The Cantrell Five

Praise the Lord!

2012-02-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to let you all know the Lord answers your (and my) prayers :) We have a signed (LEGIT) contract and a scheduled closing date of February 24. Thank you Jesus! We will be living with Marquetta while our house is completed (prolly 8 weeks or so) so you can now add her to your prayers.... and say an extra prayer for her almost white carpet because something in my gut tells me it isn't going to make it through the 3 amigos... or JD for that matter ;) I have been packing and some how making a bigger mess by the day! Trying to decide what stays, goes, has to stay accessible and what we will not be needing for 8 weeks is a major task! I have taken 3 truck loads to the storage facility (aka- Chad and Em's garage lol) and I haven't seemed to put a dent in our stuff! 10 years + 3 kids= lots and lots of junk! I am half tempted to set it all on the curb and put a "Free to a good home" sign on it.

My new stress.... picking out all the things for the new house! And I mean STRESS! I am a simple person- give me a couple of samples and tell me to pick one and that suits me just fine. I have seen more doors, drawers, hinges, paints, textures, lights, etc. etc. etc. until I literally feel like my head is spinning..... and I still don't know what I want.... Whoever says this is fun needs some crazy pills! Or just give me the pills... I could use them right about now!!!

Anywho.... I am thankful the Lord provided for us once again.
He may not come when you call Him but He'll come on time

Just for you...

2012-01-24T15:21:00.000-08:00

New Harmony's Christmas party was at Dustin and Melissa's this year... again.... I think it was last year too... sorry Mo! We had fun- played Phase 10 because it is the best party game ever- the kids opened their gifts - we played dirty Santa and I am pretty sure everyone but 2 of us ended up taking home what they brought :) Good times- Good times. And here's the pics....

This is what happens when Kristen finds your camera unattended...

This is Kaden's favorite thing at Melissa's ... a pink cowboy hat!

hee hee hee... Dustin will love me for this.... but not as much as he loves this blanket lol

They were trying to do N H for New Harmony....geeks

Build an Ark....

2012-01-17T16:37:00.000-08:00

:) I am thinking someone needs to build an ark! I live on fairly level ground and my yard has turned into a swamp land today!

Anyway... I was uploading pics from Juliah's college graduation Saturday and realized that I haven't uploaded not one picture from Christmas...and I know I had said before I wasn't planning to do a big long Christmas post...but I had over 400! No worries- I am not going to post them all - I just thought it was very unlike me to hold back that many pics. This is just a sample... and it isn't even of half of the places we went... but uploading these took almost an hour so I said forget it.....

This is a typical child on a typical day in my typical house.... typically ;)

Grandaddy with all his grands

Joe and one of his MANY Bama shirts

Me and 3 of my best girls

Santa's Village's very own Gingerbread man... Kaden would not move....he just stood and stared like this!

Granna treated us all to what was my very first trip to Santa's Village

Crimson the elf had fun with Kaylee and Kyle's underwear and Kaden's pull-ups

NMS Sensational Singers

Karsyn's first Barbie for her first Christmas

4 kids+hours of gift opening+matching pj's= THIS... and it was the best one I got

Chandler's first Christmas

This pic cracked me up.... there is no telling the conversation these two are having!

And fast forward to this past Saturday... My little Juliah Dee graduated from college... COLLEGE.... I feel like I am aging ten times faster these days! She is such a good girl and I am so proud of her! She is a smarty too.... graduated with highest honors. (Sniff) I taught her everything I know.... bahahaha.... totally kidding... I can't do some of Kaylee's 3rd grade homework without the aid of Google!

And that is all for now. I have been trying to post for over 2 hours- homework done, baths (almost done), supper done and I am now attempting to make chocolate cupcakes with white filling (ummm, yes, I am having one of those days where I could eat the paint off the walls... whats it to ya??) Oh, and we have a science project that we have to complete... ok we have to START and complete ... before bedtime.... yay me! (insert sarcastic cheerleader here)

Oh you know what I am gonna say.....

2012-01-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

ROOOOOLL TIIIIIIDE!!! We stayed home last night since the BCS peeps are oblivious to work/school schedules when setting dates for the ultimate National Championship game of the century (ok... that was a bit much but I do live with JD- THE biggest Bama fan I know) We were going to watch with friends and family but decided that (on the terrible chance that we lost) it would be too hard and too late to drive home from anywhere- so we had our own game night. I made home made chicken noodle soup and baked some cookies (and made my very-picky-don't-like-anything kids a frozen pizza) and we ate til we were stuffed and vegged out on the couch. I made the kids get in the shower right as the game started and we did all homework during half time. (I also vacuumed up chips out of the floor where Kaden decided he needed to make a trail through the living room... I guess 1700 square feet is a big place where a 2 year old could get lost and need to find his way back to the kitchen !) Kyle ran around the living room- high five-ing us on every tackle- every catch- every time they ran out of balance (aka bounds... he would have it no other way... I could not convince him any differently) Kaylee... well.... she watched tv in her room and popped out every now and again for a glance at the score. She was more worried about which Bama shirt she was going to wear today than she was about watching them win :) But nevertheless- we won! Again! And it was awesome!

I am home with a sick baby today. It is the same typical sick we always seem to get around here- he went to bed completely fine and woke me up at 3am burning up with fever. He has had a few crackers and some sprite today and has not left the couch longer than 5 minutes :( Please pray it is just a quick-viral-run-its-course -in-a-day thing. I hate not knowing what the underlying cause is- but taking him to the doctor is out unless it is untreatable with over the counter meds. He is a doctor-phobe. He has a fit when we walk in any type of office type atmosphere. Sometimes he even starts spazzing when store clerks ask me if I need help. Bless him... he's wittle!

We still have a house for sale if any of you knows anybody interested in our area! I sure would appreciate any help/prayers for this to sale. Just thought I would remind y'all..... again...... pretty please ;)

I didn't do a big "look what we got/did/ate for Christmas" because someone (uh-hmmm TD) told me my blogs were all pictures lately and no real blogging.... but I will tell you that my husband did a great job this year (no shampoo or used blenders lol) He (his mom) had me a charm made for my Pandora bracelet - it is 3 sided- one side says Forever Together and the other two sides have our names engraved on them (Awwww... I know... I was surprised!) He also got me a cell phone cover that didn't remotely fit my phone :) Perfectly fitting gift from JD.... so close- yet so far away! I had bought myself a few things too and wrapped them so we would have an even number of gifts... you know.... making sure the kids saw how fair we are ! He said "Well- you had a much better Christmas than I thought you would" No worries JD, you paid for it :) And after it was all said and done and I DIDN'T get the one thing I requested... I used my bonus Christmas money I get from my houses I clean and bought my self a shiny, new, white......

VACUUM CLEANER! (I tried uploading a pic from my phone but it is being stupid)

I know- how lame am I that I am thrilled to have gotten this- but you have to understand something. Since I have had my new carpet (In MAY if you will recall) I have not had a working beater-bar on my vacuum cleaner so I have been killing myself using a floor tool on my taped up half working old vacuum. I am in love! I have the prettiest vacuum lines in my carpet now. It is just awesome!

And now you know why I have limited my posting lately.... I go from Roll Tide to loving vacuum cleaners! My mind is a whirlwind lately. I am thinking it is a product of too much going on and not enough vacant space in my brain to obtain it.... all the crazy is starting to leak out- feel warned.... and slightly scared.... this could be ugly :)

Happy ugly Tuesday! All else fails- be proud your not an LSU fan .... and if you just so happen to be..... well.... I am not so sure what to say about all that!!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-27T07:56:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. I survived it ;) We had our first Christmas function Thursday night and our final one last night. I am EXHAUSTED! I have cheated this morning and put a heavy blanket over the boys window so that Kyle David will sleep past 7a.m. (and it is working... 9a.m. and not a peep) After all the madness of Christmas morning and going to 2 more family get-togethers- I had to come home and get my house in tip-top shape for a realtor to show it on Monday. I was praying for the Lord to help me because I was dragging..... and my kids have enough new play-thingys for an entire elementary school! It took an hour to place items in the correct bedroom before I could actually start cleaning(Thank you to everyone who bought a toy.... they really NEEDED those!) lol

Oh the kids.... they have been in full force.... keeping us on our toes at all times! Kyle had a rough go at school last week- his behavior was NOT becoming of him and his teacher was at a loss with what to do with him. On the 3rd day I was at my rope's end with it too.... so we have a major "come to Jesus" meeting. By Thursday he came home and had stayed on green (which is a sign he did good) and I asked him "Now see Kyle, was it THAT hard to be good at school today?" in which he replied "Yes it was! I cannot breathe if I don't talk!" You have 3 children and you know that one of them will likely be the death of you..... yep..... he is mine....well.... last week he was Joe David's ;)

Kaylee had her first school dance a week or two ago. It was Christmas in Hawaii themed so I allowed her to take a change of clothing to school so she would be properly dressed for the occasion. ( OK- keep in mind- she goes to a very small school , the "dance" was from 3-5 and only 3 grades were invited- so don't panic that I let her go) Well this must have set something off in her little mind because we went to Santa's Village where she wrote her list of gifts she would like to have..... and on the list..... "I would like a prom dress. Size 10 or 12. Thanks, Kaylee. Yes, a prom dress..... and when asked where was she going to where the prom dress that she DID get .... she said , "well , I guess to a funeral because it is black and white" Lord have mercy!

And then there is Kaden....Mr Meany..... he is the grouchiest child I have- yet he is so stinkin' funny! He is everything Kyle is (Power Ranger, Spiderman, etc.) he says everything Kyle says- if Kyle's stomach is hurting, so is Kaden's. If Kyle is irritated with Kaylee, so is Kaden. He talks up a storm, sings all the time- he even makes up his own songs ( he was singing "I don't have to go to my woom Kaywee" the other day) He can almost count to twenty and can recognize letters and numbers when he sees them- which I don't recall the other two doing at two years old.... then again I hardly remember what they did yesterday....

And now you are updated on the Cantrell's.... and I am still sitting her in silence.... aaaahhhhh.... The Lord sent rain just for me today so I apologize for y'all who had to get out in it...... maybe since am so lazy this week I can do about 10 catch up posts.... don't hold your breath!

Happy Tuesday!!!

Meet our Elf....

2011-12-13T07:40:00.000-08:00

His name is Crimson ( yes I know.... we are Bama obsessed in this house!)

He enjoys Super Mario on the DS

Rides the Gingerbread Express (aka... the cookie jar)

He plays dress-up with Ken's tuxedo...

He loves dad's guitar (though Dad's guitar playing needs work!)

Plays on the stocking holder

He hangs out with the Gingerbread person in the kitchen

Plays tic tac toe with Mr. Lion

And leaves a reminder note that he is watching the kids and their behavior is

in need of improvement..... like staying on green at school for Kyle and picking up after yourself for Kaylee.....

And Mom has figured out the Crimson is a job to keep up with ;)

Christmas program 2011

2011-12-13T07:19:00.000-08:00

Kaylee, Sophie & Peyton

Katie and Kyle (Mary and Joseph... and Allie the Angel )

Kaden the broken ear reindeer

Kaden was supposed to sing with Kyle, but wouldn't do it. Kaylee picked him up (and her dress came up all the way in front of everyone) and tried to assist him.... and he still didn't do it.

Beautiful Star of Bethlehem (with Dad)

Kyle sang alone after the Kaden fiasco!

Granny with the babies

Emily, Chad & Karsyn

Oh Christmas tree....

2011-11-29T21:31:00.000-08:00

I have now sat down after 3 or 4 hours of dragging out and putting up the tree and all the "stuff " that goes along with it. I am a single tree kind of girl..... I used to put small table top trees in the kids rooms but IN CASE we MIGHT be moving... I opted to be simple as possible (ok... lazy as possible.... ) I put my kitchen stuff out which I had not planned on doing so I am not a total scrooge.... The kids L.O.V.E.D helping me do the tree- well- Kaden was only awake for the lights .... and now he is awake to see it all done! (so much for rushing to bed because my back and legs are throbbing!)

Here are the results..... from my cell.... much quicker to download to blog and I am LAZY remember!

Taa-daa..... my first attempt at the mesh stuff.... harder than I thought!

I will try to get pics of the kids sides of the tree... Kyle said he put 400 on ... and most of them are on

the same 5 branches :)... Kaylee's side is covered in Barbie ornaments that she played with longer than

she decorated the tree!

My star is kinda sad but I refuse to buy more glitter-coated-anything after cleaning up that mess!

Our family ornament we get every year

Got this made for my kitchen because I LOVE some gingerbread people

And thats all... and I am tired.... Goodnight :)

In our world....

2011-11-28T08:05:00.000-08:00

Oh the things going on in our crazy world! We are in the throws of the holiday season.... jam packed weekend schedules (and some week days!) We have family functions, church functions, friend functions... all of which I am looking forward to... all of which would be less stressful if my "to-do" and "to-buy" and "to-cook" lists were completed..... If my multiple personalities were actual PEOPLE I could get this all done alot quicker ;) Oh, and not to mention, someone is supposed to be buying my house (keep praying- no contract yet but it is in the works) and my realtor calls me with the details and says "Oh, I knew there was something I meant to tell you..... they want to close in DECEMBER! I was like "Praise the Lord" and "What in the world" all in one thought.... I have nothing packed.... I don't want to jinx it by doing any packing too soon.... but I also realize that leaves me 4 weeks to do it all PLUS show up at all these dates that are marked on my calender..... mercy mercy mercy.... maybe Santa will bring me an Elf to help out!

We did the Thanksgiving run-around. I went to see my Maw Maw and Paw Paw on Wednesday night. Trying to get 3 functions in one day when 2 of them start at the same time is impossible. We went to Granny's for lunch on Thursday and to Aunt Debbie's that evening. We ate and ate and ate some more. JD and I have been on the South Beach (aka- Meat, cheese, salad, No-carb, try to kill me) Diet. His cholesterol is at such bad levels the doctor was wanting to put him on medication but we are trying this to see if we can control it with diet before he has to resort to that. Anyway- We cheated Thanksgiving (& I did the rest of the weekend... shhhhh.... I don't think he noticed!) I had lost 6 lbs but I am thinking I found it after all the cake and pie and dressing I consumed.... it was worth it !

I did the whole Black Friday thing.... it was fun... I realized after I returned home that I bought more for me than for everyone on my list ;) Having the new house has made my list pretty long! My best purchase was my $49 bar stools! I was afraid they would look like $49 bar stools so I took one out of the box (in pieces- I am sure I will be assembling them soon) and they are really pretty and sturdy (well , should be sturdy- again I will be assembling them :) If you get a chance to come to my new house..... you might want to sit at the table!

Oh and how could I forget to throw a ROLL TIDE in here after that fantastic game Saturday! Well, what of the game I actually watched.... I kinda napped through the first quarter and I was suddenly awakened to a disaster in the second quarter..... Kyle and Kaden were upstairs at Karen's house where they were supposed to be watching cartoons... well you know what un-attended boys do.... they try to open the windows (she has the kind that crank open and they are fascinated) ... while doing so they knock over the end table with the lamp and decorations and the wax filled Scentsy-type thingy... and the wax goes pouring down Kaden's head- all in his hair- all over Kyle's arm- all over the table- luckily not so much on the floor..... both boys had goose-egg knots on their heads from the falling objects.... and both were screaming to the tops of their lungs...... (insert my repeated I-need-a-straight-jacket comment here) We cleaned it all up, peeled what wax we could off of my children- took a fine tooth comb to Kaden's hair to get the massive amounts of mulberry-ish scented wax out of his hair.... and THEN (yes, you know my stories always get a little more interesting) Kaden starts having an allergic reacation to the scent in the wax and Karen's puppy and his entire face whelps over, his eye swells, his cheek puffs out on one side..... and he and I take a trip to good ole' Grant Pharmacy for a Benedryl run........ this is true life here.... no reality show needed!

