Welcome 2012!!!

Out with 2011 and in with 2012.  As I sit here on my bed watching the ball drop, I find my eyes filling with tears at the thought of all of the memories we've made over the past 365 days.  We've watched Ryann turn 9, Kamri turn 8, and our baby turned one this year!  Both Steve and I started new jobs quite unexpectedly, but it's been such a blessing for our family.  And of course, who can forget the biggest new development of all.....an engagement!!!  The next 12 months are sure to bring so much excitement!!  Along with planning 10th, 9th, and 2nd birthday parties, we will also be planning a wedding!  That one is hard to believe.  I've tried to share the really big events of the past year here on our blog (although I wasn't always successful as I'd hoped) so, at thie time there really isn't much to update on.  I do, however, realize that I did not post a single work about our Christmas celebration.  So, composing that post is something that will have to go on the to-do list.  I also have a couple hundred photos that need to be uploaded from the past coupl eof months as well.  I've gotten somewhat behind....my apologies.

And of course, with the coming of a new year you have to have those new resolutions!  So, I thought I'd share mine with you here on our blog.  I can't promise that I'll be 100% successful at keeping them, but I can promise you to give it my best effort.  So, without further ado here are a few of my 2012 resolutions.

1.  Project 365 ~ I attempted this one last year, but wasn't very good at remembering to upload the pictures everyday....and then I found myself so far behind that I couldn't remember which days were which.  So, here's a shot at getting it right this time.
2.  Work on setting up a functional budget for our family ~ This is probably going to be a "work in progress" for the first few months, but the goal is to have our budget under control and working for us by mid-year.
3.  Lose those last 20 pounds ~ Just within the past 2 weeks I've managed to get slightly below my pre(3rd)pregnancy weight.  So, the goal now is to lose those last 20 pounds and be able to consider myself a much healthier person for it!
4.  Build that stockpile!!!  I, of course, am looking forward to growing as a thrifty and frugal shopper saver this year!  I've been couponing for 8 months now and I feel like I've really gotten a good grasp of how this whole thing works....so, I'm on the right path for this one to be a success!
5.  Be a better blogger ~ I have to be honest.  I've really tried to do a better job with the blogging this year.  Or rather, the last couple of months of 2011....but man, life can really get in the way!  So, this year I'm going to try to set aside time every week to update our blog.  Even if there's nothing exciting going on with us, it's fun to just sit and write sometimes.  Gotta get those creative juices flowing!!

So, that's about it for me.  And here's to the first blog post of the 2012!!!!

Happy New Year!
Melony : )

Post-Thanksgiving Update

I swear it seems like someone has changed the calendar somehow and I'm now only averaging about 5 days a week. And this same culprit has somehow managed to tack on about 47 things on the average day's list of "things to do today". I can't seem to keep up. It seems like I go to sleep on Saturday night and wake up on Thursday morning!!!

So, here we are on yet another Saturday evening and it's time for another update. Sadly, there isn't much to post about this week since our family has been only half its normal size all week. Both Ryann and Kamri left on Friday of last week to spend the Thanksgiving break with their Dads. I know that I've been doing this visitation thing for 9 years now, but I swear it never really gets any easier. I miss those two little girls like crazy when they're gone! Good thing I have a 1 ½ year old to keep me busy in their absence.

This week can pretty much be summed up in one word. BUSY!!! I worked 3 ½ days this week and was off work on Thursday and Friday. Since my family traditionally does not have our Thanksgiving dinner on Thursdays, we were invited to go spend that time with my boss' family. And while most people might think that's strange……it felt completely normal to us. Because as you may remember me mentioning, I have pretty much the most amazing boss on the planet and the ladies I work with are literally like family to me. So, we got to enjoy some family time with them on Thursday before Steve had to leave for work and Grant and I headed to my parent's house for a low-key dinner and then headed home. Up until late Thursday night, I still had not decided whether I was going to do any Black Friday shopping this year or not. But, in the end, the lure of shopping from home in my pjs definitely won out. And therefore, I didn't get the ONE deal that I really wanted…..and that's a new laptop. Mine completely died about 3 months ago and I've been borrowing Steve's since then while patiently waiting for the Black Friday sales to bring me an awesome deal. No such luck this year……so, I'll have to put that on my Santa Wish List.

I did however venture out Friday morning for some shopping time with my mom and was able to pick up a couple more Christmas gifts. Then I came home and prepared a VERY scaled down version of Thanksgiving dinner for Steve's dad and our family. Since there were only 3 adults and Grant….I didn't do anything elaborate. Just the Thanksgiving staples……but Paul was grateful and we were happy to be able to have a small Thanksgiving dinner with him.

Saturday morning I met up with Adam to pick up Ryann and then we headed to my parent's house for our family Thanksgiving dinner. It was wonderful even if we weren't all able to be there. Kamri is still at her father's house until Monday and Brittany showed up late due to being scheduled to work. And of course, since it's Saturday Steve had to be at work at 4:00. I'll have pictures of today's festivities to share as soon as I get them from my mom.

That's about it for us……it may not sound like much but I feel like I haven't slept more than 15 hours all week. And I really don't expect that to change much as Christmas gets closer. There's just so much to do and never enough time to get it all done. However, I would just like to say that I'm SO excited that I will have all three of my babies at home for Christmas this year! I LOVE odd years! :D

I'm sure that I'll have LOTS to post about in the next 30 days! So check back soon!

Love to all,
Melony : )

Where has the time gone?!?!

