the Highlander. I am having to adjust because I am so used to sitting up higher. Now when I go to a drive-thru, I have to reach up, whereas in the Highlander, I just reached across because I was level with the drive thru. Now, I sit down low. It's a great car, though. Gas mileage is wonderful....I can go a whole week and not have to fill up but one time.

Recently, our friends, Nathan and Katie McAnally visited Greenville for a photo shoot and they were able to join our Young Adult group for supper. We had a great time with them and were glad they were able to join us to make it feel a little like 'old times.'

That is all for now...I will write more soon, I promise!

Easter Week

2010-04-11T21:53:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures from the past two weeks....we have slowed down a little!

Enjoying a chocolate milkshake with Grammie!

Easter goodies from Mama Jane and Papa Gene!

Easter ~~Bunnies~~ Turkeys! My daddy set up these turkey decoys in their backyard after a flock of turkeys started visiting....

Scootering down the dirt road....check out Seth's new orange crocs from Mama Jane and Papa Gene!

Seth helping Papa Gene transfer some minnows!

Relaxing with Papa Gene in the swing!

Seth's loot from the rabbit--bubbles, ball & glove, Toy Story Buddy Pack, Toy Story egg, and 2 orange t-shirts!

Biking with Papa Gene and the cousins!

A great Easter week! Now it's back to school with 45 working days left until summer vacation!

Happy Birthday to the Twins!

2010-04-11T17:17:00.000-04:00

On March 13, we traveled to Deadwood in Bear Grass, NC to celebrate our nieces' 9th birthdays.

The twins wanted Super Mario Brothers as their party theme. Who would have thought that a video game character from over 15 years ago would be a party theme option today?

Mama Jane got the twins coordinating shirts for the occasion.

The guests of honor, Carson and Caitlyn--I can't believe they are already 9 years old!

What a pretty cake...the lady who fixed the cake has done so for the twins for the past 9 years--she says that the cake is her gift to them!

Seth got to play a classic video game--Ms. Pac-Man!

Present Time!

Carson on the train....I have not been to Deadwood since they have added the train and the roller coaster....it's a regular amusement park complete with miniature golf and of course the restaurant.

Seth and me on the train

Rob and Seth on the roller coaster--this was a pretty good ride for Martin County, I have to say. It was really jerky and it was not the calmest roller coaster I have ridden. Seth LOVED it...he had already ridden with me before he rode with Rob, and he would have gone again if he had not used most of his tickets!

Caitlyn playing putt-putt--the golf course has been at Deadwood since it opened...and it is quite a challenging little course. Deadwood is a great place to have a birthday party--good food, fun, and fellowship!

Marvin & April's Wedding

2010-04-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

There has been this little thing called life that has kept me from writing on my blog lately...but I hope to catch up seeing that it is now spring break, so bear with me!

On March 6, a childhood friend of Rob's got married in Aiken, SC. We journeyed down to be a part of this great event!

April & Marvin at the Rehearsal

Neat table decoration at the rehearsal dinner

Seth, Margaret, and Bridget (Marvin's niece)

Rob and Seth after the ceremony (all the groomsmen wore red Chuck Taylors)

The beautiful cake!

Part of the candy buffet!

The happy couple dances with Bridget!

We had a wonderful time at the Barnetts' wedding and reception. The reception was like none we had ever been part of--it was set up like a carnival/county fair. They had a cotton candy machine, popcorn, and they served hot dogs and hamburgers! We had a lot of fun and we wish Marvin and April best wishes as they begin their new life together. Thank you for letting us be a part of your celebration!

Jonah's 1st Birthday

2010-03-16T22:26:00.011-04:00

During the last weekend in February, we set out for Winston-Salem to help celebrate this little man's special 1st birthday!

And oh, what a special day it was!

It was a carnival of monumental proportions.....

complete with games, animals, facepainting...

and the cake...oh the cake...was a true work of art....

and the anticipation was great...

big breath mommy......

getting to see friends you don't get to see enough...

getting to meet Matt's Aunt Katherine and his Uncle Chris....

to be around so many people who have prayed for Jonah

(and continue to pray for him)....

AMAZING....

Bad Blogger

2010-03-15T23:17:00.000-04:00

It has been almost a month since I have done a blog entry. I have been a bad blogger. I will be updating soon though, and you will be able to see what has been keeping us so busy! I am looking forward to staying home this upcoming weekend after being on the road for the past three!

Jonah's EB Auction SNEAK PEEKS

2010-02-20T16:52:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to let you that Jonah's EB Auction sneak peeks are up NOW. Head on over there to see what will be up for bids beginning this Tuesday, February 23 at midnight. Katie has done a phenomenal job in putting this together. Let's hope that it raises a lot of money to support DEBRA in honor of Jonah's 1st birthday!

Online Class

2010-02-16T22:14:00.000-05:00

I am presently taking my first online class. It is a Web 2.0 class that is supposed to be helpful with learning about web tools such as blogs (woohoo), wikis, photo sharing, and other tricks to use in a school setting. They have given us a lot of links to explore so far and I have found a few tricks that I want to try with my blog, so be looking for those soon! An online class is tricky in that you must discipline yourself to check the site regularly and make sure your assignments and tasks are in at the precise time. It is very interesting and although it is right much work, I embrace the fact that I can sit on the couch with my PJs on and "attend class."

I am a wuss and I know it. I am not going to attempt the South Beach Diet right now. I feel that it is quite restrictive, and although it is the "quick" way to drop some pounds, I don't want to shock my system so much. I am talking to a few people about doing Weight Watchers, so I will see how that goes. As always, any insight is appreciated as I begin this journey.

A New Quest

2010-02-06T22:10:00.000-05:00

I recently went to the doctor for a physical and it's no joke that I have gained some weight. When Seth was born, I weighed the most I had ever weighed--I gained 49 lbs. with him. But I ate pretty much what I wanted to. I was able to lose much of that baby weight, even getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight. But that was 4 years ago and I am older now and my metabolism has slowed even more. Okay so that is not an excuse for me liking food.

My new quest is to lose some weight. I would like to lose 15-20 lbs. But even 10 would be great! I talked to the doctor about it and he said that a good, healthy diet was the South Beach Diet. Have any of you tried it? I had heard of it but I did not know what it involved. I came home from the doctor and started researching. Short and dirty version is no carbs or sugars. The diet is made up of 3 phases with Phase 1 being the most restrictive. Phase 1 lasts 2 weeks and is basically a detoxification of carbs and sugars from your body. If you can reach Phase 2--yes I said that---you can begin to add whole grains back into the diet slowly. I haven't looked at Phase 3 yet.

http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/south-beach-diet.jpg

I decided to do a test run of this diet today. I made my first error not eating breakfast or lunch, but eating brunch at around 10:45. I had an egg casserole with bacon, tomato, onion, and cheese from Cracker Barrel along with unsweet (blasphemy) tea. Thank GOD for Splenda. I made it until about 2:00, when I started having a hunger pain, so I grabbed some dry roasted peanuts, some lowfat cheddar cheese squares, and a glass of V-8.   This, along with 2 glasses of water was helpful until supper.

