Long's Joyful Journey

Funny

2009-06-18T22:47:00.003-04:00

Mom(me): "Carpenter did you toot?"

Carpenter: giggling and ignoring me

Sadie: "Car- pend - ter, it's a yes or no? A YES or a NO?"
in her most serious voice

Right Now

2009-06-18T21:44:00.004-04:00

Right now I am utterly exhausted! I have just put my kids to bed! Which is way behind schedule because they always go to bed at 8pm on the dot. (Should I let Marley stay up later? Jon says yes, I say no way!) My mom and dad watched the kids this evening so I could try to get everything packed for our trip to the beach! Thanks bunches! I have a vertical pile for every one's clothing! UGH! I had big plans tonight: iron said clothes, pack them in suitcases, fold clothes that need to be put up, and so on. But I am so tired. The kids were really dirty, so we had a late bath. And I am just whooped out! Plus Marley has her all star softball tournament, starting tomorrow night! Just wondering how and when I am going to get it all done! It is hard to pack and load for 6 people by myself!

But atleast I get to go see Mrs. Beth and get my haircut! It has literally been forever! So hopefully that will refresh me!

I am getting back in the blogging world and catching up on every one's blog! Hope everyone is doing well!

Ground Breaking Ceremony

2009-06-16T14:25:00.004-04:00

Here is a cute picture of the girls with their Pop-Pop! It pays to have the mayor as their Pop-Pop!

Mary Gary Long gets some help shoveling dirt from his granddaughters. The City of Fountain Inn held a Ground Breaking Dedication Ceremony for the Fountain Inn Commerce Park and Historical Center on Depot Street.

Link to article!

Will be posting more! I have been on a reading high for a while!

Okay, am I just a good advertisement for BC?

2009-04-23T21:53:00.003-04:00

I have been wanting to post this subject for a while!

Am I just a good advertisement for Birth Control??

Picture this:
Mom is running late because had to change poo diaper.
Mom is putting the kids in the car and gets wiped with snot and dirt.
Mom runs into house to put on old frumpy shirt and wishes she could still wear cute new shirt.
We are at softball practice with Marley.
Jon is coaching.
Mom wants to watch said practice.
Mom has 3 little kids.
Mom makes visual account for children every few seconds.
Mom is unable to watch practice but wants her daughter to know she is there for her.
Sadie has her blue jeans on backwards because that is how she put them on. She changes her clothes so often that I was just scrambling to get them in the car.
Carpenter throwing sand. Time out 2 times.
Sadie and Carpenter throw rocks at each other. Timeout.
Rowan is not listening and thinks he can run all over.
Sadie has to go pee.
Luckily male friend of ours watches the boys.
I come back and discover I am a good reason for birth control awareness.

Thinking how nice it would be....
if the kids all had matching clothes on.
NO Stains.
NO timeouts.
Were loving, sharing, kind to each other.
Never moved out of place so I could watch.

I came home and felt defeated. I don't want people to see the chaos but to see happiness. Tells self I can not be a reincarnated 50's television mother.

I am me. And that will have to be good enough.

Why don't I feel any better?

Coming back!

2009-04-23T21:38:00.005-04:00

I will be coming back to the blog world now! Not sure why I needed a break!

Here are some awesome pics my cousin Chelsea took:

Here is a link to here flickr page: Chelsea

Mr. President, I know you didn't

2009-03-20T14:41:00.003-04:00

I can't believe that President Obama made that statement about the Special Olympics in such a derogatory fashion. But then again, I can believe it. It just really saddens me.

I know that this is the United States of the Offended. But there is only so much I can take. When people reference special needs people in such a hateful matter. I have have no respect for them.

Part of the Statement from the Special Olympics:
"Words hurt and words matter. Words can cause pain and result in stereotypes that are unfair and damaging to people with intellectual disabilities. And using "Special Olympics" in a negative or derogatory context can be a humiliating put-down to people with special needs."

from Special Olympics chairman Timothy Shriver

There is one quick way to start a fight with me. Use the unforgivable word "retard!" It just sends my temper through the roof! I don't even like the word spoken carelessly. It to me is one of the worst "bad words" possible.

I have more to say about this, but I will have to write after the kids go to bed tonight!

Am I easily offended or just a born warrior who can not stand injustice?

Hello Blog World!

2009-03-15T21:14:00.003-04:00

Sorry it has been forever since I blogged about our life. I guess I wonder if anyone cares. And then I remind myself that I do this for me. For my self!

Some random thoughts:(don't laugh)

1. How much snot really can a child have? I mean does it ever stop? The past few weeks I am sick and tired from wiping my kids noses! It is just like a faucet!

2. Do people really buy meat out of a truck? I mean, everyone is happy to have a job right now, and I am not belittling it. But really who buys that stuff? Something about some strange person coming to your door and saying they have some extra steaks, just makes me think that they are not healthy to eat.

3. Coffee. I don't understand coffee. I never have and never will. My dad loves coffee. I never drank the stuff, afraid it would stunt my growth. I just don't see how these coffee places make it. Who pulls over on their busy way to a store that just has coffee. And for $4 bucks! I can buy a whole meal for that at McDonald's!

Health update:

Sadie's salivary glad is clogged and infected! Who knew? Doc said it is usually viral but could lead to a staph infection so he gave her some antibiotics. It hasn't gone down yet! She is pitiful and in pain!

Gran has hurt her back pretty good! Please pray for her recovery.

Also please pray for the Tipping Family. Courtney and Allen were going to have 6 beautiful children. 2 of them passed away a day or two ago. And then they lost the remaining 4 babies this morning. I can not fathom the loss that they are feeling right now. Please pray for strength and peace for them! In moments like this you have to say "God is in control," because it is hard to understand their deaths through human eyes. But God knows all.

Wordless Wednesday!

2009-02-25T16:45:00.001-05:00

Tucker loves the Elmo chair!!

Please Welcome the Newest Member of the Long Family: Tucker

2009-02-19T16:37:00.004-05:00

Last week, Marley's dream came true! She got a dog! I have never known a child who wanted a dog so much. She tells everyone that every time she has prayed for a dog, she gets a sibling in return!!! Can you believe that!?! We wanted to wait and get a dog until we got a new house, that was the deal. Her father caved. So now I am stuck with four kids and a new puppy who barks at night(did that sound bitter?)! Lovely! At least Marley is happy!

Tucker sleeping

Marley and Tucker. I am not sure where the name Tucker came from. She always makes a new list of what kind of dog she wants and name possibilities. I don't remember her ever saying the name, Tucker, but I like it!

Diagnosis

2009-02-02T21:00:00.003-05:00

I can vividly remember when the doctor told us that he thought Carpenter had Down Syndrome. And also remember when our favorite geneticist, Dr. Geer, came in to tell us about Down Syndrome.

That day was filled with alot of emotion. Trying to suck in all the information he gave us. Trying to remember the resources out there and to seek them. Jon and I accepted Carpenter's diagnosis before we even got the chromosome results back. That was our beautiful son, Carpenter Brooks, and he was ours given by God.

Some parents have a hard time with the diagnosis. To each is their own. Everyone deals with the diagnosis in different ways: acceptance, ignorance, denial, apathy, and so on.

The first time I walked into CDS, I realized how lucky I was that my son had Down Syndrome. I know that may seem crazy to some people. But others know when you are blessed.

I am happy that my son has a diagnosis! I am happy we have guidelines to expect, no matter how wonderful or telling they are. We have a support group, we have parents who understand, we have wonderful doctors that see our children just as they are, we have a wonderful supportive family. We have alot.

There are alot of families that do not have a diagnosis. That do not have a remote guideline for their child. Gosh, sometimes I really don't know how they do it.

So here I type, thankful.....

Random Stuff

2009-02-01T20:37:00.003-05:00

I have been full of ideas for posts in my head. When I am driving down the road I convey my thoughts so clearly, but when I get ready to post the energy to write is gone for some reason.

Sadie:
Everyone of Sadie's baby dolls is named "Sadie!" She will not name them anything other than that. I mean Marley had a ton of creative names. But Sadie just want the babies to be "Sadie!" They are her dolls and so that is what they are named. Does that say anything about her personality???

Rowan:
Rowan is just growing by leaps and bounds. He is very funny. He can sneak around and climb anything in his path. No fear! He thinks he is bigger then he is. Rowan keeps wrestling his brother and sister with his famous "choke hold" move. I am enjoying my extra alone time with him while everyone else is in school. I feel it is very important to have special time with each child.

Rowan also has "Edward Cullen's" crooked smile. I can just see the future with the girls he gives that smile to. Don't want to think about any of them growing up.

Carpenter:
We have had some upsetting news about alot of therapy cuts because of the budget crisis. I will write more about this later. We lost our SI. And now therapy has been cut and it just doesn't seem fair(but life isn't fair, is it?). Carpenter has also had a lot of pain in his feet lately. He has shoe inserts, but sometimes I(bad mother) forget to change them out of the different pairs of shoes. Carpenter seems to be talking alot more. We go through phases where I see some improvement and then we go through lulls.

Marley:
Marley managed to make all A honor roll while having alot of absences. I am very proud of her. She is still loving her wii. It really has been fun for the whole family. We took it over to my parents for a pre-super bowl wii playoff. I think softball sign ups will be pretty soon!

***************************

It is pretty bad that getting a wii makes you want to get a new television. We have this ancient TV in the front den. It is really old! And man, do you want a better TV!!!! But our TV is not broken nor do we have the money to replace it. So we will play the wii on old reliable.

Not really impressed with the commercials from the Super Bowl(I am pulling for Kurt). Looking forward to the new Transformers movie.

Taylor, can't wait to see the new Star Trek movie with you and mom. Inside joke, lol!!

Read this Blog

2009-01-29T22:09:00.005-05:00

Usually, I am not one for extending my blog reel. I usually read the blogs I know alot but don't do in search of looking for ones. I started my Internet Explorer and my homepage is aol. And this blog, matt logelin , was put up there and I happened to take a glance.
This is the description from aol:
Matt and Madeline - Life, Love and Death on a Blog (click on link to read the full article)
by Caroline Howard Jan 29th 2009 3:00PM

Categories: Newborns, Just for dads, Pregnancy & birth

Mattlogelin.com, like many personal blogs, is an open diary of everyday stories and domestic snapshots meant for a closed circle of family and friends. But here it departs from the ordinary and takes a different and difficult storyline.

On March 24, 2008, Matt Logelin posted on the joyous arrival of his and wife Liz's new baby. Madeline was born small -- 3 lbs. 14 oz. -- but healthy. The blog took a horrific turn when Liz died one day later after a lethal blood clot lodged in her lung. "It's an understatement to say my life has changed," he told ParentDish.com. "I had a birth and a death in 27 hours."

I have only made it to page 4 of the older posts, and was already crying. Make sure you read the Christmas Eve and Christmas posts.

I totally don't agree with him politically and find it sad that he doesn't believe in God and that His son died on the cross to save us. But I do find that his blog hit a nerve with me.

Boys Will Be Boys!

2009-01-26T15:58:00.006-05:00

This started off with Rowan pulling off some awesome wrestling skills for a 15th month old. Then with Carpenter getting revenge with Zurberts(sp?)! I sat there amazed at my boys playing together. Then I got my blackberry out and filmed it! I can't believe they are old enough to do that!

Isn't it Ironic!

2009-01-21T14:36:00.006-05:00

My father got out of St. Francis yesterday, a little after 1pm. We are really excited to have him home. On Saturday, the 18th, my dad had a 2 hr 45 minute surgery, to clean the walls of his lungs, and remove the fluid (which was like a yello like consistency), they also put 2 ports in to let the lungs drain. He looks a lot better and will slowly regain his strength.

At 6:45 pm, I had to take Marley up to St. Francis. I guess this is the ironic part, we finally get my dad home and are celebrating. Then Marley has been spitting up blood all day. During the middle of the night, she had an episode of blood coming our her throat and nose. But when she got home the blood was coming up quite a bit, and finally a whole bunch came out her mouth and nose. I had called the doc, and I finally decided to go to the ER. So I dropped the kids off at Gran's(thank you Gran and Pop-Pop!), and off course it stops bleeding when are able to see the doc. We had the greatest doctor and nurse at the ER! They were very kind. They couldn't really tell where the blood was coming from. She had a lot of blood go into her stomach. She was feeling really sick to her stomach. Finally, she threw up a whole bunch, and felt better. She looked really pale!

This morning we had to go to the doc office all the way in Easley(my first trip there!), and she has to stay out of school the rest of the week. I am worried she will get behind in school! She is not allowed to play her wii, and she is upset about that.

Hopefully everything will get better! Thanks for all the prayers.

Sorry Marley, I know this may be embarrassing later! Dang camera phones and big mouthed moms!

Chuck E Cheeses!

2009-01-19T21:17:00.004-05:00

We took Sadie tonight to celebrate her big day at Chuck E Cheeses! Not too may pics because we had our hands full! Thank you Gran for coming!

