CAMP BOUND!!!!!

After months of waiting, a week of packing, a lot of money spent at Target, Morgan is packed and ready for camp! She is so excited! I am excited for her too! We leave in a few hours, actually around 1:00 and I have so much to do. Here is the short list of things that must be done:

• pick up some things from Wal-Mart
• return some wrong-sized socks to Target
• fill-up the van
• clean out the van (Todd has been driving it)
• sweep/mop the kitchen and living room
• clean the bathrooms
• vacuum
• make sure that all 5 people have everything packed
• take out the scraps to the compost (Yuck)

I hope that I can get it all done. I am sure if I enlist a few helpers I can get it done.

Well, this is a big weekend for us, so please keep us in your prayers. Morgan has never been gone for a week before and she will be about 6 hours away from us. I know that she will be fine, she will be with other Christians and girls her age. Maybe it is me that I am worried about. Last night I was telling Todd that this has been a big week for us......My oldest is going to a week long summer camp and my youngest has loose teeth. They are growing up! Well, I will let you know how the weekend goes. Todd is so excited about catching up with Josh, so I am sure that it will be memory filled weekend!

MAJOR UPDATE!!

Zachary just got up this morning and was saying that his tooth felt funny! After taking a closer look..........he has his first loose tooth!!! He has waited his entire life to have a loose tooth. He has pretended to have loose teeth many times when his sisters were losing teeth!! There is one that is pretty lose and the one beside it is a little loose!! YEAH!!!

What a busy day!

We have so much to do today that I woke up at 4:15. I just had too much on my mind. Oh well, we have to get everyone packed for the weekend, plus get Morgan packed for the week. We are going this afternoon to Target to pick up all of the stuff that she needs. She is so excited. I hope that I can make it to this afternoon, I am already so tired.

We are going to be going to Dothan tomorrow and staying with Todd's parents. Saturday morning, Todd, Morgan, and I will get up and go down to Tampa. Todd has a friend that he grew up with in Germany that is living down there. They have reconnected and want to get together. So we will be going there Saturday morning to hang out with Josh and his family. Sunday after church we will head back up to the camp and drop Morgan off, then head back to Dothan to get the other two kids so we can go home. WOW!! What a busy weekend we are going to have.

Well, I guess that I should go get busy, the work will not get down on its own.

Weary Wednesday for Savannah

I have no catchy title for today's post. Going to VBS twice a day is wearing Savannah out! She is sleeping on the couch waiting for Mrs. Donna to pick her up this morning. Bless her heart, she is so tired. I think that she is enjoying it, though.

Well, only a few days before Morgan goes to camp and she is so excited. We are going to go shopping tomorrow afternoon to pick up some stuff that she needs. I think that she is going to have a great time!

Here are some pictures from Todd's birthday!

Here is the sign that we made for Todd!

Here is his home-made carrot cake! Yes that is 32 candles!

Call the fire department!!!!!!

Is the "old" man going to be able to blow out the candles??

Look at all the smoke!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Today is Todd's 32nd birthday!!! We are not doing anything special, the kids are going to VBS and when they get home we will have cake. I have invited the Goff's and DJ to come over and have cake. I am going to make him the dinner that he requested and that is about it. I think that some quiet time will be a really nice way to celebrate.

Everything is final with our house and we are no longer with Countrywide! YEAH!!!

Other than it being Todd's birthday, there is really nothing else to report. Savannah will be going to VBS with her friend Emily this morning and all of the kids are going to VBS in the evening with Ben and Alicia. We are hanging out around the house working on schoolwork with Morgan, practicing adding and reading with Zach, and of course my favorite laundry and housework.

I have to go start his cake. He wanted carrot cake! I thought I would make is special by making it homeade. It might be special alright!

