21 Day Challenge

The 21 Day Challenge is quickly approaching. I will not be blogging or pulling it up during that time, so I figured I would go ahead and do a quick post. I am so excited for this as it is my first "freedom" event that I have attended. And lets just face it...I need to be FREE from some things!

Family Update

I am busy with school as usual. I am loving Algebra so far but Art is like torture. I enjoy participating in art but learning about it must be the most boring thing EVER! I am doing this coupon thing, and while it is SO time consuming, it is SO much fun! I literally spent 4 hours gathering all my lists and coupons yesterday and then another 3 hours grocery shopping at two different stores. When I got done, I had such a rush from saving money. I love to shop!

Isaiah is busy with work due to the hospital move in less than a month! I am excited for him and all the employees to get to work in a new state of the art facility. His music ministry is taking off. Isaiah and Kip have been asked to sing at several events.

Haley is doing great at school as usual. Progress reports came home and surprise...straight A's. She has also been accepted in a program for gifted students at Vanderbilt University called SAVY. She will be learning about Astronomy and Cosmology every Saturday for 2 months. I am very proud of her ability to overcome and achieve despite the obstacles that have come her way.

Gracie is doing good at school as well. Progress report was all A's and B's. I am working with the teacher on finding ways to keep Gracie focused as she is easily distracted and this is what causes her many issues in her schooling and home life. She is doing so good at ball this year. Games start next week! Go Wild Things!

Ethan is fully potty trained. He is improving with his behavior, but spankings are pretty much an every day occurrence. I hope one day soon this all levels off. He is so smart and talks so well. He picks up on things very quick. Which means mommy and daddy really have to be careful about what we do and say around this one. This is my last little one and he is not so little anymore but I am enjoying the cuddles and laughs while I can.

Now that you are up to speed on the fam, I am really praying for major breakthrough this weekend. Not that I couldn't find breakthrough any day I wanted to. He is there when I call but just having a weekend devoted to seeking His face will hopefully jump start my spirit woman. Having a 21 day plan to bring my flesh into alignment with my spirit is totally exciting. I am going to close the gap between what I know to do and what I do. Amen!

I hope to have some amazing things to share at the end of this challenge.

See you in a few weeks ;-)

THe BiG DAy!!!!

(Photos courtesy of KaceyRandolphPhotography)

Happy 4th Anniversary to Us!!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday to Ethan!!!!

More Wiggle Pics

Wiggles!!

Last night, we got to take Ethan and one of his friends to see the Wiggles live for E's birthday. We had a blast! Here are some pics from the night, but as you can see, they are not very good. Those little boogers would not look at the camera and smile!

I also want to brag on my middle child. She has played softball for 3 seasons now which is about a year. She had her first practice for this season on Monday and did awesome. She was the only one to hit it in the air to the outfield. She did good fielding and hustled!

And one last thing, Ethan goes to Vanderbilt to see his urologist today. He has been improving drastically and we are praying for an awesome report today. Pray with me friends that this will be our last visit to the urologist!

Another Weekend Recap

It feels like a lot has happened since my last post so I will try to keep it short...

Quite often I question whether or not teaching is what I should be doing. This past week and weekend was one of those times. It really started after the parent night at my daughters school. I experienced how smart, outgoing, and passionate these teachers are and wondered why I should be a teacher with none of those traits. Then Thursday I got the pleasure of spending some time with friends and talking about it. They encouraged me to dig deep to find out what my purpose is. Now, if only I could find the time to do that.

I ain't gonna lie, I had a bad weekend! I let the devil have a play day with my mind! But today is a new day, I'm getting my butt up and pressing in. He may knock me down, but I will never be out! And rather than share all of the negative parts of my weekend, I will share the good.

Friday, Isaiah was off so we decided to do a date day. We ate at Goodness Gracious which is now my new favorite place to eat. Then we got Avatar on redbox. That was a good movie, but I hear it was much better in 3D. Friday was my niece, Shelbie's birthday party. It was a blast hanging with the fam.

