whoo hoo

I'm so excited that I'm able to go with my family to pick up Uncle Michael from the airport. Now just pray he has a safe trip home with no delays! We're all so excited to see him!

Sunshine Farms 2010

Our 3rd year to visit Sunshine Farms in Maplesville. Our kids love it and I hope to keep it a family tradition for many years.

Papa D with his grandkids... notice Flannery is pulling Darcy's hair :)
My wonderful and funny kids
Jacob, Jeremiah, Darcy and Jessica

Thats Us! The B6 Crew

Oh and this is my first day of clinicals

It went well... I was really excited about it.

I survived

my first clinicals that is :) Spent 2 days in a nursing home and learned a lot (mostly about myself). My next clinical is in 2 weeks. Please pray for me b/c I have a lot of test this month and then finals. I'm borderline in 2 of my classes and I'm trying not to stress about it.

Yesterday we spent the day at Sunshine Farms in Maplesville. Its a pumpkin patch thats spread out on a large farm with all sorts of fun things for the kids to do. Its not crowded like the more well known pumpkin patch. We got there at 10am and tried to leave around 12:30 but on our way out some friends from church pulled in and asked us to stay so we did. We ended up staying until 3:30! We were tired and sunburnt - oh and very hungry!

Well I've got to get ready for church... today is membership Sunday and for the first time in my adult life I'm a member of a church :)

Exciting Days Ahead

I start clinicals this week. I'm so excited. I'm going to the nursing home. I probably won't be able to tell you guys the details and I'm going to hate that but with all the laws out there these days I don't want to risk getting in trouble. I enjoy the classroom stuff and I love the practice labs but I'm really looking forward to dealing with real people.

I'm almost done with my 1st semester - WHOA!

Promised Pics

More Changes

Back to Back Post
Whoo Hooo... I'm on a roll :)

Nah not really... I''m just avoided getting out from under my warm blanket. I need to be getting ready for church but its sooo cold.

Let me tell ya about my new church. We've been going for several months now. Its a presbyterian church . Matthew went to visit one day while I was out of the town and the kids were spending the weekend with grandparents. He called me that afternoon and was so excited. I knew he was ready to make the big move. If you don't know much about presbyterian's then I challenge you to check out the website. Up until recently I haven't been able to attend much with the family due to work. But the times I've been there I really enjoy the message and every thing about the church. Matthew was immediately asked to play with them during worship. He's been able to play his guitar, mandolin, banjo and sing lead vocals. The kids really like it too. It was a little rough with Jessica at first but she's really liking it now too.

On Wednesday's they have W.E.L.L groups that meet after different folks house. Its a pot luck dinner and then we have a bible study. The kids all still meet at the church for their activities. We're actually having a big Fall Festival picnic next weekend at a local park. They're setting up the stage and having the worship band play some fun songs. I'm looking forward to it.

Well I'd better jump in the shower!

Changes

Well I finally changed my blog... it took me forever to fix all the crazy stuff I'd done to it and I'm not even sure if its fixed ;) I'd asked my friend Crystal for help but she's crazy busy with ornaments so I had to do it on my own.

Other changes...
I quit my job. Its something I hated doing but I really felt like I had no choice. Yesterday was my first Friday off in a while and enjoyed every minute of it. My kids are out for Fall Break so we just hung out!

Jessica is looking at colleges - GULP! Doesn't that make some of you feel really old?? Crazy huh! I've been requesting information from different places... FSU, Marshall and Florida University. She's actually taking the PSAT today. I'm trying to encourage her to do whatever she wants to do and go wherever she feels like she can get the most from. Its crazy b/c I know that when she goes off to college, Matthew and I will be relocating so he can go to seminary.

School is going good. I'm failing one of my classes but barely. I know what its gonna take to pull it up and its doable. Its going to be easier to do it now that I'm not working.

My grandfather had a heart attack 2 weeks ago... it was pretty scary. He's doing better now. Besides my grandmother, I haven't lost anyone close to me. Matthew's lost both of his grandfathers. I was able to drive up and be with him for a few hours. I actually got to practice some of my nursing skills on him ;) lol

I'll try and post more often.... keep coming back ;)

LIttle People

Promised Pics

We painted our downstairs blue... we wanted it to match my candle holder. We hung up everything in different places which makes things look new ;)

My hubby bought me some more willow folks for our anniversary...

notice some of my angels lost their wings (bad behavior - true story)

Darcy loves to color

Jacob didn't want to have his picture made

I couldn't get Jeremiah's picture to load so I'll try again... and Jessica wasn't "fixed" so no pics of her today