And here I am today- blogging while the babies are asleep..... yes babies... Miss Karsyn is staying with us now while Amy recovers from having baby Anzlie. I was in the mood to do a post so I let blogging take precedence to the mounds of laundry and crazy weekend madness that seems to be strewn all over my house. I guess I will get it started now...... happy rainy Monday!

And Roll Tide again.... :)

Happy TEN year anniversary....

2011-11-16T08:11:00.000-08:00

WOW! Ten whole years! I can not believe this day has come. I knew we would make it this far- no worries about that... but on November 16, 2001 I would have never have believed that we would have so much extra in our lives and be without so many people whom shared that very special day with us! I got out my wedding albums- the professional one and the snap shot one and I was amazed at the changes that have taken place since that day. We are now 4 grandparents less than we were but we are very thankful to still have 5 of them with us today. Some of our friends have moved away, some we just aren't close to like we were then. Some very dear people that we would have never thought would no longer be here have went on to be with Jesus- but that is a "happy-sad" as a sweet little girl once said. We have had a great ten years since that day.... and we have hopes of having many many more together.

We have a good home- not just a house- a home- which was always what we strived and longed for. We have 3 beautiful, wild, funny, healthy children- which were just a dream 10 years ago. We have a great church and wonderful church family. Every one is in good health- which I learned is something to be grateful for at any age because sickness does not discriminate because your are young, have kids or have a life so busy that you just don't have time for it. We have each other- and I am oh so thankful for that. Good, Bad, Hard Times, Easy Times, Happy, Sad, Sick (which JD tends to think he is most days ;) Well, Frantic or Calm- we have each other.... and need each other.... and are thankful for each other....
that is precious to me. And most of all- We have the Lord and we know without a doubt it is because of Him that we have anything and everything. He is our supplyer and our foundation.

So here is to ten years of bliss- sometimes madness- a touch of temper- a lot of hugs and an abundance of patience.....I love you JD!

Fall into Pictures...

2011-11-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

This is the good one of about 10 shots... seriously.... guess who wasn't in the mood???

And yes... I figured out later that this is the same shirt I did his pic in last year with the pumpkins....
maybe it will teach him to eat more so he will grow ;)

At least his face is in character with his shirt!

He escaped (& I wanted to show you my awesome new wreath ;)

Buzz Lightyear takes on NMS Fall Festival

Kyle aka Black Spiderman in the costume parade...with no mask.... and no shoes...

CeCe from Shake it Up doing her prance in the costume parade

Western day at NMS

Kyle in his non-western-had-buttons-there-for-a-church-shirt and his boots

Crazy hair & socks day

Woody and Bullseye

I can't believe how BIG she is looking... Mrs. Growny

I bet none of you have a paper boy that is this adorable :)

Party Pics in random order...

2011-10-25T22:49:00.000-07:00

Davida, Kensley, Heather & Ann Marie

Chad and Emily

My BFF's

JD, Isaac & Chad

The Malone's and I ... & Kara doing the hand-on-hip thing :)

Around the bonfire

Looking at the fish in the park

Chad & Karsyn

In the limo... they were so excited

Getting out of the limo

Chad's pics

My pics

Justin, Alicia & Halle

Josie, Nicky, Amy & Alicia

Lindsey and Kerri- the party workers :)

Opening my Pandora bracelet

Mr. Kyle whom hardly ever looks AT the camera

Watching ducks and fish

Sweet girl on the red bicycle in the park

Karsyn loves JD

Sidewalk chalk and ice cream.... now that's a party :)

My bracelet... from left to right meanings of the charms-

Holy Ghost birthday pearl & gift box charm- Kara, Tasha, Heather G, Nicky and Alyson all got me these

Best Friends- Kerri got me

Girl and 2 boys- Marquetta got me

Pink birthstone- JD got me along with bracelet

"D" - Chad, Em & Karsyn

Took my birthday money and added birthstones for JD and my kids and

birthstone for November for my anniversary.

I love this bracelet because of the meaning behind each charm.

It was the perfect gift to remind me of an awesome birthday!

Hmmmmm... 2 posts in one hour..... and it is only 1 am.....

Happy Fall Y'all...

2011-10-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

We just got back (Sunday night) from a 6 night stay in the Great Smoky Mountains. It was so nice to leave the crazy madness here (work, school, selling a house, building a house.... and so forth) and go away and pretend we don't have a care in the world. Something about breakfast at Pancake Pantry, lunch at Fanny Farkle's and dinner at the Apple Barn just washes all your troubles away ;) but boy oh boy I am about 10 pounds heavier from all that food!! We seriously ate the entire time we were gone! It was GREAT :)
The kids loved it. Kaylee had a massive "to-do" list and we marked everything off of it except Wonderworks but I told her we had to leave something for the next time we go. The kids saved their wands from last years trip to Magicquest so they got to play for $10 this time ( which means $30 because you know their daddy had to play too!) Kaylee and I went to Titanic and I think we were both kinda disappointed with it. I love the artifacts and stories about all that really happened but all in all it was over $40 for a walk through, self guided tour of a museum. We got ice cream at the Marble Slab Creamery- oh -so- good! They swam in the indoor pool at the condo. We shopped... and shopped... and shopped... The boys didn't fair as well as the girls did in the shopping department but that is the way it goes ain't it! We grilled out at the park by the creek and the weather was awesome as was the food (... again... I am not joking when I say we ate constantly) We enjoyed watching the Tide roll over the Vols once again. And Sunday we went to Dollywood to hear some good ol' gospel singing.... well.... JD, Norma and Marquetta enjoyed the singing... myself and my 3 kids took on the park! Needless to say that I was one tired Momma by the time we headed home that evening. I wish we would have relaxed more instead of going and doing so much while we were there because we have been exhausted since we got home. ( JD is sawing logs as I type) Kaylee and Kyle actually put themselves to bed tonight. I am so tired but on a major insomnia spell. The stresses of life keep my mind going while my body is saying S.L.E.E.P!

And here we are... back to life... back to reality! I have been on the run all day- walking through the new house making changes to rooms, picking out windows, deciding on what brick/rock/siding to use... all of it is GREEK to me! It is fun but stressful. Next up... paint colors and cabinets... and flooring.... and doors.... and fixtures.... Lord have mercy!

We officially have our house on the market. Go to http://www.valleymls.com/ and put MLS #692435. If you know ANYBODY that wants to look at it please send them our way! Brand new flooring throughout, new a/c, new roof, new paint, new light fixtures..... move in ready! (ok- that is my advertisement for the day ;)

I have loads of pics from the Smokies that are still on my camera that is currently in the car and I am too lazy to go get it. I still owe you a pic post of the rest of our birthday bash so I may do that next... or next time I post..... who knows when that will be....

and that is it... you are now updated on whats up with us.... I just know your day will be much better now that you know all of this valuable information ;)- It is what it is... our simple boring crazy busy life that I like to type about. Some say "Why type all that for everyone to see?" "Who cares?" "Do you have nothing better to do?" I say #1- therapy- blogging is therapy and serves as a good guide for my memory of things that I would have easily forgotten the details about #2- I care.... I like showing you that our life is a nutshell- my kids are funny- & I don't have it all together and I am OK with that.... #3 I have tons to do that could take precedence to blogging.... but I obviously choose not to do them during the 15 minutes I use to tell you all about my madness..... :)

Random post will be ended now .... something tells me I will only half remember what all I posted come morning..... my eyes are starting to cross!

Good night/ Good morning! I hope you have a great Wednesday!

Happy Birthday indeed...

2011-10-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

WOW! My birthday was made FANTASTIC by my awesome hubby, sis-in-law and friends!! Though I had a "hint" that something was going on.... I could have never in a million years guessed what all they did for me (Well, Chad and I ... Chad will be the big 3-0 next Thursday so they treated us to a double surprise party since we all basically have all the same friends :)

First a text came about 3:00 saying Be at the church at 5:00 and DO NOT be one minute late..... which I didn't understand at all.... until I pulled up at 4:57 and see a huge Excursion Limo waiting with a gang holding a sign saying "Honk if you are 30!" lol....

From there we went to Downtown Huntsville and saw the ducks and fish and took some pics of everyone...

Then we went for ice cream at Bruester's.... just to throw us off.... I could not for the life of me figure out where we were going and what we were doing...

(I have pics of that but Blogger is being so slow and freezes every time I attempt to add them)

Then we drove over the mountain and through the woods to our destination.... Dustin and Melissa's house.... where we were greeted by a ton of friends......

I will do a picture post of the party with details and etc.( & a pic of my gorgeous Pandora bracelet that melts my heart every time I look at it) but I have GOT to get off of here for now!

Thank you to all of my amazing friends and sister in law..... every detail was perfect..... I appreciate every thing you all did!

(and I am most impressed that you got JD to spend his money :)

I love you all!!!!

Today I am th... th..... th.......

2011-10-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

Thirty! Whew... that doesn't roll off my tongue like 29 did! Oh well! I can't complain too much- the past 30 years have been pretty good and I can only hope for 30 more just like 'em :)

My mind is full....

2011-10-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

I am talking overload. I have been way more forgetful than usual lately- like making me worried- I even stop mid-convo and can't remember what my point was or what I was even talking about to begin with. I have determined I am on brain-over-load.... problem is..... how do you actually clear your mind? Saturday I cleaned out our storage building- took all of our junk we have accumulated in the 5 years we have lived here and sent it to the dump...... I really wish I could do that with my never-ending-to-do list in my mind.

Just this morning I have finished my cousin's picture/invitation order for her upcoming wedding shower, while potty training Kaden, while cleaning "potty" out of the floor, giving Kaden a bath and deciding the pros and cons of a crawl space- because- oh yeah- we decided as of Friday that we are going to build a house and sell ours. You have to get my drift- the brain is SHOT!

As for the new house- I am excited/scared/already tired from thinking about it. We been tossing the idea around and praying about it for over 2 years now and we have decided that now is the time. Do I have a clue what I am doing? NO! I am not a paint/cabinets/brick picker-outer..... I thought I was doing well when I chose my hardwood for this house! My main concern is that the laundry room and pantry are big and that I have enough closet space to hold 5 peoples stuff..... the rest is Greek..... but that's what friends are for right (Lindsey ;)

Oh, and all of this comes the week before that stupid, horrible, awful birthday I have coming up... in 5 days.... no, I just looked at the calender..... FOUR days...... uggghhhhhhh!!!!!

So, pray for my sanity- I am long past the padded cell.... not real sure where they put people like me nowadays :)

And if you know of anyone who needs a house in my area..... send them to me..... :)

Ok- I know...

2011-09-28T05:55:00.000-07:00

3 posts in one week is pathetic- but my memory is so bad these days that I knew I wouldn't remeber this next week and I HAD to share....
We were in Publix last night- standing in the ice cream section- searching for Kaylee's fave "It's your party"
flavored ice cream when Kyle says "Yuck (spit, stomp) bisgusting-Look Kaylee- this one is made out of TURTLES!"

I completely died laughing with my head in the freezer..... then explained to Kyle that is wasn't real turtles in the ice cream.....

And these are the moments I live for......

Gasp....

2011-09-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

Two days in a row.... I am determined to catch up on my blogging slump. I just came in from folding (smashing, stomping and cramming) and putting away the kids water slide so I had to take a break (lol- a break- when I have been out of bed for 1 hour and 10 minutes). The slide had to be completely dry before you stored it and every time I had it almost dry.... it would get left in the rain and I would have to start over again.... I know- the highlight of my day is storing a water slide- try not to turn green with envy ;)

And on to the next highlight ... checking Zulily on my phone while blogging on my laptop..... sigh.....I need to get a life.... (btw if you have a little girl smaller than a size 6- today is awesome)

We had a singing at church Friday night. It was pretty good. I missed alot of the second half because I was downstairs helping with clean- up... but Kyle gave me somewhat of a glimpse of it... I checked my gallery on my cell phone and there are about 5 or 6 shaky-mini-videos of the Long Family on there.... He told Marquetta he was going to put them on You Tube. Sad thing is- he probably is more likely to know how to do it than I am!

The boys and I stayed home all day yesterday. I wasn't feeling great and Kaden has been battling the crud for a few days now. He obviously didn't feel good Saturday night because he was a nightmare during church. Two hours of crying over everything from wanting our cell phones to having a meltdown over a tube of chapstick. I weighed it up yesterday and decided it was best for us- and for those who sit close by us- that we stay home. Good thing we did- he was up at 2:30 this morning coughing every breath! I hate that my kids do this- I was the same way when I was little- if the weather changed my breathing and allergies would go crazy. Maybe the rain today will settle this crazy high pollen/ragweed/whatever down!

Not much else to report.... same ol stuff..... so I will end with MORE pictures..... because I know that is why you came here in the first place :)

Before the singing Friday night- Kaylee declared this was the ugliest dress she has ever worn!

This shows why Kaden and I didn't attend church yesterday.....

Kyle loves being the big brother (though I am not sure whom actually is the biggest :)

He can be sweet...

Allie and Kaden trying to fit under the bar stool (& looks like they were deciding who got to stay and who had to go)

Brody as Batman... Kyle as Spider/Bat Man

Kaden wasn't turning the lights on and off.... Woody was....

Chandler and his adorable self

I am now going to force myself out of this chair and in to doing some type of house work- I don't know which is sounding more appealing... the bathrooms..... or the dusting.... or the laundry.... or the floors...... ugghhhhh..... none of the above- perhaps I will blog some more ;) Happy Rainy-But-Warm Monday!

I went down to the river to pray.....

2011-09-25T09:36:00.000-07:00

OK- that has nothing to do with this post but that song plays on my Pandora all the time and (even though I am well aware that it was on the movie Oh Brother Where Art Thou) I love it... and it is stuck in my head today :)

We went to Karen's yesterday to watch Bama stomp Arkansas in some good SEC football... but before the game I took the kids to Karen's back yard for a small photo shoot in their Bama gear (well- Kaden's Bass Pro hat didn't quite "go" but his hair is in major need of some clippers )

Kaylee at the top of the water fall (JD was scare just by looking at this pic :)

Notice Kyle's feet NOT hanging over... he thought a fish was going to bite him!

He decided to be brave

Fall #1 (somehow I thought I could do creek pics and no one get too wet... WRONG!)

Though he looks scared... he is really trying to push Kaylee away....

Praise the Lord (well... this was before Fall #2)

Tasting the water

After the final fall.... Kaden had a mouth full of grass :)

We then removed the wet clothes (minus Kaylee and Kyle's jeans because I didn't have any spares) and took them to the park at Grant. They loved their 30 minutes of freedom- we had to get back for the game to start :)

Kaden wasn't so happy about having to leave...

And this is my post for the day... possibly the week..... I have had my camera out alot more lately and JUST figured out how to put them on my laptop in order without duplicating them..... so watch out blog world- you will be seeing more and more pics of the life with the Cantrell's! (Now if a dear soul would teach me how to use my photoshop software I would be set... and I tried the you-tube videos that "teach" you.... and I still can't understand the geek that is trying to teach me!!!) Later!!!!

Uh-hum....

