Sunday, January 31, 2010
Use the camera, Woman!
Well, sorry, folks, 'cause I didn't use it very often. As I scroll through the photos of our Dec 29-Jan 6 trip to Phoenix I realize there is a multitude of things/happenings that never reached the lens. I think caring for a toddler in a time zone two hours different than his own and dealing with nausea and weariness probably pushed the thought of picture taking a bit further out of my mind. Since trips are not able to be rewound I'll have to settle for the few that did make it back home.
Excited traveler #1.
Excited traveler #1.
Excited (but not ready for the camera) traveler #2.
Excited (but quickly tired of the "ayeplane") traveler #3.In a typical day of mine two to four hours does not seem like a long period of time. In a typical day. Flying from one side of the country to the other is not a typical kind of day scenario, and that stretch of time seriously felt like some of the longest moments of my life. Taking a rambunctious two year old homebody out of his element and expecting him to sit for hours upon end next to you can be a bit draining! And my watch - - - those hands moved so slowly! I am happy to report that we had no major incidents. I did happen to glance away from the youngest for a few moments only to turn around and discover that he was sticking Toy Story stickers all over the side of the plane. My heart just about stopped until I realized they were easily removed. And as tiny as "conti-ental ayeplane" bathrooms are, there are still numerous things to amuse two year olds. :-) Believe me; I know.
Upon arrival, it seemed like there wasn't much slowing down until we arrived home again! And once again, I'd like to show more pictures. . .if I had them. :-)

Every boy loves to be unleashed on Uncle Tracy's drum set. The adults, on the other hand. . .
Hiking on South Mtn in Phoenix was a fun activity between Troy and the boys. I declined the invitation and did laundry instead. Only nausea would make me choose the latter!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
'Twas the weeks before Christmas
And all through the house,
My nausea was raging,
So I felt like a louse!
And I will stop the poetry (or attempt) for your sake! :-) This was by far my roughest Christmas season since nausea is no respecter of persons! The kiddos had a great time though, and that is more important to me. It can be a bit difficult to be festive when food smells send you running, and life itself sends you gagging! May I never again be sick the month of Christmas!!!!!!!!

The boys assembled their own tree and decorated it. What a relief and bit of sadness as it was another step of independence on their part.
And what's Christmas without some extra giving?! The boys worked and saved money to fill several packages for Operation Christmas Child. It was such a delight to watch them choose and pack little gifts for an unknown needy child. I hope they never lose that thrill!
And Christmas isn't Christmas without some crafts.
Never mind the gingerbread house; I scaled down to a tree. :-) I was also so nauseated I couldn't bear to taste the icing. (May we all pause to gasp!)
Mid December brought the opportunity to pull out the Zofran and head to SC where Troy was the bass soloist in Bob Jones University's Messiah production. What fun to reconnect with old friends and visit old places!
Backstage with the "performer" in his dressing room.
Dr. Warren Cook - Conductor. and ping pong.
Spending the day with a best friend - Josh.
More catching up with our old neighbors - the Russos.
Christmas Eve found us at my parents' house three hours away in PA. And what is Christmas Eve without games?! I was able to play Blokus for the first time - - - - - and loooved it!
Just had to wrap Grandpa's gift certificate in the biggest box from the attic. :-)