I forgot to mention that I walked out of Lowes today and continued by a tableful of Girl Scout cookies that were for sale. I did not stop and I did not buy any. Also, we met Rob's dad's family at the Dixie Queen (seafood restaurant) this afternoon for his uncle's birthday. Rob and I did not eat since we had already decided on supper. It was so hard to go in there and not have hush puppies and their sweet tea.   Ahhhhhh!!!   We ended up having spaghetti for supper, so I was not successful the whole day, but I thought I gave it a good run for a few hours.

I have learned that I do need to get some more food though--my selection presently is not as good as it needs to be when it comes to snacking and satisfying cravings. I bet I have chewed 7 pieces of sugar-free gum today. I am thinking about starting the diet in the next week or two--I wanted to wait until after Valentine's Day at least.   If anyone has any tips, they are certainly appreciated.

Snow and Ice Day

2010-01-30T18:58:00.000-05:00

What I Am Reading Now....

2010-01-26T19:48:00.000-05:00

As a middle school librarian, I try to read books that I can recommend to my students. Now that we are in full Battle of the Books practice mode, I am trying to read as many Battle of the Books books that I can so that I can write practice questions for the students.

I just finished The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt.

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/catalog/titledetail.cfm?titleNumber=100515

This is a wonderful book that takes place in New York in 1967. It is about a seventh grader named Holling Hoodhood. That's correct....Holling Hoodhood--(I know the nerve of those parents!). Holling is neither Jewish nor Catholic, so on Wednesday afternoons(instead of joining his classmates at Catholic school or Hebrew school), he reports to his language arts teacher, Mrs. Baker, who teaches him Shakespeare. Holling discovers the underlying meaning of much of the Shakespearian terminology and proceeds to use in it in places where he otherwise might use a curse word. This book is funny, for the most part. Holling (bless his heart) has to deal with quite a bit of bullying and sometimes makes choices that do not help his cause. As I read this book, I found it predictable because I was able to tell what kind of life Holling had after the first few chapters. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys middle grade humor yet at the same time can relate to being picked on.

I have just started Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/318404.Drums_Girls_And_Dangerous_Pie

So far, this book has had its funny moments, but it is real quick to slap you back into reality. The main character, Steven, loves to play the drums. He is in middle school and has a five year old brother, Jeffrey, who gets on his nerves. One morning, Steven is fixing oatmeal for Jeffrey, who is sitting on a barstool. Jeffrey somehow falls off the barstool and Steven gets blamed for his bloody nose that will not stop bleeding. Jeffrey is whisked off to the ER by their mother and Steven spends all day at school trying not to think about Jeffrey. After school, Steven returns home to find out that his brother does not just have a bloody nose. He has ALL, which is a form of leukemia. That's about as far as I have gotten. I want to go and pick it up right now and continue reading it. I think I will...but before I do that, I wanted to share this jewel with you:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Belle-Weather/Celia-Rivenbark/e/9780312362997

Yes it's Belle Weather Mostly Sunny with A Chance of Scattered Hissy Fits by Celia Rivenbark. This is my adult book right now. I have only read one chapter of this so far and it is great. It is a lot like her other books--full of southern colloquialisms and sarcasm. I love it! I look forward to laughing out loud as I read this.

That's what I am reading right now. How about you?

Getting Our Moneys Worth at the Pediatrician's Office

2010-01-14T21:23:00.004-05:00

This is the story of a little boy who had pink eye. His name is Seth. His daddy took him to the doctor one morning because his eye was very red and had stuff oozing from it. The doctor said, "Definitely pink eye." In the meantime, the doctor decides to check Seth all over to make sure there is nothing else going on (throat, ears, etc.). He looks in one of Seth's ears and sees a dislodged ear tube (he remembers this from Seth's well-child visit in December). The doctor asks Rob to help him get the tube out of Seth's ear by holding Seth down for him to extract the tube. He is successful.

Seth's dislodged waxy (ewww!) eartube (at right) in comparison to an earring (please note the earring was not in his ear, it is just for scale purposes)

The doctor then looks in Seth's other ear and discovers a treasure! Not a ball of wax, a sprout, or a dinosaur, but a purple bead! He again asks Rob to assist him in holding Seth down so that he is able to extract the purple bead. Again he is successful.

Apparently the bead reached Seth's ear unknowingly (yeah right) but after some inquiry, it was discovered that some crafts were done in his preschool class right before New Years involving beads. What can be learned from this story? Supervision is absolutely necessary when 3 and 4 year olds are playing with beads. Also, one can see from his bead color choice that Seth Bright is truly a ECU Pirate fan! Arggghhhh!!!

Brrrrr.......!!!!

2010-01-14T21:19:00.003-05:00

Our thermometer this past Monday....

Happy Birthday Mumsie!

2010-01-14T21:09:00.003-05:00

On January 3, we went to Robersonville and Williamston to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday. We were able to attend church with her, my parents, and my aunt and uncle. After church, we went to Williamston to have lunch. I think about all that Mumsie has seen and heard in her 90 years. She is one of the most optimistic people I know and I love her so much.

Happy Birthday Mumsie!

A New Year

2010-01-09T22:21:00.007-05:00

Happy New Year even if it is a little late. I started back to school this past week and it's not going back to school that I hate. It is getting back into the routine. It is tough for EVERYONE. All the kids have to relearn everything. Seriously....they forget all the rules and expectations during those 2 weeks we are out.

We are still technically at the beginning of winter, but you would think it was the middle considering how cold it has been. For the past week and a half, we have risen in the morning to see the thermometer reading, 17 or 19 degrees. And the wind, oh the wind will bite you. We did get a little bit of excitement this past week with a chance of snow that went BUST! Wait, it did snow about 25 flakes on Thursday night. Then it decided to warm up just enough so that it wouldn't snow.

I am helping two friends of mine, Katie and Lauren, conduct an auction for a very special little boy. Many of you may know him....Jonah Williams is his name. He will be one year old on February 27 and Katie came up with this great idea of holding this auction in his honor. Currently we are working on soliciting donations for the auction. We hope to have a variety of things including gift cards, handmade items, photo packages, autographed items. If you have something you would like to donate or know of someone who should be contacted, please let me, Katie, or Lauren know. The auction will be held the week leading up to Jonah's birthday, and it will be set up at a site all its own. You can reach the site by clicking on the auction button on the right. I forgot to mention that all proceeds will go to DEBRA. Thank you for all the support!

Christmas Day

2009-12-30T22:53:00.009-05:00

Life has not slowed down since Christmas, hence the delay in sharing these pictures.