Having fun!

The adorable cake!

Sadie's edible crown!

Happy Birthday Sadie May!

2009-01-19T14:06:00.004-05:00

I just wanted to tell Sadie how much I love here, maybe she will read this when she is a few years older!
Sadie, you are so funny and delightful! You truly have a wonderful sense of humor. Your dad and I are totally amazed at some of the stuff you say. You love your siblings. I love seeing you all play together. You challenge me alot as a parent. I thank God for you! What an adorable little girl you are! My sweet pea! I love it when you call Rowan, "Buddy!" And tell me that "you need to go buy some more money," as if it were that simple! You will give anyone a run for their money. You are very girlie but yet very wild and adventurous! Now if you could stop making gigantic messes I would be very happy(killing the fish with glue, writing all over herself with black marker)!

We are going to Chuck E Cheeses tonight to celebrate! Anyone want to join us? I know every parent loves going there.

Sadie loves her new dora bike!

Marley's Birthday Party

2009-01-18T14:30:00.004-05:00

Marley had a wonderful birthday party. We started out with cake and pizza at Gran's house and then to the movie theatre for the rest of her party. We got to go on a tour of the movie theatre, get a piece of film, see how the movies still came on 20 minutes reels(I thought it would have been digital by now), and she also got to start a movie! It was really neat. The girls really enjoyed Hotel for Dogs!

Marley's cute dog cake! And it tastes awesome too!

Photo Tag for Kelly

2009-01-15T17:34:00.004-05:00

Anyone can do it!

Here are the rules:

1. Go to your 4th picture folder

2. Use the 4th picture in the folder

3. Tell us about your picture!

4. Pass it on!
Here is the 4th in my 4th...

I thought it was funny that the pic was one of Jon and myself. We don't have too many of these. It is from on my birthday at the Hootie concert. That feels like forever ago!

Happy Birthday Marley Ann!

2009-01-15T17:10:00.005-05:00

***I will have to write longer later but Rowan has a stomach bug, nasty, nasty!***

I just wanted to wish my first born a wonderful birthday! I can not believe she is 9! She will be a decade next year. I know it sounds cliche when you ask "where has the time gone?" But really, where has it? My sweet first born, I love you dearly, even though you kick me hiney in wii!

Please also remember my dad in your prayers, he is being admitted again into the hospital due to heavy fluid in his lungs. We don't have a game plan yet, we are waiting on a ct scan. I will keep you all updated! Thanks again!

Hitting Home

2009-01-13T20:42:00.004-05:00

This was the verse on the program of the first official service for Capstone:
Psalm 39:4
"Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered - how fleeting my life is."

Did Walt mention this verse just for me?

I have felt this way a bunch since all of the health stuff with my dad. I keep refocusing on the fact to live everyday to the fullest, life is precious, and we are here to serve and glorify Him.

This verse is etched in my brain. Yet, I sit here tonight having a pity party for myself! I will get over this foul mood that creeps up on my train of thought.

I have more exciting stuff to write about Capstone! But I will wait til I am less annoyed. I will write happier posts! Promise!

I also need to write about the Twilight book series!

Christmas 08

2009-01-08T08:34:00.014-05:00

Here is a cute video of Sadie singing "I want to wish you a Merry Christmas," notice what Carpenter thinks of Sadie's singing. Sorry it is so dark!

Christmas at the Long's

Uncle Bobby!

Amy and Lee

Carpenter loves Gran's Food

Christmas morning

Jonathan's new shoes

Sadie was dying for an umbrella

Marley loves her wii! It is so much fun!

Memas

Sorry I don't have time to write captions and other things about Christmas! I am trying to catch up on everything! Hope to post more later! I am enjoying listening to my husband snore!

I'm back!

2009-01-06T15:46:00.005-05:00

Sorry I have been gone for a while! It has been a crazy few weeks! And I haven't even been on my computer in forever!

My dad fell off of his horse on Monday the 29th. My mom took him to the hospital and he broke two of his ribs and bruised his lung and bruised his shoulder bad! He wasn't feeling very well!

My mom took him back up to the ER and found out his kidney's failed! Which is a shock for us all and not quite sure why it happened in the first place. They ended up putting a ventilator in him at Hillcrest while waiting on a room at Memorial. The doc called in a favor, and finally got him a room. Not quite sure that has to happen when someone is really sick and needs to be transported! So they airlifted him from Hillcrest to Memorial. If I didn't know it was serious, I knew then.

These were my thoughts as Jon and I went that evening to see my dad after being transferred:
The silence between the two of us was alarming but wanted.
I like to think things through my head.
You have a million things going through your mind.
I had to keep my thoughts to myself.
Like admitting my concerns out loud would make them real?

I was just like how did this get so serious this fast?

I spent alot of time with dad. And two nights. Thank you to my in-laws, Suzanne and Gary, Missy and Bobby, and my husband for watching the kids. I loved being there with my dad spending time with my sister(that was one positive thing that came out of this!)! I finished the whole Twilight 4 book series in one week! I was proud of myself for that, but that in its self is another story.

My dad got his ventilator out yesterday! I was just so giddy seeing him without that in! I can not fully express through words my feelings.

My dad actually got to eat some breakfast today! That was his first meal! So he is making progress and has left the CCU today to a new regular hospital room.

Through all of this my mother had pneumonia and could not go to the hospital. But yesterday she was able to see him, just not get too close and couldn't stay too long! Marley had her tonsils out on Monday. And Sadie and Rowan have had recurrent ear infections and had to get shots today!

Sorry my blogging just got cancelled. Carpenter is crying!

Please continue to pray for healing for my family!

Is realising everyday is precious!
Why do I have to forget this lesson and be taught again?
I just needed to wake up and experience the joy of our everlasting Lord!

Update

2008-12-20T14:41:00.006-05:00

Sorry, I don't know why but my blogging mood has been challenged lately. For some reason, I have had alot to blog about, but no zeal to tell them.

Funny quotes:
We were over at Gran's house, and Sadie backed up to Gran. She said "you want me to poot on you?" We all died laughing. I guess she has been listening to her father!

I was trying to get the kids out of the car earlier this week and it was raining. I had just ran inside with Rowan, and dropped him off on the couch. I ran out to get Sadie and Carpenter. I had Sadie on my right hip, waiting for Carpenter to come get on the other, to get them in the house. We'll Carpenter didn't want to come to me. I was getting pretty upset. Sadie and I were getting soaked. So I did the counting to three game. And Carpenter did not come on three. So I said in my not so happy voice "Come here NOW, Carpenter, we are getting soaked!" Carpenter just looked at me and said, clear as day, "Mean Momma!" So I laughed. He has never said "mean" before! And I was proud of him for putting it together. Any of the other kids would have been lectured. But I was proud he put that describing word on there, as unpleasant as it was.

Last weekend, some of the kids had a stomach bug. Plus on top of that, my dryer broke, the heating element went out! So I want to say a special thank you to Pop-Pop for fixing it! Stomach bug and broken dryer is not a good combination! We missed Carpenter's Christmas party at the MC, the Down Syndrome Christmas Party, and church!

Marley had her Christmas concert on Monday night! It went really well!

Carpenter had his Christmas program at FIFBC on Friday! It went really well! I got in the middle of the row to film. He saw me. "Hi Momma," then gave me the figure up to the lip, to tell me to be quiet! When he saw Gran, he got really excited. He repeated "Bran" an million times. Still working on those G's! Carpenter was dressed like a cute snowman!

Carpenter and his "Bran"

Rowan dancing

Sadie had her Christmas program on Friday also. I couldn't figure out why she wasn't singing! She know all the songs. My favorite is "Feliz Navidad!" Children's pronunciations on that song are hilarious. Anyway, back to the concert, I quickly found out why she wasn't singing when she stood up. She had an accident! I felt terrible for her. There were so many kids and parents cramped into a small room. I bet she felt overwhelmed to tell someone she needed to go to the bathroom. She has not had an accident in forever.

not so happy face
Last night, I got to go see the Nutcracker with Marley, Milli, and Traci. We went out to eat dinner at Trios and then onto the Peace Center. It was great to go out to dinner and not have to share my food or take someone to the restroom! We all had a memorable night thanks to Milli! I was impressed that Anne took her whole family! I should have taken a family pic!

Marley and Milli

Milli and Mrs. Traci

Myself and Marley

Marley and Milli

Dad's Night October 18, 2004

2008-12-12T10:17:00.003-05:00

Marley was looking a couple of weeks ago at her K-4 notebook. It contained alot of stuff she did through out the year. This was a what she filled out in the questionnaire.

My Dad's favorite food is "Hamburgers"
His favorite color is "Blue"
His favorite sport is "Olympics"
We need Daddy at our house because "He has to build the rest of the house!"
When Daddy's at home, he likes to "Sit in his favorite chair"
My favorite thing to do with Daddy is "Play with him"
My Dad's favorite TV show is "Fighting and wrestling"
My Dad is "14" years old.

Marley read this sheet out loud, and we laughed at her funny answers. Jon asked when was that, and Marley said when she was four.

As soon as that enjoyable moment of remembering Marley at 4. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Carpenter is 4. Marley was writing, beginning reading at 4. She could have a conversation with you. A "Genuine" conversation about life, what she liked, who got into trouble at school. It was almost like I had to physically shut my mind off, not to get sad about Carpenter. I think it was good, that Marley and Carpenter are 4 years apart. Because I don't compare them. But on this day I did. I longed for the day when he could have a "real" conversation with me. Carpenter can speak, tell me what he wants. But if I ask him how his day was, or what did you do at school today, there is no real conversation. It totally bums me. I want to share in his world, know what he thinks.

I had to stop comparing them. They are two unique and wonderful children.

But I know the day will come when we will sit together and talk all day, after the other kids have left my house and started families of their own. He will be there. My constant companion.

Chrismtas Wishes!

2008-12-10T14:06:00.003-05:00

Christmas is such a special time of year! I love it! I think the candle lit service on Christmas Eve is my favorite because everyone comes. And it is just the pure worshipping of the Lord. I love spending time with my family during this time!

Soldiers:

We all know that there are thousands of soldiers who are not going to be home for Christmas.

You can adopt a soldier online and send cards/care packages to:
Any Solider Inc.

Or you can send cards through the American Red Cross:
This will send the cards to the troops at Walter Reed Army Hospital

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD. 20791-5456

Really, how hard could it be to send out a few extra Christmas cards this year to wonderful servicemen and servicewomen.

Also, I am not a big mall shopper during the Christmas season. I try to avoid it at all cost. But if you do shop at the mall or online please buy from Sears. Click on the Sears link above, for their program called Heroes at Home where they help fix up the houses of heroes!

Sears also pays the difference in salaries and maintains the benefits and bonus programs for their called up military reservist employees!

This is huge! Families live on tight incomes and Sears pays for the difference and keeps their benefits! How amazing is that!

So if you do buy from Sears, let them know why you are shopping there also!

Also for my family:

I really don't need anything this Christmas, neither do the kids really. But I would love for you to buy me two ducks for $12. Anything would help! We have an African child, we sponsor through World Vision, going on about 5 years now. We get updates on how she is doing! So, in your giving this year please remember those who have so little when we have so much! God is good!

Santa pics

2008-12-09T09:16:00.004-05:00

We used to take Marley to see Santa. But since we have had the three little ones back to back to back. That has not been an area of focus. Plus, I love Jesus more than I like Santa.

Here are some pics of me from childhood:

I was terrified of Santa! So my mom had to sit in his lap also! This is the first pic that I saw that Sadie May looked a little like me. Something in my mouth and hers! I was so excited she looked like me in one picture. All the kids look like Jon, so I get excited about the littlest stuff. I mean you(fellow mom's) are the one's that carry the child for 10 months and they look like their father! JK! My children are adorable!

Plus when I showed this picture to Sadie, she said it was "me, Sadie and Santa Claus!"

It's That Time of Year Again~Elf Yourself

2008-12-06T17:03:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Fountain Inn Tree Lighting

2008-12-04T20:40:00.008-05:00

We had a wonderful night in Fountain Inn. At FIES the students had to write a story about what lighting the FI Christmas Tree meant to them. Marley wrote the story and was really excited about it. The teachers of each class had to choose the best story out of their class. Marley's story was chosen, and she was so excited! And she was pumped when she found out that she was the winner for the 3rd grade! We all were very excited and proud of her. She loves to read and write!

So tonight, Gran, Pop-Pop, Meme, and Papa joined us for the FI Christmas Tree Lighting Program! It was a great program. And Pop-Pop, was the emcee, because he is the mayor of this great town! So that made it extra special!

The rain stopped and Marley was able to read her story! She did an awesome job!
Here is a video:

**********************************
Fox Carolina was there and they are going to be on the 10 o'clock news if you can stay up and watch it!

They said they might put it up on their website later on.

No More Excuses, Be There

2008-12-04T15:14:00.004-05:00

When I read this a while back on New Kind of Normal, it really struck me. I am sorry I haven't blogged anything original in a while. But this was so great I had to share. I have been wanting to blog a lot lately but have had sick kids which makes a tired mom.