Trusting in Him

I've had a lot of ups and downs lately. I quit my job, decided to stay and then quit again 3 weeks later. We've had some major financial issues so quitting my job was a really hard thing to do in the midst of a financial crisis. But the lesson I'm learning is; its not up to ME to fix everything. He doesn't need me to fix my problems... He wants me to trust him to take care of everything. Now my problem here is that I feel like God has given me a brain and I should use some common sense.... well he doesn't need my common sense either! HA!!! In fact, He wants me to be solely dependent on HIM! I'm not the head of this household anyways so its not my job to worry about making ends meet so if my husband is okay with trusting God and waiting on Him to supply all my needs then so am I.

Philipians 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

It is up to me to raise my family. My ministry is my family. I'm trusting that the Lord will work everything out and guide me and my husband in every step we should take EVEN if it doesn't make sense to me or anyone else.

Towards the end of this I had to spank 3 kids and rescue dinner before it burnt so if it got all scattered in the end I'm sorry :)

Old pics but still cute

I promise to post some newer pics soon. Jacob is still wearing his cowboy hat every day.



Jeremiah is all smiles

Daddy and his girls!

Pics in the future

Matthew painted the downstairs for my birthday present... it looks really nice. It actually gave everything a fresh new look. I put my stuff back on the walls but in different places and that also makes everything seem new. The color is called New Hampshire Blue... I'll take some pics and post them soon.

I also took some pics of the kids yesterday. They're growing up so fast. The little ones are losing some of their baby features and it makes me sad. Jessica is getting taller... I have to ask her to get things down for me - not cool.

I can't remember if I posted this or not but we're going to a different church now. We were at our last church for 3 years but we felt God directing us elsewhere. We needed fellowship and something more than Wednesday evenings and Sunday's. We're attending Grace Fellowship. Its a PCA church (presbyterian). We like it alot. The kids like it alot too. It lines up with what we believe. The preaching (really teaching) is great. The music is wonderful and the fellowship is awesome. We have Well Groups on Wednesday nights. I can't remember what "well" stands for but its something important. The groups meet at homes and each group has a focus. We eat dinner, fellowship and do a study. Our group is studying 1 John. Most groups meet within walking distance from the church so our kids attend they're program while we're at well group.

School is going. Its consuming my time but its worth it. Work is also consuming my time but I can't say that its worth it. I love the people that I take care of but I'm not a fan of my coworkers (or atleast some of them). I'm trying to hold out until Christmas but I'm not sure if I'll make it or not.

Gotta go study before I leave for class.

lacking motivation...

to continue with my blog... the last 5 post have no comments

Is anybody still there?

busy busy busy

I'm sorry to my faithful blog readers *snickers* but I've started school and my life is ubber busy. I'm still trying to hold on to my parttime job but school is very consuming. I greatly appreciate all the encouragement from you all. My anxiety issues have gotten better but I still have freak out moments. I spend HOURS a day at school and when I'm not there I spend HOURS studying. I met yesterday on Sunday for 4.5 hours to study with friends.... and yes we studied! There's so much information packed into 2 years! I have my first check off tomorrow... its me actually doing the steps infront of the instructors. Tomorrow is vital signs... blood pressure, pulse, respirations, heart beat and temperature. I'm good with everything except counting heartbeats! Its not as easy as 1, 2, 3 the heart beat makes two 2 sounds when it beats... lu dub is 1 beat. Sometimes I get confused and count lu 1 dub 2 or sometimes the beat is really fast and there's no pause.

Enough about that...

The kids are having a great year so far. The boys are seperated this year and at first they (Jeremiah) had a rough time but now they're doing great. Darcy is in K5 and she loves it. Jessica is in the 10th grade and so far all is well. They had a lot of folks not come back so the highschool has shrunk!

I finally broke down and bought my boys new booster seats. Their infant carriers were bought for us at their babyshower. Then I was given 2 Britax carseats (freecycle). They were outdated and one of them didn't even have the padding under the cover. I kept putting off buying new ones but I got convicted about their safety and finally broke down and purchased new ones. These can be used with the 5 point harness until they weight 60lbs and then it can be used with the seatbelt till they're 100 lbs. I really wanted the 5 pt harness b/c trying to get the seatbelt kind off and on would be a pain in the neck! I used my birthday money :(

okay well I can't promise that I'll update again soon but I'll definitely try.