Seth looking at thank you note from Santa

A Cars game for the Leapster

A new ECU shirt

A "Where the Wild Things Are" shirt

A Cars Wall Clock

A Snuggie

New Pants

On Christmas Day, both sets of grandparents came over to check out Seth's loot. On Saturday, we went over to the Brights' for Mr. Paul's family Christmas, but ended up being late so we missed the family time. We spent time with the Barnetts instead, which was a great treat! On Sunday, we went to church and watched football that afternoon. On Monday, Seth and I went to see Princess and the Frog, which was great by the way! Monday night, I fixed chili to freeze. Whenever I have a day off from school, I try to prepare a meal I can freeze and eat later. So, Tuesday night, I made soup. I know, I am on a roll here...I plan on making spaghetti sauce either today or tomorrow. Busy, busy busy...I do plan on sleeping in tomorrow, or at least going back to sleep. Happy New Year everyone!

May Your Christmas Be Merry and Bright!

2009-12-25T20:49:00.002-05:00

Pulling on the Reins

2009-12-20T20:47:00.002-05:00

Aaaaahhhhhhh!!! Can I say it again? Aaaaaahhhhhhh! Christmas break is here! Maybe now I can have a weekend that doesn't seem like work (or at least a few weekdays)!

We missed our first opportunity for snow recently. It never fails. By the time the moisture gets here, it has warmed up, so we get very cold rain. I guess I shouldn't be too depressed, at least I can get in my car and go where I want, unlike my cousins in Virginia, who have 17 inches of snow in their yard. Oh well, winter is just beginning tomorrow, so maybe we will have a few more chances for snow.

We had the Bright family Christmas this past weekend. Rob's sister and her family were here from South Carolina and we had a Christmas breakfast and gifts over at his parents' on Saturday. Pictures to come! On Saturday night, we joined my mother-in-law's entire family for their annual Christmas get together. Needless to say, we were exhausted last night. Sunday was very low key for us--catching up on laundry, a trip to the grocery store, watching football and basketball.

For the next two weeks, I do plan on pulling the reins back. I want to take a couple of naps, visit some friends, see a few movies, spend time with loved ones. I want it to be like a vacation, but I know I will have to WORK at doing that.

JOY

2009-12-16T22:44:00.003-05:00

Joy is defined as a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. I experienced great joy today when I received a text from my friend Tammy saying that she did not have cancer in her bone marrow or her bones. She is no stranger to cancer, surviving a bout with Hodgkins' Disease in college. Tammy has been having some bad health problems for almost a year now. Her kidneys began to give her trouble back in March of this year. She has had to receive blood transfusions and she began dialysis in August. She has been in a lot of pain and has had to endure a lot of swelling. She has seen many doctors about her condition and I hesitate to say that there is a lot of theorizing going on. We pray for Tammy's health every day and we pray that her pain goes away. We ask God to provide her doctors with wisdom. We pray that she will be healed of this condition and be able to go back to one of the things she loves, teaching math.

We will embrace the joy. We will count our blessings and thank the Lord for all of our days. We love you Tammy very much. Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving and Seth's Birthday

2009-12-05T22:31:00.008-05:00

Whew! I love my life, don't get me wrong, but I am so ready for a weekend that doesn't seem like work! Ever since the middle of November and up until the end of December, it seems there is something going on for us every weekend. I know, I know, it's a very busy time. Of course we decided to add insult to injury when we got married in November and had Seth in November. I am not complaining, but man am I worn out! Here are some highlights from Thanksgiving and Seth's birthday.

Caitlyn, Seth, and Carson

Enjoying their lunch

Stuffed Turkeys

Seth's 4th Birthday at Jumpin' Parties

A Day We Won't Forget

2009-11-28T22:46:00.003-05:00

Today is Seth's 4th birthday. Wasn't it just a few months ago when he was looking like this?

I really do believe that when you have a child, time passage does really kick up a notch. You blink your eyes and the year has gone by. I remember that first year, wishing he would roll over, wishing he would crawl, wishing he would walk...now I wish he would just sit in my lap for more than 2 minutes. Because the time will come when he won't want to sit in my lap anymore...I don't want to talk about that though.

Happy Birthday sweet boy! Your daddy and I love you so very much!

Blessings Abound

2009-11-25T21:50:00.000-05:00

Catching Up...

2009-11-14T23:23:00.007-05:00

Life just gets in the way, you know? Here are a few things we have been doing...

Soccer 2009--Rob has been coaching Seth's team--the T-Rex Raptors--Fun Times!

Halloween 2009--Seth was a Lightning McQueen Crew Member--thanks to my hairdresser Karen K. for letting us have this costume!

In early November, I went to the National AASL (American Association for School Librarians) Conference in Charlotte. The first night there we ate at an Unos Chicago Pizzeria restaurant. The food was great, but the service was not. I took a picture of this menu entry because I thought it had great presentation. I know, I am such an English major.

On a side note, the conference was great. I got to meet James Patterson, who in recent years has written some young adult books. He has started a website, Read Kiddo Read to guide parents to help their kids make good choices when it comes to reading. I met several authors and got to network with other school librarians. On the last day, the vendors started giving stuff away because they didn't want to take stuff home with them. I acquired several free books!

I finally received my $200 Visa gift card that I won on a mom blog giveaway. You may remember it here. I started entering giveaways earlier in the summer when I was trying to win gift cards to give away for my class reunion. I have won a few things--a Pampered Chef collapsible bowl, a eco-friendly wooden playset for Seth, a Sam's Club membership, and this Visa Gift card. I have not had time to enter many giveaways lately. I will try and feature some of the best sites I have found in a later post.

That is about where we stand right now. November is a busy month for us with our anniversary, Thanksgiving, and Seth's birthday.

Happy Fall Ya'll!

2009-10-24T15:21:00.007-04:00

Creature Feature

2009-10-10T20:21:00.003-04:00

I was going to toss something in the trash this afternoon and I saw something move around my kitchen windowsill, which sits above the sink. We had a visitor, a little, long, green, slimy visitor.

I shrieked, because to me, lizards, geckos, salamanders, (insert your choice word here) are nothing but snakes with legs. Rob came in there and said, "Aw he's just a gecko, he won't hurt you." Then he proceeded to get Doodle (our cat) so that she could see it. Finally, Rob took the thermometer and took the lizard outside so that it could go about its business.

I figured it came in on a potted mum that I brought in last night to water. Yes, you read that right, that varmint had been in my house since last night. SHEESH....it just makes my skin crawl all over!

Be Careful What You Say....(Or Read, For That Matter....)

2009-10-04T21:09:00.005-04:00

Some of you may be familiar with the following titles:

These are picture books by David Shannon that are about a mischievous little boy named David (I think they are somewhat autobiographical according to the author).

As of late, we have been reading DAVID GETS IN TROUBLE at bedtime for Seth. Some of the memorable lines in this book are, "It was an accident..." "I didn't mean to..." "It's not my fault...." All of these are said by the main character David when he breaks a window by throwing a baseball, when he has too many snacks in his hand and drops his drink on the carpet, and when he messes up the class picture by making a funny face.

Do you see where this post is going? We have heard many of these responses from Seth lately after we correct his behavior, but some of them certainly have NOT been used in context. Here are some examples:

Throwing his tissue on the floor after blowing his nose (It's not my fault--no baby, it's not your fault that we don't have a trashcan for you to immediately deposit your tissue.)