Written by Jessica of New Kind of Normal:
Yes the holidays are coming up, yes we all have our traditions. Yes we are all busy.
While we are driving to choir practice, Christmas shopping, being annoyed at our healthy kids, someone is watching their child fight to live today, a mom is so tired she simply cant focus on the enormous task in caring for her child. Families are separated for endless days. Do you understand what I'm saying here? A mom is watching her baby die right now, a mom is watching her baby fight to take a breath. Where are you? Do you know someone in the hospital? Go to them. People can sit in church and talk about love, then go home and wrap themselves up in their own lives.
God didn't mean go to church, fake smile, and talk about love, He meant go out and love. Be burdened by those who are suffering, not by your to do list. Be burdened for the sick, not by your Christmas solo, be burdened for the weak, not by your next shopping trip or Christmas party.

Start a new tradition this year, and reach out to someone who is hurting. Who is dying. Who is helplessly watching their child suffer, and there is nothing they can do but watch.

Meet somebody at their rock bottom today. Take the sting out of this.

If you know someone who has a sick or special needs child don't tip toe around them. Reach out, make yourself available, even just to talk.
If you know someone who is in the hospital with their child don't avoid them, I guarantee you they would like a visit.
If you know someone who has a special needs child make it a point to love on their child (with clean hands of course).
If you know someone with a sick or special needs child don't just say I'm praying for you and never call, write or visit.
If you know someone with a special needs or sick child don't slip out of their lives because you weren't sure what to do or say.
If you know someone who has seen too much, watched one too many procedures, waited for one too many surgery's, waited on one too many results, heard one too many bad diagnosis, reach out, be there. Yes it will take sacrifice of your time, you will probably be uncomfortable, it will take work, but you will bring someone out of their rock bottom when they don't have the strength to do it themselves.
Im so tired of people turning a blind eye because they dont know what to do, they are uncomfortable, and they are too busy, the truth is there isnt anything for you to do, but to just be there. BE THERE.

My Heart Is Saddened

2008-12-04T14:30:00.003-05:00

I came home from picking up the kids from school, and found policemen across the street. I knew that one of my neighbors were possible sick. Then to learn that he had passed away. I just feel terrible.

Here is a man, that his wife passed away in '79. Can you imagine living almost 30 years without your spouse? He has two sons as far as I know. I have only seen one of them come to see him. At the only yearly visit at Christmas time.

I knew this man. Jonathan would help find him someone if something went wrong in his house and we would talk out in the yard, but that was it. I never brought him any food. Never walked up to his door.

All of the fellow neighbors I know were worried about him. He had a pile of papers at the end of his driveway. He would always go out and get his newspaper. Then we thought he was okay because they papers were gone. And someone had rolled his trash can to the road. But fellow neighbors did both of those.

They think he has been dead for two days. I just feel awful.

I thought about doing something this year for the neighbors I knew on the street. I knew he was a diabetic and was looking up recipes for him to make for Christmas.

Our street, is just like that of any other small towns. Streets gridded off of the main streets. These homes are around 50 years old. Some people on this street have been here since their house was built. I like our street, it has old giant trees. Not a neighborhood that has been flatten, like they make now. It still has a charm even though the are not the richest houses in the world.

I have experienced 2 deaths of our neighbors. Our street is a mix of the old original families and new families that come in usually after someone has passed away. I like our mix of people.

There is lot to be said about a community that takes care of the young and old. I feel like I have failed my test. Ashamed that is is too late to form a real relationship.

I watched as the police and EMS were here. I watched as the coroner came. I watched as they took his body away. And hoped his family cared. I am sure they did. But you just feel bad that he was alone for two days.

I can see how you can lose yourself!

2008-11-30T19:14:00.005-05:00

I can see how you can lose yourself. My life is not dull, it is very busy with 4 kids. But I can see how a person can get so absorbed in the lives of their children that they could forget who they are.

I can not remember the last time I went out with friends. I haven't been out with my husband since Brian Harmon's wedding at the end of August. I only got to go to do the first 3 weeks out of 10 weeks of my Beth Moore bible study.

I am not writing this for people to feel sorry for me. Not to pity me. And I am not writing this for those people who say I had 4 children and this is your life. I know it is! I love my children and am very grateful for them. They are my responsibility and my joy, and I try to ask for help with them(aka from the Grandparents) as few times as possible. It is hard work, constant work, watching them all, and I don't want to burden anyone with that. Maybe burden is not that right word but you know what I mean.

I just feel like I haven't talked to close dear friends in forever. Few attempts have been made on either side. And am longing to confide in someone other then the Almighty God.

Thanksgiving Pics

2008-11-29T16:44:00.015-05:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving lunch at Gran's House! Amy and Lee were gone on a mission trip to Belize, we missed them, but Rocky and Gracie were there. Then headed up to Landrum to se my side of the family! We had a great time! And were really worn out! I went to bed right after the kids at 8 pm. Woke up at 3:15 and was at Kohl's at 4am. I was finished shopping at 6:36am. I only went to 3 stores and avoided the mall.

Here are some pics at Gran's House:
the kids had fun painting bird houses before lunch

Here are some pics at Memas:
redneck pics on 4 wheelers!

I asked Jon to take a picture of me because I haven't had one of me this Thanksgiving, because I usually take all the pics. And he took this pic? Is it of my gut?

daredevil. backwards rider

I am a wuss when it comes to 4 Wheelers. I think they are dangerous and I always hear about bad accidents happening. But I finally rode one. I fussed the whole time, I hated not being in control and knowing what was coming. I should have loosened up and had a better time! But that's me! I have to warm up to some things.

Thank You

2008-11-25T14:18:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to write a quick Thank you to my parents, Roxann and Rick, and my in-laws, Gary and Suzanne.

Marley has strep throat again, and soon we will probably pass it around to all of the kids. And I have been dealing with an ovarian cyst again.

So Thank-You, Gran and Pop-Pop, for taking Carpenter to school and picking him up on Monday and Tuesday. Thank-You, mom and dad, for coming over last night and watching the kids and making supper, while I sat on the couch!

We are truly lucky to have wonderful parents so close. Sometimes, I don't know how I would do it without you all!

Background Change

2008-11-20T20:56:00.003-05:00

I know it is a little early for a Christmas background, but I needed to do it while I had the time. I wanted to find a background more Jesus and less Santa. But I haven't found one I liked yet!

I thought it would be okay to change it now! 3 of my neighbors put up there Christmas tree right after Halloween! Can you believe it? I mean I love Christmas as much as anyone but after Halloween?

Volleyball 08

2008-11-20T15:13:00.008-05:00

This was the first year Marley played Volleyball! It was really alot of fun! I didn't have to worry about her, like I do in Softball, if she missed a catch and got knocked upside the head! Most of all, I think that Marley really enjoyed herslef and got so excited out on the court! We can't wait until next season!

Prude Note:
In the next level up in VB, these young girls wear these tight little black VB shorts. Marley will never wear them. She can play just as well in regular shorts or pants!

Marley got into the Championships! Team Korea(I guess you can't be the USA) won the first game and lost the second and third game! They got a medal for placing second. I can't get those pics right now! But will upload them as soon as possible!

Special Thank-You to the grandparents! Gran, Pop-Pop, Meme, and Papa we could have not survived the season without you! We are so very grateful for your help!!!
Pictures:

Favorite Books

2008-11-17T14:53:00.007-05:00

I love reading every one's blog and see what they read to their children. I do look for these books! And even buy some. Here are some of our favorites:

Marley's Favorite Book:
The Pink House by Kate Salley Palmer

I have read this book hundreds of times. Kate Salley Palmer came to FIE one time and Suzanne(Gran), got her to sign two books one for Marley and Bailey. Little did I know that it would be one of our favorite books of all time! I almost know the book by heart! I love the beautiful colored pencil illustrations and the wonderful family story!

"Every summer, all the aunts, all the uncles, and even Grandma gather at the Pink House at Edisto Beach.
We gather there, too! We are cousins! There are six of us -- three little cousins, two big cousins, and one new baby cousin!"

Doesn't it describe our family perfectly? We all look forward to our yearly beach trip! I love this book! I love that Kate Salley Palmer, is a local writer, and that we can support her work!

Carpenter's Favorite Book:
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen

Carpenter loves this book, you can often seem him reading it by himself! All the little kids love it! It makes us laugh when we act out the parts! It is a fun book!

A new favorite:
Gallop!: A Scanimation Picture Book by Rufus Butler Seder

This book is truly awesome and cutting edge technique that fully engulfs a child. It really looks like the animals are moving! We love it! But I let the kids take it to read in the van, and I can not find it! Yes, I have searched and cleaned the van many times but can not find it! So I am going to put it on their list for Christmas! This would be an awesome Christmas present!

My latest favorite book:
Persuasion by Jane Austen

I am on a Jane Austen kick because of Masterpiece Theatre(which Jonathan hates, but certainly there bust be some MT lovers out there, or why would it be on TV?). I read "Persuasion" through google books online. I finished it in like two days in between the kids naps and bed times! I am a romantic by heart. I love "love" stories, about love that is yearned for, never dying, never broken! I do not like affairs. I do want happy endings. I guess I am sappy that way. Tales that end up broken bother me forever. I guess I am not an astute literary critic.

Please leave comments on your favorite books, that way I can get them too!

Journey Followers!

2008-11-14T14:31:00.003-05:00

I have often wondered who you are! Wondered how you found our blog! And your thoughts about life in general!

To tell you the truth, I have often wondered was there anyone out there? I post and sometimes get no comments, and wonder, if this is almost a personal confession. That if anyone ever felt what I felt!

So please share who you are! I would love to know you, pray for you!

Thanks!

Special Needs Mommas

2008-11-13T14:48:00.003-05:00

Growing up, I don't think that I knew of anyone being a parent of a child with special needs or someone that had special needs, except for one person! And to tell you the truth, I didn't think much about him, nothing bad of course, but never inquired on what life was like for him.

Let's be honest: I don't know anyone going into a pregnancy wanting a special needs child. I never thought I would. Jon and I were a young couple who couldn't wait to have a second child, a sibling for Marley, a little boy! Special Needs never entered our vocabulary. All of the test results came back fine and nothing showed wrong on the in depth ultrasounds, other than Carpenter was not growing. But nothing physically wrong was shown.

We had no idea of the world we were being thrust into!

I want to convey to you that it is not bad. People you enter into acquaintance with seem like it would be impossible to have a child with special needs(they often stick their foot into their mouths). I guess fears of the unknown.

Please read this post about parents of children with special needs. This is a link to the New Kind of Normal Blog. But please read the post. She has written what I couldn't, conveyed what I have wanted!

I am thankful that there is a waiting list for people who want to adopt children with Down Syndrome. Who would of thought?

With all the new genetic testing out there, it does worry me that special needs children will be more scarce. That people will not choose life! For me it was not a choice, it was a gift given from God. God has blessed me so with being a mother, more than I have ever dreamed or deserved!

Transmission

2008-11-10T14:32:00.004-05:00

I was traveling down 385 towards Greenville, to take Carpenter to school, and my transmission went out right before the Woodruff Rd. exit. Luckily, Gran and Pop-Pop, were there to save me and the children and we were able to take Carpenter to the MC. We have already had this transmission replaced twice before, once was under warranty. So you could know how much a transmission cost and right before Christmas, lovely. Not that anytime is a good time for a transmission to go out!

I wonder if I could petition the government for some Bailout Money?

Pray for us! Thanks!

Pearson Falls

2008-11-09T08:05:00.009-05:00

Yesterday, we took the family to Pearson Falls in Tyron! Sadie told us she wanted to go to the mountains. So we actually took her wish and went! We borrowed some backpacks from the Levitts! Which was good that we didn't have to buy one! We packed some snacks and took Jon's Tundra and headed up to the mountains!

This was the first adventurous trip we have taken in quite a while! Because we have small children, hiking would be hard!

We went to Pearson Falls in Tyron, NC. It was a short little hike! Any longer, I am not sure Marley would have lasted holding Rowan! Jonathan had Carpenter, I had Sadie, and Marley had Rowan! It was a beautiful day! Even though the leaves were past peak, Marley enjoyed picking up the gigantic leaves and collecting them off the forrest floor!

Then we picked up a pizza from, Side Street, in Tyron. It is a must if you are in the area. Then we went by Mema's house and had a wonderful afternoon with Mema and Ian. Ian has to be the funniest boy ever!!! We surprised Mema with our visit, we hope you didn't mind!

Jon and Carpenter

Carpenter would not let go of Jon's neck, he was affraid he would fall!

Sadie May

Getting ready!

Marley and Rowan

Mom and Sadie

Marley and Rowan

Pearson Family Trail
We passed a family with four kids coming down the trail! They were all walking by themselves. How we wait for the day that they will be old enough to hike longer. But by that time I will probably be missing my babies!

picnic area

Sadie's scared face

Beautiful Stream

hiking!