Christmas Day at home!!!!! Ahhh. . .I love to wake up in my own bed on that holiday! We had a special time together as a family! Gifts. Games. Food. Movies. Memories. All the makings of a good day!
Spending the day with a best friend - Josh.
More catching up with our old neighbors - the Russos.
Christmas Eve found us at my parents' house three hours away in PA. And what is Christmas Eve without games?! I was able to play Blokus for the first time - - - - - and loooved it!
Just had to wrap Grandpa's gift certificate in the biggest box from the attic. :-)
Christmas Day at home!!!!! Ahhh. . .I love to wake up in my own bed on that holiday! We had a special time together as a family! Gifts. Games. Food. Movies. Memories. All the makings of a good day!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Nausea + blog = ick!
To be perfectly honest, nausea + anything = ick! That wretched stuff has a way of sucking the life out of you! And your appetite. And family. And blog. And life in general. Many days I wake up only to wish I could fast forward the day, but then the evenings are sometimes my worst part of the day. (Who came up with the name "morning sickness" anyway?!) Well enough whining I suppose. :-) And, yes, I have tried every notion and fanatical thing in the book minus eating beans, of course. That was a new one I just discovered, and since I do not like any bean on a good day. . .I don't think something which reminds me of a dead roach will get past the gagging sensation in my throat! So during this pregnancy, three things have seemed to help (other than Zofran): 1. Playing the piano. Not sure why but it sends the nausea packing. 2. Crying. :-) Found that out when I hit rock bottom one night due to the intense nausea, and I burst into tears. In a few moments. . .it vanished! Tried it time and again, and it works. The problem comes in when I am nauseated in public. . . Somehow walking around sobbing might do more harm than the nausea! My verdict is that the hormone produced by tears must outweigh the hormone that produces the nausea. (You have my permission to call me Einstein! :-) 3. Whining on the phone to my mother, sisters, or some sympathetic friend (preferably someone who has endured nausea).
There you are, dear friends, nausea busters 1,2, and 3. You can begin to pity the person who sits near me on the plane later this month! They'll have to listen to me sob or whine! Ha. Maybe the pilot will let me sit in the front with him as I always do better up there!
My previous whining is to explain the lack of blogging. When good moments swoop in, it seems a bit more profitable to do laundry or dishes. (You again have my permission to call me Einstein! :-) Not that the laundry always gets done, and the dishes are often clean. Nausea has a way of making one lethargic, and let's hope it is not permanent damage as I have always loved to clean. The problem is with the lack of blogging, I tend to forget the fun and little patches of life that are worth remembering, and when I get around to scrapbooking life in VA. . .well I'll be in trouble! With no further whining (drum roll, please), this often nauseated woman vows to be a better blogger for the sake of scrapbooks and posterity (and a MIL and all the kind people who tell me they read this blog). :-)
"I'll begin by heading back into October," blushes the author. Yes, I typed October, but it was as soon as our company (Angie Oliver and crew) left on October 31st that my life caved in. Not because they left, but because November 1st was the day my normal life ended. Let's see, that makes 50 days of severe nausea so far! Oh, wait, I was supposed to stop whining in the last paragraph, wasn't I?!
Back to the Olivers, it was a delight to have friends from SC visit for a few days. It was nice to be with someone with whom you have some history. New town, new church, new house, new life can get a little too new sometimes, so it was wonderful to visit! Six people under the age of ten is always an adventure as well! :-) And add two woman without their husbands. . .well, we made some memories! :-)


(I made your pancakes, Lisa G.) Adrianna kindly informed me that her mother did not make as big of a mess as I do. :-)
For the first time in years, we spent the Thanksgiving holiday with my parents. (The indoor felines are gone, and so was the dander!) It was a fun time of games,
an abundance of word games for me,
dear old grandpas who shouldn't play Memory with young minds,
more games,Oh, yes, we had a great meal, too. At least I think we did. Nausea tends to take the desire for food consumption. It is a great weight loss program I do not recommend.
One of my kids' greatest memories was the shaving and whipping cream versus ladies' perfume fight between the boys, Grandpa Sampson, and the aunts. What fun they had! Had I not just been completely beaten up by a dentist who removed a tooth (and informed me it was the hardest to remove tooth he had ever done) I would have loved the fight. Height, swiftness, and pregnancy always have an advantage as I throw out my, "You can never touch a pregnant woman!" line I use on everyone. Instead, I sat in misery trying to calm my poor mother who never did get into those wild ideas of my father!
Happiness = shaving cream on the noggin!
Now for all of my SC friends. . .you know the lovely 54 light drive down Wade Hampton?! I took a few snapshots to show the new 5-7 minute drive in the country I now have. We even cross a little one lane bridge over a bubbling creek, and I believe there is only one measly light on the whole drive! :-) After five years of driving 45-60 minutes to church, I'll admit this is a gorgeous change! I just miss all of you though! Sniff.And while I blogged, my kind husband just caught up the dishes
for me. :-)
Friday, December 04, 2009
Same song, 4th verse.