Hitting his teammate at soccer practice (It was an accident--having some bad reflexes perhaps?)

Not stopping his bicycle at the stop sign to look both ways and accelerating instead (I didn't mean to...sure, honey--you didn't mean to not hear mommy scream her head off to stop because there was a car coming.)

I failed to mention that we also read a Bible story before bed as well and he always wants to hear the one about the snake.

Seth's Introduction to Soccer

2009-09-15T21:07:00.006-04:00

Last Saturday morning, we set out for the local soccer field. We had talked to Seth about playing soccer and he said that he wanted to play. We had kicked the ball around a little bit in our yard and he knew that the object was to kick the ball into the goal. Seth did not like the fact that he had to wear shin guards to play soccer and of course, he would have preferred wearing his Crocs.

The soccer field is actually part of a park complete with slides and swings. When Seth saw that, soccer was out the window. We had to remind him that we were here to play soccer. We had not been there for 20 minutes when Seth looked at me and said,"I am ready to go." I thought he meant that he was ready to play soccer, since the program director was giving history and instruction of the soccer program. No....he was ready to go home.

"There's no crying in soccer!"

So the kids were put into groups and instructed to drills like Red-light, Green-light; Sharks & Minnows, Steal the Bacon, Left Foot Kick, and Right Foot Kick. For Seth, it was like pulling teeth. He loved the idea of being outside, but did NOT like the idea of having to do something he didn't want to do. Of course, he resorted to his coping skills--sucking his thumb?!??!
So we made it through our first soccer practice, and I am proud to report we have now made it through our second. The second one went a lot better, especially now that Rob is Seth's soccer coach. Our team has seven boys and one girl all under the age of 5. The next month and a half will be very interesting. Did I mention one of the reasons the second practice went so well is because of bribery? Yep, it works and I plan to use it for a long time.

Preschool Vocabulary

2009-09-05T20:33:00.002-04:00

Seth's vocabulary is growing all the time and we can actually have a decent conversation with him. Here is a recent conversation we had in the car on the way to Target.

Me: Seth, you can only take one car inside with you and it has to stay in your pocket.

Seth: I want to take two cars.

Me: No, you can only take in one car.

Seth: But I want to take in two cars!

Rob: How about you take in no cars and stay in the car?

Seth: Stay in the car? Will you go into Target Daddy with Mommy?

Rob: Yes, I am going into Target. We will get arrested....for leaving you in the car.

Seth: I don't want to take a rest.

Deployment Time

2009-09-01T20:36:00.005-04:00

image courtesy of www.apple.com

It's that time again. We have done this for the past six years in our school district for students in grades 6-12. Each one of our students gets a MacBook laptop to use for the year upon paying an insurance premium. What a privilege and responsibility to have as a middle schooler! I had a hard time remembering my locker combination in middle school and now we expect them to keep up with a laptop! Wow! Times have really changed. Many of our students take pride in their laptops and actually do take care of them. Sure there are some that get damaged, and accidentally dropped, but for the most part, a whole lot of our students are responsible. So, not only do they get an awesome technological education in being able to utilize a wonderful piece of equipment, they must also rise to the challenge of being a responsible preteen and teenager.

I can remember having a Speak 'n' Spell in middle school--and I had mine before E.T. made it popular, mind you. I thought that it was a genius machine.

Then my parents enrolled me in summer computer camps, where I wrote 4 & 5 line programs on the TRS(trash)-80 by Radio Shack.

What a treat it was to get to play Oregon Trail on the Apple IIE.

How far we have come! Many of today's preteens do not know what a floppy disk is. Our kids know about CDs, jump drives, and drop boxes though. They can put together a keynote with a gazillion transitions, pictures, and sounds in a skinny minute. They can use iPhoto and iMovie to create professional looking projects. They know how to do podcasts. I am not bragging, I am speaking the truth.

For the next 3 days, we will give 800 students their MacBooks and hope they can rise to the challenge of being responsible and take advantage of this superior, wonderful learning tool. Wish us luck!

First Day of School (For Seth)

2009-08-24T21:54:00.002-04:00

Okay, so it's not technically his first day of school, but it's the first day for him in Preschool II. I think he was very excited and he told me this afternoon that he liked his new class. My baby is growing up.

38 Special

2009-08-17T22:26:00.005-04:00

I told you it would be sooner than later....

I had to return to school today for the new school year, and it was tough to go back, but working to get over the hump of getting back into the routine will make it easier. What made it harder though was the fact that it was my birthday.

I got many birthday wishes today at school, but a real special birthday wish was given to me this morning by this guy:

I think this year was the first year that he has said "Happy Birthday Mommy" and actually knew what it meant. He is just growing too fast! We enjoyed supper tonight with our church Young Adult group at RuckerJohns.

Can you tell yet that I don't want to do any school work?

Summer Wrap Up

2009-08-16T22:03:00.012-04:00

I realize that I have not posted as regularly as I have wanted to this summer, but I have had an accomplished summer. I have been very involved in helping organize my 20th class reunion and it has taken up a lot of my time. We have had some other exciting times this summer though....

Seth had two weeks of swimming lessons at Raynez Swim School. Of course, he took to the water like a fish and was going under water voluntarily by the end of the 2nd week. Did I mention we couldn't get him to stop drinking the water--like a fish--what can I say?

Because of many hot days, we made sure that we frequented one of the three inflated jumping venues (where were these when I was a kid?) in town. All of these were air conditioned, and Seth enjoyed time there with cousins Margaret, Carson, and Caitlyn, and his buddy, Noah from Texas.

We enjoyed spending time with Carson and Caitlyn in the pool at Mama Jane and Papa Gene's house as well as taking in Ice Age 3 with them (this was Seth's first movie in a theater--and he did wonderfully). We met up with the Younts on a stormy night at Moe's and Edie and Seth got a chance to catch up on lost times and even enjoyed dancing to the live music!

We even went to the beach in August! We journeyed down to visit Rob's sister, Jacque and her family where we got to spend some time at Murrells Inlet and at the ocean.

We were so happy to catch up with the Ingrams on their annual trip back to NC for the summer. I got to eat lunch with Reiko and we could have visited all afternoon except for the kids wanting to go to the Jumpin' Monkey (see above). We finished up our day by eating at McAllister's Deli (where kids eat free on Tuesday).

And what a wonderful way to wrap up a summer vacation, but with a Nertz-tastic Tournament at the Conovers'! Rob nor I had good nights--I guess we were still enjoying our vacation--but we had a lot of fun and fellowship!

So that is our summer wrap-up...and I guess I should be going to bed considering that I have to go to school tomorrow. Good night until the next entry (which should be sooner than later).

Rehearsal Dinner and Reception

2009-08-03T10:55:00.014-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, we journeyed to Raleigh to help celebrate this union:

Here are some scenes for their rehearsal dinner, which was held at the University Club.

The wedding took place on Saturday, and of course my camera was acting crazy due to Seth grabbing it out of my hand at the rehearsal dinner and it falling on the floor. I was able to manage to get a few shots at the reception.