It is so hard for me to believe that it's been almost a month and a half since my last update. There have been so many new developments and changes, but it's just really hard to find time to sit down and blog these days. I really don't even know where to start. But I'll warn you……this post might will be long!

Kamri turned 8 on October 16^th. And we had the realization that Steve has now been around for almost half of her life. It seems like it's gone by so fast! We ended up having a party for Kamri at my mom's house since it's more of a central location. Kamri originally thought she wanted to have a party at the local skate rink, but after giving that some thought, we decided it really didn't make much sense at this point. Emma & Dean can't skate yet, Grant & Wyatt are too young, my parents are too old (sorry, mom), Jessica's too pregnant and I'm too scared! So, it really would have only been Ryann and Kamri that got to enjoy the skating part. We decided to stick with a simple at home party that everyone would enjoy and I have to say that I think Kamri had a great time. She's doing very very well in school academically and behaviorally and I couldn't be more proud!

Ryann has definitely started to blossom into a "tween". She's starting to have conversations with me that sometimes amaze me. I literally can talk to her just like she's an adult (when it comes to certain subjects, of course). She's so stinkin' smart!!! She went to the orthodontist recently and hopefully we will be getting her braces off within the next couple of months. I know that she's anxious to see what the end result will be. She's also expressed an interest in singing lately and so I'm thinking about possibly talking to a friend of mine from church who may be able to give voice lessons to Ryann every couple of weeks. This is still a "processing thought" so I'm not 100% sure where it will lead.

Our horse riding teacher, Hannah has been unavailable for several weeks now because she's in the process of moving to her newly built house. Twister and Joker will also be making the move and both of the girls are very eager to get back "in the saddle" and start up with their lessons again. I'm excited for them to be able to start riding again soon, too. I know how much they enjoyed it.

Grant……oh dear. It seems that this is where the biggest changes take place. There's something new every day. But what else can you expect from a 20 month old little boy?? Grant has now graduated to a toddler bed since he was climbing into Kamri's bed every day at naptime to sleep anyway. I figured this meant he was ready for his own big boy bed. It's been a bit of a struggle the past few nights (which I completely expected to be the case). He now has a new freedom that he's never had before. And he takes advantage of that freedom every single night. The crazy thing is, during the day he goes into his room and randomly lies down in his bed to sleep……no crying involved. Also, we started Grant at a new daycare last week on a Tuesday/Thursday schedule. And it appears as though that's not going to work out. I will take full responsibility for this decision. Because after a mere two days at daycare, my son came home with a stomach bug AND a cold. The stomach bug was then passed on to myself just as he was finished with it and I missed two valuable days of work. So, for now…..you can count us out on the daycare scene. I'm much happier having my boy at home and healthy!

Have I mentioned that Grant is a climber??? Is this a common theme among little boys??? Are there any other terrifying interesting quirks that boys have that I should know about now so as to prepare myself for the future??? Last night as I was in the kitchen making dinner, I turned around to find my son literally crawling on the dining room table in order to reach something in the middle of it. I could not believe my eyes and was momentarily frozen with shock. Just the night before, we caught him climbing up his toy box/shelf. This incident was a little more frightening since he could have easily fallen if Ryann hadn't been nearby to catch him. So seriously, is this normal for boys?!?! Because I don't EVER remember my girls being climbers! Lord help me……help me not die of a heart attack!

Everything is still going just wonderfully at my job. I am convinced that I have undoubtedly the most amazing boss on the planet and I am SO very blessed to have this position. And on top of that blessing, we recently received another! Steve received a completely unexpected phone call from the owner of the bowling alley in Greenville (where Steve and I happened to meet) who proceeded to offer him a Management position! We really weren't sure what to make of this new development since Steve had not even been looking for work. But with the blessing of my job literally falling into my lap and then this one falling into Steve's……we just aren't sure what to make of things! So, for right now Steve is working 3-4 shifts a week and loving it. He enjoys being around other bowlers and hopefully this is going to give him an opportunity to get some practice hours in. However, right now he's not able to bowl because almost 2 weeks ago during the first minutes of his last soccer game of the season, he hurt his knee and has been pretty much out of commission since. We are all hoping that it isn't anything requiring serious medical attention. And for now, it's looks promising because it's finally starting to hurt less and looks less swollen. So, we are still praying for a speedy recovery!

Whew, I warned you there was a lot! That's what I get for waiting so long to update this thing. My fingers are tired……and my Excedrin PM is definitely starting to kick in. So, although I'm sure that there's more to tell……this girl is beat. I'll have to update more later.

 

We hope everyone is doing well. More to come soon (hopefully)!

Love to all,

Melony : )

A new appreciation

Sitting around the dinner table this evening, an interesting subject came up.  We started talking about funny things the girls did when they were younger.  Before I knew it I was strolling down memory lane with my girls and it was so much fun!  But aside from it being fun, it also made me really thankful that I started this blog a long time ago.  There have been SO many times in the past that I may have remembered, but not with the clarity that I'll have after reading about it through our blog.  Like the time the girls spilled a TON of cereal on their bedroom floor and I had to clean it up.....or the time they almost flooded the bathroom floor because Kamri liked to play in the water.......good times.

And now back to the present. 

This week has been a good one.  The girls brought home their report cards on Friday and I'm very pleased to post that they BOTH made straight A's for the first six weeks of school.  All three of the kiddos got to spend some time with Gamaw on Friday night, but didn't have a sleepover since we had lots to do this weekend and couldn't waste a single minute. 