2011-09-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

So sorry for the delay... I have yet again been thrown into the proverbial lion's den of life! I know your sick of hearing "we're so busy, whaa whaa whaa" from me so I will skip all that. We will just start off with "Hi, how you doin? Good? Oh! Me too... " and go from there ;) No need to catch you up- most of you have been everywhere I have been the past month- church, birthday parties by the dozens, etc. etc. so I am just gonna start fresh from here....
All is well in the Cantrell household. We are trying the potty training thing with Kaden- which I say very lightly considering he maybe goes potty once a day when it is on the potty.... this is the part I wish you could send them to school to learn ;) His baby bed broke so he is now on a toddler mattress in the floor until we find some (duh duh dum) bunk beds. I know-you don't have to say it- Kyle needs a reservation to the ER for when we actually get them- but considering I caught him just the other day trying to jump off the dresser (very top) ALL the way across the room to the mattress Kaden sleeps on- I think bunk beds surely can't do much more damage ("Lord-you know my son- Please watch over his spider-monkey-flying-squirrel-self" Amen) I am growing used to the sound of crash/thump/bump/roll "I'm OKAAAAYYYY!!" Maybe I need to lock him in my padded cell for a while :)

Singing season is back in full swing. They have 6 or so bookings for now. (Yay- I know you just heard my shrill scream of excitement ;) I missed Big Cove's singing Friday night because Kyle had a stomach bug. Kaylee and JD went on without us. She couldn't miss it - especially when she figured out it was at THE Porter Kelly's Church! Who knew at 8 years old you that you #1- remember where a boy goes to church and #2 go to a singing just to see him? (& before you think I am that mother that pushes this type of behavior- think again... I was getting one child out of the germ infested house in hopes that we didn't have another epidemic of vomiting like we have had in the past- it just so happened that was the only place I could send her) Boyfriends and the drama that follows them aren't welcome in my house for a very long time... I have enough boys to tend to that LIVE here... I need no extras thank-you-very-much....

And to offer up an excuse for my anti-blogging-slump I have been in... I am sitting at the table.... living room tv blaring whatever Kyle is watching... Kaylee has hollered my name at least 5 times in the last 10 minutes- only to tell me she is out of the bathtub- which she gets her self out of every night- but tonight it required an announcement to the neighbors.... and Kaden just took a face dive off of the toy box and will have a gigantic bruise on his arm- to match the two on his leg- that I will feel the need to explain to anyone who sees them like I am going to be reported to DHR ....remember that peace and quiet and my little "coffee break" I used to get in the mornings... GONE.... I am living in the middle of a war zone from the hours of 8am-10pm.... It is hard to focus on what I was supposed to be putting in the washing machine let alone come up with a few paragraphs of my crazy madness to share with you all..... I am going to try to have a weekly blog time- but let me get adjusted to school (I know- it started a month ago- but I am a slow- have mercy!)

Want to see what the kids look like these days.... let me see what pics I have on this computer....

Joycelynn Grace- 10 days old... (she isn't mine- but oooo ain't she pretty :)

First Day of School.... may have posted this already....

Bff's - this child has been at my house alot this summer... and Kaylee often offers to trade Kyle for her.....

Bless it.... but now he knows how I feel... no privacy in this house!

Oh Mom... please let me have a skating party... Pleeeaasseee...

Skating rink floor 1- Kaylee 0..... forgot to mention that she can't skate....

Kyle took horse-shoes to a new level....

And such is life... its all good- crazy- but good. I now have to go blow dry Kaylee's hair, give the boys a bath, get clothes/lunch/snacks/backpacks ready for tomorrow and hopefully sit back down before 10... and figure out where the remote control has wondered off to today (under bed, down in recliner, on the back of the toilet.... we are never really sure of its whereabouts :)

Good night all!

Have you missed me????

2011-08-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

Wow! This summer has flown by and part of that is due to the fact of us running from boarder to boarder of the Alabama state line (and crossing it a few times along the way). We think our running is done for now- but Kaylee is trying to beg a mini-vacation out of us. Maybe a short trip to the smokies or to the cabin will do....

To try to catch you up would be impossible. In highlights- Kaden no longer has a pacifier! (tears here, this growing up stuff is killer!) About two weeks ago, it was bedtime and no paci was to be found so I did a trial run without it... and he has been fine without it since. Well- fine is a stretch... his terrible two's have kicked it in high gear.... guess he will show us!!! He argues with everyone, has this stubborn streak that won't give and can fall to pieces in 2.2 seconds when he hears the word NO. I think he did all of this before but the paci made him get over it quickly! He talks so well- says just about everything and you can actually understand him (we couldn't understand Kyle until he was about 4 years old....seriously.... he had his own language!) He is definitely the bully of the bunch. I guess you think you can push everybody around when you are two years old and the size of a pre-teen ;)

Kyle turned 6 and was not so happy about until it was over! The night before his birthday, I was tucking him in (and he was not happy that I wouldn't let him vacuum the floors like he thought Kaylee was) I tried cheering him up by saying "Somebody is going to be 6 years old tomorrow" and he busted out crying saying "I know- and my voice is going to be different! I don't want to grow up!" I laughed and said "You will be fine... 6 years old isn't hardly grown up yet" This kid says the funniest things EVER! He is still so sweet too... they sang happy birthday to him at church and he collected his dollars (you get $1 from people at church when they sing) and we went through McDonald's on the way home and he got all excited when we got to the window because he thought he was buying our food with his money! He kept saying "Thanks for letting them sing to me... this is the best day EVER!"

Kaylee is the diva these days- more so than usual! She is Kaden's caretaker and Kyle's boss. The big sister role is fitting her to a T! If Kaden gets in trouble or needs petting... she picks him up and rocks him (like he isn't almost as big as her) and she is sure to tell Kyle what he is/is not supposed to be doing and how to do it and when to do it and to stay away from her at all times.... and he listens to none of it! She is all in to clothes, shoes, make up (play... not for real.... though she did pull one on me the other day.... we went shopping and I looked really close after we were already in town and she had REAL MASCARA on!! I could have killed her! 7 going on 17 for sure!!) and the hair will always be an issue until she does it herself... and something tells me then that I will then be the one crying about it!!! I braided her hair yesterday and here came the tears because she wanted to wear her peace sign headband.... so we compromised with a ponytail and parted ways..... some days I think shaving her head wouldn't be near as difficult!! Oh- she and her bff Katie did not get in the same class this year.... the world just might stop spinning on August 15! (that is until she picks the new-school-bff for this year)

JD and I just returned from our weekend get-away to Nashville. We were totally lost without our kids! I love being able to stay here with my kids- but it has made me socially retarded! I wanted to tell someone to sit down, be quiet and eat their food.... but that doesn't work well at a table full of adults.... I actually ate HOT food and got to chew it rather than swallow it whole in 3 bites. I slept til 10... TEN... I went shopping and didn't loose anyone (though JD did want to run when I got to the spending part :) We missed the kids like crazy- but it was nice. JD said he truly had forgotten what it was like when it was just us two- but we wouldn't change our little crazy, kid-filled life for a million dollars.

And I am going now.... loads and loads and loads of laundry to do..... bags to be unpacked.... house to be found underneath it all! Happy Monday!

Excuse me....

2011-07-12T06:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took my 3 kids plus 1 more to the pool because playing outside isn't an option when the heat index is 110. Well..... I put sunscreen on them but didn't put any on me.... well..... we were the 4 lobsters sitting at church last night! I am just proud Granny didn't see them or else I would have probably gotten a whippin'! I seriously put it on Kaden's face TWICE and he was more burned there than anywhere.... can you say BAD sunscreen! I took a couple of pics with my phone but have yet to master the whole phone-to-computer-to-files-to-blog thing.... trust me.... it was pretty bad! Oh, and my sun burn must have instantly aged me to 45 years old because I was praying for a girl in the alter that looked to be somewhere around 20 years of age and an older sister looked at me and asked me if I was her mother!.... this was not good for someone whom is having an age crisis .... I was almost offended by that one! I nicely said "Ummm, no" ~~and tried not to cry~~.

That paragraph mostly sums up our weekly life thus far into summer.... church-pool-church-eat-church-sleep super late (the kids- not JD and I)-church- and repeat. I have adapted to getting up in the morning and ironing clothes on the just-in-case we go to church. My kids have 3 questions "Are we going to church? Whose church is it? Are they gonna have food?" They finally gave up on trying to talk us out of going since that isn't optional most times (unless we go to the mountain.... then they get to stay with Nanny)

Since the last post we have baby showered Jacob and RaeAnn for baby Joycelynn whom is to arrive in August (poor momma..... summer is no fun when you are with child!) We have -well- we have..... the whole church-pool-eat thing ..... nothing else really monumental..... how boring.....

We have an upcoming trip to Nashville (woo-hoo... be jealous.... I know you ALL want to vacation to the Bass Pro Shop with me...(insert really big sarcastic laugh here) with JD's employer, but as of last night my kids had begged and pleaded a beach trip out of JD.... so I have high hopes of finding somewhere to stay a long weekend that has sand and ocean.... so far those hopes have been dimmed by no vacancy.... but I am still working on it!

Happy 2nd week of July! I hope you all are more exciting than me.... as I proof-read this I am thinking I need to get a life. Well... I love my life..... and I am not asking for excitement.... because in this house that comes in the form of a 5 year old jumping on a baby bed and almost knocking out his front tooth.... so I will stick with the church-pool-eat thing and not complain Thank you very much :)

Now where were we.....

2011-07-05T08:15:00.000-07:00

Oh yes... Memorial Day was covered.... now it is Father's Day .... (we will pretend it wasn't almost a month ago.... just go with it.... :)

Father's Day followed our week of revival- therefor nothing fun and exciting was planned. JD had a major test to take for an insurance class and (of course) he had not studied but less than half of what he had to know.... and the test was on Monday (did he ask me when he REscheduled the test for the Monday after revival- WHY NO!- that would have been too easy because I would have said "Let's think about this JD... you will be dead and your brain will be too tired to cram study like I know you are going to do" but who asked me- I am just the know it all around here!) Anywho... our weekend consisted of JD eating, sleeping and breathing that book until he thought he had it (which he did... he aced it actually..... he also had alot of people praying he would so I am definitely giving the Good Lord credit for that one!)

And I have pictures.... JD is not going to be happy that I shared..... but this isn't JD's blog now is it ;)-

Pardon the "we got ourselves ready" look my children are sporting...at least Kyle has his My Dad Rocks tee on :)

JD has fussed and fussed that we have no flash lights with batteries... so Kyle and I picked him
up some at the Dollar Store that morning.... and Kyle that we got him something BIG :)

Father's Day breakfast of chocolate gravy and biscuits....

And now I am caught up.... except that I forgot my camera yesterday so Marquetta has the 4th of July pics on hers.... so that will take a little while for me to get those.....

We went to her house and grilled and cooked and made ice cream (and enough food for an army). Grilling the hamburgers was an experience... with JD, Chad, Emily and myself trying to figure it out... I almost lost all my arm-hair over Emily's hamburger..... it was pretty funny- but you had to be there...

We bought some really good fireworks. The kids love doing our own just as much as watching a big show of them. Someone in the neighborhood did an hour of HUGE fireworks and it was better than driving all over town and getting stuck in all the crazy traffic. It was as good as it gets in my book (except when Kyle grabbed the hot part of the sparkler stick and burned his fingers... you know he never makes it out of anything unharmed!) He is okay now...

So Happy Monday/Tuesday (I am so confused today.... as I am most days ;) I hope you all have a good, short, 4-day week!

Told ya....

2011-07-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

I am barely making it before Independence Day... but here are the pics from Memorial Day :) We have our annual church picnic at Simmons Park every year on Memorial Day. It is now the only day out of the year that I attempt to play volleyball and softball (which I didn't play... or did I.... I really can't remember... how sad!!)

The grillmaster

He actually did really well...

Oh the joys of motherhood....

2011-06-29T07:16:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Jordan and Tallie's wedding. We love ALL of the Harkins kids and have now witnessed all 4 of them as they began their wedded lives. I had everyone ready- all in pink because I like to match (and the smart thing is... everyone wears the same colors.... you have fewer loads of laundry.... my free tip of the day) We find the place (think over the river... or lake... and through the woods... and down a creepy gravel road...) We unload everyone about 15 minutes before the wedding begins. We walk up the gravel road and up a hill of grass... in heels... well- me in heels... jd left his at home ;) and the sweating begins! It was HOT! Like the kind of hot that makes you feel faint kind of hot. This is where my fun begins....

Kaden (in his cute pink polo and linen pants) has a diaper mishap about 2 minutes before the ceremony begins (I am talking- pee down to his shoes) So- he, Kyle and myself go hiking back to the car to get changed. JD and I decided they would be fine in the car watching a movie because at this point I missed the first 10 minutes anyway- I buckled the boys in (Kaylee WAS NOT about to miss seeing a bride- she is wedding obsessed!) threatened Kyle's life if he dare got out of his seat for any reason- turned their movie on and walked back to see the rest of the wedding. I topped the hill and grabbed a fan to attempt to cool off (the sweat had taken over- I am very hot natured and at this point I was about to collapse) and caught the beginning of the exchanging of the vows. I stood there alone (as in- no kids pulling on me) and listened and fanned.... when I hear someone holler "MOMMA" and I froze thinking "You have GOT to be kidding me!" I turned and politely walked as fast as I could before a scene was made... and he screams again "MOMMA, I neeeeed you" (before you flip out thinking the car is being stolen... this wasn't a scared cry or a hurt cry I was hearing from my child... it was the cry like "I need toilet paper" cry... and I was about to die!) I look to see Kyle hanging out the window of my car (where he is still buckled in his seat) and he says "You have to push play so our movie will come on!" And what could I say... he was just minding for once in his little life.....

And I said "Forget it" and sat in the car until the wedding was over. Yep..... we were there.... I know a few saw us..... even if it wasn't the bride and groom!!!

Next time I take 3 kids to a wedding that is outdoors at the end of June..... it won't happen....... maybe when they are teens.... but even then I will really have to think about it....

And this is how cute they looked before we left..... it didn't last but that is what deceiving pictures are for!

There you have it. Once again- a very real, true, raw moment in the life of Drea..... never a dull moment... never ever never ever never.....

In our hearts forever...

2011-06-27T06:45:00.000-07:00

It is still unreal to think that Bro Dennis McAnnally will no longer be here. He was such a good man. I never heard him say anything that wasn't kind. He was so good to JD and I- he just encouraged us along. He will always have a special place in my heart because he played a special part in the night I made it right with the Lord. It was Friday night of Skyline's revival. The air conditioning had been broken most of the week- and it was the 1st week in June - so to say it was hot would be an understatement! Bro David had worked with the lost all week and was give out (he had to be give out... he was sitting on a bench and I rarely knew of him doing that during alter call before his health declined) Bro Dennis said the Lord spoke to him and told him to tell Bro David to go pray for me because I was going to make it. Bro Dennis did just that- he told Bro David "I believe if you would go help her, she will make it" Bro David came to my side and said "Look around at all these people praying for you (I still hear it ringing in my ears) They believe you can make it!" and he turned to catch Bro Eddie Arnold walking away and he said " He was going to sit down but I think he will stay if you will believe the Lord..... Are you going to believe Him?" and my reply "I will try" ..... and two minutes later I did........ Praise the Lord I did! The first person I caught around the neck on my way up from the floor- Sis Lillian Stephens. It is unreal to think that 16 years later- 4 of the people who played a big role in the night I made it have all passed away. I guess that is why they call it "Precious Memories".

OK...back track post #1....

2011-06-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

Hmmm.... I think it is pitiful that I am this far out of whack..... but oh welll.....

Kaylee successfully passed 2nd grade! She made All "A" honor roll all year! She is a smarty pants (in more ways than one ;) I love that I can send her to school without a worry that she will act and perform to the best of her ability. (ummmm... Kyle on the other hand......) Her teacher told Stacie earlier this year that Kaylee was the perfect student... except that she is so SLOW! Stacie's reply "Have you ever met her daddy?"

We are very proud of our now 3rd grader (gasp..3rd grade....where's the warning sign that kids grow up like a flash of lightening... BOOM... your little 5 pound baby is in 3rd grade and it is almost instantly!)