Gabriel and Seth

This was the first wedding that Seth has ever attended, so we did not know how it would go. He did okay in the church, only dropping his cars once and asking where Aunt Neck was. When we got to the reception, it was hard to keep him entertained until we began to have dinner. When the music started, there were no worries about keeping him entertained.

We discovered that Seth was quite the party animal at the reception. After doing the Train conga line, a guy with a beer came up to him to give him a high five. I don't know where he gets it from!

Congratulations and best wishes to Jeffrey and Erin!

I Heart Faces at the Beach

2009-07-28T22:17:00.007-04:00

Okay, I have to give credit where credit is due. I am taking a page out of my friend Lauren's notebook this week. She is a photographer who has highlighted this photo contest on her blog in recent weeks. I really enjoy going and looking at the different photos that pertain to the theme of that week. When I saw that this week was a beach theme, I had to include the following photo:

I am not a photographer, but I capture a few lucky shots every now and then. This is a picture of my son Seth enjoying riding the waves at Emerald Isle, NC. This is the first year he has been able to really enjoy the boogie board. This photo was taken during our family's annual beach trip this past June. Be sure to enjoy the other beach photos at i heart faces.

Please Pray for Stellan!

2009-07-27T13:25:00.003-04:00

See this precious baby boy?

*Borrowed from www.mycharmingkids.net

He is in desperate need of your prayers right now. The last update we have is that he is being airlifted to Boston. He suffers from SVT, which is also known as a very rapid heartbeat. For updates, please visit his mother's blog here. You can also join his Facebook prayer group here . Stellan is a miracle in himself, and he is a true example of what faith can do. Please pray for him!

Wedding Weekend

2009-07-24T08:32:00.003-04:00

My youngest first cousin gets married this weekend. In his honor, I have posted this video. It was on the Today Show this morning and I guess it is becoming the new trend. The last one of these I remember seeing is the newly married couple beginning their first dance at their reception when all of a sudden you hear a violent record scratching and they break into a choreographed "Baby Got Back" routine. It takes some guts to do something like that--I don't think I could have done it. Congratulations and best wishes to Jeffrey and Erin!

Roberson Family Beach Trip 2009

2009-07-08T22:06:00.011-04:00

We recently enjoyed our annual beach trip with the Roberson family. This is the 24th year that my dad's family has visited the beach. I am very proud to be a part of this wonderful tradition and hope that it continues for many years--it is actually one of two times a year that we get to see some of our cousins!

Seth became quite the body boarder and had so much fun coming in on the waves!

Cousins playing in the sand with Aunt Lesley fishing in the background.

Papa Gene enjoys his beach walks and shell collecting.

Lesley and her girls

Robersons, Brights, Askews

Mama Jane and her grandkids

Our beach spot viewed from the beach access

Rob and Seth enjoying the waves

Dadgolian Mommy!

2009-06-17T10:16:00.002-04:00

We have a restaurant in Greenville called Mongolian Empire. You go through a raw veggie buffet, select freeze-dried meat, and add sauces to the mixture. A griller then grills your selection up for you to enjoy on a bed of rice. This is one of Rob's favorite restaurants. He does not like Chinese food because he can't see it being prepared in front of him and and insists that I am eating kitty cat whenever I say I had Chinese food at my meal. He can see this food being cooked in front of him though so he loves Mongolian Empire.

Yesterday, we asked Seth if he would like to go to Mongolian. He usually has egg drop soup and has some of my lo mein noodles (he asks for the spaghetti). He replied to us, "I want to go to Dadgolian mommy, not MOMgolian. I want to go to Dadgolian." Crazy kid.

My Summer Job--Ebay

2009-06-14T22:42:00.005-04:00

With the budget shortfall that is bestowed upon EVERYONE, I, like many educators who usually enjoy the summer months, have taken it upon myself to get a summer job.

I have always spent my summers in recent years selling things on ebay for myself and for my sister. But I am stepping up this summer. I have already gone to Goodwill and bought things to sell on ebay--brand name stuff, stuff new with tags--all these things do well on ebay. I sold this Kim Rogers skort new with tags for 10.50 on ebay. If it had been my size, I would have kept it, because it was cute!

I plan on visiting Goodwill at least once a week to seek out items that will bring in a little green on ebay.

See this purse?

It is by The Sak and I got it at a yard sale last fall for $2.00. It did not have a tag on it, but the little plastic string that holds the tag was still on it, so I knew it had not been used. I was planning on using the purse, but it was just not big enough for me, so I listed it on ebay. It sold for $17.50. Needless to say, I will be visiting some yard sales this summer looking for some items to list on ebay.

Do you have a summer job?

Summer Vacay!

2009-06-14T22:37:00.003-04:00

I know I have not updated in a while, but the end of school has been consuming me. I have never tested so many children in my life, and every time I tried to return my administrators manual, my AP said, "Keep it, I have makeups." Ughhh! I realize my job is no more important than anyone elses, but it is the most stressful at the beginning of school and at the end of school. I was so scared that I would NOT get everything done and finished by this past Friday. And I didn't. But...I got to a stopping point that I was comfortable with. Long awaited...couldn't come soon enough...summer break is here! Woo Hoo!

Going Ons and Tributes

2009-05-19T21:27:00.021-04:00

We have been on the road A LOT the past couple of weekends and were able to spend time with friends and family we don't get to see that often. On Mothers' Day weekend, we spent time with our friends from Wisconsin, Beverly and Rob Flintrop down at Emerald Isle. My parents were there as well and we had a great time.

Last weekend, we were on the road to Murrells Inlet, SC to celebrate cousin Margaret's 5th birthday. It was a bowling party, so Seth got to bowl for the first time. Here are a couple of photos of him in action.

On the way home, we stopped at the entrance to Jacque and Brian's subdivision (they live at the back of a golf course) and paid tribute to Jonah and Stellan.

Our final stop on our trip was at the U.S.S. North Carolina in Wilmington, where we paid tribute once more to Jonah and Stellan. We continue to think of and pray for you both!

Speaking of prayers, we do have a few requests. Please continue to pray for our friends, Matt and Patrice Williams and their son, Jonah. With the heat and humidity creating new blisters on Jonah each day, it is very tough on Matt and Patrice. Please pray for Jonah's healing and their strength. Our friend Tammy will find out more about her condition on Thursday when she hears the results from her kidney biopsy. Please ask God to give her strength to handle whatever may come her way. Finally, our friends Nathan and Katie are expecting baby #2 this Friday. Please pray that the delivery goes well for them.

Prayers Please!

2009-05-13T21:58:00.002-04:00

One of my best friends, Tammy, is having a kidney biopsy on Friday to determine answers about some health problems. I would like to request prayers on her behalf. Please ask the Lord to give her peace and strength whatever the outcome may be. Please pray for her family to be strong for her. Thank you!

My Child Is Listening To Me! :-)

2009-05-06T22:24:00.003-04:00

We grabbed some pizza tonight since I had small group at church--we ate in the restaurant and Rob and I both got salads. We always try to pick up extra croutons and cheese for Seth to munch while we are waiting for our pizza. I returned with my salad and here is how the conversation went:

Me: Here are some croutons.

