My New Adventure

OK, for those of you that know me, I can always manage to figure out a way to add more activities to my daily life and still function. And I will say that I am pretty Internet savvy-- target.com definitely gets it's fair share of browsing from me. However, I never imagined that I would be sitting here "blogging". After reading my friend Rachel's blog, it dawned on me that this was a pretty cool way of keeping all of you informed on a regular basis of our crazy life. So here goes- The Hawkins Herald. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with this regularly and I hope you will all check it out regularly as our family continues to add excitement to this world each day. You wouldn't want to miss out on the daily "Brandon stories".....

Since I am just beginning this new adventure, I will bring you up to date briefly. I would love to backtrack but we would be here forever.

Section 1: Family Briefing

John - The carpet man. John continues his duties to provide by installing carpet for Lake Murray Floor Covering. Our "lifeline"-- the famous blue van, "The Blue Bird"-- parted ways with our family on Tuesday. It was a sweet but sad parting. The blue bird passed away the day before Halloween. Graciously, we were able to find another van within 2 days. And low and behold, we now have a new "Blue Bird". Yep, same kind of van and same blue color! We can't hear this one coming all the way from the beginning of our neighborhood so unfortunately I don't get the warning and Brandon running at full speed out the front door to meet Blue Bird when it arrives. But this one has a few upgrades that has John smiling- front doors that open, heat, air, and tinted windows! We are back in business now! And business continues to stay steady. We manage to sometimes see Daddy before bed time, but we are very thankful for his hard work.

Nina- As most of my friends call me- Superwoman. I sometimes don't feel like such a superwoman by the end of the day though. I feel like a super worn-out woman. I am still working full time at Saluda Hill Landscaping in Payroll and Human Resources. My day begins at 5 am every morning, coffee first of course. Get the kids ready and off to school and daycare and then on to work, with more coffee preceding. Thank goodness for a wonderful job that involves very little stress. Once I leave work, the second half of the day begins with picking kids up from after school and daycare. On those less eventful evenings, I can manage to get home, make dinner, do homework, few loads of laundry, baths, spot cleaning, and bedtime before I completely collapse by 10 pm. Of course this goes without saying that it is NEVER that easy. We always manage to have a few meltdowns in between all that- either over being hungry and not patient enough to wait for dinner or fighting over the bouncy ball that came out of the stinkin machine at the store. And by the way- we only have 5 zillion of those around the house but why would we waste any time looking for another one.
With that being said, each day is challenging yet interesting. Sometimes I can only just smile and hope that tomorrow comes fast!

Jalen- AKA "Billy Ray". Jalen's recent obsession with his guitar and Billy Ray Cyrus definitely keeps us all on our toes. I occasionally get serenaded with his music as I am cooking dinner. -yikes!! Anyone interested in giving guitar lessons? We are lacking in that field!
Jalen is sailing through second grade now and has become a accelerated reader! Right now we are working on the chattiness (wonder where he gets that from?!) and learning to sit still. I think he sometimes forgets that he is in class, not outside running football plays.
We will be starting basketball season in a few weeks.

Brandon- The Little Devil! Yep, God definitely decided to spice up parenting when he gave us Brandon. Not sure what we will get out of him each day, but he definitely know how to keep me on my toes. Despite his very adamant ways, he is sweet little guy. I can always count on him for a hug and "I love you mommy" every day. He is back in daycare now and making lots of progress. According to his teachers, he's an ANGEL- No problems at all! YEAH RIGHT! He saves it all for home. While I was making dinner the other night, I turned around and he was dumping his shoe full of sand on Karlee's head, and then took off running as fast as he could. And he knows I can't catch him-- little turd!

Karlee- My Princess. And what a Princess she has been. After 3 months of continuous ear infections and numerous rounds of antibiotics, she is still smiling! She did get tubes in her ears last week, and we were hoping that was going to end this frustrating illness BUT we were back at the doctor yesterday and the infection is still there with a possibility that one tube has come out already- that lasted 6 days. Back to square one- another prescription, another copay, more Tylenol to ease the pain, more fevers and on the another doctor. Whew! You would never know that she is miserable. No matter how hard my day has been or what kind of mood I am in, Karlee can always make me smile!
enough bragging....

Iggy- The Neglected Lizard. Iggy continues to keep watch on Jalen's room every day. I think the last time I checked, he was alive but that status may not be as such today. Just put it this way- Iggy and I don't mesh too well. And his owner's-- (Daddy and Jalen) don't seem to worry about him too much. So, it is what it is. Brandon throws a toys in his cage every now and then, so hopefully he's getting the proper nutrition from those. - Oh wait, I think he may even have one of those bouncy balls to entertain him!



OK, I guess I better end this blog for today (or short book). But hopefully that catches you up. Lots more to come..