I helped with Field Day activities also... we were given 2 beach balls and a cd player and told to be creative...lucky for me there were other moms there that were creative.... I just stood there and blocked kids from walking through a fire ant bed!

Kaylee's bff Katie Jo

Kyle was showing off his break-dancing moves! He is a MESS!

And Kaden is still Kaden.... more attached to his pacifier than ever (he is the huge kid with paci in his mouth and dragging a blanket... I am SURE I said my kids wouldn't do this.... I have ate those words on more than one occasion!) He has no interest in potty training (nor do I...) He has decided he loves his daddy (almost) as much as me. He is also Mr. Meany lately.... terrible twos are definitely working on him!

Next post.... Memorial Day..... hopefully before the 4th of July ;)

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!

Ain't that what its all about......

2011-06-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

Here I am again.... I won't say (blah blah blah) about neglecting my blog because obviously busy summers and blogging aren't a good combo. I will do it when I can- spare time these days is almost unheard of...

Revival was great! We had 4 new souls delivered by God's grace. (One made it Wednesday before revival so he counts too :) We enjoyed being with Bro Jimmy and Sis Tawana and Bro Edwin and Sis Dean. They are some of the most precious people (and SO funny too!) I hope they left us as blessed as we were to have them.

I worked super hard to get my house together and had NO visitors come home with me (uh-hum.... LACEY!) We live in too far away from church..... and it makes me want to move ..... I love having company! We did have the Hill's and the Gaines' over- 6 adults and 11 kids..... so that was some good entertainment :) Who would have thought 10 years ago that we would have 10 kids between us all ! (it was 11 because Heather brought extras... you know... she doesn't have enough of her own so she borrows other children every now and again :)

And Happy belated Fathers day to my husband and my daddy. They really are two of the best dad's I know.
(Funny kid story) Kyle was all sad Saturday night because he didn't think we had a gift for JD to open for Father's Day. Well, JD knew I had bought him some cologne and I told him I was going to wrap it and let it be from the kids- so he told Kyle "Go ask Mom if she has me a present" Here comes Kyle in the room with me and I handed him the already wrapped box and told him what it was. He was so excited, he took it straight to JD and said "She did get you a present" JD asked him" Can you tell me what it is?" and Kyle said "No, but all I can tell you is that it smells real good!" JD busted out laughing! Kyle IS NOT the secret keeper!

Today is catch up day.... catch up blogging, laundry, bills, cleaning.... I wish sleeping but I have slept late 2 days in a row and it is not for me..... and notice blogging is first because it is the easiest on my list!

***I have loads of pics from Kaylee's awards day/field day and from Memorial Day... but I don't have time to wait on them to upload... so I am going to part once again saying that I will back-track and catch up... don't hold your breath on when that is going to happen!

Happy Monday! If any of you have nothing to do today, you can drive ALL the way to my house and I will have something for you to do I promise!

Making preparations.....

2011-06-07T06:19:00.000-07:00

Here I go again! I have had all year to get things ready for revival and what have I been doing.... tearing the house apart more than putting it together! I have trim, boards, blocks and misc. tools all outside on my carport- I am still missing some quarter trim in my bathroom- my painting just isn't going to happen before next week (though I did complete my to-do task of painting my front porch railings yesterday- finally- bye bye country blue hand rails!!! ) My mom is coming to help me out today. She is bringing me a pressure washer and watching the kids while I attempt to get this house looking good! I am saving the inside of the house for the end of the week- 3 kids+too hot to play outside= sticky floors and lots of messes. It is Tuesday and I feel like it is Friday and I am out of time!

I love revival. It is a great time to get together (though I know they say it isn't for visiting- I cannot help myself!) I am hoping that great things happen. I know so many that are in need of what is being offered from the Lord- maybe they will take Him up on it!

And to answer Steph and Nicole :) I am torn on what was wrong with me- Norma declares gallstones- my neighbor says kidney- whichever it was I hope I never have to find out because that was a little too intense of pain for me!! I am well now and that is how I intend on keeping it! (This is not making me look forward to my thirties what-so-ever!)

So- that is my boredom coffee time for the day. My kids have actually slept til 9-ish instead of 7-ish so I get some me-time before the madness begins (well.... except for JD saying "Wheres my socks? Have you fixed my coffee? What do you have I can take with me because I am in a major hurry???" He must not can read the "Leave me alone and be quiet or I will hurt you" sign on my shirt.... :)

Happy Tuesday! This ones for you Marty :)

One minute everything is A-OK....

2011-06-04T07:20:00.000-07:00

The next it can be totally different! We went to New Market to church last night- just as we had planned to all week. I had gotten everyone ready in fairly fashionable timing- all seemed well. I told JD as we were walking out that I had a pain in my back that wasn't my normal "getting kids in and out of tub and dressed" back pain- this pain was weird. I got to church and felt fine- thought nothing more of it..... until about 12 last night when it came back and sent me crawling on all fours and crying in pain. It was under my right rib cage and cutting off my breath- JD was terrified as was I - I had never hurt like that in my life!! He wanted to call an ambulance but 2 of 3 of my kids were asleep and I knew it would scare them half to death and I just didn't want to deal with that. I couldn't get relief enough to even ride in the car to the hospital. So JD finally convinced me that my options were running out and he was calling people to pray for me. The first few that got here decided to go ahead and pray while we waited on the others to get her because I was for real in need of some immediate help. They must have been on the top- because by the time everyone else arrived- I was better! The pain just left! I can still feel a little twinge there- but that horrible pain I was having left and I know the Lord did it!!! I am thankful first and formost that I have Him to call on and secondly- for my church family whom are always there in my time of need! They didn't mind dragging their poor kids up and coming to my rescue at 1am in the morning.... even though I was better by the time half of them got here!

So Praise the Lord again... Looking out for me at all hours! How He has time for all of yall when He has to deal with me I will never know :)

Sweeet Summer....

2011-06-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

OK.... this is getting a bit rediculous! I know I stay on the go and all that.... but not having a minute in TWO weeks to tell you about it- well- that is for the birds! (though I did attempt a post last week and blogger was being super-stupid and wouldn't let me get to my dashboard and by the time I got logged in I had used up all my spare time and was no longer in the blogging mood :) Anywho..... Alot has happened since the last post.... So I will time-line you in pictures....

Praise the Jesus I got my new carpet and vinyl put in! LOVE LOVE LOVE it! One on One Flooring is the best if you need any type of flooring- call them and they will take care of you!! (Hazel Green, AL - google them :) I have waited 5 long years for my floors to be all pretty and now they are (minus the fact that they need some attention now- but I am blogging.... priorites people!)
***Kaden was sitting on Kaylee's lounge chair from her doll house while I ironed clothes- but you can see my new bathroom floor too****

Kyle graduated Kindergarten (If I were normal I would have cried... but I am not and I didn't though it was sad!) They sang cute songs and he couldn't hardly pay attention for waving to all of us on the bleachers. I will admit- his ADD comes from me- we have a hard time staying focused on one subject or task- we are just all over the place!

JD turned 31. I bought him a new TV for our bedroom to replace the 1 ton monster-vision we had in there. He was in a old-person mood all day- he has yet to realize that birthdays are NOT the same now as when we were 11! We had a birthday/graduation celebration at Chad and Em's.

Yes- All 3- same day! I was more than exhausted after that!

We did the 13243214 graduation things that weekend. NOTE: I went to all of them- this shall be remembered in 10 years when my kids start graduating ;)

I went to Rocky Branch twice- two days in a row (and then went for the third time this past Saturday for the fun-so-hot-you-want-to-die-out door singing) Oh yes- yall owe me a visit to Huntsville- and you all will need to testify and everything (you know who I am talking to :) And don't be chickens and send your husbands alone..... I know where you live!

We had another storm blow over our house last Wednesday night (actually the wee hours of Thursday morning) and it threw our trampoline into the tree and our carport and it broke the swingset into two pieces (yep- the swingset that I put blood sweat and tears into last July... 10 short months ago...though it is petty to what damage others recieved- it was still very upsetting to this momma!) What a way to start off summer- with both of the main sources of outdoor entertainment for my kids blown away...... not cool...... not cool at all!!

There are a few more things in between then and now but I will get to those next time. I have to get things rolling here because I have 2 of 3 little ones begging and pleading to go to the pool.... and since the heat index is 100.....I think I will give and go (whew- that was a hard choice... stay here or go swimming... such a toss up ;)

Stay cool..... and pray for our revivial that is starting 2nd weekend (yikes!) Happy Wednesday!

On the road again...

2011-05-16T07:14:00.000-07:00

I am here! I don't know how many times I have started to post but get distracted and run out of time (can you believe it- ME distracted... in all this peace and quiet?!?) So here is the down-low.... my house is in complete destruction mode! Could someone please tell me why you didn't chime in and say "Hey Drea- you might want to think hard about getting all that work done in your house because the mess that comes along with it will take over your entire LIFE!". I would have appreciated more of a heads up! I have a living full of toys and bedroom furniture- I keep uncovering things that need fixed.... on top of all the visible things that need fixed.... - and though I have stressed how unorganized I am, this craziness is more than even I can handle..... Kaylee is going to need therapy if she has to sleep on a mattress in the floor too much longer and Kyle can't for the life of him figure out why I want to change everything (his father's child... change is too much for their OCD ways of doing things) Kaden- well- he is just proud to be here! He walks around singing and chattering and asking me "What u doin Mom Mom?" and "Why?".

We have a C-R-A-Z-Y busy week! Tomorrow we get our new floors , tomorrow night Kyle graduates kindergarten (And it is JD's birthday) Work Thursday. Grad party at church Friday. Luke graduates Saturday. We have yet another grad party to go to Saturday afternoon. Sunday- church pictures (hopefully better than the one from when I was a kid :) Sunday evening- yep- ANOTHER grad party. Monday- field day at school. Monday night- Seth graduates. Thursday- Kaylee's awards day and Praise the Lord- No More School!!!!

And a picture re-cap from the madness of the power outage to Mother's Day.....

And a picture re-cap from the madness of the power outage to Mother's Day.....

Blessed be the Name....

2011-05-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

Wow... who knew that 2 weeks ago we were all celebrating Easter- welcoming spring- enjoying the sunshine and beautiful weather.... who knew that in 2 weeks our part of this great big world would turn in to what looks like a war zone. I sure didn't- as a matter of fact I was clueless as to just how bad the weather could get and just how quickly our fast-paced, busy appointment filled lives could be stopped- instantly stopped. I will be completely honest- I was one of those "why are you calling me 20 times to tell me to watch the weather when all it is doing is raining?" people until last week.... the thought of thunder right now makes my insides shake.

I first want to say I am thankful the Lord watched over all of us. There were so many lives affected in such a devastating way. I am thankful, humbled and extremely grateful that we came through it safely. I will never forget the pain, loss and tragic circumstances that this stormy April 27th brought through North Alabama.

I traveled through Huntland, TN yesterday- which is approximately 10-15 miles from my home- and I was stunned to see the damage from a tornado- especially since the path of that tornado came extremely close to my house... my house where I was home alone with 4 small kids and no power and no cell phone reception.... I didn't know it had gotten so bad until it was all over with! (That is when the first round of storms hit... I was prepared and safely in Granny's basement when the second round came through)

We pioneered through the power outage for 2 days before we headed to the Smoky Mtns. for hot food and hot showers and a washing machine. (well... we had plenty of hot food... we made everything on the gas grill.... sausage balls, cookies, boiled water for oatmeal....but the hot shower was worth the 4 hour drive :)
We made it back to Scottsboro on Sunday and stayed there until our power was restored around 2 pm Tuesday afternoon. ( Thanks Dusty.... even though I was one of the last to get my power... I thought you would have told them my elite status and they could have made New Market top priority lol)

When I made it home Tuesday night, I was not worried that we had nothing in our fridge, I had loads of clothing to wash-fold-& put away, I didn't mind getting up Wednesday and doing my normal cleaning routine... I actually was thanking the Lord as I mopped that I had floors to mop and that I had a house to clean... I felt guilty as I folded the mounds of laundry because there were so many left with only the shirts on their backs.....

My prayers have been for the Lord to comfort those affected- touch them as they mourn the loss of loved ones- provide every need to those who lost it all- to help the lives as they were restored into a new "normal"... my heart has ached for the ones whose lives were forever changed. It just leaves me breathless to even try to take it all in.... it is just being my comprehension...

The Lord giveth, He taketh away, Blessed be the name of the Lord

I cant post from my phone but we are ok.

2011-05-01T15:14:00.000-07:00

Easter 2011....

2011-04-26T09:58:00.000-07:00

You know it has been madness....

2011-04-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

When I go an entire week without posting! Here are some highlights....

Monday- Happy Birthday Kaden! Kyle must have gotten so excited that he barfed...
literally.... yes.... stomach virus in the Cantrell house.... it was FANTASTIC! We postponed
Kaden's birthday supper we had planned and we improvised... 2 candles in an Easter Debbie cake...
JD said "He is definitely the third child" Granny brought him a happy meal and Granna brought him presents
so it was all good.

Dee called me that night to tell me my daddy was real bad- as in so bad he could not get up off the couch
or pick up a cup to get a drink. We did get him to the hospital Wednesday night after much persuasion and the Lord made a way. That is a testimony I will save for later.

Thursday JD's dad brought Kaden his birthday presents and he brought Kaylee and Kyle a surprise too. The kids had a good time playing outside with him- and of course they loved the gifts :) Kaden was reading the book that he got him... in his own language of course!

Friday I made mad dash to get Easter stuff ready (because Easter was later than ever and I still let it slip up on me) Got it all done.... oh except for the incident with Kaden's birthday cake- it accidentally got thrown away because of some miscommunication with Costco bakery employees... but they made me another one while I waited... ) Friday night- had Kaden's birthday supper- he had fun and I am still not sure he got the point that it was HIS birthday... he sang to himself :)

Granna brought Easter baskets for everyone. This was Karsyn's first trip to our house.

and everyone colored eggs while they were here (can you say VERY action packed night!)

Saturday we let the kids play outside a little too long without sunscreen... OUCH... but they had fun and wasn't near as bothered by their sunburns as Granna and Granny were.... :) Took the kids to see Daddy because Kaylee was worried to death about him. They (he and the kids) all enjoyed the visit- especially when Daddy started handing out Reese's cups to the kids whom were all ready for church :)

Kaden fell asleep in the tub when we were getting ready ..see the sunburn... ;(

Sunday we celebrated Easter all day! Got up early , got ready early , did a photo shoot before church, thought we were leaving in time to do pics at church before service started... ummmm... NOT.... flat tire on the Expedition sent us scrambling with carseats and cleaning out JD's Honda to make it JUST in time for church.... Did I expect anything different? No, not really! Getting ready early in this house always has disaster written all over it! I will do an Easter post next... too many pics to add to this crazy post....

Sunday night Mrs. Karsyn made her debut at church! I got a pic on my phone but learning how to get it from my phone to this computer isn't something I see happening. She looked gorgeous :) I did get one before church...

Yesterday I thought I was cleaning houses I had to skip last week but as I headed out to do so I got the call that Dad was being discharged from the hospital so I headed out there to help with all of that. PRECIOUS PRECIOUS Dee and Rod are letting him stay with them while he recovers. I can't say enough about how good they are..... (I would have brought him with me but my steps going into my house just aren't possible for a person who can barely walk) Thank the Good Lord in Heaven above that Daddy is doing alot better! I appreciate every prayer!

Today..... hopefully tackling the tornado of a house I am sitting in at the moment and tending to two little ones in the middle of it all.

