Okay, so sorry for the unannounced leave of absence from my blog. I’ve had so much going on. Chris has had quite a few days off recently, and we were doing lots of stuff together while we had the chance. Aside from that, I’ve just been busy trying to get things done that needed doing. Ya know?

I can’t believe I missed my one year blogiversary. It warranted some kind of grandeous blog commemorating the occasion, and I missed it. Some blogger I am, eh?

As a little update…Elijah’s hand is fine now. Thanks for the comments and phone calls asking about him. He’s a tough little guy, and he was fine. He had to wear the splint for two days, and then we took it off. He’s good as new now. I took him for his eighteen month check-up yesterday. Yep, eighteen months! Can you believe it? It’s weird how fast time goes now. Anyway, he’s healthy as a horse, albeit a small horse, and was quite relieved to not have any shots. He has no more vaccinations until kindergarten! He was above the 95th percentile for height, and right around 50th for weight. So to all of those obnoxious people telling me how short he is…phooey on you. The doctor said that he will be one of the tallest kids in his class.

Kyra is fine, too. She is crazy as ever, and is requesting a Barbie’s Magic Pegasus movie and toy for Christmas. Yep, Christmas. I have found a wonderful way to asuege the constant request for everything that catches her eye….”Maybe you can have it for Christmas.” Clever, no? It works like a charm.

We’re having a special preacher at church on Sunday, and I’m really excited about that. His name is Bro. Milford Biddle, and he is an awesome preacher. He can quote like half the Bible from memory. I heard him once at campmeeting, and I’ll never forget it. So, I’m really looking forward to that.

The weather is finally cooling off here, and last night actually felt a little like fall. I’m ready for cool weater. Boots and sweaters are just so cute. Kyra didn’t grow too much since last year, so most of her fall clothes will still fit her. Elijah, of course, is going to need some. I got him quite a few at a yard sale a couple of weeks ago, but he needs a few shirts. Half of my fall clothes don’t fit anymore…some too big and some too small…so I’m going to use that as an exuse for a bit of shopping. I love to shop! Besides clothing, I do like other parts of cool weather. Falling leaves, for one. I love them. Oliver is getting a kick out of them, too. Year before last we went to a cornfield maze, and that was a lot of fun. I would like to take the kids to one again this year. On October 15th, our church is going to have a hot dog roast at the Leamons’ (a family from church) fish farm. They are not going to be caretakers there anymore, so this will be our last trip to the fish farm. It’s a great place, and I’ll be sad that it will be our last trip there. We will probably have a hayride and some games for the kids. I’m looking forward to that.

So, anyway. That’s a few updates, and I will try to be more interesting in the future.

Oh, yeah. Two other updates….my brother Aaron and his wife Natasha are having a baby girl. Yay for that! Also, my brother Jason is getting married. We’ve never met his intended, as he’s not known her long. Should be interesting. Stay tuned!

At his sister’s hands, Elijah had a bit of an accident on Thursday evening. We were getting ready to go to my parent’s house, and Kyra shut the automatic van door on Elijah’s hand. The door completely closed and latched, and I had to open it to get his fingers out. He cried really hard for all of about a minute, and then he was through. His fingers were dented in right above his knuckles, and there was bruising on the back of his hand, where his fingers meet his hand. His three middle fingers began to swell immediately. I took him to the ER, and they took an x-ray. He didn’t have any fractures…thank God…but the doctor wanted him to wear a splint for a couple of days to make him rest his hand. He has been pretty good about wearing it, though he has managed to take it off several times. He’s a tough little guy, and he was over it nearly as soon as it happened. He was great at the hospital, and didn’t protest to the x-rays or the splint being put on. He’s a trooper. As for Kyra, I’m hoping that she understands now why we are constantly telling her not to press the button for the door. She has been warned that, from here on out, if she presses it, it’s going to result in a spanking. Hopefully, we won’t have any repeats of this.