On Saturday we ran errands in Rockwall and then went to the grocery store as a family.  That was interesting......Then this morning we got up and headed to church, followed by lunch with Gamaw and Brittany.  But the highlight of the weekend for Ryann & Kamri was definitely getting to go out and ride Twister in the rain!  LOL

It wasn't exactly how you might plan your first experience on a horse...but they both enjoyed it.  They are really looking forward to the "next time" when they can ride on dry ground when it's not raining.  And they both did really well.  They were skittish at first and a little afraid to be close to such big animals.....but Hannah is such a wonderful teacher.....they warmed up very quickly.  I'm telling you one thing though, Ryann, Kamri, and myself were all VERY ready for a shower when we got back home.  I didn't get to take any pictures of the girls due to the weather conditions....but I'll make sure to take pics next time.

This evening has just been a time for us all to relax at home and get ready for another week.  We have a busy one coming up.  We have things planned for every night this week except Friday, which is highly unusual for us.  Also, Kamri will be leaving on Thursday evening to go to her dad's and has an orthodontist appointment on Friday morning...I think to get her braces put on.  We will see.

I'll try to remember to take some pictures of the kiddos this week while we are out and about.  It's been a while since I posted anything recent on here.

Hope everyone is well.

Love to all,
Melony : )

The Latest News

It is almost impossible for me to believe that I’m sitting here writing yet another blog post on yet another Sunday night…..but it’s true.  I am really not used to time flying by this quickly!  It’s already been 2 weeks since I’ve last posted???  Is that possible?!  How do working folks do this???  I’ve forgotten!!!  LOL

So, our week was relatively uneventful.  School for Ryann & Kamri, work for Mommy, & lots of play time for Mr. Grant.  Since the last time I posted, we’ve had some new developments.  We found out that Ryann was elected to represent the 4^th grade students on Student Council!!  We were SOOOO excited to learn this good news.  She was so happy to learn that her fellow classmates had selected her.  So, now we’ll be mixing in STUCO activities with everything else.  This past Friday was the last day of the 1^st six weeks, so we’ll be reporting grades soon! 

There is a tennis academy just down the road from my work and I’m going to look into lessons for Ryann…..that is, if she would even enjoy playing again.  And my boss and her family have horses and participate in rodeos all year long.  Since Kamri is mildly obsessed (and that’s putting it mildly….heehee) with horses, I thought I’d let her learn to ride.  I’m hoping that this is something she’s really going to enjoy.  We’ve tried dance, gymnastics, and cheer with her and none of them have been able to keep her attention for very long.  She gets bored after only a few weeks and then it’s impossible to keep her cooperating.  I really think that this is something she could be good at, so I’m willing to give it a try.  She doesn’t know about it yet though.  She’s going to be SO surprised!

Grant received a wonderful report from the doctor for his 18 month check up.  He weighed in at just over 25 pounds, which is perfect for his age.  And fortunately he only had to get his flu shot that day.  Which is actually more fortunate for his Daddy than for him……because Dad almost passed out just having to sit through one shot.  Bless his heart. 

Other than that, there really isn’t much going on here.  We are all still adjusting to Mommy being gone – but everyone is doing really well.  We’ll have this down in no time.

As a side note, I thought I would also mention that this week is the first we've had in (literally) a year with temps NOT hitting the 100's every day!  It has been SO nice.  And when Fall officially started this year I am not ashamed to admit that I did a Happy Dance right in the middle of the office!  : )   I <3 fall!!

Hope everyone is well.

Love to all,

Melony

Quick Update 9.17.2011

It is so hard for me to believe that a week has passed since my last post. The past 7 days have flown by so quickly that I can hardly remember them. With so many changes taking place at our house, we all kind of in adjustment mode just trying to figure it all out. And I have faith that we will.....but for now, things are a little chaotic.

Grant turned 18 months old this week and has a doctor's appointment on Monday to assess his growth and possibly to get more immunizations. I'll have to post the results of that visit next week. For now, he's busy growing and learning and climbing all over EVERYTHING!!! He has not learned how to use a stool to assist him in climbing onto the couch, his sister's bed, and anything else that looks even remotely interesting. He's a handful but we love him. Steve has now taken on the role of stay at home dad so he and Grant get to spend lots and lots of time together while mommy is at work and sisters are at school. He's also finally cutting his 10th tooth (thank goodness!). However, this tends to make him more than a little cranky. Nothing a little teething gel and Tylenol can't handle....lol.

Kamri is doing really well in school. After a couple of rough days during the second week, she got her act together and has had nothing but good behavior since. I'm so proud of her. Lately, the most common topic with KJ is her birthday which is just under a month away. which reminds me....I need to get on the ball with some party planning. I can't believe that she will be 8.

Ryann is also doing really well and her most recent interest is in running for a position as a member of student council at her school. She is very very excited about this and I can't wait to see how she does. Her "campaign" will consist of writing a speech to be delivered to two different classes at her school so we've got some work ahead of us this week. More to come on that later.

I could go on and on about my new job and how blessed I am to have been given this opportunity but for now I'll just say that I am SO happy to work where I do with with these wonderful women and leave it at that.

Alright all, I'm beat. It's been a crazy long week.

Hope everyone is well.

Love to all,

Melony

New Changes

It's almost very hard for me to believe how much can change in just the short span of 7 days. Last Sunday I was sitting in my living room watching the Aggies kick some SMU hiney (Whoop!) and today I'm preparing to start a new job first thing tomorrow morning. Can I just say Wow!