We made it!

Pearson Falls!

Family pic!!!

Marley and Rowan

Little Falls

Rowee

kisses

Rowan aggravating Carpenter

Rowan and a sucker! Mema gave Sadie some candy, and she shared with Rowan! We had to pull over to clean up the mess!

What's Your Theme Song?

2008-11-07T14:32:00.004-05:00

On a lighter note, what is your theme song? What song most describes you in your everyday life? Mine would be the "Office Theme Song," whenever I hear it I feel happy!

Feel free to share yours:

Anxiously Waiting

2008-11-04T21:02:00.003-05:00

Anxiously waiting on what will happen!

Jon and I got to go vote for the elections today together. Thank you Dad and Taylor for watching the kids! We only had to wait 41 minutes!

I am sick of people saying I wasted my vote because I went third party!!!!

Praying......

Principled Voter

2008-11-03T20:53:00.002-05:00

"I think it was always worth it to stand on principle. No matter what the ultimate goal is." Clarence Thomas says.

I consider myself a principled person! I will not accept presidential candidates that are not up to my principles!

I WILL NOT vote for Barack Obama or John McCain!

I WILL NOT vote for Graham and Inglis!

I am not satisfied with the status quo!

I am PRO-LIFE!

I am for gun rights!

I am for individual property rights!

I believe that our border should be protected! If our government was serious about the war on terrorism they would have protected our border first and foremost! I am not saying that we can not have immigrants come in! Our country was based on the American dream! I think everyone deserves a fair, equal chance to become an U.S. Citizen! That means I am against illegal immigration!

I support the fair tax! I feel passing the fair tax would totally change our economy around! Please take a moment and read about it, clink on the link above! Please read these two books: The FairTax Book: Saying Goodbye to the Income Tax and the IRS by Neal Boortz, John Linder and FairTax: The Truth: Answering the Critics by Neal Boortz, John Linder, John Linder, Rob Woodall !

I am a fiscal conservative! I am fed up with the waste in Washington and even in our state and local arenas! Pork spending is by both major parties is completely wrong!

I believe in state's rights! The federal government has too much of a hold on our state's right to legislate! Read this article about the federal government mandating us to have federal ID's that would tax South Carolina citizens even more! If you would like to read Governor Sanford's letter click here! It is 5 pages! Try to hang in there and read it!

I am for personal responsibility! I think that for far too long we have relied on the government for help! I think that churches and non-profits should come back as the basis for helping American's!

Side Note: Without Carpenter having Medicaid, I would have no idea where we would be! Carpenter's bills in the NICU were a bunch! I don't know how we would have ever recovered! Plus Carpenter would not get any therapy! So I am a hypocrite! Who isn't?

I think marriage should be between one man and one woman!

I have a lot more to post but I had been sitting on this post for a while! But my time has run out to post more.

I WANT a president who is strong. I want a president who is compassionate. I want a president who is intelligent. I want a president who is a Godly person. The list goes on and on. But most of all I want a president that loves America and is proud of America!

One of the many things I love about America is that we all have a voice, an opinion.

VOTE!!!

Housewife Day

2008-11-03T08:45:00.003-05:00

My mother sent me a text message this morning saying "Happy Housewife Day!" I didn't know that day existed ever. I never ever thought of myself as a housewife(other then the desperate show), that term sounds so old to me. I have heard of homemaker, stay at home mom, and home engineer! I do not consider myself any. I think of myself as a professional driver. Driving everyone around to where they need to go.

If only I had know about this special day. I would have asked all the other "Housewives" to go out for a special lunch. One at a very special restaurant(Not McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, etc...) but knowing us we would all have to bring our kids. But wouldn't it be funny, a room filled with mothers and tons of kids in a swanky restaurant. Or would it be torture?

Happy Housewife Day to all of you out there!

Halloween 08

2008-11-01T15:09:00.004-04:00

Myself, Gran, Carpenter, Sadie, and Rowan went the annual MC Halloween Trunk or Treat! Thank you Gran for your help!

Gran and Carpenter

Sadie, Gran, and Carpenter

Fell asleep with sucker in her mouth

Little Elmo

Jon, Rowan, Carpenter, and Gran

Sadie as Tinker Bell

Travis, Carpenter, Jon

Jack Roper's Band playing in Downtown FI

Carpenter's Reese Face
Carpenter doesn't like much candy, but he loves Reese!

The boys after Halloween

I went to Walmart this morning,

2008-11-01T14:00:00.002-04:00

and they were playing Christmas music! Can you believe it? I mean I love Christmas music! But can't you wait til after Thanksgiving! But that did remind me of something. I went down the isle where they were taking the Halloween stuff down and putting it into clearance and then stocking the selves with Christmas candy and Christmas gifts! So I walked down the isle carefully and saw

Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses! I was such an addict last year! I couldn't understand why they didn't make them all year round! So I bought three bags! They are so good I could eat a whole bag, don't worry I never did that!

I also bought two giant boxes of diapers and a new baby gate. I bought the $10 one, like we had previously, it lasted pretty long and the next one up was $30.

I took Sadie and Rowan with me. Carpenter and Marley stayed with Jon.

I look forward to watching SEC football! I do believe it is the best conference!

I will post some Halloween pics soon!

Give Up!

2008-10-30T21:28:00.003-04:00

I just feel like the worst mother in the world! I was very ill to my kids tonight! I almost dropped down to my knees and cried! I can't say that something horrible has happened! I just had an overwhelming moment! Getting the kids ready for Marley's volleyball game. Trying to find costumes for the kids! I am a cheap mom and went all over today(I know at the last moment) looking for costumes but found nothing. They were almost out of everything and the costumes that were left were $29. And I just wouldn't pay that! I wanted Sadie to be Dora, Carpenter to be Diego, and Rowan to be Swipper because that fits his personality. Marley is the only one that is who she wants to be and that is a veterinarian. And that is because Gran found it and bought it for her!

Reflecting on the day.

Ashamed of my behavior.

Tailbone is killing me.

And tomorrow is another busy day.

Carpenter's speech

2008-10-29T12:14:00.003-04:00

Carpenter's speech therapist, Liz, is with him now. I am usually in there with them during therapy but he was closing his eyes, pretending she wasn't there! This continued with other "I don't want to do therapy" games! So I got up and left the room! He is talking like crazy, since I left the room! Speaking sentences, wants, and Halloween stuff. I am so happy to hear him conversing! And also a little upset! My feelings are a little hurt that he would not do great therapy with me in the room! But whatever works! I am happy to type and blog in the kitchen and listen to my little man talk!

Cheetah Girls!!!

2008-10-29T09:34:00.006-04:00

Last night, Jon and I took Marley and Milli to the Cheetah Girls! We had a great time! It was fun to hear all the girls sing in unison to the Cheetah girls! Jon and I just looked at each other and laughed! You know it is not a concert if you don't hear "Somebody, Anybody, SCREAM!!!" That made me think back when was the last time I heard that at a concert? New Kids on the Block! The cheetah girls had two opening acts! I am getting to the age where I am like lets just get this over with! Let's see who we came here to see! I know everyone has to get their start somewhere but man! If you went to the concert your ears would have been deafened by the scream contests from each act, all saying that we are the best audience ever! I was glad to see Marley and Milli have so much fun and talk about who was their favorite! And the cheetah girls had pretty good dancers too!

on the way to the concert

at the concert

look how happy Jon is!!!

Milli watching the group 535 and not too excited about it!

Marcy and Ryan(in the orange)

notice what Jon is doing

Marcy and Lilly

Cheetah Girls in their flying chandeliers

Milli and Marley

Cheetah Milli, Cheetah Mom, Cheetah Marley

Jon has some embarrassing video of Marley and Milli singing and dancing but I haven't got it from him yet!

What happens when you want to sleep 30 more minutes:

2008-10-26T18:29:00.004-04:00

So this is what happens when you want to sleep thirty minutes more! Jonathan was watching the kids but on the laptop! And apparently they know when to ask dad for things! Jon just says yes when he is on the computer! Sadie asked Jonathan to open up the tub of special lotion for Carpenter (he has really dry skin)! We'll you can see the consequences to that action here:

HSM 3

2008-10-26T15:42:00.004-04:00

Taylor And Marley (they were too cool to pose by the HSM stuff)

Yesterday, I had the wonderful privilege of taking two special girls in my life to see HSM 3! Taylor and Marley had a wonderful time! This is the first HSM Taylor has seen! She is soo out of the loop! I tried to tell Taylor it would be packed, so we needed to hurry! We ended up sitting on the third row!!! Taylor and I laughed at every corny line: "I love you, Wildcat" and "You're crazy Wildcat!" But Marley thought this was the best one yet!

Prude note:
Maybe it is just me and I am getting older but the girls dresses could be just a little bit longer! If you see it you will understand! Too many flashes!! That was my only complaint so far!

Sleep Habits

2008-10-24T15:45:00.005-04:00

Okay, so here are some pics of Carpenter from this past Saturday night! When we put all the kids in the bed, everyone went to sleep except Carpenter! It was like he knew that mom and dad wanted to watch the Carolina game in peace! With out hearing complaints about wanting to watch something else, or having to get the kids something, or just life in general! We thought, "yeah, the game is a night and game and we will be able to watch it my ourselves!"

It was like Carpenter could sense it, literally! Jon and I fought with Carpenter the whole entire night! Constantly putting him back into his bed! He did go to sleep around 10 pm. But then I got a little excited, if you watched the game, it was when Garcia threw that deep pass to K. McKenley, that was so awesome of a catch that it deserved a little yell! We'll that did it! Jonathan glared at me right then, I knew I had woken him up! I didn't mean too! I was good all night, but I do get a little excited when I watch football!

He didn't go to sleep until around 11:45! It got soo bad that I finally got the baby gate and put it on his door! The crying got louder but at least I did not have to get up every 15 seconds!

Here is what we found we things got quiet for a while:

his lip was turning purple!

Where did this GUT come from?

2008-10-21T22:45:00.004-04:00

LOOK AT THAT GUT! AND WHERE DID IT COME FROM?

I knew that I had put some weight on. But I really didn't notice it until my mom posted pictures from Rowan's Birthday party! You see, my mother didn't regard herself to edit the posting of pics to flatter myself! I always do such a thing!

I thought to myself that I have to get real about losing 15 - 20 lbs! So why not do it on my blog? To really put my embarrassment out there! And hopefully I will respond!

I just can't seem to lose that little amount of weight! I don't gain any weight during pregnancy, in fact I loose it! But while I am breastfeeding I eat and eat!

I hope I won't be shooting myself for posting this tomorrow!

I am just trying to keep it real!

What does a dream mean?

2008-10-16T20:36:00.003-04:00

Okay, so last night I dreamt that I drowned in my washing machine!

Don't Laugh!

So, in my dream, I was loading clothes into the washing machine! I was wondering how much room was left in the washing machine, to know how much more clothes to put in there. I push my arms, for some reason both of them in there deep! And because I am short my legs went up in the air! Then the wet clothes started sucking me in! And I drowned! I woke up gasping for air, trying to get out!

I know I have been doing alot of laundry lately! I do alot usually because we have a six person family! But getting all of the clothes packed up and organize has been alot!

"Oh, What a Beautiful Morning! Oh, What a Beautiful Day"

2008-10-14T11:12:00.009-04:00

We'll my mom taught me alot about the art of appreciating musicals! I loved "Oklahoma" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers!" As I sat down to think of the title for my blog, the "Oh, What a beautiful morning" song came into my head!

Oh, what a beautiful mornin',
Oh, what a beautiful day.
I got a beautiful feelin'
Ev'rything's goin' my way.

That is not what I felt this morning! It was very ironic that that song came into my head, my morning was everything but that! I could of label my blog "the Morning from Heck!"

First, we had an appointment with our genetic doctor, Dr. Geer! I got up in plenty of time! Raced to put the kids into the car and proceeded to back out the driveway forgetting that Jonathan was parked behind me in his brand new Toyota Tundra! To tell you the truth, I completely forgot it was back there, I didn't even think about it! But luckily, there was no damage to either van/truck!

So, that really rattled me! I would like to say that was the first time! But I backed out onto Jonathan's jeep one time! I know, he never lets me forget that! To tell you the truth, I was mad at Jon for parking behind me! He knows I get out first in the morning! "How dare he park behind me! He should park on the street!" But then reality came back to home and I couldn't blame it on him! No matter how hard I tried to in my head!

Did I mention the doctor's appointment was at 8:30? So I was driving on my way to Dr. Geer's office, I ran into two separate wrecks along the way! It seemed like several people were having a wonderful morning like I did! So that put me even more behind but I got there 8:45. That's not too bad considering!?!