Weekend Update

I am not updating menu Monday today because this week it will only be Todd and I eating supper at home so we will eat whatever, except for tomorrow night! Tomorrow is his 32nd birthday, so as it is our custom, he gets to choose the meal! He has chosen schnitzel with fried potatoes. The kids are going to vacation bible school with our neighbors and they feed them there. Savannah is also going to VBS in the mornings with another friend. At least, they are doing different programs.

Well, our weekend was quite lazy. Friday we were supposed to go to Todd's cousin's house in Fultondale, but since I was baby-sitting we did not have time to make it. Instead we went over to Ben and Alicia's and Todd helped Ben work on the new porch. We stayed over there until pretty late, as we normally do. Zachary got stung by a bee for the first time. He thought it was a fly near him and swatted it and it stung him on the leg. After the first inital shock of it (the screaming and crying) he was a trooper! I felt so bad for him!!

Saturday, even though we got up early we only went to the grocery store. Yep, that is pretty much all that we did. I hate that we wasted an entire day, but it was nice just to hang out.

Sunday, after church, we came home and I cooked a big meal and DJ came over and ate with us. After lunch we ran to Wally World to get Todd's sunglasses fixed. Then we stopped my my Aunt's house to check out their garden. I wonder if mine is ever going to start yielding veggies. I am trying to be patient. TRYING is the key word. Well, after that we went back to Ben and Alicia's and sat out on the porch while Ben installed fans. We also had dinner over there!

Well, that is about it. Morgan has about a week before she goes to camp! She is so excited and so am I! I think that she will have a great time. I am just a little nervous for her too. She has never been away from us for a week. I know that it will be a great experience for her.

Well, we hope to close on our house tomorrow! I have not heard for sure yet, but I sure hope we do!! Please keep that in your prayers. This feels like it has been a long experience (even though it hasn't!) and we will be glad to get it over and leave Countrywide!!

fixed repost

OK! For those of you who saw these same pics yesterday, so are not crazy, they were originally posted yesterday. However, for those of you who know me well, you know that since the pictures and the captions did not line up, I could not deal with it! I had to fix them. I don't like things that are not straight or out of order!

The week has finally come to a close and I don't really have anything new to report! We have baby-sat all week, so we have stuck around the house doing a lot of nothing!

Thanks so much for all your prayers for my friend, Becky's baby! I have good news to report.....she came home today!! I am so excited for them!

Well, have a good weekend!

Oh, by the way, I would love to know who is reading this so if you have a minute leave me a quick comment!

Aren't they sweet!!Morgan and my little brother Rett!
My kids and some of their friends at the movies!
Zachary with a mohawk! His idea!
My nerdy "little" brother! He is so cute!
Savannah at my parent's pool!
Zach jumping off the diving board!
Savannah jumping!
"CANNONBALLLL!!!!!"
Morgan jumping!

Ever so THANKFUL Tuesday

I got a call today that said we were approved on our refinancing, but with conditions! I have just about met all the conditions that were set forth!!! YAHOOOOOO!!! This has been one long month! Yes it took a month. I can't wait to close! As soon as I get the call with the final approval a huge weight will be lifted! Please keep us in your prayers that everything will continue on the right path!

I have been baby-sitting this week for a friend! Kimber is about 7 or 8 months! The kids are loving it! Even Zach has enjoyed taking care of Kimber!

The kids are hanging out with my mom today! She came on got them and took them back to her house to swim and then later they are going to see Kung Fu Panda! It is nice to have a little time to myself (Kimber is not feeling well, so she is sleeping a lot!) It is nice not to go anywhere also! I have not driven the Tahoe since Sunday!!!

Last night we watched Nashville Star and the kids were so totally wild! At first, I think that Todd was getting aggravated with them because they were so loud, but then it just turned into something that was hilarious! We laughed so much that it hurt!

Well, again, I am sorry that I don't really have anything real interesting, but this is our life!