So, as I'm sitting in the pick-up line at Kamri's school on Tuesday afternoon I received a call from a woman named Jill from Foresight Financial in Rockwall/Heath. She apparently came across my resume on Monster.com (a resume I uploaded several months ago in the ridiculous hope that it would bring some results….lol). We spoke for several minutes on the phone and then she asked me if I was available to come in to her office the following day for an interview. I of course said "yes". So on Wednesday afternoon I drove to her office for my interview, not really knowing what to expect and I walked out of there with a brand new job! I can still hardly believe it myself. The most amazing part is that the 4 other women that I'll be working with everyday are women of strong faith who aren't afraid to share Jesus with the world!! What an unbelievable blessing! I'll be an Administrative Assistant making a decent salary (actually a GOOD salary considering the job market) working for an amazingly nice woman. I'm so excited!!!

Of course, this change will bring about lots of other little changes for everyone else as well. I'll no longer be a stay-at-home-mommy, and this is something I can't let myself think about for too long, otherwise I start to get pretty emotional. I won't be available to pick up the kids from school (Steve has taken on the job of doing this as well as staying home with Grant). But in the long run, I think this is going to bring some wonderful things for my family. And I'm sure there will be lots more to come on that subject later.

Now, on to another subject. Both of the girls are doing well in school. We are already 3 weeks in (about to start the 4^th week) and they are adjusting well. Both Ryann and Kamri like their teachers and their classmates. But, of course, they like recess, P.E., art, and library more than anything else…..LOL. I think that's to be expected. In just 3 short weeks I'll be posting report card grades for the first six weeks.

Grant is doing really well, too. He's starting to talk (babble) a lot more every day. There are several words that he's able to say consistently but my favorite is definitely "sissy"…..it's the cutest thing ever! I'll have to try to get him on video saying some of his favorite words because it's almost impossible to explain. And the boy is growing like a little weed! He is already towering over his cousin, Wyatt, who is 3 weeks older than him. It's a little surprising that Grant is as tall as he is since neither Steve nor I are unusually tall. But this boy just might pass us both up one day! Guess we'll see.

It's almost the middle of September and I am pleased to say that I've already started our Christmas shopping this year and am really excited to see the looks on the kids' faces when they see some of the gifts I've picked out. Halloween is next month along with Kamri's birthday. Thanksgiving will be right behind it, followed by Christmas and New Year. I love fall and winter and all of the holidays that come with it!!! But this year, I think I'll be most thankful for the cooler temperatures! This summer has been brutal!

That's about it for now. I'm sure that there are LOTS of things that I'm forgetting, and I apologize, but my mind is a little bit distracted today. Still have a lot left on my to-do list and not sure where I'll find the time to do it all. Pray for me!

 

Love to all,

Melony

In these small moments…..

As a parent, I sometimes have those days moments when I wonder what in the world is wrong with my children?!?! I don't understand some of the things they do! How can someone so small make me want to pull all of my hair out and scream at the top of my lungs?? But then, as anyone who's a Mommy or Daddy will tell you, something happens that makes your heart swell with pride. I had just such a moment yesterday.

Our daily afternoon routine requires me to pick Kamri up from school before Ryann since they are now are different campuses and Kamri's school lets out 10 minutes earlier than Ryann's. So as I'm sitting in line waiting to pick up Kamri I'm watching all of the kiddos come out of the school and thinking how tiny they all look. See, QISD (along with every other district in Texas) suffered severe budget cuts this year and therefore had to re-arrange the schools a little bit. As a result, Pre-K and Kindergarten are now at Kamri's campus along with 1^st and 2^nd graders. So, my Kamri who is now 7 (almost 8) and NOT small for her size literally towers over some of these 4 and 5 year olds. It still gets me every time I see them walk out of the school together.

So, yesterday I'm sitting in line and they call Kamri's name to come outside. And as she's coming out of the door, a very young looking girl is standing on the sidewalk crying…..probably feeling a little overwhelmed still from all of the newness of school…..and almost definitely sleepy and needing a short nap. But there she was crying as Kamri walks out of the school. And my Kamri…..my sweet loving girl…..stops on the sidewalk and kneels down to talk to the little girl. I'm in my car at this point, so of course I can't hear their interaction…..but it was a truly endearing interaction to watch. Because the little girl spoke to Kamri, wiped the tears from her eyes, and then walked hand-in-hand down the remainder of the sidewalk where her parent was waiting to pick her up.

Even now, sitting here a day later recounting this memory I still tear up a little. And it honestly makes my heart smile. My girls definitely have days where they make me wonder who this mischievous little alien is that has inhabited their bodies…….but occasionally they unknowingly show me the little angels inside them……and it makes me want to praise God for allowing me to be their Mama.

The end of the hottest summer ever.....

Oh man, how I wish that statement were true. Unfortunately, it's more like a wish for things to come. While it is accurate to say that the "summer" as we know it is coming to a close, it could not be farther from the truth to say that it's anywhere close to cooling down. I thought it was rather funny that yesterday on Facebook I was notified of a post titled "On this day in 2010"....it was literally a post from my facebook page from August 27, 2010. And in my post I noted how wonderful the weather was that day and how I was looking forward to more cool days like that one. HA!!! We are still having days in the mid-high hundreds everyday. And I have no idea when that's going to change. Praying for a reprieve sometime soon.

As for us this week.....it probably seemed like a bit of a boring week for my kids. They started school on Monday and therefore each evening was devoted to trying to get us all back into the school time routine. Early mornings, early dinners, and early bedtimes. And we made it to school on time everyday!! For more info on the first day of school, see previous post.

Steve bowled in the Greenville PBA Regional yesterday and came close but didn't make the final cut. You win some and you lose some, I guess. This morning was his first soccer game with his new team.......and I hear it didn't go all that well either. Rough weekend for Steve. Poor guy.