Brief story about last years appointment:

So I had the geneticist appointment last year for Carpenter, Rowan was like 1 week old! So I didn't know that they had moved there offices upstairs! I parked in what I learned was now the basement! So here I was toting Carpenter, Sadie, and Rowan in the car seat container up these rickety iron rotted stairs! Trying to get two little walking one's up these steps while carrying a diaper bag and car seat holder with Rowan in it, praying that no one would fall down the cracks, was an event! So we went up the two flights of stairs! And finally got into the office! So during the visit(I had just had Rowan the week before) I started leaking! A bunch, I mean really bad! So I was trying to help Dr. Geer with Carpenter, while Rowan was in the car seat and Sadie was going everywhere! So I stole the blanket from Rowan held it over my milk stained shirt! I bet he must of thought I was crazy, holding that blanket over me the whole time! Praying he didn't notice! For I would have died from embarrassment! But you know he had too! Then out we went, back down the flights of stairs and into the van! Whew!
It took me a year before I could write about that story!

Back to today's visit:
So I put every one's shoes on in the car, because the first things the kids, all of the 3 little ones, do is take off their socks and shoes! Then we head into the office! I had to fill out paper work because I forgot it in my rush! Then we did all the weight and measurement stuff including medical history from last year!

Picture a circus! Really! All three kids walking, crawling, reading books, wanting to wash their hands, opening drawers, while I try to listen to what Dr. Geer said! I have to say that Dr. Geer is one of my favorite doctors, he is super smart, but still relateable! You have some doctors, that are very intelligent but have no personality! I am never afraid to call him with what I need!

So picture this, Dr. Geer sitting on the exam table, Rowan crawling under it! Then Carpenter and Sadie running an Olympic trial of climbing up onto a chair then getting on the doctors table, getting tickled and squished by Dr. Geer, going down to the end of the table, jumping into a chair to get themselves down, and running it over and over again! So in between the races we talked about what to do with Carpenter's schooling and issues that are very important to me!

Then I let them play before we leave, then my worst nightmare happens! I am holding Rowan and Carpenter and Sadie split up! Carpenter goes right, Sadie goes left, and both of them could fall down the balcony or steps! I promise I am not this bad of a mom! Usually I am firm, you have to be firm, and they listen to me! Today, no way! It was what they wanted to do! I guess they figured it would be icing on my cake for the day!

Thank you Dr. Geer by not being daunted by all the kids! He has four kids himself so he knows what it is like! I love this yearly visit, I look forward to it! Dr. Geer is a specialist in all genetic things, I learn so much each trip!

I had to write this entry while the actions of the morning were fresh in my head! The children we sitting down for lunch but no have all the cushions off the couch playing games!

I am in a Funk!

2008-10-12T21:59:00.005-04:00

I am in a funk right now! We went to church and had a great morning! Everyone took a nap except me but I was able to get alot of housework done! And then my parents took the kids for 2 hours! I got all of the kids winter clothes organized! It took several weeks of just finding the time I could to do it! I had to put away 4 kids summer clothes! And then go through old clothes of Carpenter's and Marley's for Rowan and Sadie! I had to wash all of the clothes and hang them up! It was neat going through all the clothes! I remembered when Marley wore that outfit and when she got her pictures taken in others(because she was the first child she got her pictures taken alot)! Also it seems like just yesterday Carpenter was wearing 12months sized clothes! I was so proud of myself! I worked my badonkadonk off!

But now the kids are asleep, I am very tired! And I seem to hit a low note when I am home alone! If I see an adult with special needs on TV or something, I lose it! I can not explain it! It happens every time and the tears start running! Why can I not handle this? What the heck is wrong with me?

This will pass! I am going to get ready for bed! I need to iron all the kids clothes first and lay them out on the coffee table to be ready for in the morning!

Rowan's 1st Birthday Party

2008-10-11T15:09:00.008-04:00

Rowan had a great first birthday party! The weather was truly beautiful! We had some great moments! One time, I couldn't find Carpenter, I could hear him but could not see him! He had turned the water hose on and soaked himself! Luckily Gran found an extra outfit for him! Also, Carpenter did not understand why Rowan had a personal cake and he did not! So he did swipe some of Rowan's cake! Thank you Gran and Pop-Pop for letting us have the party at your house! All of our kids had their first birthday at the Long's house!

Isn't that cake adorable! It is a Noah's Ark Cake! And a Jonah Whale cake for Rowan's individual! Remember Carpenter's farm cake! Tonya Whitley made this one also! Isn't it great! And tastes good too!

Rowan's Happy Birthday song:

Rowan eating his cake:

Please ignore me fussing at my husband!

Random Children TV Thoughts

2008-10-10T21:09:00.005-04:00

Here are some random things I have come across by watching to much TV with my children!

1. I knew Dora had a larger head, ever since Marley was in love with Dora! It never seemed to bother me until lately. Dora's head is WAY too large! Especially when she is on the screen with Diego and the rest of her family! She really sticks out! Why doesn't everyone have a large head?

2. How can Franklin want a pet dog when he is a turtle? I mean Franklin is a reptile! Why is a dog always a pet no matter what if the characters are animals! The same thing happened on Aurthur!

3. Lazy Town really freaks me out! The faces on the non-real human characters is soo creepy! I can't stand to watch it! Jon doesn't like it either!

4. How can there be a whole village of Smurfs with only one girl? Smurfette!

5. Why does Moe always pull the rope? Carpenter can do the "Get on the Bus" dance from the Doodlebops!

6. I love the fact that Sesame Street uses children with special needs! "Count Me In," I love that song!

7. I think Yo Gabba Gabba is for tripped out adults! Who can sit there and watch the show? Those are the creepiest/strangest/weirdest characters! What about the song "Try It, You'll Like It!" See how that backs me up on my hypothesis!

Anniversary

2008-10-09T13:20:00.008-04:00

Today is a very special day to me! And many of you might not even know it! Four years ago, we brought our oldest son, Carpenter, home from the NICU! He spent 24 days in the NICU! Like, I have said before you never imagine while you are pregnant that your son will be 5 weeks early and have to stay in the hospital 24 days! That first night home was very hard on me! I ached for Carpenter!

I was really never worried about his life! Carpenter was just working on feeding and growing! When I ride by the hospital, I often think about my time there! Everything was so routine, I would often forget my trek up to the hospital! I went to the hospital two times a day! I probably would have spent the night there if I didn't have Marley at home! I almost stayed at the Ronald McDonald house, but I knew other families would need to stay there more! I had to take Marley to school and try not to let her life be too altered because Carpenter was in the hospital! I often look up at that hospital and think of all the families that are there right now with their kids! I would often want to go up there and help, I would love to be a support person there! Be able to talk to parents! That hospital was a great deal like a home for Carpenter and myself! I loved Carpenter's nurses! What sweet people! But I longed to bring my baby home! So this is a special day, a day my son came home! A day I will never forget and a day that I am so grateful for!

To all of those parents who may be there now, my thoughts and prayers are with you!

I look back on that time and see that my life was given an even greater purpose with Carpenter! I know that sounds all corny but it is true!

Carpenter crying! He had the cutest little cry! You can see in the background a list of able visitor's! Only 6 people could visit Carpenter! Jon, myself, my mom, and dad, and Gary and Suzanne! They were able to be at the hospital when I wasn't able to be! I am so grateful! Not even Marley was aloud to go see him, once I got to hold him up through a rear glass door and show Marley her brother!

Look at that beautiful face without wires! I can not fully verbalize what it is like to hold your son without gloves, gown, and wires! It was amazing!

First outfit way too BIG! Needed something smaller!

Jon, Marley, and Carpenter

Look how tiny Marley was!

Little Man!

Jon and his babies!

Gran, Marley, and Carpenter

Daddy's boy from the beginning!

Happy Birthday Gran!

2008-10-09T09:42:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to wish Gran, Suzanne Long, a happy birthday!

Mail

2008-10-08T15:19:00.005-04:00

So I am a stay at home mom, like everyone knows! But one of my favorite times of the day is when the mail comes! I know it is usually bills! But I love getting the mail! When we watch Blues Clues, I sing the "mail" song so loudly!

Here's the mail
It never fails
It makes me wanna wag my tail
When it comes I wanna wail...
MAIL!!!

That is truly what I feel inside! I get really excited! I guess I have a very boring life! But I truly enjoy the simple things! Even though that simple thing includes: bills, bills, bills!

But no one comes between me and my mail! I will tackle anyone that tries to get it! Ask Marley! When we race to the mailbox! Even the Mailman knows how much I love getting the mail! He will speed past me in his little mail jeep and put the mail in Marley's hands!

We'll about two weeks ago, I got a lovely letter sent from a great friend! This letter was so very encouraging! I have re-read it many times! I love sending hand written cards! They mean so much more! I also love receiving cards! I have a bunch of special cards I keep them in my nightstand drawer. When I got my last special letter, I reread some of my old letters! Oh, how the memories came rolling back!

Say My Name

2008-10-07T14:05:00.006-04:00

I went to go use the restroom!
So I heard Carpenter at the baby gate:
"Mom"

"Mom"

"MOM!" very loud and impatiently waiting said by Carpenter

"Sta-ceee"

He clearly said my name! I was so excited, I called Jon! I guess he had been listening to Sadie! Carpenter figured if yelling for mom wouldn't work he would try another name in his Rolodex!

So Proud!

A New Kind of Normal

2008-10-06T14:32:00.005-04:00

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I have been trying to post this link on all my October blogs, but for some reason it keeps getting messed up when it comes time for me to post them! So October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month! So I am trying to post 31 post for 21! A lot of other mother's of children with DS are doing the same thing! You may also note that for some reason I like saying T-21 better than I like down syndrome! It is quicker to type and quicker to say!

Anne, wrote about proclaiming that children with T-21 are different! And another blog I found, New Kind of Normal, the title of her blog really made me think! Yes, it is a new kind of normal!

Normal became: NICU, 3 sets of ear tubes, tonsils and adenoids removed, and therapists! To people who think my schedule is busier than theirs, we'll it may be. But it just feels like normal to me!

Carpenter is different! I think as a young child these differences will not be as noticeable as when we becomes an adult! Yes, it took him longer to crawl, walk, run, speak! And you can see those differences! But at the same time, he does all those same things a "normal" child does. He enjoys going to the park, playing with siblings, loving his grandparents, and eating Reese's!

When he walks up the steps using no handrail, I appreciate the difference. That Sadie can just run up them! But that he can walk up them without any help! Neither of which is greater!

It helps me to appreciate his difference, the extra work it takes! Simple things a mother without a special needs child would miss!

So in fact, his difference has made me appreciate life more!

Side note: 97% of people who find out that their child has Down Syndrome have an abortion! I guess they can not see that the difference is a blessing! And that really pulls at my heart!

I would post more but Rowan just woke up and he has his 12 month shots today and feels horrible!

Lauren's Hope ~ Aunt Het Day

2008-10-04T14:31:00.009-04:00

Today, Jon and I did our first ever 5K with the Lauren's Hope Run! To tell you the truth! I really didn't want to get up and do it! I need more sleep! So we got up late! But we ended up making it there on time! My mom came over to watch the kids, so Jon and I could do the run/walk by ourselves!

First of all we were getting there right on time for them to say go, that we didn't get a chance to stretch! See, usually I walk pushing the stroller 2-3 times per week! Well this past week I walked everyday trying to get into better shape! But that did not seem to help!
Jon and I before the race!

We walked/ran along the side of town I usually do not do, you know the hilly side! All along the route Jonathan would tell me ways we could short cut! I love listening to his memories from childhood! Of how he rode his bike all around town to friends houses! And to think my kids would not be able to do the same, not because I do not trust them but because of the dangers out there! Okay, so back to the race! Jon and I did do a combination of run/walk! I liked to drink the water along the way(but you know me the recycle/litter nut did not want to throw the cup on the ground), he did not! When we walked we people watched the different runners stances! We came to the conclusion that if you are a pretty good runner, you do weird things with your arms as you trot by! So when we made it to Quail Run, that was our first taste of disgust because the avid runners were already on their home stretch! Putting us to shame!

To say that my lower body does not ache with every step, would be a lie! Okay Anne, don't laugh but we did the 5K in 45 minutes! Several older generations put us to shame! But Jon was very encouraging to keep running! I just didn't wait to stop dead before the finish line! I tried to beat Jon to the finish line, but my body couldn't! Jon and I crossed the finish line together just like how we crossed the start line! Hopefully that will be a metaphor for the rest of our lives!

Next, we had signed Marley up for the Kids Fun Run which was 1 mile! We didn't teach Marley how to dig around the corners and take tight turns! So she took the longer route, to carefully not let anyone fall down! But she pulled through and took the lead from 3rd to 1st in twenty feet! She was so truly excited! We were so proud! At least one of the Long's finished strong! She got a medal!

Marley greeted with a hug from her little sis!
Then we took the kids to Aunt Het day in downtown FI! Then I took the babies home to nap while Jon worked and then watched the Carolina game at the Long's! Then we joined them at the 4th quarter! And then went to my parents for dinner! Whooo! I am tired!