Oh by the way, did I tell you that the refinancing loan went through? YAHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Menu Monday

Before I begin with the regular normal stuff, I want to ask you to say a quick little prayer for my "old childhood" friend Becky and her family. Last Tuesday, Becky went into the hospital to have her baby girl! Everything went fine, but the baby was born with wet lungs! Ally Clarie is still in the hospital, but is improving. (You can read more details at her blog http://www.the-tuckers.blogspot.com/)

Also, say a little pray for us that we get a positive answer on our refinancing this week!

Now on to Menu Mondays

Monday
b-cereal

l-grilled cheese

d-hamburger steaks
mashed potatoes
peas

Tuesday
b-waffles

l-chicken sandwiches

d- BBQ meatballs
rice
salad
rolls

Wednesday
b-eggs

l-crackers, lunch meat, cheese
(homemade lunchable)

d- Grilled Pork loin
roasted potatoes
green beans

Thursday
b-oatmeal

l- sandwiches

d- sloppy joes
salad
corn

Friday
b-pancakes

l-frozen pizza (Todd's fav)

d-spaghetti
salad
garlic bread

Not much happened over the weekend. Todd took a well deserved day off yesterday and did NOTHING! He enjoyed a day of brain rotting TV!

On Saturday, we went to my Grandparent's house for the annual Father's Day lunch/dinner. It is always nice to see family that we have not seen in a while. Well, that is about all for now.......oh wait I forgot one important thing!

We had a weekend without the Goff's! We had dinner with them on Friday night, but had something on Saturday and they had something on Sunday! I wanted to make sure that i got that info out!
See ya tomorrow!

Happy Father's Day!!

I don't usually blog on the weekends, but I thought that I would add a special post for today honoring three special men.

First, I want to begin by saying I have a great Dad! For those of you who do not know, my dad had a stroke almost a year ago! My Dad is only 52, not old enough to have a stroke. It happened on the Fourth of July last year! Since they live in Clanton the ambulance took him to Shelby Medical Center! Todd did a great job getting us from Prattville to the hospital in about 35 minutes (should have taken about an hour!) I have never been so scared in my life! That was the longest 35 minutes I have ever experienced. My Dad got to the hospital in time to get a drug that helps with the side effects of the stroke. After several days in ICU and a day or so in a regular room, my dad walked out of the hospital with only a small blind spot in his vision. I am so thankful that I did not lose my dad that day, not only for me, but for my mom and my brothers, and my kids! I am so thankful that my dad is strong and that we still have him around!

Next, I want to say what a great dad my husband is! Todd works hard at his job! His job is not an easy one!! He has to stay in the heat all day!! He also works hard at school! He should graduate December 2009. I am so proud of him! He is setting a great example for the kids by getting his education. He is also great with the kids! He is the voice of calm and reason with them. He is a also a great coach on their sports teams. He is always there for them and supports them. I am so glad that my kids have a great dad in their lives. When they are older they will realize how lucky they are!

Finally, I have a great father-in-law! I am so thankful of the example that he was to Todd growing up and still today! I can see a lot of Todd's dad in him (sometimes that scares me!!).

I am so thankful for the Dad's in my life and for the great examples that they are to my children, especially my son.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Thankful Thursday

Before I get into the thankfulness, I had an odd epiphany yesterday as I was washing dishes. I have been married for 12 years, I have been a mother for 11 years and I am 30 years old. Sometimes it is hard for me to think that I am 30. I don't feel 30 (some days I feel 50!) Anyway, Morgan came up behind me and said,"Momma", I heard her but I did not hear her. She repeated it again, "Momma." I then turned around and looked at her a the realization hit me..."Oh my word, I am this kid's MOTHER!" After 11 years, you would think that I would know that! Am I losing my mind in my old age? It just hit me like a ton of bricks. I guess that I am growing some and realizing that I am not the kind of mother that I want to be all of the time. I am working hard on this. Sometimes, I let other things such as, bills, housekeeping, things that I want to do get in the way! Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers & requests to God. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think & feel. ~Philippians 4:6,7. I guess that I need to think more about this verse Man, I didn't think that having so many roles would be so hard! Please pray for me as I search myself to be the kind of wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend that I should be. I guess she saw the look on my face because she just stood there and looked at me and then walked off. I still don't know what she wanted.