Other than that we literally didn't do much of anything at all this week. Not sure what this next week has in store for us......more to come later.

Love to all,
Melony : )

The start of something new.....

Yesterday was the start of another new school year. And I hadn't actually planned on posting again until this weekend, but since the first day of school is such an exciting day I figure it's worth posting about.

Monday morning rolls around and it's time to get up and start getting ready for school. Unfortunately for me, I have not slept at all in preparation for this day (and it isn't because I didn't try). So, it looks like it's going to be a long day......

We decided to try and drop off Ryann at her new school first since, in MY mind, it would take less time to say our goodbyes and whatnot....seeing as how her school is 3rd-5th grades. However, when you put 600 students in one campus and have all 1200 of their parents in 1200 different cars trying to drop them off........ick......it makes for one big fat hairy mess!!! The parking lot was a nightmare.....more to come on that later. But let's just say that I waited for almost 15 minutes just to find a parking spot. So, we go into the school and all of a sudden Ryann has a case of First-Day jitters and starts telling me that she doesn't want me to leave her.....huh?? Luckily, she quickly found her BBFF (boy best friend forever) from last year, Cody and double luckily....they are sitting right beside each other in class! I knew everything would be fine....

So, about 8:00 we leave Ryann's school......running behind of course....and get in the car to head over to Kamri's school to drop her off. As I'm backing out of my parking spot, I'm carefully looking around to make sure that all is clear since the parking lot is still something of a disaster. So, I'm sitting in line waiting to make my way out of this mess and I look in my rearview mirror. What do I see, you might ask???? A Ford F-25o backing up right in the direction of my truck and clearly not paying any attention.......yep, she hit me. Luckily it was a parking lot so she wasn't going very fast....and I was at a complete stop.....so my truck suffered something between a scratch and a gouge.....again. I don't know why people keep feeling the need to back into or run directly into my truck!!! What a mess!

So, we finally leave Ryann's school and head just around the corner to Kamri's campus.....MUCH better parking situation I might add. Unfortunately, by this time I'm running seriously late. With the parking fiasco at Ryann's school and then the crazy lady backing into my truck we show up at Kamri's school at about 8:15....poor child. As I was walking her into her class, the principal was announcing over the intercom that all parents needed to start making their way to the front of the school so that the students could begin their day......so, not only did I NOT have a chance to really talk to the teacher (or Kamri for that matter) but I only had time to take one picture.....and it's not even the best picture I could have gotten. Sorry baby girl.....Nonetheless, I did get ONE picture of Kamri sitting at her new desk. And then I had to rush out the door.

Both girls reported great first days!! And I am really excited to see what this new school year brings. My babies are growing up so fast!!! And by golly they are just so smart! : ) Of course I might be a little biased. ; )

Melony

My Plans Destroyed........Blegh!

I knew this was going to happen. I tried to prepare myself. I said to myself, "Now Self, don't be surprised...." And yet here I am.....shocked to my very core that we are once again starting a new school year! LOL.

The past seven days have gone by in a literal blur. So many of my carefully thought out plans did NOT go as I intended them to.......and although I am, by nature, the type of person who doesn't adapt to changed plans well, sometimes you just have to let it go and realize that it's not the end of the world. But, trust me......this wasn't an easy week. It seemed that everytime I planned something......God put me in my place.

Ryann and Kamri both ended up spending the better part of the past week with their fathers. And quite honestly that kind of threw a kink in my "plans", but I did my best to roll with the punches. Both girls had appointments with their respective orthodontists. And above all else, I am glad that they won't have to miss any school for at least the first few weeks. Kamri had her appliance installed (that sounds so odd.....installed.....like it's flooring for her mouth or something...) and Ryann had a routine visit where they tightened her braces and she got to pick out new colored bands for her brackets. I can't believe we've already reached the stage where both of my baby girls will be in braces......at the same time!!!!

There was SO much to do this week, and unfortunately I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I would have liked. But, hopefully the start of a new school year will bring with it the return of our dearly beloved (by me, if no one else) schedule.

To be honest, there wasn't really much to brag about this week. I have planned for the majority of the summer to take the kids to a local waterpark right before school was to start again. So, on Tuesday morning we all got up, took care of breakfast and got dressed and packed up to head out for some fun in the sun. My parents had both taken a day off work and were meeting us at the park to surprise the girls. It was going to be loads of fun! Unfortunately, I received a phone call from my mom when we were about 20 minutes out informing me that the park was CLOSED for cleaning! Are you kidding me??? This was the ONLY day we had left to enjoy any type of activity as a family before the girls left for the week/weekend......I was very upset (and that's putting it mildly). But fortunately, my mom has an amazing day-saving friend who lives in Rockwall who just happens to have a pool that she was more than willing to let us borrow for the day. SOOOO, I guess not all was lost in the end. The kids definitely would have enjoyed the waterpark more.....but we were all happy to be able to spend some quality family time together swimming and laughing.

Then, I planned a date night for myself and Steve on Saturday evening before the girls were to come home......we planned on seeing The Change Up. Little did I know when making these plans that God had other plans for us.....lol. We arrived at the theater and saw a sign informing us that "Due to Technical Difficulties with the Projector, The Change Up would not be showing until further notice".......so much for my plan of a much needed laugh-fest. We ended up seeing Captain America instead.......which was a good movie. But it was definitely no laugh-fest. I figure this just means Steve owes me another date night! :)

I think the Lord has been trying to get a message across to me all week. It goes something like this......"Melony, you are not in control.......get over it!"

I get it Lord.......and I'm trying.