And now when you see me and I have grey hair and worry lines- you will know why (and it won't be because I am old because I am 29 FOREVER :)
Happy Tuesday :)

Happy Birthday Kaden!

2011-04-17T22:14:00.000-07:00

a few hours early! My baby is 2 today (the 18th). He says he isn't... but he says no to everything you ask him. (ex. Kaden- do want to go to Disney World? "No"... Do you want a new swimming pool? "no") Lil Ollie had a blast with this when we were in the barber shop last week. He was asking him all kinds of questions just so Kaden would frown his eyebrows at him and say "No".

I have a small family supper planned with a cake and some red plates... but that is the extent of our partying. I know- sad- but I have learned from the other two that going all out on a birthday bash is soon to come when he will actually have a request of Chuck E Cheese (uuugggghhhh- I don't like that place AT ALL) so simple family parties will end soon enough! (and parties mean presents- presents mean more toys- more toys make this momma want to vomit... I am definitely cool with the NO GIFTS rule- but the kids never seem to appreciate that one.)

Any who.... Happy birthday to the little man that came along just at the right time. The Lord knows what we need and when we need it. I was always planning to have 3 kids- but Kaden came into the plan a little sooner than we anticipated. After the death of Bro David (which came alot quicker than we thought) I could see Gods plan in action in our lives once again. 11 days after he passed- the Lord blessed us with another gift from Heaven :) We are so thankful for him (Kaden) and for HIM! This little boy has made life worth living (as have the other two babies we have) He is a mess and can be as unfriendly as any child you have ever seen.... but if you catch him in his good mood- he can carry on a big conversation that you only catch 2 or 3 words out of. He is a chatter box! He calls me Mom-Mom for whatever reason. He calls Granny "Manny" and Granna "Manna". He asks you at least 50 times a day "What u doing?" and "Wheres Kyle?"
He laughs the best belly-chuckle-laugh EVER! He is 35 pounds of a big-ol-mommas-boy. He still takes a paci and has to have his blanket to rub on. (I have no will power on taking them from him yet and an older sister told me the other day that she didn't blame me. She said "I have never seen a 30 year old man walking around with a paci or a bottle so let them have it if they want it- it is not hurting anything!) He is my baby- I think that is why I let him be a baby. And JD is his daddy- chances are he will be a big baby forever anyway ;) j/k.... well.... kind of....

I must go do more laundry before I crash for the night. My house is in total shambles and I have company coming- Cinderella wasn't available so I guess I get to do it all by myself.... blahhhhh!

Easter Egg Hunt....

2011-04-11T05:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday was our church Easter egg hunt. It was so pretty outside (kinda hot- but anything is better than the rain we have had as of lately) I guesstimated about 50 or so kids were there- it was crazy but they had a blast. ~With the exception of the poor Gaines children because their momma thought it started at 1 instead of 11.... that was sad.... and we all laughed about it because it was Heather and that is just how things go when you are a mother of 4 (after knowing what 3 has done to my brain- I am proud Heather is still able to get dressed.... which she does well except for the shoes part LOL!!! I love you HG!!!)~

Here's some pics....

ok- I think that was enough pics! You probably feel like you were there now :)

And they smile....

2011-04-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

You practice and practice... trying to get 3 kids to look at the camEra and smile or remotely even smirk or look happy.... and finally.... you (almost) accomplish it...

OK- Kaden wasn't smiling nor was he smirking- but he was looking at me and not screaming his head off- so we will take what we can get :) And I managed a few individual shots....

It was a good thing I got that last one of Kaylee because she decided today while getting her hair cut that she wanted it to her shoulders (which it is still not hardly to her shoulders but I couldn't bear it to be any shorter)

(And the JB posters are BEHIND and on the back of her bedroom door... she would have the walls covered if I would let her!)

Greys and Private Practice were reruns tonight and JD says he isn't watching AI for the rest of the season because Pia got voted off... so I decided to blog... and eat a batch of the $30 worth of cookie dough I purchased so my kids could have a party at school (uggghhhhh.... I detest fundraisers- especially ones that are going to make me fatter!) Choc. Chip, Peanut Butter and White Choc. Macadamia Nut- my goal of losing 15 lbs. before revival is never going to met at this point... not that it matters..... I never met it last year before revival either.... these 15 lbs have grown rather attached to me and haven't felt the need to move on to some random skinny girl that needs them!!!

Tomorrow I plan to shop- all day- just me and baby K- but I first have to tear the house apart looking for my missing Gymbucks (grrrr- remember my UNorganized self- she sticks things in random places and can't remember where!) Gymboree owes me more than Gymbucks as much as I buy from there!!! I need stock in it!

Happy beginning-Spring-Break-plus-egg hunt-and- regular meeting- weekend! On your mark- get set- GO!

They did it....

2011-04-05T04:45:00.001-07:00

Joe David and Dustin got to mark off one thing on their "Things to do before I die" list....
they sang with the Isaacs! They have prayed and practiced and prayed some more before this singing and I personally think it paid off (OK Cassie... I know yall only practiced twice.... but that is a record lol) With TWO new babies on the way, life was a little chaotic and the timing wasn't perfect- but it all went as well as it could (minus Chad getting locked out of his house while his wife and new baby were at the hospital and him having to turn in on two wheels to make it to the singing...... he deserves an award of some sort.... he made a big sacrifice to be there)

And you guessed it.... I got pictures! My camera lens almost couldn't get all the big heads in the pictures- but I got some pretty good shots :)

The Fan Club....

Bro Danny did a great job as MC.

Chad on the piano.

Dustin on the drums.

JD, Erica and Cassie doing the singing....

and Justin singing and Dustin Mc on the bass....

The Isaacs along with New Harmony (pardon JD's big grin- he was about to faint at this point!)

I got you too Dusty....

And afterwards at 50 Taters....

OK- I have alot more but I am maxed out on the pictures for today. Melissa and myself were there and some how I didn't manage to get a pic with either of us in it! Go figure!

For the record- until I came along- JD wasn't even a fan of the Isaacs. I had to make him set through many car rides with my cd's playing "Reaping in the Spirit" and "He Understands My Tears" before he finally figured out that they are not just bluegrass.... they are awesome!!! He didn't venture much past Michael English and Jason Crabb before I came along:)

Karsyn part two.....

2011-04-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

She is so great she earns two posts :)

All dressed up!

We got to see her again right before she left to go home. She is doing great and Emily is too.
We are all so thankful for a healthy, beautiful addition to the family. (especially Granny {in regards to her grands and great grands}.... she says she hasn't had an ugly one yet :)

She is Here!!!

2011-03-31T19:57:00.000-07:00

She arrived today at 2:23pm. 7 pounds 2 ounces, 18 inches long and BEAUTIFUL! She has the prettiest hair and the longest eyelashes!
This was her about 1 hour old....

Momma, Daddy and Baby are doing great.... just really worn out.

Finish line....

2011-03-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

Here it goes.... the final 5 photos...

Day twenty-six: a picture of something that means a lot to you.
OK- I have posted this pic once because of the floors- but those 3 pics in the background- those are my kids 1 year portraits and should my house ever burn down- those will be on the top of my things to grab list (but not before the real kids themselves... or JD... but next)

Day twenty-seven: a picture of yourself and a family member.
Juliah Dee and I - she is like my little sister. I love her to pieces :)

Day twenty-eight: a picture of something you're afraid of.
Life's uncertainty..... you can't picture it and that is the scary part....

Day twenty-nine: a picture that can always make you smile.
This is one of thousands (literally) of my kids and their personalities....I LOVE IT!!!

Day thirty: a picture of someone you miss.
Brother David- we all miss him terribly.

Glory, Glory I am finished!!!

Pray for Chad and Emily- they are waiting at hospital to be admitted. Ms. Karsyn will be here (hopefully) some time tomorrow.
(and I confess that I did this tonight so I could have a Karsyn only post tomorrow :)

25....

2011-03-29T06:52:00.001-07:00

A picture of my day....

depends on which day you are asking...
Sunday is usually church- this past Sunday we sang (ok- NH sang- I clapped ;)
at Mrs. Amy's church. Such a sweet congregation. We love the Johnson's!

Monday- catch up on reading the Sunday paper because we aren't home to read it when we get it...

Tuesday- get some play time outside because we don't have to get ready to go anywhere...

Wednesday- get everybody ready for church super early so we can meet Granny, Granna and Daddy in town to eat supper before church....

Thursday- TV night- everyone gets bathed and ready for bed earlier than usual because it is Mom's night to watch Grey's and Private Practice (it is Nick Jr and Disney every other night)...and yes Kaden plays church in the bathtub.....

Friday- singing or hanging at home because we don't have a singing and no one wants to get ready to go anywhere.... see above pictures....

Saturday- who knows.... this one varies week to week.... this Saturday consists of me doing a walk for MS in honor of Becky (Marquetta's bff) Kaylee has a b-day party , I need to find the boys Easter outfits..... then getting ready for church...... then stopping by to squeeze Ms. Karsyn because she should be home by then..... whew....... and before I finished this post my Mom informed me that it is both of my nephew's birthday party....
whew again....

Days 20-24.....

2011-03-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

Whew- this is taking FO-EV-A !!! And I am not doing pictures because these were more easily answered with words.

Day twenty: a picture of somewhere you'd love to travel.
Up the East Coast- Rhode Island, Maine, New York (not so much the city as the shore
line)

Day twenty-one: a picture of something you wish you could forget.
HA! I can't remember yesterday hardly - so most things that I wanted to leave my memory
have already done so by default..... I have a TERRIBLE memory! I have considered taking
herbs for it because I know this can't be normal at 29!

Day twenty-two: a picture of something you wish you were better at.
You can't take of picture of it- but I really wish I was patient. I am NOT in the least.
This is one of my biggest faults!

Day twenty-three: a picture of your favorite book.
I will put the Bible here- not that I read it often at all- but I know it has all the answers. ( I feel like these questions are my confessions.... first no patience and now I don't read the Bible!)

Day twenty-four: a picture of something you wish you could change.
I would change the carpet and bathroom flooring if I could snap my fingers and it be finished without me having to semi-move out of my house!!

Six more questions and I will have finished this thing..... hmmmmmm..... guess my "non-patient-self" is showing through on this too.......

Different perspective.....

2011-03-27T07:19:00.000-07:00

You know you can come across one little line that can change the way you think about things- well I did that this morning while doing my "be real quiet and enjoy my coffee before the sleepyheads wake up" moment. A friend of mine had written a line- one line- saying that she had to leave work to go home to take care of her sick 4 year old all night and she was sitting by her side to make sure she was better- And that was one of her favorite things about being a mom. I have spent countless times over the past few months thinking "Not again, please don't be sick AGAIN" Being annoyed at germ spreaders- having cabin fever like no other- thinking I may likely kill over if one more person coughed in my face or wiped their nose across my clean shirt. I do LOVE being my kids caretaker and I LOVE even more that they want me to be there- this just said "Hey Drea- quit whining- you GET to do this- it is a privilege that I gave you (and must have thought you were doing OK because I trusted you 3 times) Am I saying I want the flu, stomach virus and RSV over again so that I won't complain this time? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I am just making note of this so that I approach it with a different attitude next time. And maybe next time will be 10 years from now :)

And now for updating- as you have seen in the other posts- we did complete the hardwood floors (with a slight set back from the top of the hot water heater being knocked off....no time for all that) We still have many many repairs to be done- but that was hopefully the biggest and hardest because JD and I almost didn't physically survive that one. Poor Tim- we owe him BIG TIME!

We are all sitting on ready waiting for baby Karsyn to get here! She should be here some time between now and next Wed/Thursday. Kaylee is ecstatic that there is another girl joining the family (Cantrell/ Jones family- Lord knows my family is blessed with girls!) Please pray for Momma and baby (and Daddy because his nerves just might get the best of him on this one!)

My three amigos are doing great. Kaden will be turning 2 in just a couple of weeks(tear*) and I can tell it- he was throwing himself down on the floor last night because he couldn't get Kyle's shoes to stay on his feet :) Kyle got the Good Citizenship Award at school because he is a sweety pie! (and he has went 2 weeks without a major injury knock on wood) Kaylee is still on All A's Honor Roll and has decided that Will (in her class) is no longer gross.... and she turned down Sam's offer to marry him- or date him.... I can't keep up!

Kaden decided that Allie and Brody weren't going riding without him so he squeezed himself in!

Look at this- I found out that if my kids look all dirty and mis-matched that they will smile and act good for a picture......

Day 19.....

2011-03-23T06:34:00.001-07:00

a picture of you when you were little....

I decided to do a collage on this one just so I could have some of these pics on my computer.... you will laugh and I do understand!!

6 months old

2 years old with my sisters (Danielle was 4, Candace about 5 months or so) My mom had 3 kids in 4 years.... she earned her crazy FOR SURE!!

Headstart (Pre-k) 4 years old and sleepy faced

uggggghhhh..... this is why I don't do church pictures...... how terrible are those bangs! Or are those even considered bangs???? 80's gone terribly wrong!!

JD and I at his senior prom. Looking at this makes me realize we are getting middle aged!!!!

This is one post I could have worked on all day! Notice I skipped ages 9-13.... those pics are for my memories only.... they are WAY worse than these!! Imagine
(if you can) bad home perms, really short hair with some type of rat-tail, growing out the home perms, and trying to "become myself"...... mercy, mercy, mercy....

Days 12-18

2011-03-22T06:11:00.001-07:00

OK- I really am trying to get this over with....

Day 12- something you love- I am going material on this one.....

I LOVE my new floors- LOVE- walk around on them just to feel them under my feet and
to Thank the Heavens that the old carpet/vinyl is gone....

Day 13 a pic of your fave band or artist...

The Isaacs

Day 14 someone you could never imagine your life without....

My little family the Lord gave me. JD is very included in this- but you have already seen a picture of him :)

Day 15 something you want to do before you die.....
Have everything paid for. I don't have a picture of that..... but the one in
my head is NICE :)

Day 16 a picture of someone who inspires you.....
Sis Lillian Stephens. I don't have a picture of her that I know of but I credit her
to alot of my spiritual upbringing.

Day 17 a picture of something that has made a big impact on your life.....
The Lord- he wasn't available for a picture today :) He is what and why I am who and
what I am. If you don't know Him- I suggest you make a "friend request" to Him because you don't know what you are missing.

Day 18 a picture of your biggest insecurity....

I feel certain this is on the top of every woman's list!
***Sis Sherrill pointed something out to me..... this is NOT me on these scales!! bahahaha I only WISH that was what the scales said when I stood on them! I googled a picture of scales and this came up- I never thought about it!***** I did get a good laugh though!

I am stopping here for now....... plan to finish this ASAP though....

Day 10 and 11....

2011-03-21T17:11:00.000-07:00

because I am behind (& really thinking I will never make it to the 30 day mark)

Pic of the person you do the most messed up things with....
SKIP

Pic of something you hate.....

Dirty dishes. Dirty Sheets and Dirty floors are also included in this catagory.

Ooooooo- I am so excited about the #12....

Just a blog....

2011-03-18T06:35:00.001-07:00

I am doing a "not 30 pictures" day post today. I will never get you caught up on what we are up to if I wait 30 days and I would HATE for you to miss that ;)

We have started the madness at this house- REMODELING! At the moment I have about 20-something boxes of hardwood sitting in my living room. I have 4 gallons of paint in my kitchen along with a bag full of misc. supplies. I finally finished my front door yesterday (and when I typed this I remembered I didn't paint it down the side because I had to close it so it really isn't finished..... grrrr) I have 2 new lights in my kitchen. And I have so much more to do it ain't even funny! We are doing everything that I have wanted done for 5 years- and even though I have a sense of "we are doing this for SOMEBODY ELSE" I am still thrilled to see it finished. (JD was thrilled until he saw how rapidly the money was being spent.... the thrill left him and was replaced with a nervous twitch :)-

The kids are great! Kaylee and Kaden are in a race to see who grows the fastest- good thing it warmed up because they are busting at the seams in their winter clothes. I had a dress that I put up for next year because it was so big on Kaylee (even the sleeves were too long) and I just happened to think of this growth spurt and let her try it on.... it fits.... and would have been too short for next winter!
Kaden wore a pair of shorts yesterday that Kyle could still wear LAST YEAR! (Kyle will be 6 in a few months- Kaden turns 2 next month) And Kyle- well- he can actually wear some size 5's now! The doctor even commented that Kyle should be really nice to Kaden because it isn't going to be long until Kaden is the "bigger" brother!