So here we sit, Jon in his chair, and myself on the couch aching but proud of our accomplishments! Both ready for bed!

Carpenter, Marley, and Sadie enjoying the rides:

Carpenter, Sadie, And I slide:

Happy First Birthday Rowan!

2008-10-03T15:22:00.005-04:00

First Family Pic

Today is Rowan Calvin Long's First Birthday! Can you believe it? It has been a year already! My little boy turned one today!

Rowan your birth was soo amazing! I would totally recommend that everyone wait to find out what the sex of your baby will be for the birth! It was totally exciting! I truly can not verbalize the wonderfulness(not sure that is a word)of the situation! We had no girl name and only agreed about a boy name a week before you were born! I love keeping it a secret! It was so special! Here is a link the post I wrote for Rowan's birth! Here is a link to Kelly's post!

Rowan you are completely adorable! You have this HUGE smile that is so big that it weighs down your face into this bashful expression! Rowan you are so fun and active! You can climb things that no one would think a baby your age could do! You are so unique, I am not quite sure about your personality yet! You just love everything! Especially food! You also are very tight with your siblings and they love Ro-Ro or Roee just as much!

I love you so much Rowan!

Pumpkin Patch 08

2008-10-03T14:31:00.010-04:00

Last year at the pumpkin patch, Pop-Pop had to take Carpenter to the PP because I was to be induced for Rowan's birth! This year Jon and I took the three little amigos to the Pumpkin Patch on Rowan's First Birthday!!!

Family Picture Attempt on Wagon

Renee and Jack

Tammster and Nathan

Rowan and Jon

Sadie May

Family Pic 2

Tammy, Nathan, Jon, and Carpenter

Carpenter and Jon

I found my pumpkin!

Me too!

Sadie May

Jon and Carpenter

Angelic Sadie and Carpenter

Jon and tres amigos

Nathan and Sadie

Jon and Rowan

Rowan

My youngest pumpkins

Jon and Rowan

Sadie and Carpenter

Birthday Cookie

Carpenter and his pumpkin(we hope it will survive his throwing it around)

Worn out Birthday Boy

Word Wednesday!

2008-10-01T12:37:00.001-04:00

I changed the title because I can never stop writing stuff on Wordless Wednesday!

So everyone knows that I am a mean mom! I do not like for my kids to have candy! I am the mom that wants to give out apples at Halloween! But Jon brings me back to reality that the kids would be disappointed! That people would think we were weird!

So I had to pick up some pictures at CVS and Sadie grabbed some gum right as we were checking out! Oh, how I love those marketers that know that is how they sell product! Anyway, I had my hands full with Rowan and paying for the pictures! So, Sadie got her gum!

This is what it looks like when you give a two year old a pack of gum! I told her to eat one piece!

She finished the whole pack by the time we got home! I hope she won't get sick!!!

Free Market!

2008-09-30T13:08:00.008-04:00

Let me start off by saying that I fully believe in the FREE Market! I think the Bailout Bill would have been a huge mistake!!!! Bailing out AIG/Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac would devastate our democracy! That bill would totally turn us into a socialist country!

I have never been so disgusted with our elected leaders in Washington! What is going on up there? I do not know how they can sleep at night with their delusion! They say falsehoods as if they are truth! Stop blaming left or right! This is a basic accounting lesson!

The government should stay out of the housing market! Requiring companies to give loans to people who could not pay for them! Government greed is all around us!

Best Quote:
“Gentlemen, I have had men watching you for a long time, and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the bank. You tell me that if I take the deposits from the bank and annul its charter, I shall ruin ten thousand families. That may be true, gentlemen, but that is your sin! Should I let you go on, you will ruin fifty thousand families, and that would be my sin! You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the eternal God, I will rout you out.”

Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States, in 1832

Repeating the Sins of the Past! Will we ever learn?

I think there should be no bail out at all! (I know many people disagree with me, even close to home) Sell Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac/AIG assets! Those companies should be dissolved! America is built on the fact that the strong, inventive, smart, survive.

Just think if Jonathan's company had a bad year, could we get the government to pay us if a customer stiffed us? Could we sue the government because uninsured illegals get work and we can not bid as low because of government requirements! No we can't! We work hard because we want a future! We have the American work ethic! If you dream it, work hard, you can achieve it! So many people now want the government to solve your problems, regulate things, give you pay that is guaranteed! But you lose so many rights/freedoms in the process!

Sorry I have thought about this topic for a while and am sorry that the words do not flow as easily on the blog as they do in my head!

Representatives in favor of the bill:

Lindsay Graham
(202) 224-5972
Bob Inglis
(202) 225-6030

Representatives against the bill:

Jim DeMint
(202) 224-6121

Demint has a plan for the failed Bailout:

DeMint Statement on Failed Bailout
Americans demand Congress “do the right thing to grow our economy and reform our government”

September 29, 2008 - Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) made the following statement after the House defeated the Wall Street bailout bill:

“President Bush and the Democrat Congress gave Americans two bad choices: do nothing or pass this bailout. Americans have said 'no' to both and demanded that we take a third way and do the right thing to grow our economy and reform our government.

“Our economy is going through difficult times, but the American people are resilient. Americans have told Congress they are willing to work through this problem instead of expanding the failed government that created it.

“It’s now time to reform the misguided government policies that caused this mess. It’s now time to enact real solutions that grow our economy and increase opportunity for all Americans. It’s now time to stop the knee-jerk political reactions that have earned this Congress the worst approval ratings in history, and focus on real solutions to secure our nation’s future.”

Senator DeMint has outlined a Plan for Economic Growth:

REFORM A TAX CODE THAT DISCOURAGES CAPITAL FORMATION
• Suspend Capital Gains Tax for 2 Years, Index it for Inflation: Immediately suspend the capital gains rate from 15% for individuals and 35% for corporations on assets, including stocks, homes, and commercial real estate investments. This provision would unleash funds and materials to create jobs and grow the economy. After the two-year suspension, capital gains rates would return to present levels but assets would be indexed permanently for any inflationary gains.

• Reduce the Corporate Income Tax Rate: Reduce the corporate income tax rate, which discourages job creation and investment in the U.S., from 35% to 25%. For over a decade, the U.S. corporate tax rate has been 50% higher than the average among our counterparts in the industrialized world and nine key trading partners cut their rates during 2007. According to the Tax Foundation, the corporate tax quietly taps family pocketbooks for nearly $370 billion per year, over $3,000 per household, in the form of higher prices, lower wages and poorer return on investment.

REFORM FAILED GOVERNMENT REGULATION
• Suspend “Mark to Market” Accounting: Suspend the mark-to-market regulatory rules for long-term assets. These rules require financial firms to mark assets at current market levels, even where no market exists and any immediate transactions would result in fire-sale prices. Instead of allowing firms to mark these assets to their true economic value, these rules contribute to a downward spiral as firms have to evaluate their assets not on the basis of their long-term investment but rather on a short-term panic.

• Reform Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley: Make voluntary the duplicative reporting requirements under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, allowing companies to comply with standards that better fit their size while still insuring that they protect their investors. The average compliance cost for a business under Section 404 is $3.8 million, with smaller businesses paying over twice as much in percentage of revenue as large businesses. Relieving this burden will reverse a policy that is chasing capital offshore and encourage more companies to go public in the United States.

• Repeal federal mandates for risky loans: Repeal the Carter-era Community Reinvestment Act, which requires banks to make loans available to borrowers who would otherwise be deemed as too high a credit risk, and who often cannot afford to repay the loans. Under this law that contributed to our current crisis, if banks don’t make enough risky loans, community organizers can take financial institutions hostage during regulatory proceedings when banks try to merge, acquire or otherwise alter their status.

EXPAND ENERGY EXPLORATION
• Permanently Repeal Bans on Energy Exploration and Expedite Production: Expedite offshore and oil shale exploration, ensure states share in energy revenues, and prevent endless litigation from frivolous environmental lawsuits. American reserves offshore are estimated to hold over 20 billion barrels of oil and 97 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. In the West, oil shale is estimated to be between 800 billion and 2 trillion barrels of oil -- that is more than three times the proven oil reserves in Saudi Arabia alone. Permanently ending these bans on American energy will help fuel our economy and stop sending billions of dollars overseas for foreign oil.

REFORM FAILED GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS
• Schedule the GSEs for Privatization: Transition Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over a reasonable time period to truly private companies without special government privileges and expose them to real market competition. This reform would 1) establish commonsense limits for their capital requirements and portfolio holdings relative to their size, 2) focus their mission on affordable housing only, not profit making, 3) require them to pay an appropriate risk-based amount for the government guarantee they enjoy, 4) subject them to state and local taxes and accurate SEC filings like every other private for-profit corporation, and 5) ultimately provide for the phase out of their GSE charters once their conservatorship has ended.

• Stabilize the Dollar: Repeal the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act, which diverts the Federal Reserve’s attention from long-term price stability to short-term economic growth. In an effort to fuel the economy, this additional mandate has encouraged the Fed to keep rates artificially low, leading to economic booms and busts, a rise in inflation and the decline of the dollar. This reform would require the Fed to establish a numerical definition for price stability and maintain a policy that promotes it over the long-term.

I have emailed and called my senators and representative! Please do the same which ever way you feel!

Volleyball

2008-09-30T09:59:00.003-04:00

Marley had her first volleyball game last night! She was super excited! She had a great time and they ended winning in overtime!!!

Buddy Walk 2008

2008-09-28T20:41:00.017-04:00

I just want to say a very special thank you to all our friends and family members who made it to the Buddy Walk today! We had a great walk at the Furman University campus! This was Carpenter's 4th Buddy Walk! There were approximately 550 - 600 people there to support our local Down Syndrome Community!

I want to say a special thanks to Anne Moore and Marcy Freeman, who organized the BW this year and they did an amazing job! You two and truly wonderful mothers!

Again thank you: Gran, Pop - Pop, Papa, Taylor, Laura, Libby, Faith, Betsy, and Luke! We truly value your love and support!

Sadie's hat

Sadie and Carpenter

Gran, Pop-Pop, Sadie, and Carpenter

Marley striking a pose

Carpenter and Gran

Taylor

Rowan

Jon and I

Baby Luke

free ride

the crew

Libby and Sadie

Luke and Betsy

Sadie and Carpenter

little man

Pop-Pop cheating!

the gang

Beautiful Trees

Two Sister's

Barrineau girls!

Sadie

Carpenter and Sadie

Carpenter and Sadie

Grandfather's and their Grandchildren

Carpenter

Carpenter and Libby

Jon and Rowan

Rowan

Sadie loved the Balloons

Daddy and the three oldest

Bite for Carpenter, bite for ducks!

Don't Fall In

Macy and Carpenter

Faith

Furman University

Butterfly Release Video:

Sadie May

2008-09-24T20:38:00.005-04:00

Oh, how I love you Sadie May! But sometimes I don't know what to think! She really challenges me as a parent, I have had to redefine my discipline code. She is very unique and takes different methods! Lately(since we took her pacy away), some of her fits have seem to be unbearable! Constant crying(LOUD, very LOUD), fit throwing, frozen statue, and she pees in her pants just to get me upset, are just some of the fits she throws! On Tuesday, it was really bad! She cried as soon as we picked up Carpenter from MC! We picked him up from his classroom and she cried all the way down 385 to home! I had had enough! The constant crying, Carpenter had his poor hands over his ears, and Rowan starting crying because the noise made him scared! I almost lost it, I was very close to pulling over and having a cry! I haven't slept in 4 years and sometimes you reach that breaking point! I just know that her behavior can not go on like this forever, right?

But on the other hand, she is our funniest child! She does not call me "mom" anymore! I am "Mommy Long," the only way I can figure it our because I call her my her full name, Sadie May Long, when she is in trouble! Sadie and Carpenter were having a little argument in Carpenter's room! I try to let them work it out sometimes, and just listen in! So I heard Sadie hit Carpenter, and Carpenter hit Sadie back, so then she runs into the living room and says "Car-pen-der hit me!" I told her to tell him not to! So she runs into Carpenter's bedroom and yells "NOT TOO!!!" She also can not take a nap because there are alligators in her room and they will bite her toes!

Sadie, I love you! Lord, please help me with creative problem solving skills to deal with my children!

Blackberry Pics

2008-09-20T21:31:00.007-04:00

Weekly Blackberry Pics:

Three Amigos Destroying the girl's room!

Rowan feels the need to take out all the diapers out of their packages!

Carpenter trying to stay in Marley's bed!

Sadie May going to bed!

Jon trying to work!

Marley pushing Rowan!

Sadie hugging a hurt Carpenter!

Poor Rowan! They love to take the cushions off of the couch! When Carpenter was real little for in home PT we would take the cushions off the couch and practice climbing skills!

Professional singer Sadie!

Jon fixing my tire~ I got a flat tire on Tuesday on 385 coming home from the MC, luckily my husband was going up the other side of the interstate! He came and rescued us! Things you must need in case of flat tire: vehicle manual, strong husband, and kid CD so the kids wait in the car will be enjoyable! The CD was a must!!!