Chris has to go back to work Thursday. After studying for most of the week, and then preaching on Sunday…Chris has finally had time to spend with me and the kids. It has been so nice. Yesterday, we took the kids to Dollywood. It was so much fun. There were not a lot of people there, since it was a weekday, and a lot of the people that were there were older people. Thus, they weren’t really standing in line for kiddie rides or rollercoasters. We got to get right on the rides with little or no waiting in line. The kids got to ride way more than on previous trips this summer. It wasn’t really that hot either, so it was very pleasant. While we were eating at Ms Lillian’s Chicken House, Ms Lillian herself came in and entertained us. She sang a song to Kyra that was about Kyra, and made her rubber chicken dance on mine and Chris’ heads for a laugh from the kiddos. She played her little mandolin in accompaniment to her singing, and I especially loved when she sang “Babyface” to Elijah. (Babyface…Elijah’s got the prettiest little baby face.) She gave the kids each a penny to make a wish in her wishing well. It was all very sweet and fun. She also gave Chris and I a wonderful complement. She told us, “I see a lot of parents comes through here, but you two just have a ‘glow’ about you. These kids are lucky to have you as parents.” That absolutely made my day. Can you imagine, as a mom, a better complement? So, we had a really good day yesterday. Unfortunately, I didn’t remember to take my camera.
Today, we took the kids fishing. We had a good time. We caught several fish, and it was fun being out on the boat. We went way up-river, and it was so nice and peaceful. I did happen to take along my camera on this trip.

Chris: “Kyra, you got purple marker on your face.”
Kyra: “That’s my tatoo.”
Chris: “Your tatoo?”
Kyra: “Yes, Daddy. I want a real tatoo on my nankle.” (nankle = 3 yr old’s ankle)
Chris: “You want a tatoo like Malachi?”
Kyra: “No. I want a girl tatoo.”
Chris: “Girl’s don’t get tatoos.”
Kyra: “Uh huh, Daddy. Misty has a tatoo on her nankle.”
Me: “You can’t have a tatoo, Kyra.”
Kyra: “Why?
Me: “The Bible says we shouldn’t get a tatoo. God doesn’t like them.”
Kyra: “Why?”
Me: “He just doesn’t.”
Kyra: “But I want a tatoo on my nankle.”
Me: “Well, if you still want one when you are 57, you can have one.”
Kyra: “No, Mommy. I want one now.”
Me: “Well, people can’t give three year olds tatoos. It’s against the law.”
Chris: “Yeah. They would go to jail if they gave you a tatoo.”
Kyra: “But I want a tatoo on my nankle. You hurt my feelings!”
Me: “I’m sorry, but you can’t have one. Eat your salad.”
Kyra: “I don’t want to. That cucumber hurt my feelings. And you made me sad, Mommy, because you told me no tatoo.”

Somehow, I thought this conversation would happen much, much later in my daughter’s life.

What program? My new super-de-duper scheduled program. As I’ve mentioned countless times in this blog, I suffer from an acute lack of discipline, organization, and motivation. I’m trying to remedy that, and, to help me along, I’ve made out a day by day schedule. If followed as intended, my house should be generally clean, my kids generally presentable, and my sad, sad body exercised. So far, so good. I started today, and I’m right on schedule. I actually started my new diet two days ago, and have already dropped one pound. So, yay for that. Baby steps, right? I worked out this morning, and, man, am I out of shape. I did 20 minutes on the elliptical machine, 100 crunches, and 20 push-ups, and you would think that I ran a ten mile marathon by the way my legs feel right now. But, anyway, that’s what I’ve been working on the past couple of days. I feel good about it. I hope I can make the changes last.
In other news, Kyra has a doctor’s appointment in a little while, and Elijah is getting shots. So, say a little prayer for my little man, if you are so inclined. He really doesn’t like getting shots. Who does, right? Kyra is just going for a check-up.
So, that’s my day. How is yours going?