I am off to the big city of Scottsboro today to eat for Juliah's birthday. She is precious and I hope she has a good time. She is so busy with school, etc. that we don't get to see her much. I stay on the look-out for a her a boyfriend and have YET to find someone whom I think is worthy of her. If you have a resume of any potential guys- you may run them by me for approval ;)

Happy gorgeous Friday! I hope we all get to run around in the sunshine! (I actually took the kids dirt-bike for a run yesterday.... ummmm..... Kyle must have gotten his riding skills from me...... that was scary!)

We had a "new spring outfit" photo shoot. You can only imagine how well these kids cooperated..... if I could only learn how to USE photoshop I could transfer heads and make it appear that my darling children all looked at the camera and smiled at the same time!!!
One of the better ones.....

How the rest of them turned out.....

Day Nine.....

2011-03-17T16:05:00.001-07:00

A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most....

JD wins this one. The longer we are married the more I understand when you unite in matrimony as one- that really is what it is. When I am upset, hurt, disappointed- he is too and vice versa. If he has a bad day- he can walk by me and without saying a word I can usually sum up how his day has went. We basically grew up together- some days it is very evident that we are still growing :)

Dee, Heather, Holly and Kerri are my runners up :)

Day 8.....

2011-03-16T05:01:00.000-07:00

A picture that makes you laugh.....

You have to know Scott and Josie to appreciate this one. He goes on and on about how loud she is. I laugh every time I come across this one!

Day 7.....

2011-03-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

Technically- I am 6 minutes shy of Tuesday and I don't what time zone this blog is on but it always shows the incorrect time of when I posted to it- but I have a house full of babies tomorrow that will most likely keep me from blogging so I thought I would get a jumpstart on it.

A picture of your most treasured item.....

My wedding set- mainly my engagement ring. Yes, I love it because of the obvious- but it has a very precious memory behind it. Joe David picked this ring out at the jewelry store and called his PawPaw (Bro David) and asked him to go take a look at it and see what he thought about it (and I think to see how much he could get the jeweler talked down on the price). That same day JD got a phone call and it was his PawPaw and he said "I went and looked at your ring", and JD asked, "What do you think?" Bro. David said "I got it!". JD was a little surprised to say the least (scared to death was the thing... looking at a ring and having one in his possession was a totally different thing... he knew it meant there was no going back ;) JD asked me to marry him the next day I think. I always joked that if Bro David hadn't bought my ring (which JD sold alot of insurance and repaid him for it) I may still not be married! I loved that he did that - it was typical Bro David- you never really knew what he was thinking or what his true point was. He and I always had a special bond- I thought the world of him and I know he loved me just like his own grandkids.

I was 14 the first time I walked into Huntsville church with JD , Bro David was shaking hands and greeting everyone as they came in and he took my hand and said "You gonna marry Jabbo?" I turned 50 shades of red and giggled and said "I don't know"..... sometimes I think he already did....

Days 6....

2011-03-14T06:51:00.001-07:00

A person you'd trade places with for a day......

No picture required- I wouldn't do it! I am content with being here and being me and living my life...... and a whole day..... do you know how long it would take me to get caught up if I missed a whole day of MY life..... not worth it I tell you :)

If possible I might wouldd fast forward a month or two until all this work is finished on my house. We are starting a repair/update/clean-up job on our house and this weekend that means tearing out old carpet/vinyl and getting ready for (drum roll please....) HARDWOOD!!!!!!!! Those of you who have had any convo with my regarding my house knows that I have waited almost 5 years for this. I think I will have some type of celebration as we throw out the stained beige carpet and the hunter green tile printed vinyl (I know- GROSS)
I just got one of my two new light fixtures hung in my kitchen this weekend. These are the last two brass lights to be replaced.

And by the time I get it all fixed and pretty and just how I wanted it.... we are going to sell it...... just the way the world turns I reckin'!

Happy Monday!!!

Day 5.....

2011-03-13T19:37:00.002-07:00

Photo of your favorite memory.....

I have many favorite memories- but the day I (finally) got married was definitly one
of the best!

The day I recieved the Holy Ghost, the day I became a momma for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd time, when we moved into our first house, the list goes on and on.... I have been blessed with a life full of favorite memories...... Thank the Lord :)

(I am going to TRY to get some different pics for this thing because so far I am 5 for 5 for re-posting the same pics I have already put on my blog...)

Day 4....

2011-03-12T06:51:00.001-08:00

A picture of your night...

Giving baths, cooking supper, doing timed reading, refereeing fights, cleaning up
messes....

one picture could NOT capture all of that....

and last night I was that crazy lady with a cart full of paint, caulk and light fixtures that had 3 kids playing sword fight/drums with the free paint-stirrers they give you........ I will let you picture that in your head while I try to forget that I was dumb enough to attempt it :)

Day 3.....

2011-03-11T05:48:00.000-08:00

A picture of the cast of your favorite show.....

The Three Stooges...

Just kidding! My fave show is Greys Anatomy but I didn't want to google a pic, copy to my files, put on my blog, then delete from my files...... I am too lazy for all that :)

Day 2-

2011-03-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

A picture of who you have known/been friends with the longest.....

That would be Dee. She has been there for me for everything. Glad days, sad days, mad days- she always listens and sometimes takes my side just because she knows it will make me feel better :) Everybody needs a Dee-Dee in their life!

Here it goes Brandy....

2011-03-09T22:32:00.000-08:00

I have total insomnia from too much coffee, sweet tea and conversations about worries before bed have my mind still running...... so I decided to accept Brandy's tag and do this 30 day picture thing (but it is likely to take me way longer than 30 days) Here it goes

1* My real name is Andrea and very few people actually call me that
2* I have been married to Joe David for 9 years, 3 months and 22 days
3* I have the 3 best kids God ever made
4* I love to vacuum
5* I have 2 sisters and a step-sister that I love just like she is a real one.
6* I have worked in chicken houses, planting/growing/selling mums, delivering newspapers, being a secretary, being an escrow clerk and cleaning houses- yet the best paying job I have ever had is being a Mom!
7* I once turned a cartwheel in my MawMaw's kitchen and had to get stitches from hanging
my pinky toe on the handle of her stove. (and I wonder where Kyle gets it from)
8* I love to laugh.
9* If you come to my house- I usually find something for you to take home with you.
10* I love to blog (duh- I am pretty sure y'all knew this one)
11* We flipped a nickel to decide what to name Kaden. He was almost Kaleb :)
12* Fixing my hair is one of the worst things I have to do (almost) everyday
13* My middle name is Dawn- after my Mom's twin sister (could have been worse- my mom's middle name is FAWN)
14* I have an addiction to Febreeze Noticeables plug-in air fresheners
15* I have been a Child of God for almost 16 years :)

OK- I am still not sleepy- but I have 2 houses to clean in the morning and I don't think 5 hours of sleep is going to keep me running!!

Laughter is the best medicine......

2011-03-07T17:58:00.000-08:00

Kaden decided to crash in the floor while I cooked supper.....

Last night- Kaylee was (against her will) reading Kyle the book "The Invisible Moose" and he kept saying "Cut (as in what the directors yell)- I have to ask you something" and she said (angrily) "You have to wait until I am finished reading!" and he said "I can't help it- I have to talk" and she told him "When you think you are going to talk- just tell yourself not to talk" and he starts chanting in a whisper "Don't talk, don't talk, don't talk" and she lost it and screamed "Say it IN YOUR HEAD!" I had the biggest laugh ever- sitting in the kitchen over-hearing their conversation!!!

Now for the update on us....
We have had a great weekend. Went to church at Skyline Saturday night and had a wonderful supper with Dee and Rod at McD's after church (the food wasn't wonderful- but the company made up for it) We were dismissed for both church services on Sunday and we totally vegged out all day! We all laid around- napping like cats and being as lazy as we could- and it was GREAT!

I made up for lazy today though- I almost had to call in some back up to help me find my way through the house! I got most of it repaired before taking Kaylee and Kyle to the dentist for crowns (yes- two crowns- I offered the lady one of my arms as payment before I left) They did well considering- they both have sore mouths but it must not be too bad because they are still arguing just as much as usual :)
We left there to do a little shopping at Itty Bitty- where Kaylee decided to start her after-Mr.Nose-meltdown. We did manage to get 3 dresses before we dashed to Granny's house. They slept there for 2 hours while I ran back to Costco and Publix (Yes- I went ALONE and I did walk extra slow there for a little bit and enjoyed actually REMEMBERING what I had went in for.... Its the little things :)

Tomorrow I have Ms. Allie and Mr. Chandler- along with Kaden- which is why I am doing a night post- doubt there will be a spare minute in the morning. It is Chandler's first time staying here without his Mommy- we are going to have SO much fun... well.... if you call eating, napping and watching Yo Gabba Gabba and Mickey Mouse all day fun :) The other two haven't complained- or if they have I can't understand a word of it- so its all good!

Oh- did I mention no-one has ran a fever or thrown up or had a major cough in this house for 6 days now- Thank you Lord! We are almost at the 1 week mark- a record for this winter. (and I am SO hoping that I didn't just jinx myself!!)

The Three Amigos ready for bed......

Goodnight bloggy friends :)

Congrats JD....

2011-03-01T19:32:00.000-08:00

Today I got up at 4a.m. to get ready to go to Birmingham to an awards ceremony that- well- wasn't very exciting to say the least.(well.... the human-turkey-call guy was pretty entertaining... ) JD was given an award for finishing in the top 5 in his company. The Lord has blessed him with a great job and I am so thankful that He gave Joe David the ability to be able to do the job. I myself am not a sales-person in any way. We both agree that we couldn't swap jobs if we wanted to! The Lord knows just where to place us and I truly believe that if you sincerely want His will in all things- He will guide your paths.

Against JD's will (believe it or not) I made him have an awards day photo shoot when we got home :) He is my oldest child remember- I have to landmark these moments. (and I don't plan to go to another ceremony unless he gets #1 because after sitting through all that- I didn't even get to pick where we ate lunch!)

So- shout out to Joe David! I am so proud of you. We had a sense of sadness with this today because we knew that Bro David would have been thrilled that JD received this honor. He was, and still is, JD's mentor in his career and in his life as a Child of God.

No, you really don't want to know...

2011-02-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

I will sum up the past weekend/beginning of the week in the Cantrell household.... Stomach virus and RSV...... sound like fun..... no, I didn't think so either.

I am going to get everyone ready for bed- I will be back some time Wednesday- or Thursday......

Now where did I put that straight jacket?????

Thank you one more time....

2011-02-23T20:48:00.000-08:00

The Lord is so busy safe-guarding me and my crew over here in New Market that it really amazes me that he has ANY time left for the rest of you. I feel like he has to say "Hold that thought- Drea's kids have done it AGAIN!"

Yesterday we were having a normal, pretty, Tuesday afternoon. I was on the back steps with the kids and Kyle decided he wanted to ride Kaylee's new electric scooter. (He just found out he could drive it over the weekend but I make him stay in the grass because it isn't as damaging as concrete if he has an accident... or so I thought) I put the scooter in the grass and pointed it towards our HUGE back yard and he took off. In 3 seconds... literally 3 seconds..... I experienced the worst scare in all of my days as a mom. He was going full speed towards the open yard but he cut it too close to the trampoline and the handlebar caught the net bar on the trampoline and it sent the scooter in a flip and it slung my child like a ragdoll into the yard. My first thought was that his arm HAD to be broken.... but then he layed there on the ground LIFELESS- he was not moving at all- face down in the dirt- and I was hysterical (I was on the phone with JD during all of this and he thought Kyle had been hit by a car by how I was reacting.) When I got to him I just knew he was hurt bad..... I grabbed his foot and he looked up at me like "What are you doing?" and just got up like nothing had even happened.He had been knocked out cold. I asked him why he didn't move or answer me and he said his "eyes were sleepy and his arms were tired" Our day of playing outside was OVER. I called the dr's office and asked them what I should do - I had already checked him head to toe and back and found nothing but a slight bump that I still am not sure wasn't there already - other than that- nothing. At this time Kyle was crying because I wouldn't let him back outside to play and RIDE THE SCOOTER! They told me what signs to look for and what protocol to go by but assured me that he more than likely just got his "bell rung". (we were headed to the ER but with him acting, playing, looking 110% normal- the nurses assured me the ER wasn't necessary- so we decided to watch him super close here at home. I would have taken him had I even remotely thought something wasn't right)
We had a very unrestful night of waking up every 1-2 hours to wake him up and letting him go back to sleep.
Whatever it was that happened- I hope to never witness my children, your children, ANYBODYS children do this EVER again as long as I live. I am SO thankful that the Lord watched over my precious boy yet again. It seems if you have more than one child you always have that one that gets hurt no matter what... that is my Kyle.... he is the stunt devil of the bunch and at almost any given time he has more bumps and bruises than he or I can account for.

He got a "stay-home-with-Mom" pass from school today. He was sore all over when he got up this morning- he hurt from his hand all the way to his ankle. Other than that he has been his normal wild self- running around, jumping off of everything, giving everybody hugs and kisses. This child will be the reason the funny farm will pick me up extra early this year.....

Thank you Lord- I will never repay you my debts but I will keep making payments.....

pic post...

2011-02-21T18:30:00.000-08:00

I am behind on pics and what to post with them- so I thought I would do a random catch up (and Monday night tv is boring :)

We went to Olive Garden for my aunt Dee's birthday. We shared a variety box of GiGi's cupcakes (the pic of Juliah is unwrapping her Tiramisu cupcake) The food and cupcakes were yummy and we had a good time being together.

Kyle kept giving me this pose and telling me to take his picture- he is his father's child....

I thought "awww- how sweet- playing together on the computer" I didn't pay attention that Kaden was ONCE AGAIN writing on himself......

Kaden was giving himself a front row seat to Mickey Mouse (and yes I moved him a safe 3 feet back from the tv after I snapped the pic)

Getting to play outside in the GORGEOUS weather we have had lately....

Happy Tuesday to you all :)

Valentines part 2....

2011-02-18T06:48:00.001-08:00

OK- this week has left me with ZERO time- therefore the Valentines Part 2 post I was going to put on here TUESDAY is just getting posted on FRIDAY. Such is my life- fabulously crazy. (I say fabulous to make it seem like I enjoy driving up and down Winchester Road up to 3 times a day.... gotta keep it positive!)

Pics here are random- V-day party at church, giving Granna her gifts (kids picked them out at CVS by themselves), opening their gifts, etc. I am too lazy to label them and Kaden is hollering for me to get him up.....

OH! I meant to update my part 1 post to say that JD did call on V-day and asked me to lunch- he let me pick the place (Little Rosie's that he doesn't care for) and let me pick him up (true romantic I tell you) and told me we had to hurry because his day was slammed. BUT- I got to eat pocket tacos which are my FAVE and I got to eat with 2 of my 3favorite guys (Kaden was with us- Kyle was in School). So I technically did get a V-day date :)

Happy V-day!