Seth: I don't want any croutons.

Me: Okay, how about some potato sticks (I proceed to sprinkle them onto the table.)

Seth: No, no don't put them on the dirty table!

I proceeded to put them on a napkin.

A Good Day

2009-04-29T21:13:00.001-04:00

Me: Seth, how was your day today?

Seth: I not hit anyone today.

Me: That was a good choice, sweetie.

Comic Relief--School & Son

2009-04-26T21:56:00.001-04:00

So with the state budget freeze this week, life got a little interesting for us educators. In Greene County, where I am a school librarian, the copier got taken away from the teachers. Locked up….in a closet—I am NOT joking. Some teachers commenced to using the printer as a copier, but that didn’t last too long either since the funds used to buy the ink cartridges are the same funds! We were really challenged to use our technology this week (hee hee, see below). I am glad I have a copier at home.

We had a bad storm this past week and it knocked out our internet at school. For those who don’t know, our campus is a completely wireless campus and all the teachers and students have Apple MacBooks. So, along with the copier being taken away, we no longer had the internet to rely on. Let me tell you –this gives a whole new meaning to library time. No, we don’t close the library—we have a contingency plan for checking out books (pen, paper, and patience) and students actually visited the library to do research in BOOKS, since they could not access the internet. It was just like old times.

On the school front, the Internet did start working again after Wavelength replaced a small line—we did not have the bandwidth to support student use, but teachers could check email and I could check out books…Praise the Lord!

My son is going through a stage, I pray. He is not listening to adults. It has almost gotten to the point when I pick him up from school, I look forward to seeing him but I do not look forward to what the teacher has to say. It is not entirely his fault though—he has had many teacher transitions this year and it has really had an impact on his behavioral development (at least that is what I am hoping). Sometimes, I think I have failed as a parent in getting him to listen to me. We have been taking things away from him (as punishment) during the last several months as well as using timeouts. These methods have been somewhat effective. He does realize that there will be consequences for his actions. He even said, “No Handy Manny and no Go Fish (card game)—too bad for me!”

We went out to eat the other night at Mongolian Empire, where Seth enjoys eating egg drop soup. He declared it was, “Delicious.” Rob nor I had ever heard him use that word before to describe anything. We continue to be amazed at his vocabulary development. He proceeded to take his bread and hold it on the wall in that same restaurant and we told him that the wall was probably dirty. He then asked us “Why? Did someone pee on it?” Oh geez.

The other night we took a walk after supper since the weather has been so nice. Seth decides that he has to potty while we are out on our walk and goes to pull down his pants and water the grass. Long road trips have caused this. But not in our neighbor’s yard! I snatched him up real quick and explained that we do not do that in someone’s yard. We hustled back home and I am proud to say we did not have an accident.

A Tribute to Gabe

2009-04-21T23:12:00.007-04:00

Today is Gabe's Day. This blog entry is a tribute to Gabe and his family. I have included a poem from the book, Letters to Heaven by Thena Smith and Lynne Carey. Patrice came across this poem shortly after Gabe's passing and she feels God is speaking to her and Matt through it. We love you Matt, Patrice, and Jonah. We love you and we miss you, Gabe.

HOLDING GABRIEL’S HANDS

Just a few days ago
We could not understand
That this would not be a joyful day
Of holding our new baby’s hand.
All of the preparation
And joyous days of waiting
For Gabriel to join us
Were supposed to end with celebrating.
Our special little angel
Was to be our pride and joy
Our precious gift from Heaven
Our darling little boy.
But that was not to be
And too quickly he was gone
Lifted up to Heaven
To hear the angels’ songs.
We know where our darling is
And we will get through this sorrow somehow
For as for our Gabriel’s tiny hands –
Jesus holds them now.

from Letters to Heaven
By Thena Smith, Lynne Carey

Answered But Continued Prayer

2009-04-17T15:23:00.015-04:00

Rob and I recently visited the Williams family to welcome home Baby Jonah. We were unable to be there for his first homecoming, but we made it for his second (Jonah had been in the hospital due to some breathing issues and had a scope done.). Jonah is such a sweet baby and he has come so far from first being born. Our visit was awesome, and we learned a little bit about Matt, Patrice, and Jonah's routine. Jonah's eating schedule is pretty much like any new baby's. He sleeps a lot and he begins to stir when he gets hungry. He is eating pretty good according to Patrice.

We also got to witness Jonah's nightly dressing change first hand, and as Patrice explained on her blog, A LOT goes into that.

Jonah behaved very well for his dressing change and seemed very content once it was over and he got his bottle. It was quite an education for Rob and me; and Matt, Patrice, and Debbie (Matt's Mom) were happy to answer our questions. On a future blog posting, I want to break down all of the dressings that they use and the financial part it, which is quite expensive. We enjoyed spending time with Matt, Patrice, and Jonah but of course our time was too short. We are planning another visit for the summer in which maybe we can take Seth.

Please continue to pray for this family. Send them a card or an email if you get a chance. Kind, thoughtful words are very uplifting to them and they are so grateful for the thoughts and prayers.

Easter Elvis?

2009-04-13T22:01:00.005-04:00

We got this bilingual toy drum out of the attic (from toy rotation) this past weekend and you would have thought Seth had a brand new toy. We have been working on counting in Spanish and French with Seth and this drum counts in English and Spanish. I don't think Seth was as taken with the counting as he was with the music. My child has a soft spot for Mariachi music. What can I say? Patrice, I know you are so proud. He broke into some crazy dancing as seen in the above video--I don't know where he gets his dancing skills, but he has got some rhythm.

Egg Hunting and Birthday Parties

2009-04-04T22:48:00.013-04:00

'Tis the season for fun-filled Saturdays. This weekend, we had an Easter Egg hunt to attend and a double birthday party at Jump Fit. Friday, we let Seth "practice" finding eggs in our yard.So, Saturday morning, we headed to Ben and Eulalia VanFosson's for their Easter egg hunt. It was kind of chilly, but we had a fun time just the same.

After Seth's nap, we headed to Jump Fit, which is one of 3 indoor inflatable kids' funspots around Greenville. These things are popping up everywhere, and are a good way for kids to burn energy, let me tell you...Happy Birthday to Laycie and Josie, two of Seth's classmates. We had a fun time and Rob and I even got in on the action with the kids.

Prayers Going Up

2009-03-25T21:25:00.002-04:00

We are continuing to pray for sweet Jonah's healing and for Matt and Patrice's strength. Possibilities are being tossed around about Jonah going home soon due to risk of infection in the hospital. We will be praying for this transition and for everything to go smoothly, but in the mean time, we pray that tomorrow will bring good things--no infection, a painless dressing change, some sweet coos. We pray that Jonah continues to fight hard.

