Happy Birthday Granddaughter!!!

Wow!!! I thought my kids were growing up fast, but today my GRANDDAUGHTER is a whole year old!!! She is only 4 months younger than my Baby Daughter, but it just doesn't seem like she should be soooo OLD already. She walks and talks & does all kinds of TODDLER things, which really isn't fair since she is supposed to be a BABY.

Rest in Peace Stacey

Yesterday, something happened that I had dreaded for a very long time, something that I was hoping against hope would NOT happen. My friend Stacey lost her five year battle with brain cancer. She was an inspirational person. Her first battle with cancer was waged while she was pregnant with her 5th child, she stayed strong & fought with all her will, not just for her own life, but for her precious baby. That sweet baby is now a healthy, energetic 5 yr old. Stacey never gave up. She joked about the fact the Dr's had given her a very bleak prognosis. She defied their predictions & because of her strong faith continued on. At one time it appeared she had actually beaten the cancer, but as is so often the case, it came back. She went to college, hoping to one day become a Dr. She went on a mission trip in Mexico with a church group. She endured many adverse situations in her personal life with courage and grace. She was so strong and had fought so hard that when I heard she had been moved to Hospice, I hoped against all odds that she would once again rally and make another miraculous recovery, but sadly it was not to be this time. It makes me so sad to contemplate her dear children having to finish their childhoods without her. Stacey had many friends who loved her dearly and I am proud to be able to say I am one of them.

GO BIG ORANGE!!!

This is an old picture, but it was the only one I could find. It is college football time in our town. It will be a home game this week & the town is already going NUTS. The news is talking about game traffic. The game isn't until tomorrow, but the excitement has started. The team lost their first game, but from all the interviews I've seen in the past few days they think they are READY for this game.

We don't actually usually watch the game. Hubby listens to it on the radio from work & updates me about it when he calls home on his break or if it is a night game we listen to it in the background while we do other things. Second Son works in a popular restaurant that shows the game (and serves BEER), he will be busy at work tomorrow.

The radio will play Rocky Top a million times between now & the game tomorrow. No doubt the kids sang Rocky Top at school this morning after the pledge of allegiance. Oldest Daughter wore her ORANGE and white cheerleaders outfit to school today.....her teacher was hopeful that the entire class would be wearing something Orange today. I have my big ORANGE T magnet on the back side of my van. It's fun living in a college town.

Edited to add my Big Orange fans

Hubby and the Boys

All my kids, plus my granddaughter

I'm trying to figure out the picture posting options. These pictures are from May when our Second Son graduated from High School.

What day is it?

My life is total chaos....I seem to spend at least half of any day lately reminding myself what day it is. My Hubby has mid-week days off. This makes it so much harder for me to keep my days straight. During the Summer, when the kids are out of school, we treat his days off as if they were the "weekend" We sleep late, we go on local outings & we just generally enjoy being a family. But now that school has been back in session for four weeks, life has become hectic. There are no longer any days that could be classified as a "weekend".

Monday through Friday the middle kids have to be on the school bus by 6:50 am.....yes, it is starting to still be DARK outside at that time. Friday through Tuesday (weird combo I know) Hubby has to be taken to work to arrive by 8 am. Some Monday through Fridays, Oldest Son brings my adorable Granddaughter for me to watch....he is usually supposed to be at work by 11:30 am, but will arrive anywhere from 8 am to noon depending on what car situation he & his wife are currently having & whether he got out of the house at the time he planned. Second Son also has a screwy random schedule...IF he has to work the morning shift I have to take him to work by 10 am...some days he works both a morning and afternoon shift. His days off vary each week along with his schedule. He was supposed to be starting College on Tuesdays and Thursday, but has postponed until January in order to have the classes he really WANTS. On Sundays after I take Hubby to work, we have about 45 minutes to get ready to leave for church. Starting this week I will be an Assistant Sunday School Teacher. After Sunday School is Church, the middle kids are singing in the choir during the Church service when they are not acolyting, Second Daughter will be going to Jr Church by herself for the first time this year & Baby Daughter will be in the Nursery without her sister for the first time. Soooooo, this is my crazy mornings.

In the afternoon it just gets worse. On Tuesdays & Thursdays, Youngest Son has orchestra practice after school and has to be picked up by 3:45. On Wednesdays, Youngest Son & Oldest Daughter have choir rehearsal from 4:45 until 6 pm at church on the other side of town. Friday through Tuesday (yeah, those weird days again) Hubby has to be picked up from work at 5....we really need to get his car running. Any random day in there, Second Son might need a ride to work at 4....his car doesn't run either. Oldest Son or his Wife come for Granddaughter any time between 5:30 and 7 pm, depending on when they get off work, fortunately she works a normal Monday through Friday week, although her hours can be a bit odd some days. I still need to find Oldest Daughter a new Brownie troop that meets either after school or on one of our less hectic days.

Crazy Me is actually considering joining a Bible Study (for Adult interaction outside the house) and I did sign up to begin Catechesis of the Good Shepherd training the first Saturday of each month for the next TWO YEARS.

I've found it is best to make Dr appointments & such for early afternoon on Hubby's days off, usually by noon I am fairly certain what day it is & if I let Hubby know about the commitment he tries to remind me. So far this school year, the kids have made the bus every day, we haven't missed any choir practice & I've only forgotten to pick Hubby up from work once. I guess I could be doing worse.

I'm new to this blogging thing

Ok, so I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while. I'm not sure how often I will actually have time to write, but the idea of writing is appealing.

Lets begin with my choice of a title. My husband & I are at a stage in our life when many of our friends are becoming Empty Nesters....they had their first after us, but their youngest kids are either graduating high school this year or next. Our second son just graduated from high school in May....if we had stopped at two we would be very close to having an empty nest. However, we didn't stop. Our youngest is not quite 16 months and we haven't decided if she will be our last.