2011-02-14T06:02:00.000-08:00

In our rush this morning- I didn't get to give the kids their (very small and inexpensive) gifts so I will have a part 2 post for this one.... but Happy Valentines Day (Or Happy Thanksgiving as Kyle keeps saying :) JD and I aren't doing gifts... I don't think.... well.... I am not doing a gift so I hope he doesn't lol! Maybe we can go out to eat this Friday or something. Valentines Day is a bit over-rated to me and I told JD that and his response was "That's because everyday is Valentines Day with us" I told you before- picking up clothes and giving kids a bath are not his thing but he definitly lets me know how loved I am! He is my sweetheart for sure (awwww...I know.... gag.... :)

For those of you whom didn't get a card (Yes- Kaden is looking off- but the ones were he was looking AT me he was crying or pouting- there for I opted for the sweet profile pic - he isn't in to my photographing EVER)

We Had a rush in and out weekend- singing- a very tearful barber shop visit (Kaden thinks everyone is a doctor these days) 3 church services and a mini-visit from Dee and Rod.... I am wiped out and my laundry is in mounds :( Not a good start for Monday!

Like I needed to know about this....

2011-02-10T07:12:00.000-08:00

My name is Drea and I have an online-shopping problem!
Now that we have that clear- I have been sent a sight
called Zulily and it is more than likely going to get me
in trouble.... and when I go down I am taking Melia with me
for letting me know about it :)

if you go to the sight- you can go by my link
here
and if/when you do your first order (which I just did for some
oh-my-goodness-beautiful paprika serving pieces) I get a $15
credit- then you get your link to send to your friends for $15
credit when they do their first order (the $15 covered almost all of my
shipping)

Okay- now I am going to sit and be so excited waiting on them to get here....
YAY!

and though I know the big 3-0 birthday is coming up and all- I am a little scared
to be this excited over serving pieces...... showing my AGE again.... grrrr....

2 hours before sunrise.....

2011-02-07T03:51:00.000-08:00

and I am up! JD had to go to Birmingham this morning and he was taking my car so I got out of bed at 4:40 to go remove car seats, diaper bags, etc. so he could run ALFA taxi service lol! I actually spazzed just a bit when he informed me YESTERDAY morning while getting ready for church that he was going to take my car. FYI- along with everything else in my life- my car is total madness at all times! Why did I miss out on the "keep it all together" gene and get a double portion of "put it where ever you can find a place" gene! Ask my hubby- it is his favorite thing about me ;)

We had a weekend of get ready and run! NH had a singing Friday night, we attended the best surprise party ever Saturday, visited Big Cove Saturday night and got up yesterday, left for church and returned at almost 9pm last night. I was so worn out- I laid on the couch to read the last 50 pages of a book I have been in to and I kept hearing a THUD.... it was my book hitting the floor because I was falling asleep and dropping it! I still have about 25 pages to go because I can't read well when my eyes are crossing :)

Oh, and about that surprise party.... watch for Byrd's blog (or Marty's- she was the one capturing moments with the camera) I will let them tell you all about it... we all got surprised at that party!

I have to go change sheets and fold some clothes and hopefully get a bathroom cleaned before time to get the kiddos up for school. I have finished my coffee that has nasty sugar-free creamer in it because I tried so hard to NOT grab a bottle of sugar-free that I must have over-looked the big bold letters across the bottle that said SUGAR-FREE! gag....I added real sugar to it to try and counter-act it..... it didn't work....

Happy Monday :)

Hmmmm...

2011-02-01T04:59:00.000-08:00

Nothing exciting to report (and I am NOT complaining) We are pretty good these days- Kaden is cutting teeth which answers some of my "What in the world is wrong with you?" questions... other than that.... its all good :)

Since I have nothing important to say today- I have some cute pics I have taken of the kids lately. My new camera has been the best gift EVER! I just took my memory card and had pics printed (200-something) so I could clear some off (there were over 1200 pics on it- I had discs made for backup) I am going to do photo books of the 2010 holidays because that will be less expensive than having all 1200 pics printed. Told y'all I would use the fire out of this thing..... I meant business!!!

Kaden loves me to wash his hair- he gets so tickled when I scrub his head! Kaylee captured the moment and I LOVE it!

Kyle got caught (more like captured) playing with Kaylee and Sophie..... he was a trooper..... though he prefers to be Spiderman instead of Rapunzel/Sharpay..... this one goes in the "look what you did when you were little" album for sure!

Kaylee decided she owed Kyle a piggy back ride after he cooperated with the dress-up game :)

I attempted to get a cute pic of my kids all dressed up to go - Kaden was in a rotten mood and the other two were wiggle worms- this was the best one (with Kaden's not-matching- paci....

This is without the paci......

These are the moments I adore, treasure and hope I take enough advantage of! I told Stacie the other day to soak up every day with Chandler because she will blink and he will be 7 just like my first baby. They are all 3 under my feet and in my space- but best of all they are in my life! They are my life :) and their Daddy is ok too ;)

Thank you Lord for your blessings on me......

I just might make it....

2011-01-28T06:22:00.000-08:00

I didn't realized when I made the last blog post title "That's it" that it showed a little bit too much of my inner person screaming to take me far far away :) And after being inside the house for most of the week with a baby on steroids who has morphed into a totally different human- crying, screaming, tantrums, hitting, the whole nine yards- I have realized I can take more than I thought I could. I had to make a call to a friend whom is very experienced in the steroid department because her son is very asthmatic and she assured me that #1- It was totally normal to feel like I was going to put him out on the porch and leave him there and #2- he would be back to being my sweet baby that is calm and precious and loving again in just a few days. He started his transformation last night... playing and talking.... which I am serious when I say he has done almost NONE of all week! Lesson learned- don't think you can't take more because you can- with a smile- a crazy-person-straight-from-the-institute-smile :)

So- today is happy. Good things today.

Kaylee brought home a progress report yesterday- awesome as ever! 97 in Reading, 100 in Spelling and ... hmmm... forgot that one... and 98 in Math. She has breezed through second grade so far and I am so thankful. She is almost a year younger than most of the others and I was worried when I started her in school at 3 (few days shy of 4) but she has done great. I am guessing the fact that she is certain that she is 17 on the inside might have something to do with it. Now if I could only convince her that Kyle is not an alien put on Earth to ruin her life.....

And Kyle...oh Kyle..... He has done great academically... but his attention span is as long as his pinkie finger! He can do the work, but on his own time... sound familiar ( Joe David!) We have started a homework ritual at home where I time him on doing 2 worksheets and I keep all things going (tv, me cooking, the other two running around) so that he learns to work with distractions yet still get finished. So far so good. FUNNY thing- his class is working on simple addition now- and I hadn't paid attention that it only went up to 5 (5+3=8 etc.) and the worksheet I gave him went to 10 (7+3=10, etc), but I let him give it a try. It was just a few minutes and I saw him getting frustrated and he turned and shouted "Uggghhh! MOM! I don't have this many pingers!" (yes, pingers... the F sound comes out P every time!)

And Kaden, aside from his week of terror- is sadly getting big. He has been big in size for a while now- but his actions are getting big. He can sing full songs, repeat anything you say and he knows almost every episode of Yo Gabba Gabba and he walks around doing the dance and saying whatever. Some I know from hearing them 1000 times- but some I can't understand. He walks around saying "Hey Kyle, whatchudoin?" even when Kyle isn't here... he answers the phone that way too....so stinkin cute!

Have a great 50 degree weekend! Soak up some sunshine and breathe some fresh air! And if your utility bill was like mine- turn your heat down and open a window or two!!!

Thats it......

2011-01-25T04:35:00.000-08:00

You remember me saying that starting the New Year off being cooped up at home with every body dropping like flies was not a good way to start 2011 off.... well I think it was just my life telling me to hang on for the bumpy ride! We went car shopping Saturday (no luck at all.... grrr....) and came home to.... you can guess this one- it won't be hard.... a very sick baby! He was fine when we left him at noon-ish and when we returned at 5-ish- 103.4 fever and croupy! (This momma knows that sound from a mile away- if you have been awakened during the night by a croupy baby you know you can never forget that sound!)
We slept a total of 1 hour all night Sat/Sun. morning. I sat and watched the clock hit 7 so I could make him an appt. and we were at Hsv. Peds. by 8:30. A steroid shot and prescription later and we were headed home (after stopping by 3 pharmacies- 2 didn't open til 12 and 1 is closed on Sunday... grrrr again...) So- we missed church again- it is becoming a theme these days. Go to church once- miss the next 3 times.
I am thinking we have alot of shot immune systems around here. I give them vitamans but other than that- what do you do?????

Anyway- JD had a GI appt. yesterday for a problem he has had with his stomach for YEARS now. They didn't find anything that was alarming (JD was alarmed- but if you know him- he gets alarmed walking to the car!) His problems are mostly from acid reflux (GERD) He has to wait to hear from a few tests but like I said- the dr. said he thought all his findings were from his acid damage- nothing major that meds can't fix.

That is it- my life in a nutshell- coughing babies and petting a husband whom is so scared of being sick that it makes him sick...... and me..... banging my head against the walls :) j/k

Did I mention I DETEST winter??? Loathe it??? Despise it???? well- I do. Just saying.

Another snow day pic post.....

2011-01-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

Monday.....

2011-01-17T06:43:00.000-08:00

I thought I would get really creative with my blog title- this is all I had!

We had a long weekend- starting Thursday and ending last night. We attended a funeral and a visitation Thursday (with some shopping and eating in between) We got up Friday and though the kids had school 1/2 a day (I never really figured that one out??) they didn't go. I had to work- they visited Granny. Friday night- a wedding and out to eat with Dust and Mo whom we have seen very little of since early December. (we have seen very little of anyone since then because we were plagued with sickness) Then up again Saturday morning to get ready and go to TWO more visitations. My kids are very acquainted with almost every funeral home out there- but at this point they were like " Are you kidding me?". But- it just goes to show how close our church family is and how many friends we have. You love someone too much to count it as a burden to go pay last respects.... even with 3 little kids in tow.

Granna kept the kids while we went to one visitation. I told someone it is pretty bad that JD and I have to go to the funeral home and count is as a date :) We ate Subway in the car on the way there- very romantic (he ordered for us both and we had to bring drinks from home so we both ate for under $8..... and he was sure to tell me as he was paying.... he is a real Casinova!) We then met up with Chad and I rode in the back seat and had convo with Chad while JD slept the entire way there..... this is what dates become after 9 years of marriage I suppose.

We had church last night FINALLY! We have dismissed more in the past 2-3 months than we have in probably 2 years. It was good to see everyone.... and truthfully it was good to be out and about and doing something that was in our normal routine. The holidays and the snow have had me all crazy-out-of-whack with my routine and I don't like it! I have slept later and laid around more than I have since before I had kids and it is not for me. I like to stay on top of things because with our life if I let it go it has a snowball affect and I have a hard time climbing back up the hill!

And here we are- Monday- another no school day- kids are all still in bed (and we have an extra one we brought home last night) Daddy, Dee and Juliah are coming for a visit today so I have to go finish my run-through on my house. (Kaylee and I started it yesterday- she wanted to help and I showed her how to clean the bathrooms... really clean them..... little does she know that is info she will wish she never learned :) After living with JD for a few years I vowed that my kids would know how to do EVERYTHING by themselves before leaving my house. I question how in the world Chad and JD came from the same house and Chad can do it all and JD doesn't know what Tilex even is!!!!

Happy dreary,rainy (thank you Lord) not snowy Monday!

Still here.....

2011-01-12T08:09:00.001-08:00

and the snow is coming down again! I did get out of the house for a bit yesterday- I made a run to the local Dollar General for some detergent and when I SLID in the parking lot I saw I sign on the door that they had closed early (most of the employs there are 60+ so I didn't see how they were gonna make it there anyway) - so I headed to Publix for an evening of shopping all by myself :) yes... shopping..... spending money on anything counts as shopping in my book lol! This is our 4th day in and keep in mind we just had a 10 day stretch of being cooped up.... so the funny farm is soon to be on their way to collect me with that super long sleeved jacket I always refer too! I went to take the garbage out last night ( yep I took the garbage out... again... JD seems to have no clue where it goes :) anyway... I hopped on Kaylee's new scooter and started driving it around the driveway in half a foot of snow....and ENJOYED it! Really people- somebody needs to come visit me before I am too far gone.....

We stayed in all day and I ATTEMPTED to clean the house... 1700 square feet + 5 people= Get over yourself... it ain't happenin! If I have washed dishes once- I have 15 times since Sunday! My dishwasher has been fully loaded and ran TWICE everyday- I have cooked up a storm and we have ate like fattening hogs! I was worried we weren't going to get to wear our new clothes we got for Christmas because we have been stuck in the house.... I am now thinking they aren't going to fit!!!

OK- as you can tell- I am bored. I have started a shopping cart on Gymboree- made Shutterfly albums- drank coffee- checked emails- and now blogged about it.... I think I will go clean out another drawer now.....

These are pics from Sunday when we ate lunch at Granny's. It was Chandler's first time to Granny's house.... so PRECIOUS!!!

Snow Day 2011.....

2011-01-10T14:40:00.000-08:00

OK- I was a skeptic.... if they start screaming blizzard and you can't get in the grocery stores around here you usually are set up for nothing... not even a dusting.... so last night when 8pm hit and I saw nothing I thought "Here we go again- everybody spazzed for nothing" but I was proven wrong when the monster-2-inch-snowflakes started pouring down! We watched our brick wall slowly disappear beneath a blanket of heavy snow by 1am... and yes we were ALL still up! JD says the Lord was just making sure we didn't miss out since Kaylee and I were the only 2 who got to play in the Christmas snow we had.

We got up (super late) and had chocolate gravy, eggs and biscuits for brunch. We then started the process of bundling up everybody in our snow gear and headed out for some fun! Kaden has never played in snow before and he LOVED it! As you will see in the pics- he kept laying down and crawling in it! Kyle isn't a fan of being cold- but he had a blast helping Dad build our big AL fan snowman! Kaylee went to get the neighbors grandson to come play and they mostly enjoyed bombing ME with snowballs.... until they figured out I was a better aim then they were :)

Now we are all in, warm and cozy! We just ate lunch (at 4:30 pm- supper will be at 8 I guess lol) and I am working on my extra layer of fat for the winter by consuming some just-out-of-the-oven-fudge-brownies. I considered making snow cream.... but I don't know if I am THAT talented!

So Happy Snow Day to you all! We will be doing all of this again tomorrow since school is out (YAY!)

Back in the swing of things.....

2011-01-06T06:10:00.000-08:00

We are getting there! The kids went back to school yesterday and we actually got to attend church last night! Kaden didn't make it all the way - we left at alter call because his emotions are getting the best of him (and me) these days. I think it is a mixture of getting better/ terrible twos. But we were there.... I have witnesses :)

I didn't have to work today so I am getting a day of just me and baby at home and I have high hopes of tackling and conquering this laundry that has gotten washed and folded but not put away these last 2 weeks.
New Harmony has a singing Friday night and it is regular meeting time coming up and I have a full schedule going for next week- so I am taking the next 2 days in stride. I would like to run to town and get all of the extra Christmas things returned/exchanged - but after getting out to take the kids to school this morning- I decided it is cold and that can wait! I love some shopping- but I prefer it to be atleast 60 degrees with some sunshine if I am going to be dragging a baby and stroller around!

Maybe we have finally gotten through all the sickness for the winter... maybe, hopefully, please Lord!! I am so ready for springtime- except that we have all these winter church clothes that haven't had enough wear. I think I will start putting them on them to go to Publix just so SOMEBODY gets to see them lol!

OK- my random coffee break is over.... time to get something done.....

He is here.....