Priceless

2008-09-16T12:10:00.004-04:00

Pouring Rain

Cardiologist Appointment

Three Little Kids

Trying to Fill Out Five Pages of Paper Work

Hour and Forty-five Minute Wait to see Doctor for 4 Minutes

Priceless

Happy Birthday Carpenter!

2008-09-16T12:07:00.002-04:00

I truly can not believe it has been 4 years! 4 years ago we had the long awaited early delivery of our first son, Carpenter Brooks Long. Though his birth day was a shock of timing and of learning he had down syndrome! It was a wonderful day! God had given us such a beautiful son(don't tell the other's that he was the cutest baby!)! I can not believe how lucky we are! Everything Carpenter has done he has had to work at! He is so strong!

Carpenter still loves elmo, his siblings, balls, cars, trucks, books!

Link to his birth day info!

First Mother's Day with Carpenter:

First Steps:

Have you forgotten?

2008-09-12T10:29:00.004-04:00

How many people have forgotten about 9-11-01? I mean I still remember those tragic events but I don't think about them everyday! There for a while you can't get it out of your head! Those vivid memories of where you were, did you know someone, God help us!

I wonder why we are so divided about terrorism in America. When the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. I think that Americans then were more united! That seven years after that attack it still was very real to them and very close. This is an assumption because I was not alive then! Why are we not united on the global threat of terriorism?

As I was coming back from taking Carpenter to the MC, I was listening to talk radio and they were doing a moment of silence in NYC and around the country for the victims of 9/11. I was coming down Stone Ave. and I see the Fire Deptartment on the right! They had all of their firetrucks out, all the lights were on, no siren, no sound, but all of the firemen were standing outside in a moment of silence, of prayer! It was amazing to see this little tribute! It warmed my heart that people had not forgotten! That they as firemen understand the gravity of the situation! A special moment I would have missed if I was not stuck at a stop light!

Chaos

2008-09-10T14:01:00.003-04:00

MY life lately has been very busy! Don't get me wrong I love having stuff to do, I love the anticipation! But lately, things have been very busy!

Marley has had school work, strep throat, and volleyball practice. Can you believe it? Strep throat, already! This early in the year! But this is the first time she has played volley ball and she totally loves it!

Carpenter has his usual appointments and school! But his birthday is in 6 days so we have alot of extra doctors visits dealing with specialists! I love these appointments to see how he is doing, but they add a little extra running around! Plus I didn't even give people a week notice for Carpenter's birthday party! Isn't that horrible! I had planned it in my head but between the wedding and just life in general the time has sneaked up on me! So those of you who were given short notice, I hope you will be able to come out and celebrate Carpenter's special day!

Sadie started back school last week! She just went one day to MMO! But she loves it! I just took Sadie to the doctor yesterday and she has a Kidney infection! Lovely, huh? I thought she either had the infection or strep throat like Marley! She has had a fever over 103 for a few days! When I read Anne's blog about Kit, it helped me recognize the signs! So Anne, you helped me to diagnose in poor Kit's illness! Sadie's stomach sickness, when she came home from Gran's I knew she wasn't feeling well! She usually never wants to come home! Then other signs made sense also: pee pee accidents, temperature, waking up at night in pain, and so on! So Sadie is stuck to my side right now, which I don't mind because she is growing up and I love the little snuggles I get! But she is heck to get medicine down! She held the antibiotic back in her throat this morning, and we thought she had swallowed it, but no she spits it in my eye! Medicine = FUN! Info in UTI's.

Rowan is doing alot! He stood up by himself 2 weeks ago for the first time! He is getting closer to walking! But I am unsure how long it will be because he can crawl really fast, and can get himself to go where ever he wants too! He has been really whiny though lately, he is cutting teeth! I think he has been more ill with teeth than any of our other's!

So hopefully things will calm down! But we have the BW in 18 days and then Rowan's 1st Birthday!!!!!

Too Cute for Tuesday!

2008-09-09T14:11:00.003-04:00

Target Diva

Just hanging around!

The Truth Hurts

2008-09-03T20:55:00.003-04:00

So on Tuesday morning, I took Carpenter to a developmental pediatric doctor. We have seen this doctor two times before. The doctor is there to evaluate where Carpenter is in a lot of different aspects! The doctor is a really nice guy. When we were in the waiting room, he enjoyed played with all the toys and was very verbal! Then we head back into the evaluation room but whatever the doc wanted him to do, he wouldn't do it. The doctor got out some paper and Carpenter drew some circles and lines and stuff. The doctor got out more paper and Carpenter tells me he needs to pee pee, which is good because he is telling me more! And he did go! And he was excited! The doctor put out blocks, and Carpenter would not even stack one block!!! I was so frustrated! He can stack blocks all day long, that is a very old skill! No words, nothing! Should I be surprised? Carpenter has seen doctors and therapists all his life, and now that he is getting older he is testing them, are you going to make me do this?

Now that he will be turning 4 in a couple of weeks, I am panicking! Just wanting him to get more goals accomplished. Am I doing enough to help him? I don't want to fail any of my kids! But to say that I am terrified of the public school system is an understatement! The whole goal of going to the dev. ped. doc is to see where he is and what is the best classroom environment. My goal is to have him in a regular kindergarten classroom with a shadow. So I told the doctor this, and he said as pleasantly as he could say, "we'll I think he is going to be in a special education classroom" (the tears are swelling up in my eyes, and I am just praying that I will be able to keep the tears in)! And then he said "but he sure is a cute boy" (I guess this was a comment just to make me feel better, a compliment to ease the pain, I don't know why those are needed, I guess he saw in my eyes the need to escape quickly)! I have heard of some special needs classroom stories that are terrifying, but some are good. I never thought I would want to teach in a special needs classroom, until I saw the Meyer Center with Carpenter.

How will he do at school? I want him to go to our local elementary school and not be switched around every year! How well will he do in the classroom? Will he like his school lunch? Will anyone pick on him? I will hurt anyone that dares too!

Peace, dear Lord, I need peace! A prayer for peace about this whole situation!

I could write more but I think I need to get a break from all of this!

Pacifiers!

2008-09-02T14:39:00.005-04:00

I just want to say that we have been without Pacifiers in the Long family for 3 days/2 nights! Poor Marley, she has had to listen to Sadie cry herself to sleep for 2 nights! I set a date to get rid of the paci's after the Grandparents had to watch the kids! So, we have made it this far, Sadie is still mentioning hers but I just tell her that the garbage man picked them up and they are gone forever! You may wonder why I have let it go on for so long, with 3 little ones, I was just trying to get everyone asleep! I am still sleep deprived myself, so anyway I could get them to sleep without a fuss I did!

Wedding pics

2008-08-31T18:06:00.007-04:00

Rehearsal Dinner: Mary's at Falls Cottage!

mi amor

Alina and Nathaniel Perry(just back from attending Alina's brother's wedding in the Ukraine)

Mr. Randy, Mrs. Linda, Dustin, and Renie Willis

Nate, Jon, Brian, Luke, and Aaron

Wedding!

It was such a beautiful wedding! Jon and I had a great time! Preacher Dustin Willis officiated the wedding! And it was just a truly beautiful ceremony! We had a spectacular dinner at the Westin Poinsett!
Here are a ton of pics that I took:

Beautiful "Pretty Place"

Ceremony

Gary and Suzanne

us

Beautiful View

Jon and Luke

Jen Flahive Harmon and her gorgeous wedding gown

us again

Wedding Party

Long's cutting a rug! SHAG! Most of Jen's side didn't know what it was!

The two Stacey's!

Fountain Inn Boys!

Melissa and Travis!

the Long's

Erick and Stacey Chapman

Chris Stoddard(just back from a mission trip to Brazil), Alina and Nathaniel Perry

Don Juan

me and Brian

Brian and Travis upset by the way the Clemson game is going!

the girls~ Myself, Alina, Stacey, and Melissa

Westin Poinsett afterhours!

Carpenter @ Meyer Center

2008-08-29T10:55:00.005-04:00

I got to be able to see Carpenter in his classroom one day this week! Thank you Gran very much for watching Sadie and Rowan. I had to go in for a meeting and was able to stay and watch his therapy(OT and MT)and got to be apart of the classroom environment! It was wonderful to spend some one on one time with him in the classroom. It is kind of hard when I tote Sadie and Rowan with me and try to help out! But I did literally feel naked with out them! I didn't know what to do with myself!

Storm Shelter

2008-08-27T20:46:00.004-04:00

Okay, so everyone knows about all of the tornado warnings in the Upstate yesterday! So it really freaks Marley out when she sees the warnings and knows where they are at and when they are coming! So they had warnings coming in through Simpsonville. So I pack the kids in the hallway with pillows, just in case! Jonathan made complete fun of me, but those storms can turn quickly! So when I have the four kids by myself I like to be prepared!

So here is a pic of us in our shelter:

Now, don't laugh!

Did I cheat them?

2008-08-26T14:14:00.004-04:00

I have been thinking alot about my kids lately! I was thinking that I had over 4 wonderful years with Marley as an only child. I look back and think that I was such a better mother then. Marley knew her ABC's before 2, slept through the night early, potty trained early and easily, and the list goes on and on. While we were raising Marley I was finishing up my schooling! I had thought that I had planed it out perfectly, you see we didn't want or kids to be so far apart. I thought I had planed it out while I was finishing my Student Teaching that Carpenter would be born right after that. Carpenter came early and my teachers were not as nice as I had wished they would be(now I see it as a God thing, then I was devastated!)! We always wanted our children close together in age. While my sister and I are 8 years apart, we have a great relationship, it was like I was a little mother whe I was little. I wanted our kids to be able to play together grow together. So Carpenter is 16 months apart from Sadie and Sadie is 20 months apart from Rowan. I love that they are close together. I mean to say that it isn't always easy loading them to places! But I love seeing them be individuals, but also showing their unity. But I often wonder, did I cheat them? You see, I don't feel like I am as fun as I used to be. Marley and I always made crafts, painted, read the Bible, memorized scripture, learned, wrote, read, played in puddles! We had fun! I just think that I don't do as much as I did with just Marley! I think I have become lazy. You see if I want to paint with the kids, which I have done, I sometimes think to myself, why bother. The clean up is going to be heck! Trying not to get paint all over! So I am going to try not to cheat them anymore, have fun, worry about messes later, and give them a happy childhood! Marley, Carpenter, Sadie, and Rowan I love you all so very much, even though we may have a larger family than some people we are still going to have a wonderful journey through life! I am promising to do my best and better!

Prayers

2008-08-25T20:27:00.004-04:00

When Marley was saying her prayers tonight one line stuck out to me:

"Dear God,
Thank you for helping me get rid of my temper towards my Momma, ....."

Marley

Out to Eat for Taylor!

2008-08-25T09:56:00.006-04:00

We went out to eat at Carrabba's for Taylor's birthday on Sunday night! Going out to eat with 4 kids is a challenge. I went to the potty 3 times(2 times with Carpenter and 1 time with Sadie)! We had one drink spillage, which we were happy it wasn't on anybody! Usually, the drinks land on Jonathan! Sadie loved the lady with the cheese grater! She just ate a plate of cheese the whole night! All in all the kids weren't too bad! I prayed before hand that everything would go well! But I loved spending the time with my family!

Marley and Papa

Taylor and Mom

Jon and Carpenter

Sadie and her plate full of cheese!

UGHHHH!!!!!

Daddy's 4 children!

Family pic attempt!

Not sure what is going on with Marley's hair???????????

Happy Birthday Taylor!

Happy Birthday Taylor

2008-08-23T11:59:00.008-04:00

I just wanted to wish my sister Taylor a Happy 19th Birthday! I hope you have a wonderful day! I can''t wait to go to Carraba's to celebrate!

This is a short little video of how Taylor drives! This is when we went shopping with my gift card! Teenaged drivers!

How 'bout them Rebels!!!!

2008-08-21T15:05:00.005-04:00

The James F. Byrnes High School Rebels are ranked number 1 on the USA Today poll! I just want to say congratulations! Hard work and dedication have paid off! I am still trying to figure out how I can get my kids to go there to HS from Fountain Inn!

USA today article

Official Poll

Go REBELS!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-08-20T10:12:00.002-04:00

I can never do Wordless Wednesday right! I always have to write a description! Rowan fell asleep outside my shower, while I was taking my shower this morning!

Back to the Grind Stone

2008-08-19T09:24:00.009-04:00

Carpenter started back to school on Monday! He is going three days a week to the MC and then will start FIFBC 3K after Labor Day. I think his first day went well! He has a new teacher but is still in his classroom from last year! I hope everything will go well! Also, he will repeat 3K at FIFBC instead of moving up to 4K, his birthday is September 16th so he misses the cut off date. I am a little upset because he had Nathan, Ben, and Jack in his room last year. So hopefully he will make some new friends!