Another young mother, MckMama, is in the hospital tonight with her son Stellan. I began reading MckMama's blog this summer--I think Patrice had actually begun praying for her while she (MckMama) was pregnant. After I began reading her blog, I began to pray for her--not only because she had 3 children already under the age of 4, but she was pregnant with number 4 and this baby had a life-threatening heart condition. At 20 weeks, MckMama and her husband were told their baby would surely die. But, Stellan was born healthy, or so everyone thought. Tonight he is in a hospital with the same condition he suffered in the womb. He is a fighter as is his mama. Please add them to your prayer list, and click on the Pray for Stellan button up above to find out the latest update.

Mary Kay Andrews

2009-03-21T19:25:00.002-04:00

This past Wednesday, I attended the Pitt County Literacy Volunteers Enriching Minds Seminar. The keynote speaker was one of my favorite authors, Mary Kay Andrews. Some of her best selling books include Savannah Blues, Savannah Breeze, Itty Bitty Lies, Blue Christmas, and Deep Dish. My favorite title by her is Hissy Fit. She is a wonderful writer of southern fiction. I strongly recommend any of these books for a fun read. I did get my copy of Hissy Fit signed, and Ms. Andrews is a very down-to-earth person. I wish she could have spoken longer because she had the audience in stitches.

Daffodil Days

2009-03-08T22:24:00.001-04:00

Seth Telling Us What We Need To Continue To Do...

2009-03-04T21:08:00.002-05:00

Continuing to Lift Up Baby Jonah, Matt, & Patrice

2009-03-01T13:02:00.009-05:00

Please continue to pray for this precious family. They have been doing a great job of updating their blog here. A Facebook group has also been started for them: Prayer Group for Jonah Alexander Williams.

Patrice has listed some specific prayer requests for the upcoming days on their blog. They are as follows:

- that Jonah will have the Simplex version of EB
- that his mouth and throat look healthy and whole
- that he is not in very much pain now that he is on lower doses of pain medicine
- that his little body resists infection (STILL the biggest concern and greatest danger)

Several readers have left links for Matt and Patrice to look at regarding their own personal experiences with EB, and how they have learned to live with this disorder. We need to continue to give them hope like this. It was awesome to see how one woman had been diagnosed with the most severest form of it and she had reached the age of 30, gotten a degree, gotten married, and had 3 children!

Matt and Patrice, if you read this, know that you all are on our hearts and our minds and will continue to be. We are there in spirit, even if we cannot be there in person. Please do not let hesitate to let us know what we can do. We love you!

Welcome to the world, Baby Jonah!

2009-02-27T22:10:00.007-05:00

Jonah Alexander Williams was born into the world today at 3:50 p.m. We are continuing to pray for him and his parents, Matt and Patrice. Jonah has some kind of skin complication that has yet to be diagnosed, but he does have a healthy set of lungs. He has been transported to Brenner's Children's Hospital in Winston-Salem. I want to ask for anyone who reads my blog to offer prayers on the Williams' family's behalf. They have gone through so much with the loss of their first son, Gabe and now they are going through this. Thank you for the prayers--I am sure they feel them. If you wish to keep up with this family, please visit their blog here. You can also visit our friend, Lauren here , since she is capturing this wonderful event through her camera lens! Stay strong Baby Jonah, and mommy and daddy too!

Once Bitten, Twice Shy!

2009-01-30T21:23:00.002-05:00

Biting. It is something that will happen to your child when you put them in daycare. The first time it happened to Seth, he was in the infant room. He got bitten by a child in the toddler class and we had to sign paperwork saying we were told he was bitten. Of course they cannot say who did the biting. Fast forward to Seth being in the toddler class. I remember a span of time where he was bitten 3 times in 10 days time. Rob and I were livid. I went in and talked to the director and I told her that obviously there were some supervision issues. Of course, she took offense to that and spoke highly of her staff. I in turn told her that my child was no chew toy and to just remember this was a learned behavior on behalf of the daycare. I just prayed that my child would not bite other children as a retaliation. He did bite someone in his class that year, and we talked about it and he said he would not do it anymore. "NO BITING." Seth is now in the Preschool I class and a couple of weeks ago we were undressing him for bath and we saw a bite mark on his arm. (After many experiences with bites, you learn how they look.) We had not signed any paperwork that day nor had we been told he had been bitten. Seth knew who bit him and he told us. We told him that if anyone ever bit him, he needed to tell his teacher. This week, Seth did the biting. I think he did it out of frustration. In fact, he told me that the child he bit hurt his feelings. We had another talk and he is aware now of the consequences he will receive if he does bite again. "I not bite anymore."

Today was a better day, no biting children, but he did eat glue.....

Happy New Year!

2009-01-10T09:17:00.004-05:00

Okay, I know it is late, but better late than never, right--Happy New Year everyone! Time has really kept me from blogging lately. I have hit 2009 running. The kids at school received new MacBook laptops this week. This is a huge process where our tech team has had to prepare for each grade each day. This involves moving computers, cases, and cords to carts for deployment. It is also repossession time as well, meaning if students have not paid their insurance or damage fees they will not get their computer back. It really is a very big job and it seems we ended up keeping more computers than we handed out.

I have given much thought to my resolutions this year...yeah I know it's kind of corny to make them, but I do think it is good for people to set goals and I view resolutions as goals for myself and my family. I have selected 3 resolutions to focus on this year.

The first one is to get closer to God. This is the most important resolution. I try and read my devotional and my Bible before I go to sleep each night, but here lately, I have been falling asleep before I get through my devotional and I know that is bad. So I resolve to do better. I am also going to make an effort to be a part of a new ladies class at church. We are doing a book study called, "Having a Mary Spirit: Allowing God to Change Us From the Inside Out." I am looking forward to this class and getting together with the girls!

My next resolution that I have chosen to focus on is to exercise more this year. I rejoined Curves in May and I felt that I did a good job during the summer getting up to go and work out. When school started back, Curves kind of fell by the wayside except for maybe once a week (when I was lucky). Life and scheduling just kind of gets in the way and it is so easy to push Curves to the back burner. I do feel better when I go work out, so I will make an effort to get to Curves more often as well as walking in my neighborhood.

The final resolution that I want to work on is saving money. With the economy like it is, no one can afford not to make this a resolution. Since the summer, I have tried to become very astute in my shopping. I study the sales papers to get the best deals. I try not to buy anything without a coupon, because coupons are FREE MONEY! If I can buy in bulk and save money, I try to do that. We are in really good shape as far as toothpaste, dishwashing detergent, and washing detergent go since I have been able to get these things cheap when they are on sale by using coupons. I have learned that saving money takes time but I believe that in the long run it will be worth it. Rob and also will go and talk with a financial planner so that we will be set for the future.

So those are my resolutions for the year 2009. I will leave you with a fun picture of Seth that he calls his funny face picture. What are your resolutions for 2009? Have a great year!