2011-01-04T05:48:00.001-08:00

Chandler David was born last night sometime around 11. He is perfect and absolutely adorable! The 4d ultrasound showed that he had some big ol' pretty lips and he does! He weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and was 20 inches long. It took him a while to get here... but he was well worth the wait. He and Momma are doing good. Praise the Lord! We got to be there! Kaden was a bit of a terror (I would have left him with someone but all of my babysitters were there at the hospital) but we were all well enough to get to go. We peeked at him through the nursery window and then left to come home about 11:20pm.
This is the best pic I could get through a super crowded nursery window. I will have some better ones this evening.

Thank you Lord for another healthy baby!

Someone e-mailed me these and I just had to share....

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-01T08:13:00.000-08:00

Though we didn't have a big party to attend nor did I get to attend the wedding that we have been awaiting for months now..... we still celebrated the New Year Cantrell style.... Taco Bell and fresh from the oven cookies (that only dad and Kaden enjoyed) and we were all still awake (Kaden I think was out on the couch) when the ball dropped again at Central time! Having all of us together, safe and sound makes for a perfect start to the New Year- even with the coughs and fevers!

We are still in recovery mode- Kaylee has been running 103 temps all day yesterday into the wee hours of today but we are hoping this is the last of it and it looks like it should be past just in time to get back to school next Wednesday.... grrrr.... but it is NOT looking promising that we will be there in person to welcome Chandler in on Monday unless there is a major wave of wellness that sweeps through SOON! I am already planning on a Skype session or something or else Kaylee and I will be devastated!

You wanna know what 3 kids who are trapped in a house for 10 days at Christmas break do... here it is in pictures....

They ride a power wheels jeep through the kitchen while wrapped in blankets (over, and over, and over, and over)...

They turn in to Buzz Lightyear and fly through the living room (the wings morph him into the REAL Buzz...it is hilarious!).....

They leave bags of Cheese Puffs in reaching distance of the little brother.....

They do puzzles.....

They watch Yo Gabba Gabba for 24 hours straight (and have a hissy fit if you don't play it again!)......

They sleep at very odd times so that no one goes to bed at a normal hour- but no one dares to wake a napping-been-sick-whiny-fussy-child.....

And they play rooms that look like Christmas blew up in them (I really can't believe I am sharing but for those of you with children I know that you know about
this!).......

And eventually they do get better and you don't mind all the messes and all the cleaning and all the everything.... you are just proud they are better and to have survived it and mark it down as the end of a year you will remember for the rest of your sane life :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! May you all be blessed abundantly and have a very spiritually prosperous year!!!

The Cantrell's

MC Round Seven.....

2010-12-30T03:24:00.000-08:00

I am up at dark again. If it were not totally rediculous- I would call 911 for an ambulance to come get me b/c my throat is hurting SO bad! Coffee is about the only soothing thing I can do- meds ain't workin- AND I am pretty sure I have busted my right ear drum and that isn't helping matters either!(kids are MUCH better THANK YOU LORD! and thank you all for the prayers and JD seems to be on the mend too.... Momma however is feeling the brunt of it these past 2 days.......)...... now ..... I will stop whining and actually blog.....

JD, Kaylee and Kaden made it to round 7- which was Granny's house. Kyle and I were at Huntsville Pediatrics being given the dreadful news of FLU. JD made sure they took (not enough) pics for me with my camera (which they obviously can't work therefore hardly anyone has legs and/or is remotely centered). OH- and no pics of gift opening.... but I wouldn't gripe about anything.....

The pics....

I actually took these before they left.....

All the grandkids/great-grands minus the most important in-law ;)-....

Granny and her kids (and the TV...grrrr) .....

Stacie and Daniel (she is having baby Chandler MONDAY and if I don't get to go it is going to be BAD!)......

I never got an explanation of this hand thing from JD... Chad looks like he is presenting baby Karsyn(and I am suprised Em isn't knocking him out lol)......

Kyle and I had our little celebration at home... I got 2 gifts... he got about 15 lol...and I know I am rough looking but this was about as good as it has been for a week now!

There is one more round (which is Santa's gifts here at home and you have already seen some of it) Rounds 9 and 10 got nixed this year. I really can't remember being home this many days in a row without leaving to so much as go to the mailbox. Thing is- we have been so sick there really hasn't been time or energy to let cabin fever kick in. My first "outing" will be to the dr. today to get something for this throat/ear/no sleep junk. JD will be home alone with the kids for that one.... this should be interesting.....

Merry Christmas Round 6...

2010-12-27T03:32:00.000-08:00

at 5:32am.... no sleep for this momma.... Kaylee just came to the kitchen because she and JD were missing me from our bed and she decided she would get up too.... Kaden is still running around like a mad man (SOMEBODY let him go to bed at 7pm last night.... just saying) He is knocking on my bedroom door and calling for Kyle (whom is asleep in the recliner) .... and I am still sitting here like a zombie continuing to catch up on blogging.....

We had Christmas with Marquetta on Thursday, the 23rd. We always do our Christmas with her on the 23rd so that we aren't rushed because the next two days are cram packed with all our other family get togethers. We used to spend the night but 7 people with 1 queen bed (and an air mattress) just doesn't work out anymore. We had tacos , discussed her new plans of a new house in the next year, and opened gifts for over an hour.... Granna spoils us all!!

Here are pics....

Us with Granna....

Chad, Emily and Karsyn to be.....

Kids with gifts....

Granna and her gifts (with the "helpers").....

Karsyn got a good Christmas though she didn't know it :).....

Joe and Chad bringing Emily and myself our coat trees... I LOVED it....

I got my serving pieces that I have been wanting (very suprised!)....

JD and Chad opening gifts (we had to get a pic of Chad with his tool box... JD said it was his cleaning supply carrier lol)...

This may be all for today- Kaden is starting to whine and I am aching from sitting in this chair (and getting up about 10 times in between picture uploads)

Your welcome Heather G. - I did think of you as I did all of this blogging- though with 4 kids out of school I kinda doubt you will get too much time to sit and read all of this :)

Don't forget to pray for us.....

Merry Christmas Round Five....

2010-12-27T02:41:00.000-08:00

OK- it is 4:41 am- I am drinking coffee to try to soothe this KILLER sore throat and I am thanking whomever got Kaden this new Yo Gabba Gabba video because he is in a trance on the couch. The flu has now taken over Kaylee, Kaden (the vaccinated one) and myself. We have played musical beds all night long! Kyle is still running fever to top it all off. This is NOT how I plan to end a year/bring in a New Year......

So I decided if anything makes me feel better it is blogging (along with Theraflu) so here is round five .... Christmas at Marquetta's with Heather and Holly (my bff's) We ate (again- I am sure I am 15lbs heavier this week) and we laughed our heads off at Granny's stories from way back when.....

And here are pics....

The girls and their boys....

Tim and his awesome new shirt.....

Playing Christmas bingo for candy prizes (Granna thinks of all kinds of entertainment)

Doing what I am assuming is going to be an annual tradition.... acting out the twelve days of Christmas (that we only remember 11 of and I am certain we did "Pipers piping" twice lol...

Kaden and his blanket (we call him Lynus (sp?) from Charlie Brown)....

And of course getting to hear my children sing while Uncle Chad and Kaden plays (Granny is certain they are all Gaither bound ;).....

I have already started another sink full of Lysol water to bathe down the surfaces yet again.... I have coated the couch and rocking chair with Lysol fabric spray again.... and I have administered advil/tylenol/cough meds to 3 children yet AGAIN....
All manners are out the door- Kyle (whom has gotten up since I started this post said "Mom- will you please get me some coke.... and HURRY because I am really firsty"
And when he went back to sleep in the recliner - Kaden stole his drink (grrrrr this cup thing is driving me insane) he walked up to me and I said "KADEN! that is not yours!" and he grinned and said "Ahhhhhh" like it was the best drink he had ever had..... gotta have some humor in this madness!!!

If you feel the need to pray for us- I beg of you to do so. JD is the only one remotely healthy around here and this isn't a sickness that you can call in the reserves on because it is so super contagious. He has been doing a good job but this hasn't done much for his germ-a-phobe-self (he slept with hand sanitizer by the bed last night and I thought he was gonna die because Kaylee touched his hand yesterday :)
I feel like we are all trapped in this house and the flu is like the alien invasions you see on TV- it is taking over all of us one by one.....

I'll have a FLU Christmas.....

2010-12-25T11:37:00.000-08:00

Ok gotta skip on the rounds for this post to update you on our Christmas. We had Christmas with Marquetta Thursday night and after opening gifts, etc. Kyle said his hands, head, everything hurt and he was freezing. We checked his temp- it was 103 (he was acting FINE all night with the exception of a runny nose) Yesterday (Christmas Eve) at 4am we were awakened to a very sick little boy with a tummy ache and 103.5 temp. Sooooo- a call was made to Hsv. Peds. and an appt was made for 12pm (we were supposed to be at Granny's at 11:30.) They ran tests and what to you know- he has the flu!!! I hated so bad that he is sick through the most exciting days of the year.
He and I skipped out on the Jones' Christmas- but they brought our gifts and FOOD to our house.

Isaac, Luke, Uncle Nicky and Aunt Karen came by to check on him. The boys helped try out his new Kinect for PS3 that Granny got for him (and Kaylee).

Today we were supposed to go to Aunt Dee Dee's and to Aunt Karen's but that isn't going to happen. The Good Lord sent us a great stuck-at-home-for-Christmas-Present..... a blanket of his perfect fluffy white stuff!!! (of course he could have given Granny a memo that we didn't need a 7:30am wake up call to tell us about it!)

And Santa even comes into germ-infested homes to give good little boys and girls their requested gifts.....

Kyle asked for a Jeep- Kaden thought it was his....

Kaylee got her electric scooter and Monster High dolls.....

Kaden found a pencil and decided writing on gifts was better than opening them...

Minus the fact that we have an extremely sick little one- this Christmas has been kind of nice- no rush to get ready and get out the door. I REALLY missed seeing everyone- but I doubt they wanted us to bring along our new live in.... Flu Monia....

Merry Christmas to all of you.... God Bless you every one......

Round Four......

2010-12-22T04:23:00.000-08:00

Saturday we had our Christmas get together with my Mom. That entire morning was craziness! We didn't get in from the Christmas party until entirely too late and I had to get up with the chickens to get my food/our clothes ready. Stacie graduated from Athens at 10am and I wouldn't have missed that- I know she has worked hard (and endured Kaylee's 2nd grade class for the first semester of this year!! She looked so cute in her cap and gown with her belly sticking out!) So we rushed to get there (Kaylee and I.... the boys didn't make it..... JD thought it was outside for some reason and it was super cold.... I told him it was inside but he didn't hear me *BIG SHOCK*... anyway....) We hopped in the car - made a mad dash to Costco and Krispy Kreme (I was to make a dessert and I left my cream cheese and Cool Whip out on the counter ALL NIGHT- so doughnuts it was....) I made it home to see 2 little boys still in pj's and a halfway ready husband- so an hour later we actually left the house. We were supposed to be there around 1..... made it there at 2:30..... and for those of us who know us- I know you are not surprised!

We had a great time- which I am thankful to the Good Lord for. This has been a super rough year with my family and I was worried to death that there would be no Christmas cheer to say the least- but there was! The kids have MORE toys- we had some major laughs at my mother's expense (we played that game where you have headbands with the cards on your forehead.... it was memorable FOR SURE!!)

And the pictures start here.....

And let me explain Kyle's ridiculous T-shirt..... he had a super cute button up on and he refused to remove his coat when we got there because he didn't want anyone to see it (he flips out at wearing anything he considers "Church clothes" anywhere other than church) Well- Aunt Candace saw this and bargained that if he took off his coat- he could take off the shirt too and she would find him another one to wear..... thus the way-too-big-not-my-style-t-shirt) I can't wait until she has kids.......

We had Round Five last night so I may be posting all week long!

Round three......

2010-12-21T04:44:00.000-08:00

We had our annual Christmas party with our church friends (well.... they are our friend friends- we are friends outside of church.... oh.... you get my point)
Dustin and Melissa hosted it this year. We had a blast- laughed our heads off.... found a new and fun game to play..... I won back my dirty Santa gift (good thing because I had the perfect place for it in my living room. Oh, and we ate like pigs!
We are blessed to have some great friends and I am thankful for them all!
and the pics shall begin here......

Yesterday I took the kids to see Santa. Kaylee has begged for weeks for me to take them (she thought we were going to Santa's village....but I told her the mall Santa would have to do this year) Kaylee was pumped, Kyle was ready.... Kaden not so much...
so here we ALL are.... this is as close as Kaden would get without having a hissy fit....

Round four will come in the next day or two.....

Merry Christmas Round Two....

2010-12-15T09:10:00.000-08:00

I hosted my Dad's Christmas this past Saturday. It is still a little weird that I am even old enough to do this. I have 3 kids, I have been married for 9 years and yet I still feel like I am a kid that lives a grown up life. Anyway- I make fun of JD for being like this and I catch myself thinking the same way sometimes......

We had a good time- ate tons of food- laughed about how mean we were as kids- opened presents- played Dirty Santa (I grow tired of this game by the time Christmas is over... ) and just enjoyed the company of everyone. This is the only time all year that some of them come to my house. I pretty much make the same meal (because Jacob would be devestated if I didn't make pork tenderloin) and we pretty much do the same ritual in the same order- but it always works so I just go with "if it isn't broke- don't fix it". Our family has had a rough year to say the least- but we were all here and in good health (minus poor Dad's arthritis issues- this time of year is killer on him- add him to your prayers if you think of it please).

and here goes the pictures- because I want you to have a window into my world :)

Two of the finest people I know..... don't know where I would be today if it weren't for them......

And just to show you my latest creation.... I made this topiary for the church Christmas program.... just so happens it matched my gingerbread theme in my kitchen...... hmmmmmm- that worked out pretty good ;)

Merry Christmas Round One......

2010-12-13T15:36:00.001-08:00

OK- delayed once again.... but we had our New Harmony Christmas get-together at Todd and Erica's house last Saturday night. It was the kick-off of the next 3 weeks of Christmas gatherings we have scheduled- therefore I am calling it "Round One" (rest assured I will be KO by the last round of all of this!)
And believe it or not... I took pictures :) These are random- but it wouldn't be me if they weren't....

We had to go buy a new laptop on Sunday because the Gateway officially died (well- the battery did- and the power cord- which makes it pretty dead!) We spent most of MY shopping time in Best Buy (just like I told JD we would- he didn't seem to care) It was all good though- I threw in some Photoshop software on our way out for my reward for being (not-really-so) patient while he asked 341343 questions to every person in a blue shirt!! Now if I had someone to show me how in the world to use it- I would be in business!! (not real business- no worries for Byrd and Marty- I am saving all my mad skills for myself :)

We got home Sunday night just in time for the kids to step out into the Alabama version of a blizzard. Yes- Kyle already had a runny nose- but DAD said they could play out in it. They had fun- and notice that Kaylee put her gown on with jeans, a coat , gloves and her CHURCH SHOES! Poor kid has her Momma's looks and her daddy's brain ;)

Yesterday morning we woke up to a freezing cold house- like 58 degrees of freezing cold! NO HEAT! Ummmm- remember we JUST put our unit in about 10 months ago! I put the kids clothes in the dryer to warm them up- got them ready in 10 minutes flat and threw them in the car because it was nice and toasty in there. Thank the good Lord above it was only a breaker that wasn't turned on when the unit was installed! You can just picture this- JD and I outside in Carhart at 6 in the morning attempting to act like we have a clue where the breaker is on the unit. Lets just say that Heating and Cooling will not be added to our resume` anytime soon!

Well- I am outta here. I have to go wiggle that one loose light on my tree that keeps making the whole strand go out......grrrrrrrr!