I walked Marley in for her first day in third grade! I can't believe it! 3rd grade already! Boy, has the time flown by! I told Marley I would walk her in everyone of her first days, even in college!!! I got to take Marley to Meet the Teacher night, and right before we got out of the car, "Mom, don't say anything!" Apparently I had just become an embarrassment to my 8 year old!

Meet the Teacher Night!

Walking her into school!

We made it! 3rd grade here she comes!

We have a busy few weeks, we have of course the starting of school! See, I had it real easy! Gran worked as a secretary at FIES, so she would pick Marley up for school and bring her home! This was a lifesaver! But Gran retired last year. So I worked it out with Tammy, that I would take the girls to school and she would pick them up! This is a wonderful praise because I do not want to wake the three little ones from their naps.

On Saturday the 23rd, is Jon's 10 year high school reunion!!!! I can't believe it has been 10 years! Man, are we getting old!!!! Jon's friend Brian is coming down from D.C. to go with us! We are going to miss Nathaniel and Alina Perry though, they are in the Ukraine because Alina's brother is getting married! I think we will have a wonderful time!!! It is also my sista, Taylor's 19th birthday! We are going to celebrate on Sunday! Also my dad's birthday is on the 27th! Can I write what your age is, dad?

Then on the 30th, we have a fun birthday party to go to around lunch time! But we also have Brian's wedding at 4:30! It is going to be at Pretty Place and the reception at The Westin Poinsett! Jonathan is a groomsmen! I know it is going to be a beautiful wedding! Now, that some of our friends are getting married, they need to catch up in our kid count! No pressure guys!

Here are some pics of Brian in Baghdad:
Brian is in the Army with MI, Military Intelligence. He still will not tell me what that entails!

Things I want to learn/do.....

2008-08-18T22:24:00.003-04:00

1. I want to learn how to sew! I need to learn basic skills and move myself up to complex sewing!

2. I want to get my concealed weapons permit! I am soon going to be able to pack heat, so watch out!

3. I want to learn how to snow ski! I have never been! My father said I will not be able to with a broken tailbone!

4. I want to finish my degree in Elementary Education. All I have left is student teaching. But Carpenter came, then Sadie, then Rowan. So this goal is a few years out!

5. I want to live a more organized home life! My house is always in chaos! Kids are great, just don't have time to get everything done!

These are just 5 of many!

Another Kelly meme! This one was done faster!

2008-08-16T14:28:00.007-04:00

If you wanna play, go right ahead, but post a comment so I'll know to go and read yours!
If not, just read and enjoy!

A. Attached or single? Married
B. Best friend? Kelly Marie
C. Cake or pie? homemade either way
D. Day of choice? Sunday
E. Essential item? my crackberry
F. Favorite color? Blue
G. Gummy bears or worms? I prefer reeses
H. Hometown? G-ville!, SC
I. Indulgence? my laptop
J. January or July? both, girl's born in January, my bday July!
K. Kids? 4
L. Life isn’t complete without? Jesus and mi familia
M. Marriage date? February 24, everyone on Owens' side married on a 24th
N. Number of brothers & sisters? 1 sister
O. Oranges or apples? Apples
P. Phobias? cave crickets
Q. Quotes? "What's right is right and what's wrong is wrong." Simple way of looking at life!
R. Reasons to smile? 4 beautiful healthy children
S. Season of choice? spring or fall
T. Tag seven others to play! No name drops but if you want to do it! Just let me know so I can see yours!
U. Unknown fact about me? I have a broken tailbone! Sorry this is not new to my family, but I couldn't think of anything else!
V. Vegetable? fried okra
W. Worst habits? myself comes last, look at my wardrobe, hair, etc.
X. X-ray or ultrasound? ultrasound, does it really mater
Y. Your favorite food? My mom's eggs and her tacos, Memas fried okra, Missy's fried squash, Gran's pies and cube steak, my enchilada casserole!
Z. Zodiac sign? Leo

Kelly's meme, I finally did it!

2008-08-16T14:24:00.002-04:00

Directions: Place an X by all the things you've done and remove the X from the ones you have not. Answer the 30 questions at the end and tag 3 (or more) of your friends to play too!
(This is for your entire life.)

( ) Gone on a blind date
(x) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
( ) Gone to Canada
( ) Gone to Mexico
(x) Gone on a plane
( ) Jumped out of a plane
( ) Been on a Helicopter
(x) Gotten lost
(x) Gone on the opposite side of the country(we'll world:Paris and Germany)
( ) Gone to Washington , DC
(x) Swam in the ocean
(x) Cried your self to sleep
( ) Played cops and robbers
(x) Recently colored with crayons
(x) Sang Karaoke(in the privacy of my own home)
(x) Paid for a meal with coins only?
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't?
( ) Made prank phone calls
( ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Danced in the rain
(x) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(x) Gotten kissed under the mistletoe
( ) Watched the sunrise with someone you care about
(X) Blown bubbles
(x) Gone ice-skating
(x) Gone Skiing (water)
( ) Gone skinny dipping outdoors
(X) Gone to the movies…
( ) Gone to a drive-in movie…

1. Any nickname? Stace, I don't know how it can be a nickname with only one less letter than your name, but Stace is it!
2. Mother's name? Roxann
3. Favorite drink? dasani
4. Tattoo? no, never
5. Body piercings? ears
6. How much do you love your job? its where I belong!
7. Birthplace? Greenville, SC
8. Favorite vacation spot? beach
9. Ever been to Africa ? no
10. Ever eaten cookies for dinner? no
11. Ever been on TV? yes - a review for a movie when I was alot younger!
12. Ever steal any traffic sign? no
13. Ever been in a car accident? yes, sorry about the jeep, mom!
14. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4 door
15. Favorite salad dressing? blue cheese! It is my fave!
16. Favorite pie? Suzanne Long's pecan pie!
17. Favorite number? 11, hence satlo11
18. Favorite movie? The Notebook, Band of Brothers
19. Favorite holiday? Christmas, love celebrating Jesus birth!
20. Favorite dessert? homemade cheesecake!!!!
21. Favorite food? turkey original sandwich Sch. Deli
22. Favorite day of the week? Sunday, going to church being with fam
23. What do you do to relax? blog or sleep
24. Favorite toothpaste? Aquafresh
25. Favorite smell? Jon's Old Spice deodorant, isn't that weird, I just love the smell, it reminds me of mi amor!
26. What month were you born in? July!
27. Favorite Candle Scent? Cinnamon
28. How do you see yourself in 10 years? teaching, professional driver, adopted a Chinese little baby!
29. What 3 people do you tag to do this meme? Anne, Annie, Elizabeth
30. Who will be the first to respond? Annie

Friday's by the Fountain

2008-08-15T21:09:00.006-04:00

We have had a a wonderful summer going to Friday's by the Fountain. Fountain Inn started a wonderful series of bands playing every Friday night! This week we had Doug Jones of Cravin' Melon! We had a great night with friends and family!

Carpenter, Marley, and Sadie at "Peg Leg" Bates statue

Sadie and Pop-Pop

Carpenter

Sadie

Cameron(his sis) and Doug Jones of Cravin Melon singing

Carpenter and Sadie

Praying Sadie doesn't dive in!

Carpenter cheering for the music!

Marley, Rowan, and Ashton

Our church steeple in the background of the fountain!

A Quick video: It stopped abruptly because I was worried Carpenter was going to jump into the Fountain!

Taylor's First Job and more....

2008-08-15T15:05:00.007-04:00

Carpenter pretending to go night night!

Carpenter playing with a puzzle

WESTON GRILL

Taylor cooking!

Taylor and Mandy @ Weston Grill

We were wondering when Taylor was ever going to get a job! We'll she worked this summer as a waitress for Weston Grill in FI! I have never worked in the food industry! But she had a wonderful job with a lovely couple from our church, the Campbell's(they have 4 children also!)! Today was her last day, she moves into Clemson tomorrow! I will miss you, Taylor!

Rowan's new car!
Everyone wants to ride in Rowan's new car! A few pics of the tests rides! Thanks Gran!

Blackberry pics!

2008-08-12T15:13:00.004-04:00

They love eachother!

Sweet pic!

Sonic with Gran!

Rowan loved it!

Marley and Rowan go down the slide!

Capstone Church

2008-08-12T14:40:00.004-04:00

On 8.08.08 our family went to a new church that is starting in Fountain Inn, Capstone Church. We had a great time with friends. We took all the kids so I watched them while Jon got to watch the presentation of the new church. Everything seemed to go well, I thought the turn out was good.

But also a great thing happened! Carpenter climbed up the bouncy blow up slide probably over 20 times. And you may wonder why I delight in that. Carpenter wants to play on those bouncy things. But with other kids on them he does not have the balance to keep up sometimes! They had his end of the year party at, Climbin' High, truthfully, I hated it for Carpenter, all of the other kids, it would be fine! But he really wasn't able to play on the bouncy stuff! He is rather kind of pitiful, he will just wait in the doorway and watch the other kids play. But on Friday night he was able to climb the big slide all the way up to the top by himself! Jon and I were soo excited to see him play! To be able to play! He is getting older you know, he will be four next month and it seems like time as flown by. I thought he would either sleep very well that night or be in pain from climbing the bouncy slide so much. Those little muscles would be tired. He slept til 7 am the next morning. In that it was a miracle, he usually wakes us up before the sun rises! It was a great moment, a truly wonderful moment, I mean I almost cried in front of everyone moment!

Jon took Carpenter up the slide once and that was all it took! He did it himself after that!

Triple Stroller

2008-08-08T15:30:00.004-04:00

I have been looking at triple strollers on ebay, and haven't found one in my price range. I really love walking around Fountain Inn. But I only have a double stroller and a umbrella stroller. So if I want to take the kids for a walk I have to make Marley push the umbrella stroller. She does this, but she would much rather be able to ride her bike, and I don't blame her! So, Marley went to spend the night with Milli last night. And I needed to get the kids out of the house before we all went crazy. So I decided to take them for a walk. When I walked the three myself I usually put Carpenter and Sadie in the double stroller or wagon and carry Rowan in my arms. We'll my arms get tired, so we usually only make it around the block! This time I tried something new! I put Sadie and baby Rowan in the back seat of the double stroller and Carpenter in the front! They loved it! We were able to take a long walk and then straight to the bathtub when we got home! I was so excited we got to go on a long walk! It rained right before we went outside. It was a little humid but the storm had cooled it down a little bit!
I took the pick with my new crackberry, aren't you proud mom? I at least figured that out. See, I went to a phone that didn't even have a camera to a blackberry!

Crackberry

2008-08-06T21:42:00.004-04:00

I have just gotten a "crackberry!" I am still trying to figure it out!

Only for you, Annie!

2008-08-06T15:57:00.007-04:00

Only for you, Annie would I go to Greenville Zoo in hot August heat! We went to the Greenville Zoo with my two BFF from James F. Byrnes High. Annie brought her daughter Hannah, Kelly brought her kids Caroline and Eli. I took all of my crew and Marley's BFF Milli. What's one more with a sweet child like Milli!

While we waited on the Magner's we started on the playground the kids loved it! They are putting in new playground equipment outside the zoo. The kids loved the new play area, even part of it is covered! But it was still hot, a little breeze would have helped a lot.

I had a great time with everyone, just wish we could have spent more time together(adult talking) in air conditioning! I don't have many pics from inside the zoo! I had my hands full! But everyone was pretty well behaved!

We had to hurry and get some lunch to get Milli back to Ga Ga's in time. Since we were in the vicinity of Schlotzsky's Deli! It is my absolutely favorite place to get a quick bite to eat! It was so cute hearing Marley and Milli sing Jonas Brothers song on the radio!

I just want to say thank you to Marley and Milli, they took time pushing either Sadie or Carpenter around. I need a triple stroller!

Marley, Milli, and Carpenter

Sadie

Sadie and Carpenter

Milli and Marley

Kid Group shot

Milli

Carpenter

On the way to the Lion exhibit!

Carpenter and the Lion's

Marley is worn out!

Starring at the Lions

Rowan

Too Cute Tuesday!

2008-08-05T16:45:00.004-04:00

SO I went to go use the bathroom this afternoon, and this is what I found when I came to check on the kids. Bathroom time and shower time can be dangerous. Usually, I take Rowan with me when I need to go somewhere for safety reasons. I thought he would be okay if I took the stool away from Carpenter's bed so Rowan could not get up there and fall off.

As you can see they stripped everything off the bed and the quilt off the wall. Then someone had the bright idea to put the wooden barn up against the bed and use it as a step stool. So, when I walked into the room I was surprised to see how well they worked together. Not surprised on the damage report of the room. Carpenter was holding Sadie and she was trying to pull Rowan up onto the bed! I immediately said "Don't pull Rowan up there, he will fall!" Next, I ran to the kitchen to get the camera. I wanted to save it for a Wordless Wednesday, but I couldn't wait to put it up on my blog. So it is my Too Cute for Tuesday moment!

This was done within 4 minutes!!!! Isn't that an eternity for 3 little ones!