Another one bites the dust…….another week that is…..

How in the world have we already made it to Saturday night??? It seems like I was just updating this blog and then I blinked, and now 7 days have passed and I'm sitting here again. Jeesh!

This past week hasn't actually been too bad schedule wise. We had a couple of activities/appointments planned that had to be re-scheduled. And things didn't start to get hairy until just yesterday. The girls and I have enjoyed spending a lot of time together this week. And I'm amazed by them every day. They are growing up so fast sometimes I feel like I can barely keep up.

Today everyone met at my parent's house to celebrate mine and Steve's birthdays. Mine was on the 8^th, of course, and his is on the 23^rd of this month. With the generally crazy busy schedules of everyone in my family and the start of a new school year being dumped on top of THAT…..it made more sense to get together this weekend. We had a yummy lunch and some homemade (from scratch) carrot cake cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese frosting (which were quite delish if I do say so myself). Then Steve left to go bowl in the Plano Super Bowl Regional…..a yearly tradition at this point. Unfortunately, he didn't make the cut this year but I guess the only way to look at it is……you win some and you lose some. The Lord always has plans for bigger and better things for his children.

Tomorrow is going to be kind of a lazy day I'm hoping…..because next week is going to be insane. LOTS of fun things planned for this little family. More to come on that.

That's really about all for this week. Right now I'm planning out next week's menu and making out my to-do list. It's a little long…..but I work better under pressure, so I'm hoping for a very productive week.

And now……..more planning!!

Love,
Melony : )

Finally all are home!

It has been a crazy hectic week in our house....to say the least. But the important thing is that we are all finally back together. The month of July was especially long this year. With both girls gone it was unusually quiet around our house. That is no longer the case.

Sunday evening I met Ryann at American Girl Dallas where she was able to complete her birthday gift for this year. We had her doll's hair styled. For $21, I watched them spray, brush, and then style this doll's hair. And while we waited our "turn", Ryann and I shared a Chocolate Molten Cake. Hopefully it was a fun experience for Ryann. I wanted it to be special for her. But, I can honestly say, I don't think I'll be paying $21 again for someone to provide a stylish new "do" for this (or any other) doll. We've decided that it'll be more fun to try out new hairstyles at home from now on.

The majority of my Monday was spent driving down to Houston to pick up Kamri from her dad's house where she had been for the previous 6 weeks. It was of course a long drive, but well worth every second. While Kamri was down there she was finally referred to an orthodontist who said it's time to start her treatment. So, in the very near future Kamri will have braces put on a few of her teeth and we will begin the road to her oral perfection (ha!). More to come on that topic later I'm sure.

Tuesday we had an appointment with the Hunt County ECI ladies. I was slightly nervous about this appointment, as was Steve. But overall I'd say it went very well. Back in June, when we went to see Dr. Lay for Grant's 15 month well-child check she noticed that he wasn't able to speak very many words and it was mildly concerning to her. I myself had not noticed because I figured that children just start talking when they're good and ready. However, she referred us to the Hunt county Early Childhood Intervention group. She said it wasn't anything to be strongly concerned about at this time, but she'd like for them to assess him just to make sure that he's learning and developing properly. So, Tiffany and the ladies came out to assess my boy. And their report was as I expected. He's actually AHEAD of his age developmentally in every area EXCEPT the number of words that he's able to say. Me.....I just think he's being lazy....lol. He's gotten so used to having myself and two older sisters provide him with anything and everything he needs before he even has to ask. So, that's something we are learning to work on. He'll be assessed again in a couple of months and in the meantime, we're teaching him to speak.

Wednesday finally rolls around and although in my opinion we've already been busy enough to last us the rest of the week.....there's still more to do. Greenville Carpet came and installed the new carpet in the hallway and the kid's room......something I've been looking forward to for months now! And I'm SO pleased with how it turned out. But let me tell you........Wednesday was a crazy day for us. Certain areas of our house looked like we had either just moved in or had a severe case of hoarding...lol! Cleaning everything out of the kids' room and moving it all into the pool table room made for a huge mess (albeit an organized mess). Plus, it took the installers longer than I had expected to lay the carpet so my poor kids were bored ALL day. See, not only did they not have a bedroom to play in but they also couldn't play outside since the temps have been in the 104-110 range for about 2 weeks straight now. So, as terrible as it is, my kids spent the better part of the day in the nice air conditioned living room watching movies. But, honestly I don't know of any other way to keep them out from under foot and entertained. Soo......we dealt with it the best we could. And to be quite honest, the worst part wasn't the kids being bored.....it was having my 16 month old son desperately need a nap and me having nowhere to put him where he could safely sleep. That's where my nerves started to fray.......but we all survived and our house is one step closer to being "complete".

Thursday......man is it only Thursday??? I spent THREE HOURS at Rockwall Dodge getting my truck serviced. Last month I came across a deal on Groupon where for only $24 you could receive an oil change, state inspection, and car wash for your vehicle. This came at a PERFECT time since my inspection was expiring in August and my truck was a tiny bit (3000 miles) overdue for an oil change. So, I snatched that deal up quick!! But, I did have to sit and wait in the customer service waiting area for 3 hours while my truck was enjoying it's spa day. Again, a long long long LONG wait......but worth every penny! Afterward I drove my newly cleaned and running like new truck over to Kroger and did the grocery shopping for our family. This week I was able to purchase ALL of my family's grocery and personal needs for just under $33. And that feels great! See more about that at http://www.lifethefrugalway.com/.