Saturday, I had a kidzlife meeting at the church. We are growing and things are changing, but it is a good change. I'm excited for our kids and so glad to be a part of what God is doing in their lives. I was challenged to do better and be better for them, and while I feel that I have gone leaps and bounds out of my comfort zone while at CLC, I know that God wants me to do even more. After that, I spent the rest of the day at home. I didn't even go to my husbands singing. I hear it went really good though, so I'm excited for him and what could launch from this event. He is so talented!

Sunday, after church, we ate a Miller's Grocery and then went to free family day at the Frist in Nashville. I had never been there, but we had a blast! The kids, even Ethan, had so much fun doing the art projects they had available. After that, my mom took Ethan to stay the night with her for the weekend, and I went to a coupon class at the church.

Today I have so much to do it ain't even funny! I start two more classes today, Algebra and Art. I need to get this coupon thing going and get some groceries. Gracie has her first softball practice tonight, and my boy gets to go see the Wiggles in concert on Tuesday!!! We decided to do that instead of having a big party. We got a great deal on some tickets off of Craigslist. He will be 3 rows from the stage!!!! Anywhooo, I should get busy!

What I Love & Hate About Being a Parent

SCHOOL!!!

All those years of being a young mother I couldn't wait until they got the age where they could go to school and momma could get a break or actually make some money that didn't go straight to a babysitter. I have made it to that point with two of my children and the last one doesn't have too much longer.

School is a wonderful thing in many aspects and brings me great joy. I get to see them succeed in tests, help with cool projects, sports. It brings a mother great joy and pride when they see their daughters get academic awards and good reports from the teacher. It makes you feel like you are actually doing something right.

But on the flip side, there is so much to do that at times I hate it. For starters I have to get them up at 5:30 in the morning just to have them be dramatic about their hair and clothes. There is always something to buy or send in. Homework, studying, meetings, and all that stuff.

I had open house last night for both the girls and it is going to be a busy year. This is going to be a tough year for both of them. Gracie is in the 3rd which is a transition grade. She is going to be learning multiplication and division. Towards the end of the year she will be jumping in to fractions which I can't stand! Gracie is a good student and smart....when she pays attention. Every teacher has had the same complaint; she doesn't use her time wisely and seams to space out during the teaching. Well, what is a mom to do about that? Its not like saying she isn't understanding sentence structure. I could help with that. We'll see how it goes. I will just have to give her daily reminders and incentives for completing her assignments on time I guess.

And my oldest which is too smart for her own good...seriously. She is gifted, but thinks she knows everything and tries to tell me what to do and how things should be and how she is always right. Let me just say that if an 11 year old is hard to handle, then I have a lot of "hard to handle" to go!! Anyways, she has a lot of projects going on that could be fun to do, its just hard when you are always pressed for time. I am praying for a great school year and wisdom to know how to handle two little girls that aren't so little anymore.

One last thing, we got to tour the new hospital last night! It was super cool. I told Isaiah we need to have another baby just so we can lodge there for a couple days. That is totally a joke! I know he is SOOO excited to be working there instead of the old nasty!

One more last thing, can I just say that God is so stinkin awesome!

Weekend Recap

Friday's pics went well. I know everyone has said it, but Kacey really does a wonderful job! I can't wait to see the results. The only downfall to the whole thing was the heat. I think I was wiping the sweat off my face between every photo! After that we headed to Sal's which was delicious! If you haven't tried their Ziti Florentine, it is out of this world good!

Saturday was my first race. It was a 5k at MTSU. Wow! It was so much harder than I expected. Those who were there say it was harder because of the heat, but either way, it made me worry about the 1/2 marathon. If I struggled with 3.4 miles how in the world am I going to make it through 13??? I guess I am going to have to train harder. By the way, my time was somewhere around 35 minutes. Saturday was also date night. We went to Miller's Grocery to eat for the first time. We really enjoyed it! The food and the music was great! Since we were on that side of town, we stopped by some friends house and hung out for a bit. Then we went for ice cream at Culver's and back home.

Sunday we went to church, lunch at Jason's deli with my dad, home for a nap, and then it was family fun night. We decided to go see Despicable Me in the theater and out to dinner. It was a cute movie.

Now to start another week. It is sure to be somewhat stressful because my finals are due. I will have a 2000 word paper in my politics class and a 50 problem math test. I hope you all have a fabulous week!