Well, we’re back. We had a great time, and had loads of fun. Did you miss me? I know you did. We got home late last night, and were quite happy to find our kitty waiting for us at the door. We were equally pleased to find out that fish can indeed survive for three and a half days without being fed. No calls to PETA, please. They’re fine. Elijah was thrilled to see Oliver again, and even more please to sleep in his own bed.
We left here at 2:13 in the morning Friday, and had a good drive there. We made it on one tank of gas (we did, not mom’s vehicle), which pleased Chris to no end. We got great gas mileage…500 miles to our one fill up. The kids were good on the trip, and slept a good deal of the time.

Here’s Elijah, excited to be going to the ocean.

Kyra slept most of the way there.

We got there around ten o’clock, and Chris was very disappointed to learn that, due to seven foot swells on account of Hurricane Ophelia, the deep sea fishing trip he had been fantasizing about for weeks was not going to happen. I felt so bad for him, because that was the only thing he was looking forward to. He doesn’t even like the beach.
We checked into our rooms, and then we went to IHOP. When we got back, we changed, and went straight to the beach. It was FANTABULOUS! It was so awesome. Have I mentioned how much I love the ocean? It was incredible.

Kyra really enjoyed playing in the sand.

Elijah preferred to sit in the surf, and let the water wash over him.

Here’s Dad, Malachi, and Keinzie looking for shells.

Kyra and Keinzie working on burying Lucas.

My adorable niece, Makeinzie.

Kyra Joy

Here’s Elijah playing in the sand.

When we left the beach, we went over to the pool, and played for a while. They had great pools.
That evening, we went out for seafood, and the kids were zonked out by the time we got home. We stayed around the room for the rest of the night.

Here’s me and Kyra snuggled up on the balcony, watching the ocean waves.

The next morning, Chris, me, and the kids went out for breakfast, and then we all went to Barefoot Landing. We had a lot of fun there. We went to different shops, the kids made a stuffed animal at the Teddy Town store, and they played on some blow up bounce houses, obstacle courses, and giant slide. I had left my camera in the van during all of that, but we got it when we got some diapers out of the van. So, I was able to take these pictures of looking at tiger cubs that were in this area where they had full grown tigers, different sized tiger cubs, and a monkey for a fundraising type thing for endangered tigers. We didn’t spring for the $40 to have our picture made with them, though. We’re too cheap for that. We just admired them through the glass.

Elijah watching the tiger cubs. (He is in his diaper because he dumped sprite all over his shorts.)

Malachi was heartbroken that he didn’t get to go to the George Jones concert that was at the Alabama Theatre across the parking lot from where we were at. Maybe next time, Malachi.
We went home after that, and, since he was totally bummed that he didn’t get to go see George, Malachi watched our sleeping kids for us while everyone else went to the pools, and Chris and went for a romantic walk along the beach. It was dark, we were barefoot, and holding hands. It was the stuff adolescent daydreams are made of.
The next morning, which was Sunday, we went to the beach for a little bit, but didn’t stay long because the lifeguard wouldn’t let us in the water. Stupid Ophelia! We went to the pool, the hot tub, and the lazy river instead. It was fun.

The kids snuggled up with Mammy, after getting out of the water.

After that, we went to Broadway at the Beach, which was a lot of fun, too.

Kyra and Elijah on the T-Rex.

Here’s Kyra and Daddy in all their native glory.

Here’s the whole gang, except for Mom who was taking the picture.

When we got back that evening, Kyra was sleeping, and, since he wanted to watch football on tv, Chris watched Elijah while I went swimming with Malachi, Misty, Keinzie, Luke, and Seth. It was nice to go swimming without having to watch out for any little ones. When I got back, Elijah was sound asleep. That was cool.
Yesterday morning, we got up early, packed, and checked out. We stopped at some outlet malls on the way home. I got a sweater, too graphic tees, and a headband. I also got two pairs of shoes and a polo shirt for Elijah, and a corduroy skirt for Kyra. Chris got a great deal on two suits, two shirts, and two ties for $250. We left there at two thirty, and started for home. We stopped shortly after that for mom to get gas, and we did some re-arranging in who was riding where. Seth got in the explorer with Mom, Dad, and Makeinzie, and Malachi and Misty got in the van with the rest of us. Throw in three Red Bulls (my first ever included in that count), and welcome to the Party Van! We had fun. Oh, did we have fun! We started out with a game of “I took a trip to Myrtle Beach”. You know, the car game where you go through the alphabet with what you took with you. Here’s what we took:

We took a trip to Myrtle Beach and we took a…
Aardvark
Butt
Comb
Diablo
Ed
Fur
Goat
Hairbrush
Igloo
Jerry Lewis
Kangaroo
Llama
Moose
Needle
Okapi
Purse
Queer
Reverend
Stomata
Tripod
Umbrella
Virgin
Witch
Xena
Yahtzee
Zippo

Yeah. I have a good memory.
We also listened to Frosty the Snowman about ten times. Three guesses who requested that one. There was lots of good-natured pinching, smacking, biting, and fussing…mostly between the newly-weds. Luke, who was excited to be the co-captain when I moved to the middle row of seats, soon came to realize that, if Chris is in a goofy mood, co-captain is not a good thing. Chris was attacking him with one arm at various times, on a regular basis. We also found great fun in watching the expressions of drivers as we passed them and Lucas flexed his bicep at them, while grimacing. We nearly ran a couple people off the road with their unexpected laugher at us. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
After our second to last stop, things were much quieter and calm, as everyone was getting sleepy. All heck broke loose, though, when Keinzie woke up and said, “Mama, I feel not so good.” I grabbed a plastic grocery bag, dumped it’s contents, and still didn’t get it to the back in time to save poor Misty. Keinzie puked all over herself and her mama. We pulled over at the next exit, and tried to clean the seat, Keinzie’s booster seat, and Keinzie, while Misty puked behind the building. They changed clothes, we got everything and everybody cleaned up, and hit the road again, cursing the curvy mountain pass between North Carolina and Tennessee. Not long after that, Kyra said, “Mommy…” and then proceded with some gagging sounding coughing. In two seconds flat, I was unbuckled and over the seat holding a bag under her chin, Chris had turned on the lights, Malachi and Misty were both hanging over the seat behind Kyra, and Luke was holding a McDonald’s cup under her mouth. Kyra said, “I’m not sick. I’m just coughing.” False alarm. We were ready, though.
We finally got home around eleven thirty or so, and I can now say, with complete confidence, I love the beach…but I’m glad to be home.

We love you, DiDi. Sorry we missed your call yesterday.

I just wanted to point out that I updated my “Blogs I Like To Read” section on the sidebar on the right side of the page. I added a few more of the blogs that I read daily. Check them out if you want to.

Our beach trip is here! Well, almost. We are leaving tonight at 2:00 am. (Yes, I do know that it will technically be Friday, but it’s gonna feel like Thursday night to me.) I do still have a lot to do, but, since I got Kyra’s room clean last night, it seems a lot less daunting. Her room is usually in such catostrophic shape that it casts a messy gloom over the whole house. I put together the organizer that I bought for her room a month ago, and it is neatly housing all her toys now. It looks much better.

Here’s a short list of what I have to do today:
1. Finish the laundry. (Only 2 loads.)
2. Sweep and mop the kitchen.
3. Clean the bathrooms.
4. Vacuum.
5. Clean out the van.
6. Take the van for an oil change.
7. Take the trash to the dump.
8. Pack.

Luckily, Chris will be in charge of #’s 6 and 7. He just has to wake up first. He worked last night. I am so excited about nearly 2 whole weeks of time off for him. I can’t hardly contain my excitement. That man needs a vacation. I want one, but he really needs one.

Just think, 24 hours from now…I will be beholding my beloved ocean. Yes, I realize I’ve only seen it once, but how many times do I have to see it and cry at it’s beauty before I can call it beloved? I am not sure of the general requirement, but I’m just going to go ahead and regard it as beloved. I can’t wait to see it again. I can’t wait to see the kids see it again. I can’t wait to dig my toes down into the sand, and feel the waves lap at my ankles. I can’t wait!

Now if I can just get my list out of the way…
Cheer me on!