Watering the Grass

2008-12-27T21:36:00.003-05:00

Despite some setbacks (daycare fire, teacher changes) with potty training, I feel that we are progressing. Recently, we went to Brian and Jacque's (Rob's sister's) to celebrate the Bright family Christmas. They live in Murrells Inlet, SC and this is a 4 hour plus drive with a toddler. Between Jacksonville and Wilmington there are not many "potty" opportunities, so we erred when we stopped to let Seth "water the grass." After the first time, he did not want to stop and "potty," he wanted to stop and "water the grass." I saw where this was going and I had a flashback that Mrs. Lima Barnett (neighbor and friend of Rob's family) told at our rehearsal dinner about Rob "watering the flowers." Oh geez....luckily on our trip home, there was no mention of "watering the grass." There has been no more mention of it since we have returned home. During the time we are home, we are putting Seth in his big boy pants and he has only had one accident so far. He is actually saying, "I have to go to the potty"...and he is making tracks for the bathroom. This is a great accomplishment that we try to praise him for each time he is successful. If anyone is trying to potty train, I would say not to pressure your little one. Hopefully, the only pressure I will be applying will be not to "water the grass" too much.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2008-12-23T22:12:00.002-05:00

Another year has gone by so quickly. We have just returned home from two wonderful family Christmas celebrations. We spent this past weekend in Murrells Inlet, SC at Brian and Jacque's (Rob's sis) for the Bright family Christmas. We enjoyed seeing Santa, eating cheese biscuits, touring Brookgreen Gardens, and spending time together. Tonight, we enjoyed Christmas with my family in Robersonville. Mumsie came over and was able to enjoy dinner and gifts with Mama, Daddy, us, and the Askews. I am so grateful for family time and for home time during the holidays. I hope everyone has a wonderful, peaceful, stress-free holiday season. God bless everyone, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Slacker

2008-12-23T22:04:00.002-05:00

Yes, I have been a slacker to my blog. It is so easy to go to Facebook and post a line or two there that I have not been posting here. I apologize to all my faithful readers.....ahem. Busyness has also gotten in the way of me posting here. Between the book fair and students turning in computers during the last two weeks of school before Christmas break has left me exhausted by the end of each day. Now, that is not to say that I haven't gotten on the computer, but I haven't taken the time to sit down and blog.

We have also been dealing with sickness...a couple of weeks ago, Seth developed a fever accompanied by an upset stomach, so we had to forego the Roberson Christmas this year. Of course with the up and down weather lately, we are still relying on his inhaler tremendously as well as his Zyrtec. Dr. Bramley was nice enough to give us some free samples at his well-child visit in an effort to "keep us out" of the office.

Christmas shopping has been somewhat stressful this year. I try to buy stuff throughout the year but this year it seemed I didn't do that as much, so I have had to try and sneak Christmas shopping in when I can. It's kind of tough when your weekends are so full.

So that is an update for now. I will continue with my Christmas post.

The Third Year

2008-11-28T23:21:00.004-05:00

Our little boy is now 3 years old. Time really does kick into another gear when you have a kid. So many times, I wish that time would slow down because he is really growing up way too fast. Every day he continues to amaze us with his actions, his vocabulary, and his thought processes. The days are few when he will let me hold him in my lap. He is very busy and wants to put puzzles together, play with his cars, or ride his tricycle. We cherish every day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SETH!

10 Years

2008-11-28T22:49:00.002-05:00

I know this is late and there is no excuse for it (see previous post ;-)). Rob and I recently celebrated our 10 year anniversary. We took a trip to Myrtle Beach and were able to eat at Carrabbas Italian Grill twice in one weekend (I know, we are crazy, but we love this place and are praying for one to come to Greenville!). Many things have happened in our 10 years together; I mean that is a long time! Rob put together a timeline of events that have taken place during those 10 years including, the Columbine shooting, Y2K, 9/11, the Iraq War, and Hurricane Katrina to name a few. On a personal level, we were tested in the summer of 2000 when Rob was laid off but then we were blessed when he began working for the state in 2001. We have moved 3 times in the past 10 years (all to places in Pitt County) and of course we were blessed with Seth in 2005. Rob is a wonderful blessing to me and we have overcome a lot together. I am glad that we have reached this milestone, and I am looking forward to the next 10. I love you babe!

FACEBOOK Craze

2008-11-28T22:46:00.002-05:00

My name is Leigh and I am an addict to FACEBOOK. Yes, after much prodding and encouragement, I have entered the Facebook world. There are many people on it that I know and many I haven't talked to in years. It is very interesting and it has been a hindrance to my blogging. I must admit that the main reason I joined it is because I plan on using it as a tool to locate classmates for my 20th reunion. So far, it has been a great way of keeping up with folks I know.

ER

2008-11-14T22:10:00.004-05:00

I received a call from Seth's daycare yesterday saying that he had hit his head and he was throwing up. It seemed like it took me an hour and a half to get back to Greenville. Rob picked Seth up and met me at the doctor. In the time between picking Seth up and getting him to the doctor's office, Seth threw up 6 times. He threw up once in the doctor's office. They sent us to the ER, because there was no knot, or bump visible on Seth's head. They even suggested that maybe he had a headache and a stomach virus, since he did not know what a headache was.

Note: No one at the daycare saw him fall, he did not cry out--he went up and told his teacher that he hit his head and then he laid down and threw up.

Does he look hurt or sick to you?

So we journey over to the emergency room. Upon arrival, I am checking us in and Seth throws up again. This is 8 times that he has gotten sick in a time span of about 2.5 hours. I think they sense the urgency of the situation at the ER and they whisk us back to triage. We get put in a room and we see a great team of doctors. They really know how to deal with toddlers. Meanwhile, Seth is not acting like he is hurt or sick at all. He is sitting on the bed, playing with his Leap Pad, messing with his sticker book, playing with his cars. The doctors order a CT scan. We head down the hall to get that done and are not successful because Seth will not lay still. SURPRISE, I know! So, the doctors come in and explain to us that they will have to put him into a strait-jacket kind of thing to restrain him while they do the CT scan. We have no problem with this--all we want is peace of mind at this point.

So, we try again. Seth looks like he is a wreck victim on a board with a neck brace. They even have to tape his head down. All the while, he is telling us he wants to get up. Rob and I were able to stay in there with him during the CT scan and his main doctor was awesome--telling Seth he was riding in a space ship. Seth did cry some, but in the end he was a champion and we heaped much praise on him when it was over. His doctor made him a SPACEMAN SETH sticker and he wore it like a badge of honor. He even wanted to wear it today! The CT Scan was normal. We were happy to get this news but we are still mystified as to what happened. The doctor said that he could have hit his head and it caused him to throw up like he did or he could have had a headache and it was a virus.

Seth has had a stomach virus before and he doesn't sit around and play with his Leap Pad or mess with his sticker book. He sits in Mommy's or Daddy's lap and seeks comfort. He wasn't doing that in that hospital room! I think he did hit his head and that is what caused the nausea. We appreciate all of the good treatment and the help we received at PCMH. Moreover, we are so grateful for the outcome.

Halloween Pictures

2008-11-02T22:19:00.006-05:00

Happy Halloween from the Brights!

2008-10-30T21:38:00.007-04:00

May your day be filled with tricks and treats! Be safe and Happy Halloween!