Now that you think I have seriously lost my mind ( and I could very well have) here is a list of my thankfulness for this week.

1. I am thankful that we had a lot of rain yesterday.
2. I am thankful that they are coming to look at my dryer today.
3. I am thankful that the power went of during the middle of the night and we got ann extra hour and half of sleep. (Oops!! Todd was late for work)
4. I am thankful that Zach gave us a good laugh last night by giving himself a mohawk! (pics to follow later!)
5. I am thankful that it is summer and we do not have to drive much.
6. I am thankful that I have a great husband and my children have a super dad.
7. I am thankful that Morgan is going to FC (Florida College) camp this year.
8. I am thankful for my little boy,who at times, is not too macho to snuggle with his mom!
9. I am thankful that Morgan is outgoing and enjoys singing and dancing and putting on shows for us.
10. I am thankful that Savannah was my little shadow yesterday (even though I didn't think so at the time) and followed me around everywhere wanting to help.
11. I am thankful that I will be transferring to AUM in the fall.
12. I am thankful that Grandma is having dinner (all day) at her house Saturday with all the family.
13. I am thankful that my phone has a DO NOT DISTURB button, so I do not have to listen to the phone ring all day with UNKNOWN CALLER calls all day. (I hate political surveys, telemarketers, and household surveys!!!!!!)

Wacky Wenesday??

Yesterday when Todd got home from work he read my blog as he normally does. Well, when he got done he closed the computer and said well, that was boring! So if you are reading this and find it boring, I find enjoyment in that. Boring means nothing major happened in our lives, we had regular days. That is a GOOD thing!!

They cannot come out and fix my dryer until Thursday. I have been without my dryer for so long that I think that I could live without it. I had been going to our friend, DJ's house to dry clothes, but that got old. Then, I started going to the laundry mat because I could dry everything at one time and be done in about 25 minutes, but sometimes I felt that was nasty! Now I am just hanging everything up. We are getting a clothes line from our neighbor (he does not use it and said that we could have it) (Alicia, I will share!) I actually enjoy not using the dryer, somewhat!

Well, the Tahoe did not move out of the driveway yesterday!! It was nice to stay home. Savannah's friend from school, Emily, came over to play and she spent the night. Emily and her little brother, Cameron, are going to go to the movies with us!

Well, I am sorry that my post are not that exciting, but I have nothing. Boring is good for me!

Terrific Tuesday, I hope!

Yesterday was a wild awful day so I did not feel like posting! We had a pretty good weekend. The kids went to Todd's parents so Todd and I had the weekend to ourselves. On Saturday, we hung out with our neighbors, you should know them by now, Ben and Alicia. Todd and Ben worked out in the yard a bit, we had lunch (which was a great salad), watered the gardens, took care of a very fussy baby, and then had dinner. We don't ever usually do anything special we just hang out and take turns working at each others houses. I that is the great thing about having friends like that, they are like family, they have seen us at our best and at our worst, we don't have to entertain them, but yet they still talk to us.

The kids came home Sunday and brought the pool! We have to get a new liner and ladder though.

Yesterday, we went to the grocery store and DO NOT want to talk about that!! It is crazy that things cost so much!

Today, Savannah's friend Emily is coming over and they are going to play! It is too hot to go anywhere and quite frankly I do not want to use the stinking gas! So I guess this weeks post are going to be boring because we have hit the summer laziness.

Finally Friday!!

Morgan and Zach climbing to the top of the slides.

Zach sliding down the slide.

A kind moment between all three. I am sure it did not last long!! After lunch!! They are ready to go back swimming.
Savannah sliding! Morgan jumping!
Zach jumping off the diving board!

Savannah jumping!

Well, yesterday we went to the Y to swim. We packed our lunch and stopped and got me some magazines and headed to the Y. Of course it was packed. I sprayed the kids down with sunblock and I also sprayed myself down. We got there around 10:45 and stayed until around 2:30! I even sprayed the kids down again after lunch! When we got home we were all burnt! I am the worst! I just don't understand. I thought that I did everything right! Well, the kids had a good time anyway!





The kids are going to spend the weekend with Todd's parents in Dothan. The always take the kids one weekend a month. The kids look forward to going and Todd and I get to spend the weekend together.....usually with our neighbors, Ben and Alicia. I guess most of you can tell that we are always together by my other post anyway!



Well, I really don't have anything else to say today. I have to go finish the laundry and get the kids packed to leave. Todd, will be home early today, so I don't have much time to get finished!





Have a great weekend!

Thankful Thursday

I will be a follower and use the same title as everyone else for today!

1. I am thankful that I really do have good kids.
2. I am thankful that my kids are older now and we have no more diapers or bottles.
3. I am thankful for the quiet time I have to myself in the mornings after Todd leaves for work.
4. I am thankful that love grows in small places because these days I feel like we are seriously outgrowing our house.
5. I am thankful that we are done with homeschooling until next week!
6. I am thankful that Todd and I will get to spend the weekend together without kids.
7. I am thankful that it is summer and I don't have to drive the Tahoe as much.
8. I am thankful for the great "backdoor neighbors" that we have. I don't know what we would do without them.
9. I am thankful that I have a wonderful husband that works hard for our family.
10. I am thankful that Todd and I both have great parents!!
11. I am thankful that we are going to the Y to swim today and my kids are so excited!

Wonderings on Wednesday

I wonder if Todd will ever finish school.
I wonder if I will ever finish school.
I wonder if homeschooling is really helping Morgan.
I wonder if we will ever save money.
I wonder what kind of adults my children will grow up to be.
I wonder if we will ever be able to afford to go totally organic.
I wonder if gas prices will ever go down.
I wonder if I will have a niece or nephew.
I wonder what teacher my kids will have next year.
I wonder if they will ever come and fix my dryer. It is under warranty!!
I wonder when my kids will stop fussing with each other.
I wonder when my garden is going to start yielding veggies.
I wonder what grades we will teach.
I wonder what colleges my children will go to.
I wonder what kind of jobs they will have.
I wonder if our dog is pregnant. (If she is we will have Basset Hound pups for sale)

Well, I guess I have a lot on my mind this morning.

The kids are wanting to go to the Y and swim today (they have the neatest pool), but I don't know that I really want to go. It is always so crowded. We will probably end up going anyway after we have school. I really do hate that we are doing school with Morgan during the summer. I think back though, to all the days that she had off because I was on a field trip or working, I really don't feel that bad. It only takes us about an hour and a half or so anyway, so it is not that bad.


You might be wondering about my organic wondering. We try to eat at least one organic meal a week. We haven't in a while, but we do try! I do ALWAYS buy organic milk! We also like the organic lemonade from Winn-Dixie (it has a lot of sugar in it though.) We are getting a Publix here in Prattville, so organic foods will be more available when they open. I will be glad when the prices go down a little. I know in places more North where orgqnic food is more common so the prices are not as expensive as they are here.

There is an all organic store in Mountain Brook that I am dying to go to, but it is an hour away, so can I justify driving 2 hours just to buy groceries? I hope to go one day and I hope that the prices will be a little lower!

We have not started recycling yet, the kids are dying to. We do use shopping bags when we do our shopping! I love it!! I can fit more into the the bags that I have and they are much stronger! I got most of my bags at Publix, months ago, for .99! I also have some Winn-Dixie bags that I got for free for just buying certain things that we buy anyway! I also use natural dish soap and the Clorox naturals cleaning products. I know that these are little things, but you have to start somewhere.

We do not buy paper plates anymore or napkins. We use regular plates and we use cloth napkins. I miss paper plates!!

We are not nuts about it all. We are just trying to do our part to be green and save some green.

Just Tuesday!

The kids wanted to spend the night with their Uncle Loren and Aunt Jennifer, so they have been gone since about 6:00 last night. Yesterday, we recovered from the "weekend of dirt." I cleaned and did laundry all day, while the kids helped some, but basically entertained themselves. Nothing interesting happened, just basically a normal boring day!

A word about my my brother Loren and his wife Jennifer. We found out last Wednesday that she is PREGNANT!!!! They have been trying for a while now and Jennifer has had several surgeries! I am so thankful that they are finally going to be parents! I am sad however, that they are moving to Birmingham!

Well, all of that brings me to my post for today. For my entire life, I have wanted to have children. I had no problems. I had three kids, but I am not the kind of mother that I always thought that I would be. I am not making excuses by any means, but having a pre-teen is so hard! I don't know how to parent her without breaking her spirirt or hurting her feelings. I know that some of the problem is that she is here under me ALL THE TIME, and since we are homeschooling her, she has lost contact with her friends from school (that is not a bad thing!) I just don't want homeschooling her to hurt her more than help her. She does need friends! Her education is important, but so is her socialization.

Sometimes, no, most of the time, I worry if she is going to grow up and hate me. I know that we are hard on her, but I want her to grow up to be a good person. I do really love her! I love all of my children. I just want to be a better Mom to them. I want them to grow up and love the Lord and be good people. I want my girls to grow up and be Godly women and good mothers. I want my son to be the leader of his family.

Well, enough of my sob story. I know what I need to do because I was raised to know how to be a Godly woman, I had several examples. Please pray for me and my famly that I can raise them the way that I should.

Menu Monday

I guess that my creative side has vanished (if I ever had one) because I am just copying the title from someone elses blog. Well, anyway for those of you who have nothing else to do, here is what the Thayer family will be eating over the next week.

Monday:
Homemade Chicken Cordon Bleu
Broccoli
Squash
corn bread

Tuesday:
Cube Steak
green beans
corn
biscuits

Wednesday:
Baked Chicken
pasta
peas
salad

Thursday:
Meatloaf
rice
Lima beans
biscuits

Friday:
Chicken Fried Rice
salad

Saturday:
Hamburgers
pasta salad
pineapple casserole


If someone out there has some dinner ideas let me know! It seems like we eat the same old stuff all the time. Savannah is such a picky eater that when I find something that she will eat I just fix it week after week.

Our weekend was DIRTY!! I finally got our garden planted. I know it is late, but we could never find the time to get it in the ground. (We grew our plants from seed in a little tray!) I know that there are some people getting veggies out of their gardens. Oh well, I have fresh veggies soon!

Todd and our neighbor Ben moved dirt from his yard to ours. We are trying to level the ground for our "new-to-us" pool. Todd's parents did not want their 27x27 pool any more so we told them that we would gladly take it since it was bigger than the pool that we had, plus that one was not going to make it another year.

We had some interesting events that came along with moving dirt. The boys, not thinking they could load the dirt in the back of the truck, got tired of using the wheel barrels to haul the dirt, thought that using a trailor would be easier. Todd called my brother to borrow his trailer. After loading the trailer all afternoon, the time came to bring the trailer in our back yard. Well LONG story short the trailor got stuck and we ended up having to pull it out backwards with my Tahoe and Todd, bless his heart, still had to use the wheel barrel. A tire on the trailer got caught on a bolt that was on our gate and popped, so I have to go and get a new tire today! ALL FOR SOME DIRT. We will enjoy the pool though, if we ever get it up. Todd said that he did not care if it was enough dirt or not, he would not be shoveling another scoop of dirt.

Needless to say, I have dirt tracked all through me house and on the back porch, so there will be no fun today , just cleaning and school with Morgan.

Well, that was the weekend at the Thayer's house. If you need some dirt, I know where you can get some, but you are going to have to shovel it yourself!!