Hello

Well, I know if has been a while. This is just a quick update to let everyone know that I have been laid off. So since I have all this free time I will be catching you all up on what we have been up too.
Stay tuned. There will be more to come.

Matthew's recipe for Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin Soup
Pumpkin Meat

Mix together and add some more pumpkin seeds and then that is it!
Bake at 51 degrees for 40 minutes

Serves 5

Fall Break

I know this is really late since fall break was three weeks ago. Matthew gets two weeks off, so the first week we went to Gatlinburg for four days. Matthew wanted to go hiking so we did two, three mile hikes. It was awsome. We saw a momma bear and her two cubs on one of the hikes, Matthew thought that was so cool. We also saw a ton of deer out at Cades Cove. Matthew played in creeks and water falls, and just had a great time. We are going to start doing more hikes around here becuase Matthew loved it so much. Here are some pictures of the trip.

Laurel Falls



Climbing to Grotto Falls

Cholesterol Challenge

So, I found out last week that my cholesterol is way up from last year. Not good. My total cholesterol is 252 and my LDL's are higher than my HDL's. That is reversed from last year. So I have 6 months to lower my cholesterol to my goal number of 220. The doctor also told me I really need to concentrate on losing weight. So my goal for weight is 20 pounds. I am sure is six months I can make those changes. This is going to be difficult because as many of you know, I love food!!! Fattening food!!!!!!!!! Unfortunately with my family history that is not healthy at all.
So if anyone has good low fat, low cholesterol recipes please let me know. I am completely changing our life style. Pray for me as I embark on this life changing journey

New Car

Well, we finally did it. We broke down and decided to buy a new car. I am so excited. We got exactly what I want for the price we wanted. I am hear to tell you if you need to buy a new car, take my husband. We got them down $3500 and took 1.6% off our interest rate.
So now our chore is to sell the blazer, so if anyone know of anyone who wants a 1997 Chevy blazer let me know.
Here are some pictures of my new car. Oh I forgot, we got a 2006 Volvo V50 Wagon LOADED!





After 10 years with the blazer, it is time to retire her. I think I found I pretty good replacement.

Pre Algebra

Well, I got a 98 on my first test in pre-algebra. We had another test last night and I am really not sure how I did. Oh well, we will see next week. So far the class seems pretty easy, but I know that is going to change in the next couple of weeks. I will enjoy it while I can.

Labor Day

On Monday we took the dogs to the lake to swim. They had a ball as did Matthew. They swam nonstop for 45 minutes. Needless to say, the were all exhausted when we got home.
Matthew has been all over me to go back. I think we may try to do go this morning.

Huckleberry Fin and Tom Sawyer

A couple of weeks ago we spent the afternoon at some friends house. They have this awsome creek in the back yard, and Matthew and his friend Will had a ball playing in it. They caught craw dads, chased fish around, and of coarse threw rocks in the water. Matthew loves to go to Will's house and play. Thanks guys for inviting us.

That same weekend we had Matthew's first school project to do. The kindergarten classes were creating a city in the hallway outside of their classrooms and Matthew had to make the school.



Matthew had such a good time making his school. Every day since he has asked if we can do a craft. UGH!!! Not that I dont like doing crafts, I just dont like cleaning up.
Well, thats about it. I gotta go get Matthew out of the tub.

I have to brag

I have to take a moment to brag about Matthew. They did a reading assessment the other day and Matthew is reading on a second grade level. I could not believe he was that advanced. He has been reading for about a year now but I never expected him to be that far ahead. I am so proud of him and also a little scared that he may end up smarter than me by the time he is 7!!

Back to School

Well, school started for me this week. I am only taking one class, Pre-Algebra. Yes I am 37 years old and taking Pre-Algebra. It is actually a good thing since it took a little while for me to catch on Monday night. The teacher plowed through Chapter One and then handed out a take home test. What happened to taking it easy on the first night of class? Oh well, hopefully I will adjust quickly.

Busy August

Well, August started out pretty crazy. My birthday was on the 8th so like every other year my mom flew in from CT. to spend a week with us. We had a great time of doing nothing. Matthew and Nana made a cake for my birthday.

Matthew likes to cut flowers from my wild flower garden to decorate the cake. They have done this for the past couple of years. I love it when my mom comes to visit, we just hang out and talk and just relax. I don't realize how much I miss having her around until this annual visit. It is hard not having any kind of family around to do stuff with.
Later that week, my sister Tracy and her two kids flew in. Matthew adores his cousins. They are so funny together. We went to a sounds game and Matthew and my nephew got to run the bases after the game. My poor niece was too old to run them. I think this was the first time she has been too old to do something. We told her she is at the age where she is too old to do some things and not old enough to do others.




We also went to the wave pool and Nashville Shores with the kids. Matthew was going down the water slides by himself and loved every minute of it. He has become such a fish.