Friday, oh how I love thee.......not a lot to report for Friday.....I was finally able to get my eyebrows waxed (and realized that it had been close to 9 months since my previous appointment...what?!).....this was something I've been looking forward to for about a month now, so it felt GREAT to rid myself of that unwanted pesky hair. Then the girls and I had lunch at Subway with my mom and headed back home to wait for the text from Adam letting me know he was ready to meet me to pick up Ryann. Believe it or not, that's the extent of my Friday.......boring, I know.

So here we are now.....Saturday morning......sipping coffee and browsing the online deal websites that I follow. Getting ready to "prep" for my shopping this week. While it may not sound like much to some......it's one of the highlights of my week. I <3 saving money!!!

It's definitely been a busy week for us. And next week looks like it's going to be jam-packed as well. LOTS of thing to finally get off my To-Do list, school shoe shopping (hopefully), and a trip to the local library for the kiddos. I'm looking forward to a productive week!! And if all goes as planned, we might even get to hang out with some family friends tonight and go bowling! Whoo-hoo!!!!

Hope everyone has had a blessed week!!

Love to all,

Melony & The Fam : )

Happy Birthday, Ryann!!!!

My how the time flies!!! Nine years ago today, I was lying in a hospital bed in College Station, Texas waiting on my first baby girl to join this world. I remember feeling more scared than I had ever been in my entire life....while at the same time feeling more excited than I'd ever been either. We've been through so much together in such a short period of time.

Ryann, you are one of the smartest, most caring little girls that I've ever had the privilege of knowing. And I count myself as blessed to be your Mommy. I know that there will be trying times as you continue to grow and learn, but I am SO exicted to see the woman that you will one day become.....strong, independent, confident, loving, and a true blessing to everyone who knows you. You have made the past nine years so amazing and FUN!!!

I love you with all of my heart, baby!! Happy Happy Birthday!!!

Love, Mommy

Summer Time in Texas!!!

Wow!! I can't believe that it's already July 4th! It seems like it was just last week when the girls were finishing school and now the stores are already putting out school supplies for the upcoming school year!!! My, how the time flies.

Both of the girls are with their respective dads for the month of July. Kamri left on the Friday before Father's Day and will return on August 1st. And Ryann just left this past Friday. It's definitely a lot quieter around here with just one kiddo to keep us busy. But, I'd swear that he's made the decision to keep us just as busy whether it's just him or not...lol. He's at the age that he's into EVERYTHING and it's sometimes a tiring task just keeping him out of danger and out of the pantry!!! But he's also at the age where he's really learning to express himself using facial expressions and some of the ones he comes up with are just adorable! I took him grocery shopping with me last week and he had a blast! Granted, being able to ride around in the little cop car certainly made the trip a lot more enjoyable for him......and who am I to argue??

A couple of weekends ago we spent a Saturday at Lake Tawakoni State Park with the family celebrating Bapa's 50th Birthday and Father's Day although the two don't fall on the same day. The Dads decided that they wanted to hold off and celebrate the Saturday AFTER Father's Day so that's what we did. We had a wonderful lunch under a huge shade tree where the biggest thing we had to worry about was having the cool breeze blow our food away and then we all had a little "boat therapy". That's what Aunt Jessica has nicknamed it and I think I kinda like it. Gamaw wasn't able to join us on the boat since she's finishing up an intense college course and needed to fit in some extra study time. But doesn't it just look like these two had a blast??

We are all missing Kamri Jay here. I'm very ready for her to be back home and for things to get back to "normal"!!

I'm still couponing and LOVING every minute of it! I absolutely love the challenge it brings into my daily life. Saving money on items that my family uses on a weekly basis is exhilarating!!! I even finally got around to setting up my Couponing website this past week and although it's a work in progress, I'm pleased with the outcome thus far.

Steve and I are still working on things in relationship land. We made it to that 3 year mark and all of a sudden things got hard. I fully believe that Satan is just playing around with both of us because one of the things he hates MOST is two God-fearing, God-loving people in love. But, we will make it through this time and when we come out on the other side a stronger couple, we'll look back and know that the Lord had his hand on us the whole time.

That's about it for us. We stay pretty busy most days. Grant sees to that! Haha!!

Hope everyone else is doing well. I'm still working on getting the literally hundreds of photos that I had on MyPhotoAlbum.com transferred over to the new site, PhotoBucket. It's truly a pain that MyPhotoAlbum decided to shut down......but what can you do about it??

Until next time,

Melony : )

One Year Stats

So, our boy is officially one. I wanted to make sure that I remembered to post the stats from his 12 month check up. So here is where we stand as of right now. One week after Grant turned one, we took him to see Dr. Lay for his 12 month well check. He now weighs 21.9 pounds and is 30.5 inches. That puts him in the 45%-50% range for his weight, but he's still in the 75th percentile for his height. He's a completely healthy boy....growing and learning right on schedule. As of this past week, he's started walking a lot more. He's now taking 6-8 steps unassisted, standing up without the help of support, and can even stop while he's walking and start up again. He has 6 teeth now......and we're working on the table food. He's slightly picky. Doesn't like pasta, but LOVES crackers and bread!!! And a bit of WONDERFUL news, this week is the first week in the past year that he's finally started sleeping mostly through the night. His bedtime is 8:30-9:00 and he usually wakes up between 12:30 and 1:00.....but then he goes right back to sleep and stays that way until usually 8:00am. This has been a prayer answered for us!!! I can't tell you what it's been like to wait an entire year to have a full night's sleep!! But, finally it looks like we're on the right track! Unfortunately, I don't have the pics from his birthday party on this computer......mine has a virus and is being worked on....so, I'm updating from Steve's laptop.....but I'll post pics on myphotoalbum.com as soon as I can!! Love to all, Melony : )

Happy Birthday Grant!!!

March 16, 2010 ~ A day I'll never forget.......the day the Lord blessed us with the birth of our precious little boy. And my, how the past year has flown by!! There have been tears, laughs, smiles, and exactly 365 sleepless nights.....hahaha.

Grant is close to walking....he's actually taken several steps completely free of support, however as of right now, he still prefers having something to hold on to as he cruises around the house. This week has also brought on 2 new teeth, which brings the running total to......6. LOL.....one of these days the teething will all be behind us, but we're not there yet.

He still hasn't said Mama......but it's Dada Dada all the time!! However, when it comes to cuddle time it's ALL about the Mommy!! He's definitely become a Mommy's boy lately.....and I love every second of it!! : )

He has started doing the funniest thing lately.....he likes to head butt you and then rub his head back and forth on yours....in the same motion as if he were shaking his head no......he gets a kick out of it and so do we. There are usually kisses that accompany this fun game so it's something that I LOVE to play with him!!

Since Grant's first birthday falls smack dab in the middle of the week this year, we are having his party on Sunday March 20th. We're looking forward to having everyone over to celebrate with us. I'm sure there will be plenty of pics to share! Until then, I'm gonna go soak up some more love from my little man!! : )

Man oh Man!!!

It seems like no matter how determined I am to keep this blog updated, it just doesn't happen!!! Being a Mommy to 3 takes surprisingly more time and work than being Mommy to 2!! It's probably also partly because Grant is 11 months old....he keeps me pretty busy all of the time. But here we go.....here's the latest.

I ended up NOT taking the job in Rockwall due to the fact that the pay was extremely low and it would actually end up COSTING me money to go to work everyday......call me crazy but I don't think that's what any of us are looking for in a job. SO, I'm back to being a SAHM full-time and working my MK business.

Both of the girls are doing exceptionally well in school. When the last report cards came out Kamri had all A's and Ryann had all A's with the exception of one B. She struggles sometimes in math.....but so did I. I don't know that I EVER got an A in math and I graduated in the top 10% of my class with a full scholarship to college. So, we're working on it.....but I'm very proud of both of them for all of their hard work.

Steve and I started taking Financial Peace University at our church this month. And so far I L-O-V-E it!!! I think it's going to make a HUGE impact on our lives. I can't wait to see how much we are going to benefit from all of this information. It's going to take some hard work, but I believe that we both understand the implications of NOT planning for our future.....and neither of us want that outcome.

Grant is 11 months old now.....he'll turn one on March 16th.....just a few short weeks away. I can't believe that I'm already planning his first birthday! It seems like the past year has just flown by! He's not walking yet, but he's trying.....and as far as teeth go, there are still only 4 as of right now. He's been saying "DaDa" for as long as he's been making noise it seems, but lately he's actually trying to say "MaMa". However, it sounds more like "BwaBwa" when it comes out....lol. We'll get there. He learned how to play Patty Cake this month as well. So now anytime you say "patty cake" to him he claps his little hands and gives you a HUGE smile!! I love how happy he is!!

Unfortunately, our family has dealt with a lot of sickness in the past couple of months. First, Grant had strep the week before Christmas.....and then I ended up sick the week of!! Then we started the new year and thought everyone was going to be fine. Well, beginning of February rolls in and Ryann ends up with a stomach bug that lasted for several days. The Kamri gets strep and later the same week, Grant gets strep again. Kamri and Grant have BOTH dealt with secondary infections.....but are finally on the road to recovery! Thank you Lord!! Between sick days and snow days (That's right.....we had 5 or 6 in a two week period), my schedule has been all sorts of upside down!!

Steve is starting a new job next week at Orr Nissan in Greenville. We really don't know what to expect of this new opportunity, but we believe that it was sent to us from God, and we're really excited about it!

Other than that, not too much happening here in our little house. We are living in His blessings and taking each day as it comes. : )

Melony

2011 ~ Some new and some the same.....

So, the start of a new year has brought changes to our family. And a little of the same old stuff as well. One of the "New Years Resolutions" that Steve and I set for ourselves was working on eliminating our credit card debt and so, we decided that the only way this was going to happen was for us to be bringing in as much income as we could this year. SOOOOO, I got a job.....for right now it's a temporary position that could only last for a couple of months, but it's something to get us started. For the next 8 weeks (or longer) I'll be working on a marketing project for an athletic club in Rockwall. My employment also came with a gym membership and, truth be told, that was definitely a deciding factor on whether or not I would take this position. I am once again attempting to get back down to a more "healthy" weight and lifestyle. And I'm thinking that working at a gym 5 days a week could really help me out with this!!

Steve is also going to be bowling a lot more on the weekends than he has in the almost 3 years that we've been together. He's bowling really well right now, possibly the best he's ever bowled, and we want to capitalize on that, so he'll be traveling a lot more this year and we hope that he'll be able to really be successful in his bowling career.

There really isn't much new for the kiddos this year. Ryann got braces during the last week of December and will have them for 12-14 months. And both girls will continue taking cheer this year. They seem to really enjoy it and they are learning a lot. Both girls are doing well in school.....and that's not something that I expect to change for the remainder of the year....thank goodness!! Grant is crawling all over the place and is already hard to keep up with!! He still only has two teeth, but we're hoping some more come through soon.....my poor boy needs some relief!!!

Other than that, there isn't a whole lot going on with us. Check out our photo site for pics from this month.

Love to all,

Melony & the fam : )