Wondering what has been going on around here lately?I'll give you a little hint -visit the "old tale" of Thursday, May 3,
2007.A few things are different,but the news is pretty much the same.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Only 21 days late this time.
It's a good thing that Silas is the last one to have a birthday this year as I keep getting further behind in my postings. The little lad turned two on the first of this month, and we have enjoyed celebrating him! Hard to believe he is the same child after seeing his birth photos. He's gone from a 4 week early 7 pounder to a 40 lb 2 year old. (You should see my left bicep! :-)
Silas is at such a fun stage now as he is wanting to be in the middle of everything (You can feel free to pray for the less patient Ethan. Ha!) and imitate what he sees. At times, I do things just to watch his imitation. He is getting very opinionated about food and prefers to eat "cannie" (candy), pizza, cheese, bread and "buttah" and "pottage" cheese. He is a big fan of John Deere "fractors" and Thomas the Tank Engine. The little guy loves the outdoors and animals. Piano music always gets his attention, and he likes to sing holding a hymnbook which he calls a "Bobble" (Bible).
Silas is also my first child that doesn't like his bread crusts - an act that I feel is sacrilegious when you love bread as I do. He is my first kid to be dangerous with writing utensils. He has decorated himself, numerous papers, walls, furniture, computer keys and screens. . . I won't even bother to mention the markers!
Best of all, he is still very attached to me, and I like that. :-) Makes a Mom feel extra special!
Best of all, he is still very attached to me, and I like that. :-) Makes a Mom feel extra special!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Long awaited house pictures
Here I go again. . . I accidentally deleted this picture later in the post and have no clue how to slap it back in the middle. :-( It is a lovely view of the nice hardwoods, but it would fit a little better in the middle of the living room shots. The lighting isn't the best either. Most of that is due to the fact I am still learning how to use this camera and need to reread the manual. (Ick!)
Well I am fiiiiinally posting the longed for photos. :-) As you can see by the date (9.21.09) I began taking these weeks ago. . . According the the neighbors, this house was a pitiful sight before the remodeling process began. Consequently I had to wait for the crews to finish some of the work before I could get the "after" pics. The front still had a few things to be done in this shot, and Seth and Ethan are diligently picking up rocks to help the landscaping.I had hoped for a one story small (but adequate) house that wouldn't cost too much to heat/cool. I had a few desires but didn't actually think they would materialize. . . You can imagine my thrill when we got here and I saw firsthand how nice it was! No, it's not big and full of amenities, but it is all brand new (minus the toilet in my bathroom)! The location is on a hill at the end of a cul-de-sac which is a huge plus for me! We had lived on one in SC, and it is so nice not to worry about traffic. The back is very private and opens up to woods (yippee!!!!) on one side and an open field on the other. My little guys are good at bringing me handfuls of wildflowers from the fields. The back has a shed attached and a nice sized deck which I hope to make the home of a "handy dandy" grill next year. :-)


We had a third bathroom for a little while as the crews finished their last jobs.
This is the "lovely" sight that greets you upon arriving in the master bedroom - all the necessities of electronics (desks, printers, computers, etc.). Not pretty but has to be somewhere, and I would rather not cram it into the living room. The room is almost half the size of our other one, and that is taking some getting used to when it is time to maneuver.