Oh, I forgot that Matthew decided that since his cousin's can not be here for his birthday in DECEMBER, that he wanted to have a birthday party for himself while they were here. And thank you Aunt Tracy for playing along. She actually brought gifts and everything.





Thanks Aunt Tracy for humoring Matthew. During all of this time in the water, Matthew finally decided it was time to swim with out floaties. Yes my child is almost 6 years old and was still using floaties. However, he decided that as long as he has goggles then he can swim with out the floaties.




Well, I am not sure that video is going to work. But any way, he is swimming like a little fish.
He is loving school and we started fall soccer on Tuesday and have our first game next Saturday. For the first time in a long time I feel like things are the way they are suppose to be. The Lord continues to bless us and continues to "Light our way".

2nd update

I guess the next exciting thing we did was spending an afternoon at Arrington Vineyards. It is so beautiful up there. We packed a little picnic and enjoyed a bottle of wine. Joe and Matthew threw the football around and I sat and listened to the jazz that was playing. The weather was great that day, no humidity and lots of clouds to give us a break from the sun. I definately recommend this as an afternoon out.


On the 22nd of July, Matthew started Kindergarten. I can not believe that he is that old. He loves school. The first day he was up at 5:45 am dressed and ready to go. He has 4 other kids from his Pre-K class last year in is his class this year. But the rest of them are split up between the other two classes. There are several that he misses but he will adjust.

Carmela saying good bye on the first day of school

Matthew at his desk on the first day of school

This past Saturday we had our last Tee Ball game. Matthew had a great season and really improved a lot. Now we have two or three weeks off and then we start spring soccer.

They can swing at two pitches from the coach and if they
hit them then they have to hit off the tee.

Matthew on third base

So I think that concludes the excitement for the month of July. You should be caught up. Nana (my mom) comes to visit on the 8th of August (my birthday) for a week and Matthew is so looking forward to that. Then Aunt Tracy , Haley and Jake come to visit for a long weekend on the 13th. That should be really fun for Matthew.

Sorry, its been a while.

Yes that is Joe in the tent. He slept out there one night with us. We also had both dogs in the tent with us. Peyton eventually got smart enough and went in the house but Carmela spent the whole night out in the tent with us.

Here is Peyton trying to get out of the tent.

And Carmela hanging out.

The next day was the 4th of July. We went to see the fireworks in Murfreesoboro. Ms Mary our neighbor went with us. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.



But at least we got to see fireworks. If you look closely at the picture above you will notice that Matthew has a bandage on his hand. Yes, he fell in the back yard and split the palm of his hand open. I have no idea what he fell on to cause such a deep cut. Because of where the cut was I could not just put a band aid on it, it would just fall off. So I had to put a gauze pad on it and then wrap it with gauze to hold it in place and then tape it. It was not fun. He healed up fast but has a scar on his palm.
So much has gone on over the past couple of weeks. I will keep posting to get myself caught up. But for now, I am off for another cup of coffee.

A Week in Review

A week ago Thursday Matthew finished swim lessons. On the last day the parents can go and see what they have learned and take pictures. He loved swim lessons this year and really came a long way from last year. I think we are going to sign up for another session in a couple of weeks. Here are some pictures.

Here is Matthew doing the dead man's float. By himself!

Matthew floating on him back. Thinks he needs help but really doesn't!

And here he is just hangin out waiting for his turn!!

Last weekend we had some friends over to hang out in the pool. Matthew was very excited to see one of his friends from school and his older brother. I did not take any pictures because it was so hot we spent the whole day in the pool. Except of coarse when we were eating.

On Tuesday night I had my mid term at school. I thought is was really easy and I was worried that I failed cuz it was so easy. Nope! I got a 100 on it so that really boosted my confidence. Now I just need to finish my biography paper so that I can have it proof read before next Thursday.

I had been thinking about fun, inexpensive things to do with Matthew this summer. I am working full time this year so it has been an adjustment not to be able to hang out with him. So I decided that it would be fun to start camping out in the backyard. Yes in a tent. So last night was the first time we did it. It was really not that bad. Matthew slept like a brick and I slept pretty well also. Matthew wants to do it again tonight and I think he has guilted Daddy into joining us.

Here we are leaving the house to go sleep in the tent!

Here we are in the tent. Matthew is so excited!!

And here is Matthew coming in from bed this morning!

Today we went to the zoo with friends. No without a little confusion of coarse. I woke up this morning and realized I did not have a booster seat for Matthew. Patti (Matthew's nanny) left with one yesterday and Joe left for work with the other this morning. So I had to send Matthew across the street to Miss Mary's and I had to run to Target to purchase another one. So, as I was driving back down the street, our friends were in the driveway waiting for us. I felt so bad. Anyway, we got all of our stuff together and out the door we went to the zoo. We met some more friends there and the kids had a great time.

Matthew waiting at the gate for our friends

Checking out the ducks

The boys being goofy at the Zebras.

Matthew and Mommy!

Well, I guess that pretty much wraps up the past week. If I get Joe in the tent tonight I will take pictures and post them. Have a Happy 4th.

Good Bye to a Legend...

I really have to say that I am devastated by the passing of Michael Jackson. I know he was extremely odd, and maybe even creepy, but I grew up with him. Every part of my life I remember listening to him. I am disappointed that he did not get a chance to try to succeed on his come back tour. I would have loved to have seen him perform one more time. He was an incredible entertainer and singer. This is truly the end of an era.

A??? Me??

I got an "A" on my first paper in 19 years. Actually I think it is my first "A" in something other that gym class. I was never a very good student. I am really enjoying being back in school, I have my mid term Tuesday night. I hope that goes as well as my paper did.
I do have to say thanks to Patti, Matthew's nanny, as she is an English teach and proof read the paper for me. I will let you know how the mid term goes next week.

Why?????

Why is it that Matthew is up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and Sunday but during the week when I have to get up he sleeps in. It is 7:15 am and he is still snoozing, however yesterday he was up at 6am. UGH!!!!!!!

First Paper

Well, I finished my first paper for school last night. I can not believe that I am 36 years old writing papers. I was really not as hard as I thought is was going to be, it just seemed like it took forever. I have to thank Joe and Matthew for being so patient with me as I did it. Matthew was so understanding when I would have to close the door of the office to work on it. And Joe really did a great job keeping Matthew out of my hair.
Next hurdle is my mid-term exam which is next Tuesday the 30th. Wish me luck on that one. I will be making flash cards to study for that.

Family Picture

At the request of Brandi here is a picture of the three of us.

Our trip to Florida

We had a great time. It was so relaxing to sit on the beach and listen the waves break. Matthew was so funny this year. He loves to jump over the waves as the break at his feet. He says he is surfing. My mom and step dad came down and spent the week with us. Matthew loves having them at the beach with us. Grandpa rides go carts with him and then we go for ice cream. All he talked about for the week before we left and the first few days we were there was riding go carts and going out for ice cream. The weather was great all week. They kept saying there was a chance of rain but that really did not happen. It rained one afternoon but that was in the middle of the week and we all were ready for a day out of the sun. Tuesday night we went to the Baytowne Wharf for what they call "Mini Gras". They had bounce houses for the kids, music, games and at 9pm they had fireworks which Matthew loved. Here are some pictures of our trip.

Here is Matthew watching the fireworks

Matthew playing a whole he dug on the beach!

And Matthew "surfing"

Note to self

Self,
Please remember there is construction on I-24. Do not take 24 home next week from church since it took you an hour to get home last night. UGH!!! Traffic is not fun at 9:30 at night with a tired 5 year old and a tired 36 year old boy. Thankfully Matthew did not have to get up today and could sleep in. Just a reminder for next week.

First day of school

Well, I made it through the first night of class. It was a little intimidating though. We have to write 3 papers and the first one is due June 23. This should be fun. Other than that, I really think I am going to like the class. Matthew told me last night that he wants to learn the music with me. I think he will enjoy it also.
This is probably the last post until we get back from Florida. So, until then...

Catching up

Well, things got a little crazy these past couple of weeks. Last weekend I went to Provincetown, Cape Cod for my brother's wedding. I went by myself so I really enjoyed two days with no kid or husband. It was so peaceful, I shopped most of the day and did what I wanted when I wanted to. Here are some pictures of the weekend. My brother Justin is the one on the left, his partner Dan on the right.








Then this past week was pretty much Matthew's last week of school. Although he has to go back for three days this week, it is really just a formality. On this past Friday his class did an end of the year "Praise Presentation". The kids were so cute. Then Mrs. Ward (Matthew's teacher) did a slide show of all the kids, baby pictures, the first day of school, and then the end of the year. She also had a bunch of slides from the school year, wow, they had a very busy year. Immediately following the the presentation we went to the Tucker's house for a pizza party. They have the best creek in their back yard that the kids got to play in. They had water games and water balloons, we ordered pizza and then had ice cream sundaes. The kids had so much fun, Matthew begged me not to go.






This weekend there was a conference at our church, so Joe and I went to a few of the session. Matthew got to spend some time with our friend Abby while we were at church. Abby took Matthew to his soccer game on Friday night and then they went to the park on Saturday morning. We met in M'boro so that we could get a couple of things for our Florida trip coming up next weekend. Now the rest of the weekend is relaxing getting stuff together for our trip. Matthew's nanny will be staying here at the house with the dogs while we are in Florida, so I guess that makes her the dogs nanny also. I will update probably sometime on Wednesday to let you know how my first class goes.