Working Out

I'm not talking about physically working out... I'm talking about my school schedule ;) Although I need to be doing the other. I don't want to be the "fat nurse" I wanna be the "hot nurse" LOL

I went to orientation yesterday at Wallace in Selma. We were there all day! As of right now my schedule is M & W's 8:30am till 2:30pm. T & T's 10:15 till 1pm. And occasionally I'll have some Friday - I'll find out more about that after the first week. We also have clinicals in the 1st semester! My parents are driving down on M&W's to get the kids up and ready for school.... I'll be forever grateful for their sacrifice. My schedule gets easier as the semesters go by.

I also have a online Math class - not cool. I'm not a fan of online courses and esp not a math course! Jessica is taking Algebra II this year and I'm taking College Algebra so maybe we can help each other out.

My job - well as you can see from the above paragraph - I'm gonna be really busy. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to work. I really don't even know if my employer is going to work with my schedule. I would like to keep my job b/c we need the income but I don't want to stress myself out. I'm still trying to sort that part out.

Weird

Last night Jessica and I both were sitting in the floor packing our bookbags for school - weird! She's going to be in the 10th grade this year. She turned 15 in July and got her permit... she's driving! I've been really good with her... I don't scream or slam my foot into the floor board hoping to use my imaginary break. I try and stay very calm. She made the mistake of complaining to matthew b/c I kept telling her what she was doing wrong. I quickly let her know that I could be like my parents and scream at her the whole time! She hushed. Her driving has gotten better. I try and make her drive at least every day. I want her to get as much experience as possible in before she turns 16. She's growing up too fast. Its hard to think that in 3 more years she'll be graduating from highschool and going off to college. I hope I've prepared her for life beyond our home.

messed it up

my blog that is... and i can't get it to go back so for now you're stuck with it!

Overwhelmed

I am trying to stay positive about school. But I start back on Aug 16th and I got my list of stuff to buy before then and I'm freaking out. I've got 6 textbooks to buy, a lab coat, scrubs, stethoscope, nursing shoes, a nursing kit and pay to get my vaccinations done again or have a test done to show that I've had them (my momma didn't keep my records and I've tried other ways to get them without any success). I am thankful for my job that is provided some sort of income but its not going to pay for all that crap!

Speaking of my new job... I have no idea what my work schedule is going to be like once I start school. I'll be attending school 4 days a week. 2 of those days I'll be there from 8am till 3pm and the other 2 days I'll have a 2 hour lab somewhere in the middle of the day. Which leaves me able to work Fri, Sat and Sun. I have no idea how wiling my boss is going to be with working with my schedule. I realize that so many people work full time job and go to school full time but I don't know how they do that with a family and allow time to study also. I'd appreciate some major prayers! I'm feeling slighly overwhelmed.

On a positive note let me share with you this story....
We had made plans back in the beginning of the year to go to the beach with my sister and her family. As we got closer and closer to the summer we realized we didn't have the money to go and needed a way out without causing hardship to my sister and her family. We prayed that God would provide us a way out.

First the oil spill happened - no I'm not saying he allowed this to happen so we didn't have to go to the beach. So when the oil spilled happened we discussed with my sister the incident and how it might effect us. She didn't seem to think it would e/affect us. So we felt stuck.

Then I got word from my boss that I had some training that was scheduled while I was supposed to be at the beach. I didn't HAVE to take it then but if I didn't then I'd have to miss 4 days of school to get the training done. Well thats not acceptable in nursing school so we chose to cancel our vacation.

I had to call my sister and explain the situation. I was nervous because I didn't want to back out and cause them to pay the half that we were supposed to pay. I was angry b/c I was having to cancel my vacation b/c of my job. It wasn't till I was completely immersed in those feelings that I realized that I had prayed for a way out (we had prayed for a way out) and he was God providing that way out. I begin to feel a little bit better about the situation but I still wasn't sure about my sister.

I called her and she wasn't mad but instead she was relieved! Turns out her in laws were also going to the beach that week and the people that were staying with them had backed out and there was room for my sister and her family to stay there FREE but my sister didn't want to leave us with paying for a week so she had told them she couldn't do that. Well now that was all changing. The invitation for them to stay with her inlaws was still there and everything worked out.

But its not over yet... ya see THIS is the week the week we were supposed to be at the beach. My sister and her family went down on Friday night. We were supposed to leave tonight (tuesday) and come back Sunday. But on Sunday my brother in laws grandmother passed away so they had to come back today for the visitation and funeral. So it all worked out! Nobody lost any money!

Notice anything different?

Braces off!!!

She finally got her braces off!