The only pics in the hall are these.
Seth and Ethan's room is about the same size as their SC one; I just miss the orange walls! Sniff. Sniff. I could probably paint if Iwas willing to make it white again in three years, but. . . I despise painting too much.
Miss the orange walls here as well!
I found these little chalkboard wall clings at Dollar Tree, and they are so fun to use!
Silas gets to share his room with guests. (Well some of them anyway.) Most of the time I take him out as the average person might not appreciate his way of waking them up!
I am not really into the whole swivel rocker world, but it came with the crib and is quite handy. I wish you could see the details on the curtains - they are little green polka dots that match the ones around the crib.
This is the view you get from the hall.
All ready for the book loving guest.


I love this little picture! Seth once asked me what I would like for him to draw, and I chose a flower garden. He spent a good deal of time meticulously drawing all of these little flowers, and I thought it was so cute that I tucked it into an old frame. (Pardon the angle; I was trying to avoid glare.)
The completed armoire in its rightful spot in the living room. :-)
I looove having hardwood floors again! Makes life so much easier.

Love, love, love this kitchen! It is all brand new - even the appliances.

Opposite end with washer/dryer closet to the right.
This is the view out my kitchen window, and I love it! The photo does not do it justice! It makes me so happy to gaze out here and see all the beautiful trees and woods. It looks so different with the weather or degree the sun is shining. . . So glad this is my backdrop and not another house in a subdivision or commercial property! To me, this backyard was the icing! :-)
I found these little chalkboard wall clings at Dollar Tree, and they are so fun to use!
Silas gets to share his room with guests. (Well some of them anyway.) Most of the time I take him out as the average person might not appreciate his way of waking them up!
I am not really into the whole swivel rocker world, but it came with the crib and is quite handy. I wish you could see the details on the curtains - they are little green polka dots that match the ones around the crib.
This is the view you get from the hall.
All ready for the book loving guest.

I love this little picture! Seth once asked me what I would like for him to draw, and I chose a flower garden. He spent a good deal of time meticulously drawing all of these little flowers, and I thought it was so cute that I tucked it into an old frame. (Pardon the angle; I was trying to avoid glare.)
The completed armoire in its rightful spot in the living room. :-)
I looove having hardwood floors again! Makes life so much easier.
Love, love, love this kitchen! It is all brand new - even the appliances.
Opposite end with washer/dryer closet to the right.
This is the view out my kitchen window, and I love it! The photo does not do it justice! It makes me so happy to gaze out here and see all the beautiful trees and woods. It looks so different with the weather or degree the sun is shining. . . So glad this is my backdrop and not another house in a subdivision or commercial property! To me, this backyard was the icing! :-)Happy Fall, Friends!
Monday, October 26, 2009
39 pics for the M-I-L!
"Virginia is for lovers," and I'm in love with this state! I am not sure where to begin in my gushing over the beauty. . . So, before I fling a barrage of photos your way, I wanted to include some scenery near my home.
Many of you know of the shed saga where Silas accidentally locked himself in the shed to which we have no key, and I thought you'd enjoy a few snapshots of the tale. Pardon the nasty door; the landlord had not yet replaced it.
It was a looooong 30 minutes of Silas' wailing along with tears from his older brothers who thought he would never be released from his prison! As you can tell by the picture below, Silas wasn't the least bit thrilled with the Rough Green Snake that we had found on the porch right before the ordeal.
For the rest of these photos, I do not plan to add captions as I might be here for several hours. I'll just label the destination. Enjoy! :-)State Arboretum
We walked, enjoyed a picnic, relaxed in the meadows, walked a nature trail, and spied beautiful flowers.


Virginia Farm Market
The boys met "Red."
Apple Festival
Live Celtic music!!!!!!
Tasting "real" cotton candy for the first time.
Jim Barnett Park

Love the sense of humor!


Great Country Farms
I think the slides were 60 feet long!
Didn't take any pictures of the kids petting lions, bears, panthers. . . We decided to feed only the tame! I was amused when Silas saw the lions and nonchalantly motioned them to him and said, "Mere, lion, mere." If he only knew what he was asking!


Great Country FarmsI gave up and cheated my way through.
I think the slides were 60 feet long!
















































Name:

