Finally...an update....and why I trust in God!

So- the reason I really haven't been blogging lately is because my mind has been consumed with one single thought.  I am pregnant.  I had not been feeling well for a few days before we were supposed to leave to Maine with my parents, so I took a test the night before.  Just because I had one in the cabinet.  Really for no other reason...I honestly don't know what made me do it.  I was just really, really tired and had completely lost my appetite.  It was very unlike me.  So I peed on a stick.  Only I peed way too much on the stick.  So when it dried out and said positive....I was positive that it was incorrect because I bungled the test.  Just in case, I started taking vitamins and cut out caffeine and anything else that might be bad for me and I went to Maine!  While in Maine, I was ill every morning and starving constantly.  I was also completely exhausted.  So when we got home later in the week and ran to the store to pick up some other stuff, I grabbed another test.  I did not think I could be pregnant.  After having Cebelle, I had two miscarriages.  I had an IUD put in and after two years, it lodged in my uterus and I had to have it surgically removed.  A year later, I was hospitilized for a cyst on my ovary and had to endure several visits and various testing.  The doctor said my chances of becoming pregnant again were very small.  I had been praying to God for the past year.  I didn't want to have babies past the age of 35, but I wanted more babies.  I prayed that God would make me content with the beautiful children I have and not long for more.  Because I knew in my heart that my dream of having four children was quickly coming to an end.  Jeff and I had talked about adopting, and it was always an option.  But it can be very expensive, no matter how you go about it, and we knew in our hearts that it would just never be a reality for us.  So I prayed and I thanked God for all the blessings He gives me every day and I asked for peace.  Because I knew that once I turned 35, I did not want to attempt more children.  With my past medical history and issues, it just didn't seem like a good idea.  It wasn't safe for me or for any baby that I might carry.
So I took that second test.  Believing that even if it was positive, there was nothing to be excited about.  Because with my history, I fully expected to not carry any pregnancy past the sixth week.  When the test was positive, I called and got into the doctor as soon as they could get me in, which wasn't until what would be my 7th week of pregnancy.  I didn't ever expect to go to that appointment.  I prayed and I tried to have faith that God had a plan for me, but letting go of all that worry was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do.  I asked the ladies in my church group to pray for me.  Not that everything would be well, because I didn't really believe that was in God's plan.  I asked them to pray that I would have the strength and the courage to deal with whatever came.  So when the day for my early ultrasound arrived, I was sick with anticipation and worry.  At that point, I just wanted to know what was happening.  I just wanted a plan of action.  Was I having a baby? Or was I going to prepare for a miscarriage again?  I knew that the ultrasound would show a heartbeat at this point if my pregnancy was viable and everything was okay.  So I honestly held my breath.  And got the biggest surprise of my life when she found not one, but two healthy babies with perfect baby heartbeats.  They dated me at almost 7 weeks, told me that the twins were fraternal which is the best possible scenario but that it was still early and chances were good that I would lose one of the babies , and scheduled me for another ultrasound in four weeks.  I prayed and every time I have been tired or sick, I have praised God because I knew that it was a sign that things were well.  I just went back for that ultrasound yesterday and got to see two very active beautiful, perfect, tiny babies with heartbeats at 170 and 175.  And I know in my heart that everything is going to be okay.  God has given me a beautiful miracle that I never expected.  He blesses me every day in ways that I could never be worthy of.  I am still nervous about the health of my babies, but what mother isn't?  Every time I feel doubt creeping in, I take it to God in prayer.  And I ask Him for the strength and courage to trust in His plan, and to believe that I am worthy of receiving this beautiful gift.  And you see, the real miracle is this:  I will be 35 on April 9, 2012.  I have been praying for the past few years that God would let me make peace with the fact that I wouldn't have any more babies after that date.  My babies are due on April 9, 2012.  God is so amazing.  He knows our hearts and He has a plan for us.  I think that sometimes we make our own plans and forget to ask for guidance.  When we let go and let God work in our lives, wonderful things happen!  That's not to say that bad things never happen to those who believe in God and serve Him.  That was never promised to us.  The promise is that when those bad things happen, we don't have to face them alone.  We face them knowing that God will hold us and heal us and lead us in the right direction.  I trust God because in all my life, though I have failed Him many times, He has never failed me.

(Sort of) Exteme Couponing and Some Great Ideas

Lately, I have been on a constant quest to save money.  In this day and age, who isn't?  I watched the TLC show Extreme Couponing a few times and thought, "I could do that..." but after some research and finding that circulars in our area were really difficult to come by, I somewhat gave up on the idea.  Then I decided to dig in and figure out a way.  I started researching on the web and found some really great sites.  I started printing coupons that were available for products that we have used in the past, products that we always use, or products we would be willing to use.  I printed everything available for any of those.  I signed up for all kinds of company emails (if you are thinking about this, I recommend you open a dedicated account for these emails so that they don't clutter up your personal email) and promotions.  I cut out hundreds of coupons and organized them.  Then I started combing the sale flyers.  Every week I thoroughly look through the flyers, find items on sale, match them up with coupons, and make a plan.  Then I go shopping. Last time I had a goal of spending $100 and saving at least that much.  I ended up spending $95 and saving $130.  I don't think I will ever be able to rack up a bill of almost $1000 and spend only $5...our stores around here don't generally have specials that great and the coupon policies are fairly strict especially now that none of them will double any coupon over $1.  With that being said, I will still spend 3-4 hours a week clipping coupons and combing ads because saving half on a grocery bill (which I do with regularity right now) is pretty amazing.  It frees up money for lots of other things.  But if you don't have time for all of that, I have a few suggestions to save you money in the long run:

1.  When your favorite items go on sale, STOCK UP!  Most canned and boxed goods will last a really long time.  Frozen goods will keep for forever if they haven't been opened.  Some fresh goods can be frozen for a longer shelf life.  If you normally pay $1.69 for a box of macaroni and your store has them on sale for $1 a box and you normally use 3 boxes a week-it will save you $8.28 in a month if you stock up while they are cheap.  Stores cycle through sale items so pay attention to your store and buy stuff that will keep even if you don't need it immediately.

2.  If you have a small family and a warehouse club membership, join up and split the cost of bulk goods with a couple other families.  You can split the membership costs and the shopping responsibilities and break up the larger packages into more manageable sizes for your families.  Some things are cheaper when bought in bulk.

3.  Sign up for online deals!  There are tons of websites out there just giving stuff away!  Search your favorite products and see what you can find!

4.  Enlist your family members!  If you don't have time to cut coupons and really need or want to save money, enlist the help of a friend or family member with the promise that you will do the shopping and save them money as well!

5.  The most important tip....be smart about what you buy!  Ten jars of mustard for 35 cents each isn't really a deal if nobody in your family likes mustard.  It's a waste of $3.50 and a waste of your most valuable asset...your time!

I hope these suggestions will help those of you who have been sending me messages out.  I love saving money and I'm always happy to share anything I know with you!  God bless!

The Hull Family Vacation 2011

Okay, so I have pretty much slacked off when it comes to blogging.  But in all fairness, I have been really busy finishing up school with my kids and then we immediately headed off on our vacation.  Then we got back and I was kind of ill, but there was the 4th of July holiday and a visit from my sister, and other obligations....Suffice to say, I have been quite busy.  But here is the rundown of our vacation!
Jeff, Hayden, Cebelle, and I took off early Friday June 17th.  We drove to Dover, DE to spend the night because it left us about four hours to drive to get to VA beach the next morning.  We stretched our legs in a mall and ate some dinner at Sonic...and then got upgraded to a king suite with a two person jacuzzi when we returned to our hotel because the lady in the room beside us was extremely loud.  Jeff went down and told the manager that she and the others in her room were really loud and we didn't want to be rude and ask her to tone it down, so could they please just move our room.  She felt bad and upgraded us from a double full bed suite.  The kids thought it was awesome because they could swim in the bathtub.
We took off early the next morning and after much excitement driving over-under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, arrived in VA Beach at about 11:30.

We were picking up Carol and Gina at the bus stop there, so we walked down to the boardwalk and grabbed some lunch while we waited for them.  When we met up with them and got everything packed up in the car.  We got to Sandbridge where our rental was, and found out that the entire rest of our family was stuck in a traffic jam and were not moving.  So we stopped off at the rental agency and picked up the keys and got our stuff unpacked while we waited for them.

The kids waited somewhat patiently for everyone to arrive and get mostly unpacked...and then they were in the pool...

I won't bore you with every single detail...but we did lots of awesome things!  We spent lots of time at the beach (we even watched the sunrise over the ocean the day before we left), spent lots of time at the pool, rode GoKarts, watched street performers, went to the Virginia Aquarium, walked on the boardwalk, went to Norfolk, ate some great seafood, and most importantly...spent time with our really terrific family who we love so much! Here are some highlights:

We checked out of our beach house on Saturday the 25th and then headed to Washington D.C. with Carol and Gina.  We checked in at the Radisson and then headed to the National Air and Space Museum.  Hayden loved it!  We went to a show at the planetarium and both the kids were in awe!

We also stepped outside to the National Mall to show the kids what it looked like.  They haven't really studied American History yet.  That's something they start this year.  So hopefully next time we return to DC we will be able to tour monuments as well!

On Sunday, we went to the Smithsonian National Zoo.  It was amazing.  We walked all day long!  But the kids were such troopers and we saw so many cool animals.  There was a whole bird house that was huge and then an outdoor aviary which made Cebelle about the happiest kid in the whole wide world.  

Since Jeff and I had purchased a new camera for this trip, we were also excited to try our hands at some nature photography.  Here are a couple of my attempts:

And here are a couple of Jeff's attempts:

I was really proud of the both of us!  I thought it was pretty awesome for a first attempt on both our parts!  

We left D.C. Monday morning the 27th and we were home by 6pm that night.  We were so exhausted and happy to be home.  The awesome thing is the memories that we all carry with us of this wonderful time!  We had so much fun together and experienced so many things that our kids had never experienced before.  I love that so much!  Seeing the excitement in Hayden's eyes when he drove his first GoKart or ride on the boogie board on the waves on his own and seeing Cebelle watch the sunrise on the ocean and pet a duck for the first time are those moments are completely priceless.  I'm so thrilled to have spent time with our wonderful family and make wonderful memories with all of them!  I wish the same for all of you...even if you don't step foot outside your house all summer long!  God bless!

"Relaxing means a full datebook?"

I've been really busy since I last blogged!  School is almost finished!  The everyday stuff is complete for both the kids.  We just have a few loose ends to tie up and I need to do their portfolios.  However, since I won't receive their books for next year until the end of July, I'm putting that off until I have those.  Then I can sit down and finish all of it at once.  

Last week, we had a fabulous visit with my sisters!  We got to spend the entire three day weekend with them and my brother-in-law.  We ate, played games, shopped, went to the movies, and just hung out together.  It's awesome that in addition to being related to me, they are also my best friends!

We have planted our vegetable garden and put in one huge flower bed and one small flower bed.  Things have gone pretty much non-stop!  I literally have every single day filled up in my date book up until we leave for Virginia Beach next Friday!  I'm filling up the spaces in between everything going on with crafting, cleaning, and catching up on my reading.  

I have been reading "The Vampire Academy" series by Richelle Mead and the "Pretty Little Liars" series by Sara Sheperd.  I really am enjoying both writers!  I have gotten to the point that I really prefer authors who write books for young adults.  I like the stories and the fact that there isn't all kinds of useless profanity or sexual situations that seem to have no bearing on the story.  I really prefer books with really complex characters, and these two writers do a terrific job of that!

I am also working on several crafting projects....a couple of summer scarves with embellishments, a couple of baby blankets, a sweater, and an afghan.  I'm also working on my cross-stitch project here and there.  I'm not so sure its going to be completed by Christmas.  Staring at hundreds of little x's for more than an hour gives me a headache.

I have also decided to start cleaning houses!  I don't have a full daycare any longer and the kids that I have are all mostly in school.  So I can do the cleaning in the morning and have the kids in the afternoon.  I'm really actually looking forward to it...cleaning in quite calming.  At least for me!  I find it very therapeutic!  Also, doing something that's this flexible allows me to keep staying home with my kids and homeschool them.  I'm also building up some inventory so that I can open a shop on Etsy.  I'm hoping to get all of that completed by this fall.  I actually have a really good idea for a specialty item that I designed!  I'm going to make a bunch of them and see how it goes!

Jeff and I were in the church nursery this last Sunday.  I have so much fun playing with all the little munchkins!  It's a lot of fun to hang out with them and watch all the funny stuff they do!

Jeff and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary yesterday.  We didn't really do anything...he had to work and the kids have not been feeling great.  So, we just stayed at home yesterday evening.  I grilled some steaks and potatoes for dinner and we all sat out on the deck and enjoyed the sunshine.  

I have a lot of things to get prepared for our vacation next week!  We will leave on Friday, spend the night in Delaware and then head on to Virginia.  We are actually staying in Sandbridge.  We are really looking forward to the week that we get to spend with Jeff's family!  After we check out of the beach house, we made reservations for a hotel in D.C.  We are spending a couple of nights there and plan to go to the zoo and the Smithsonian.  I can barely contain my excitement!  It's a good thing that I'm pretty busy from now until then!  I hope your summer starts out as wonderfully as mine!  Until next time, God bless!

"A Busy Weekend, The Last Days {of School}, and Changing for the Better!"

We are counting down the days!  Eight more days of homeschool left!  Which, honestly, is a really good thing because the likelihood of me throttling one of my children increases about tenfold on a daily basis.  This is due to the fact that we are at the end of the school year and both of them are bouncing off the walls crazy from the time they wake up until I put them to bed.  Thankfully, I am mostly a very patient person and I understand how they feel.  We have experienced a lot of staying inside time because the weather hasn't been so terrific.  We have only had a couple of sunny days in the last couple of weeks, so it makes it even harder to keep them contained.  All they want to do is go outside and run around all day, and that has been mostly impossible.  Poor little monkeys.  They are just stir crazy!  And I totally get it.  Which is why neither of them have been throttled.  Yet.

We had a really great weekend.  Friday evening, we went to see the musical production of BIG, by Rutland Youth Theatre.  It was really well done.  Jeff's friend Saskia is the director and I admire the fact that she can get fifty kids ages 18 and under to put on a musical.  I'm not even sure I could get fifty kids that age to listen to me for five minutes....  On Saturday, we hit the $1 flip-flop sale at Old Navy.  Then we had a few essentials to pick up at KMart, Wal-Mart, and Hannaford's.  Unfortunately, by the time we got to Hannaford's, the kids were pretty much done and I spent so much time trying to get them to chill that I forgot a bunch of stuff that was on my list.  When we got home that afternoon, it was really nice so the kids went outside to play while Jeff mowed.  Jeff got the mowing and weed whacking done and then he and the kids were raking up the grass clippings when it started to rain again.  I stayed inside and cleaned house and baked cookies.  We all showered and then sat down and watched "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring".  I've seen that movie tons of times, and I still cry.  Sunday morning was a great church service and then we went to a friend's house for a combination birthday party/ barbecue.  It was a really nice day, so all the kids ran and played and got disgustingly filthy.  Then we had to make another trip to the grocery store to pick up all the stuff I forgot on Saturday!  It was a really great weekend!

I decided last week that I was going to start clipping coupons and saving money.  I have been watching "Extreme Couponing" on TLC and getting lots of hints and tips.  I have a whole strategy planned and have been clipping coupons and watching ads and getting ready for this weekend's shopping trip.  Then I had a major snag in my plan!  The coupon printer that I downloaded (which worked for my shopping trip last weekend) no longer works.  I have all these awesome coupons, which combined with store sales will save me a ton of money.....and I can't print them.  It's unbelievably frustrating.  I'm going to keep trying it because maybe it will start working again.  I'm also going to try to figure out why it isn't working.  I have all the correct system requirements and it says that it's downloaded, but I can't find the download anywhere on my computer.  It just keeps disappearing.  If anyone out there is a computer genius....I would appreciate some tips or suggestions.
I actually have picked up my knitting needles again this week.  I'm behind on a few things.  I have several gifts to make, but all the rainy weather made me too lethargic to craft.  I would seriously sit there and fall asleep mid-row while rocking in my glider.  So I tried switching to the couch.  I just fell asleep there, too.  Only I was way more comfortable there...and heaven only knows what the kids got up to while I was catnapping for 10 minutes here and there.  I just felt it was probably better that I not be dozing, so I put down the needles.  Now that I have started back in on a couple of projects, the weather is once again leaning toward rainy and icky.  Honestly, it's a bit obnoxious.
Now, for my weekly deep thoughts...My thoughts so far this week have been sparked by our church service Sunday which centered on the book of Acts.  The thing that stuck with me was this phrase, "What do you want your home to be?"  And I can think of a million things I want my home to be for those who come here.  Peaceful, kind, understanding, loving, hospitable, generous, non-judgemental.....are just a few I can think of off the top of my head.  But then it occurs to me that because of how things are on a daily basis here, my home rarely gets to be any of those things for those of us who live here.  So how do you change a home?  You have to change the people who live in it, of course.  Or at least the thoughts and actions the people living in it.  Since I can only really be responsible for changing my thoughts and actions, I'm working on those things for myself.  Honestly, I didn't realize how hard it would be.  Children learn by example.  So changing my thoughts and actions and encouraging my children to do the same has been my priority.  Change, however, does not come easily.   And I find that when I'm dealing with people who always expect one thing from me are not pleased when they get something different.  It really makes me understand how addicts can fall into dangerous patterns.  You keep doing something not necessarily because you want to or because you're proud of your choices, but after a certain point, it's the behavior that everyone expects from you.  It's the easiest knee-jerk response.  Sometimes, it's easier not to rock the boat.  To give in to what everyone expects.  At my home, I'm the pushover.  Everyone knows that I really dislike conflict.  Therefore, when there are disagreements, I get stomped like a weed.  And often, even if whatever conflict happens is not my fault, I'm the one left apologizing to everyone.  After Sunday, I realized that I did not want that.  I don't want my kids to think that it's okay to let other people have whatever makes them happy (even if it makes you unhappy) to avoid conflict.  So, I am changing my actions.  Please don't take this the wrong way....it's not as if I am currently having disagreements with anyone or anything like that.  My family is not awful to me or abusive in any way.  It's just a pattern that I notice.  I even notice myself giving in to my kids because I desire to have peace with them.  That's not really what I think is best for them.  I want them to be at peace.  I desire to be at peace.  However, I have come to the realization that I might have to fight for my peace.  So I'm ready and willing to do that.  I want my home to be whatever the people I love need it to be.  I'm willing to work hard for it, even if it means rocking the boat a little.  It will eventually settle....I hope that your homes are all that you want them to be!  Until next time, God bless!

"Stressful Shopping, Inconsiderate Gabbers, and The End of the World {again}"

We are finishing up our last few weeks of homeschool and enjoying the winding down.  If only everything else us was winding down as well!  It seems like once one part of our life calms down, the rest of it goes crazy.  I'm not one to love to run around constantly...I'm really a homebody.  I like snuggling up on my couch with a good book, my kids, and my dogs and just hanging out.  Don't get me wrong...I also love running around outside, puttering in my garden, and lots of other stuff....but nothing makes me happier than being all cozied up with all my kids (biological and furry!)

With our Virginia Beach vacation approaching quickly, we took some time this last weekend to shop for swimsuits and some summer clothes.  Cebelle adores shopping and she tried on like 15 swimsuits.  Since her one from last year still fits, we only let her get one more. She would love to wear a different one everyday, but I don't really think it's necessary.  Hayden picked out two swim trunks that he liked and then tried on two different sizes to see how they fit.  Then he picked one.  It took him about five minutes.  Cebelle's swimsuit shopping was almost a two hour ordeal.  Jeff and I were going to spend a sizable chunk and get them swimsuits from Lands End, but they grow so fast it seemed crazy to spend $40 on something that they might not even be able to wear all summer.  I tried on a couple of swimsuits, which made me remember why I hate swimsuits.  I ended up trying on a few just to check sizing and then ordering mine online.  It will be here in a few days.  I'm hoping that it all works out because I really hate trying them on and wearing them at all.  I discovered in this process that internet shopping is just as stressful as regular shopping for me.  According to sizing charts, I should be wearing three sizes larger than I currently wear.  If I hadn't tried on different sizes in the store, I probably would have experienced a complete panic attack.  As it is, I'm worried that the suit and the clothes that I ordered won't fit anyway.  And while we are on this subject...can we talk about how I wear like six different sizes?  It's crazy!  I can buy a shirt in one size at Old Navy and then need two sizes larger at a different store, or two sizes smaller somewhere else!  Pants aren't much better.  I currently have four different sizes of jeans in my closet that are cut mostly the same way but from different companies.  I don't understand why women's clothing can't be a universal size.  It's ridiculous.  Thanks to all the pencil thin perfect girls we feel bad enough about ourselves as it is.  We don't need four inches in variation that take us from a size 18 one day to a size 26 the next.....it's crazy!

And while I'm complaining....can I just continue about people who talk behind your back?  It really irritates me when it gets back to me that people are talking about me behind my back.  And I know that I shouldn't care what other people think, and the truth is I really don't.  What I care about is when people run around behind my back, saying things about me to others that aren't true or are taken completely out of context.  I am not perfect by any means, but I don't say anything behind someone's back that I would not say to their face.  If I can't think of something nice to say,  you probably won't hear a word from me.  And I sure as heck don't run around gossiping about family, friends, or acquaintances. I don't appreciate it when it's happening to me.  Say what you want about me, but say it to my face before you go around telling other people about my life and my business.  I'm pretty much an open book.  I will gladly tell you almost anything.  It's not as if I'm parading around and pretending to have a perfect life.  Guess what?!?!  I struggle with life: I fight and argue with my husband, my sisters, my parents, my friends; I make HUGE mistakes, I make small mistakes, I annoy myself most of the time so I can only assume that I annoy plenty of people, my children are not perfect, my life is not perfect.  But it's MY life.  And I wake up everyday trying my best to do right by myself and everyone around me.  I work hard to be the kind of person that my kids can look up to and the kind of friend, sister, wife, and daughter that would do anything for anyone who asks.  I try to look for the good in people and overlook their bad moments, because those moments don't define us.  How we handle ourselves in EVERY moment of our lives is what defines who we are.  So give me the benefit of the doubt.  I'm doing the same for you.  And pass it on to everyone else.  We all deserve as many chances as God will give us.  And, Praise the Lord, His love and patience is infinite.
I have been reading so much lately!  We have had rainy weather for about a week and I have finished almost two books a day.  Since I can read almost a whole 300-400 page book in about an hour, it's not as if I'm spending every waking moment with my NOOKcolor in hand.  I'm just stealing a couple of hours while my kids are playing or the daycare kids are napping.  And with almost 200 books on my NOOKcolor right now, I still have plenty of hours that can be filled!  I am thankful for my awesome husband and wonderful sister for giving me this awesome gift that was a late Christmas/early birthday & anniversary present.  I have used it everyday.  Now my NOOKcolor is updated and it has apps!  Not that I really ever use them...but it's nice to know they are there!
Our new basset hound, Copper,  is fitting in remarkably well!  It's like he has always been here!  He is a very sweet little guy!  Lately he has decided to start chewing on shoes...so we are working on it.  So far, the only casualty has been one of Hayden's Mickey Mouse crocs that he got at DisneyWorld.  It's really sad because he loves those shoes.  They aren't completely destroyed...but they definitely are not wearable!
I read a story online about the world ending on Saturday the 21st.  Apparently, people have sold their homes, quit their jobs, and have been traveling around telling others to prepare.  Here's my thought on that.....if the world is really going to end, how the heck do you prepare for that?  It fascinates me that these people have given up everything for what they believe.  In a way, I admire that.  It takes great courage and strength.  On the other hand, what happens of you do all of that and it turns out you're not right?  What happens the day after when you realize that you have quit your job, sold all of your possessions, and given up everything....and then it's Sunday?  And who knows?  They could be right.  Someone has to be right about the world ending at some point..
But the thing that resonates to me through all of these things is this:  Regardless of what others say or do, I will continue to spend every day trying my best to be the kind of person that God wants me to be.  I will NEVER be perfect, but by His grace I will live out my days at peace with whatever comes.  I wish the same for you!  God bless!

"Copper, Television, and {Improbable} Signs of the End Times..."

This has been another week of mostly the same stuff for the Hull family...with the exception of a few very exciting things!

The first of which is that we added a new furry family member to our brood!  He is an eight month old basset hound and we re-named him Copper.  

Isn't he absolutely adorable?  He has the best personality and is a very snuggly little guy.  He has fit in beautifully with us and we are so excited to have him!  

Another exciting thing was that Jeff and I actually got to go out Saturday night!  We picked up our friends and went to see the movie Thor!  Got off to a bit of a rocky start when we accidentally backed into someone (who was parked mostly in the middle of the road...but oh, well...) but what's the point in dwelling... It was an accident.  Nobody was injured.  We have good insurance.  It's already taken care of.  

The movie was pretty good.  Getting out and getting to spend some time with grown-ups was even better!  It's really nice to have friends who have similar interests and who are very loving and kind and terrific people that you enjoy spending time with!  In all fairness, I don't get to spend time with adults very much....I might have talked their ears off.  I spend so much time dealing with small people who always want something from me...it's a little difficult to transition sometimes.  Thank God that I didn't speak about myself in the third person.  I would have been mortified.  

I have been reading books like crazy.  Books that I bought for my birthday... books on my NOOKcolor...I need to get my priorities straight as I have now not crafted for like two weeks.  *gasp*  I know I just caused several people who know me to pass out with that sentence.  Me...not crafting....?!?!  It is sure to be a sign of the end times.....Honestly, I have just been really busy.  And if I only have 20 minutes or so, I won't pick something up because then I won't put it down and get done what needs to get done.  I promise after this week is done, I am not so crazy busy and I will post some pictures of the things that I have been working on.

We have also been spending as much time as we can outside!  It's been a bit difficult lately, and I would like to complain about the rain, but it's making our flowers bloom so beautifully!

The kids and I only have three weeks of homeschool left after this week.  Maybe another week to finish up some projects, but we are nearing the end.  Hayden has earned himself some summer school this year with Math because he is really slacking off.  He hasn't dropped below a B grade...he is still doing well.  But he is definitely not applying himself or doing his best.  Cebelle will be practicing her reading all summer.  She is reading some pretty big words now!  I'm very proud of her!  I am very proud of both of them for working so hard this year and accomplishing all that they have!  But, as their teacher, I am also very definitely looking forward to some downtime!  

I had to call and make eye doctor appointments for both of the kids.  There has been a lot of squinting going on here.  I am guessing that Hayden needs a better prescription for his glasses and I will be very surprised if Cebelle doesn't end up with glasses.  I had hoped that they would be spared that, but I guess they didn't have very good odds considering that everyone in the family has glasses!

Jeff and I have been using the evenings after the kids are in bed to try and catch up on our shows.  We have this new policy where we record almost an entire season of a show and then wait to see if the show is renewed before we watch it and get involved.  I know...its awful...but I would rather not waste my time watching something if it's only going to last for a few episodes and never a finished story.  I find that unbelievably obnoxious!  I can't tell you how many times we would watch a show and love it and then the show would get cancelled.  I hate that.  And it's a waste of time to watch something that goes nowhere.  So there really aren't many things that we watch on TV now.  (One of the exceptions is a show on ABC called "Better With You".  It stars one of Jeff's former students, Jake Lacy, who we have always loved and adored.  I hope his show stays on the air because Jake deserves to be really successful!)  And we are watching Stargate: SG1 from the beginning on Netflix.  

Jeff's last play will be opening on the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend.  I love what he does and love that he is able to offer so many kids the awesome opportunity to do work in theatre....but I am definitely looking forward to having him home with us for a couple of months!

Well, that's about all the excitement that has been happening here!  Not actually exciting by nearly any standards...Just a normal, everyday life filled with lots of ups and downs.  But by the grace of God, the downs never last long and they teach me valuable lessons.  I wish the same for you!  God bless!

"Math, America, and Why I Don't Love Bathing Suits..."

This week has been full of the same stuff as every other week!  I'm not complaining, I enjoy almost every minute of it!  But I would like to take this opportunity to get a few things off my chest.
1.  How the heck do you motivate an extremely intelligent 8 year old child to do school work that he dislikes?  Hayden really enjoys most of his school work, but he HATES math.  I understand that completely.  I was the same way.  I understood it very well, I could do it very well....I just hated actually doing it.  The difference between he and I is that I would do it really quickly to just get it over with while he takes the route of whining and complaining and taking an hour to do each problem.  And with a two page worksheet everyday...you can see how this is not fun for me in any way, shape, or form.  I love that kid with all my heart.  But there are days I want to whack that math textbook right upside his head.
2.  Why can't Americans just get along?  The wonderful thing about our country is how we have the opportunity to make anything that we desire of ourselves.  We can say what we want, live how we want, and decide who makes all the important decisions.  I think that some people forget that there are other human beings out there who are not so lucky.  Having lived in a third world country, I have a unique perspective on how terrific it is to be an American.  I wish people would stop taking it for granted.  I'm not saying my opinions are right and everyone else's are wrong, I am saying this:  you are lucky you get to form  your own opinions, America!  Stop using them to crush other people into the dirt.  I am sick of all the negativity and complaining.  I am sick of people abusing their rights and privileges.  I am sick of people thinking that their opinion is the only one that matters.  I am sick of people taking outright lies and spreading them as truth because they read it online, so it has to be true.  I am just generally annoyed at the American public right now.  I know that some people are in really bad situations and that it's easy to hand out blame to those making the laws.  And I absolutely do not agree with a lot that has been going on.  But-along with all of our freedom (which is provided because men and women like yourself and I are out laying down their lives everyday without question or complaint) comes responsibility.  People need to own up to it.
3.  My body is a temple.....but it doesn't work worth a crap.  I have been trying to lose weight.  I started keeping track of calories and on the advice of my doctor cut down my calories to 1700 a day.  I kept track of these calories.  Even without exercise, I should have been dropping about a pound a week.  I have lost and gained the same 3 pounds about eight times now.  It doesn't matter what I do.  It's not that I hate my body...I am perfectly happy with who I am.  But I would like to feel great in my clothes.  I would also like to walk around and not feel like people are looking at me and judging me for the way I look.  It's endlessly frustrating.
On the flip side of my ranting, I am also thrilled about several things that are going on!  I got my NOOKcolor updated and now it has apps.  Not that I will use a ton of them or do a lot with it...I got my NOOKcolor because I love reading, not because I wanted to play games.  But it's still pretty neat to be able to use it for something else.
Jeff and I are hoping to go to the movies this weekend.  We would really like to see Thor.  Hayden desperately wants to go, but I really don't want him to see it until we have screened it first.  I figure it's rated PG-13 for a good reason and I don't want to be surprised by something in the middle of the movie that I wish he hadn't seen.  Kids grow up way too fast as it is.
We got to spend this last Sunday outside for most of the day.  Jeff tilled our garden and Dad burned a huge brush pile that we had in our backyard.  Mom cleaned off our hillside and got rid of all the brush and salt from the plows this winter.  If it doesn't rain all weekend, I'm hoping to put in another flower bed out front and start a few plants for our vegetable garden.
We went to a book fair yesterday and purchased all the kids' school books for next year.  I know that some people homeschool without spending a dime, but we wanted books that would be similar to and better than what the kids would get in a public school, so our investment is pretty sizeable every year.  But we don't begrudge a cent of it.  It is for their future, after all.  We use Abeka books and this year decided to go with the entire grade package for each of the kids.  It cuts down on a considerable amount of lesson planning and book ordering for me, which is really nice.
We only have about four weeks of homeschool left after this week.  It will probably take one more week to finish up portfolios and tie up loose ends, but the kids are very excited to be done.  They are so excited about our trip to Virginia Beach that they talk about it almost constantly.  At least once a day it comes up.  I'm really looking forward to it as well.  Even if it does mean that I have to wear a bathing suit....
Still not a terribly exciting life, but it's mine and I love it!  Talk to you next week!

"Easter....and all the days around it in which I was a total slacker"

So much for my weekly blogging resolution.  In defense of myself, I have been really busy.  Not just a tiny bit busy.  We are talking "every day on the date planner filled in with stuff written in margins" busy. I would love to fill all of you in on every single detail of those weeks, but honestly, I was so busy that I forgot most of what happened.  Just kidding...I remember it.  I really just don't want to bore you with the minute details of my very un-exciting life.  So how about some highs and lows?
We will start with the highs:
1.  No homeschooling for the kids!  They had a week of spring break and then last week I cancelled classes because we were really super busy and none of us felt very well at all!
2.  Jeff, Hayden, and I had the opportunity to be in a production at our church on Good Friday.  We worked really hard on it.  I designed all the costumes and told my mom how I wanted them to look and she sewed them!  She is so amazing!  We got to work with some really talented and terrific people in our church that we absolutely love and adore and put on a production that touched a lot of people.  Jeff and I were very nervous about it because neither of us had actually been onstage in years!  But I am so proud of what came of it and I am very happy that we did it!
3.  Birthday $!  I was very blessed to have been sent birthday money and gift cards this year.  Which you will all be proud to know that I spent on books...and crafting supplies.  Mostly books!  I love to read so much and it is such a blessing to have a dozen new books that I  haven't read yet.  Because as most of you know...I re-read when I can't find anything new...so I'm feeling very loved right now!  Plus-I got some really cool crafting stuff...so expect some thank you cards that are way beyond awesome!
4.  Easter.  We went to church, which is always a blessing.  We love our church so much and all the wonderful people in it!  I was watching the other day as Hayden was going around and talking to some of the men in our church and noticing that they all would lean down to him and stop what they were doing to have a conversation with him and treat him with respect, kindness, and love.  That's not something that you find very often and I am so thankful that Hayden has such wonderful examples to look up to.  After church we came home and had a really nice dinner which Roni, Mom, and I prepared.  Roni made a ham and I made some homemade scalloped potatoes.  Mom made the rest of the sides and a couple of desserts.  I chipped in some dark chocolate gluten and sugar free cupcakes as well.  They were really delicious.  I will post the recipe on my recipes page!  Thanks to the weather, we got to spend a few hours outside hiding eggs, blowing bubbles, and having a Nerf gun war!  I always treasure time with my family!
5.  Testing.  I had numerous tests done from when I was in the emergency room last month and everything that came back was normal thus far.  I am still waiting on one more result, but the technician said that she didn't see anything to worry about.
-Those are not necessarily all the highs....most of the days have been really terrific!  Especially while Jeff was also on Spring Break and we got to spend time together as a family.  We don't really have to do anything or go anywhere.  We just love being together.
Now..onto the lows...
1.  Allergy shots.  Booooooooooooooo.......I know that they are helping my body.  But, honestly, they make me feel SO crappy!  I feel tired and flu-like.  The week before last, I barely had any itchiness and I thought, "Yay!  I am taking these so well!"  Talk about jinxing myself.  Last week, I had big, nasty, red itchy spots all the way down to my elbow and all around my upper arm.  Kind of like sleeves.  The itching comes from the inside, too.  So-there is no way to make it stop.  The worst part is that every week, just about the time I start to feel all better, it's time to go and get my shots again.  Please pray for me!  They make me so crabby!
2.  Sick kids.  Thanks to the weather and our stressful schedule that just finally let up, neither one of my kids have been feeling very terrific.  Snotty noses, headaches, general ickiness.  Poor little monkeys.  I guess I wouldn't say that they are actually sick...because it isn't that bad.  But they sure aren't their normal, cheery selves!  Please pray for them as well!
Hmmmmmmm.....I guess that is actually it for the lows!
As I said, mostly, my life is very un-exciting!  It's mostly filled with those small moments that I really try to imprint on my brain.  Like when Hayden hugs me for no reason or when I sit down and color in a coloring book with Cebelle.  Sitting around and having a great conversation with friends...or sitting around with friends and realizing that they have become family.  I am very blessed in my life with wonderful people whom I love and who love me.  There is no greater gift than that.  And on those days when the lows have got me really low, those people are the ones who pick me up and make me smile.  Which in its own way, makes the lows high.....
God bless you all, and may all of your lows also be highs!

"Spring break...but not actually a break.."

Time is flying by in the Hull household for yet another week!  Last week I celebrated my 34th birthday.  Which was really nice, considering that I was under the impression I was turning 35 this year.  During the week was the same old stuff!  Kids and I doing schoolwork and crafts, Hayden, Jeff and I going to rehearsal for the production that our church is doing on Good Friday, me exploring some new recipes for our new healthy way of eating, and appointments at the chiropractor and allergist.  The only real difference was that Jeff was gone both Friday and Saturday for the state drama festival, so most of the running around was just the kids and I (though my dad was sweet and drove me to my allergist appointment and mom kept the kids at home with her so I could have some quiet time!) I'm finding that when I get my shots, I start feeling like I have the flu for a couple of days.  I get sore and achy and really tired.  This week, I  had huge red bumps on my arms which were then surrounded by hives.  This started Friday evening after my shots and they finally were mostly gone by Wednesday.  It really stinks and it makes me feel crappy and miserable, but it will all help in the long run and be so worth it!  I have also spent a lot of the last week developing recipes and meals for our new way of healthy eating.  I have come up with some really terrific stuff, so I'm going to start an extra page on my blog for recipes!  I know that some of it sounds kind of far out- but my goal in this is to have my kids eating the things that they love and not know that those things are not filled with cane sugar or gluten or hormones or preservative or dyes.  So far, we have been very successful!  Nobody has complained about missing out on anything!
I was very fortunate on Sunday to be able to celebrate my birthday with several people that I love and adore!  It was a beautiful day and we spent over four hours sitting outside on the deck snacking and visiting.  It was a perfect celebration for me!
Jeff got back late Saturday night/early Sunday morning from the festival.  His students performed really well, but they were not one of the two schools to advance to the New England Festival.  He has been on Spring Break this week and the kids and I took the week off of school.  I still had daycare kids all day Monday and Wednesday.  And I had an ultrasound on my gallbladder on Tuesday morning.  The results from that are supposed to be in next week. The rest of the day Tuesday we cleaned the garage, cleaned outside, and played outside all day. Wednesday night we had rehearsal from 8-10 for our play and Jeff and mom and I are doing all the costumes so that will have to be worked on.  Today I got up and made some more cookies (check out the recipe page for this tasty treat) and a fruit and nut tart.  Jeff and I cleaned out Hayden and Cebelle's closets and pulled out their spring/summer clothes and tried all of them on to see how everything fit and to assess what they might still need for the summer.  This evening, we are going to watch the new Chronicles of Narnia movie, "Voyage of the Dawn Treader".  The kids are really excited.  We are having turkey burgers and fries for dinner and eating while we watch the movie.  It's a rare treat for us!  We have more busy days planned for the rest of the weekend as well.
Today was kind of our day to relax...and it has been more relaxing than most days.  But there are always things that need to be done!  We still need to get the kids showered and cleaned up and I still need to make dinner....well, the list goes on and on.  I'm just thankful that every busy day also includes some quality time with the people that I love.  My life is full of blessings and I thank God for them everyday!

"Rainy Days and Mondays...."

It's raining again today....and my family has been going non-stop for yet another week.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.  I like being busy and having things to do.  I think if more people had really full schedules and other people depending on them, it would mean that there would be fewer egocentric people who think that the entire world revolves around them and their self importance.  And I think we are all prone to that...we become so involved in the drama of our own lives that we fail to see the pain that others are suffering or the joy that others are feeling.  Life is meant to be celebrated and SHARED.  We all have this shared experience of birth, life, and death and I think it is a shame that we often become so self involved that we fail to take the time to share it.  Other peoples experiences not only mirror our own, they offer us opportunities to become better people.  We can learn from mistakes without making them, become more empathetic by experiencing grief that is not our own, and rejoice in accomplishments that we did not work for.   It makes me sad that people miss out on those things because they refuse to see that though they are unique and special...they aren't the only one.  God made all kinds of unique and special and loves us equally.  I think the least we can do is appreciate all kinds of unique and special and not get so caught up in our own version.
This has been a pretty normal week for us.  School, daycare kids, church, etc.  Jeff and Hayden and I had our first rehearsal for our church's Good Friday production last Wednesday. That was really fun.  I think it is really going to be great.  Cebelle is disappointed that she isn't involved, but I explained to her that she isn't quite old enough to read the lines and memorize them.  So she is content to stay home and play with Ninny and Papa while the three of us rehearse.
We had appointments on Friday, which has become the normal for us now.  The kids were at the chirpractor at 9.  They are doing wonderfully in their care there.  The difference in the both of them is just astonishing to me.  I feel so blessed to have met these wonderful people and to have the benefits of their wisdom and experience and to have options that don't involve our family taking tons of medications.  Our change is diet has gone off without a hitch.  I actually ate some gluten and sugar a few nights ago and it made me ill.  I thought I really wanted a piece of bread....but I doubt that I will be wishing for that again.  It also made me really lethargic, which I haven't been at all since we changed our diets.  And I love eating all the fresh veggies and fruits.  Tonight for dinner we are having a maple/mustard pork loin, sweet potato latkes, and homemade applesauce.  I don't feel like I have given anything up.  I'm working to completely get rid of soda.  Right now I have one about once a week.  And then my next step will be caffeine.  I will probably do a cleanse shortly after.
I also had my second round of venom immunotherapy on Friday.  The shots burned this time.  They felt like fire going into my arms all four times.  I also had my first reactions the day after.  My right arm was really itchy and feverish.  I also broke out in head to toe hives on Sunday after cleaning out my flower beds and being outside most of the afternoon.  That resulted in a mess of blood blisters covering my neck and chest.  Hopefully, that is completely unrelated to my injections.
Hayden and Cebelle have been doing amazingly well.  I am so proud of these two kids and all that they do.  Hayden has decided he might want to play baseball this year.  I will wait and see.  He did this last year and then when Jeff and I told him that if he signed up that he was responsible for being an active participant at every game and practice and that if he made the commitment there was no quitting, he changed his mind pretty quickly.  I think he just wants to go hang out with his friends....the fact that there is more physical exercise than I already make him do for PE is a serious drawback.  Also-he isn't really much of a team player.  I think he would do well in martial arts or gymnastics, but I haven't been able to find a program for him that fits into our schedule.
Cebelle has no interest in sports.  She just wants to craft.  She makes all kinds of cool projects and when I craft-she is usually right up in the middle of it!  She is very creative and inspired.  She is actually even learning to knit and crochet.  She does a knit cast on really well and she can do a small crochet chain.  I don't force it on her, I let her practice whenever she wants to.  We haven't moved on from that because she wants her cast on and chain to be perfect and even before she learns the next step.  Considering that I spent days practicing the perfect cast-on before I knit a single stitch, I can completely understand that.
I do wish that the rain would go away.  I love what it does for my flowers...but it always makes me so completely lethargic.  There is nothing I would love more than to curl up with a good book under my favorite quilt and a cup of tea.  And after finishing a chapter....to snuggle up and take a little nap.  But that's just dreaming on my part....I will at some point curl up with my NOOKcolor and read another book.  I read one this morning while Hayden was working on some schoolwork.  But right now I have kids to shower and dinner to start and a house to clean.  I plan on keeping busy.  If I don't keep busy, I will get really depressed that my birthday is on Saturday and that Jeff won't be here.  I'm extremely proud of him and his students for advancing to the state festival.  This group of kids is amazing and they completely deserve to be rewarded for their hard work.  I just wish that it meant that Jeff wouldn't be gone for two days on my birthday weekend.  And if they win and advance to the New England festival, which would not surprise me considering the amount of talent that is in that show, he will be gone for the other half of spring break next week.  So-this is my struggle to not be self-centered and self-important.  Those kids deserve his time and effort and I refuse to make him feel bad for doing something that is so terrific.  I am extremely proud of him and those kids.  And though I will be sad to not share my day with him, I will be glad that he gets to share that special moment of accomplishment with those kids who so richly deserve it.  And I will be thrilled to spend the following day with family and good friends and celebrate what is important in life.   (No, not my birthday....didn't we just discuss the downfalls of self-importance?!?!)  We will celebrate life and love and shared memories and the fact that God has blessed me with another year of those with the people I love and cherish.  In all the craziness that is our daily lives, don't forget to celebrate your life and share it with those you love.  You will never regret it.

"Another week of sheer craziness"

The Hull household has been pretty much going non-stop since I last blogged.  Hayden and Cebelle had chiropractic appointments on Wednesday and Friday last week.  We found out a lot about their spines and how several things have been impacted by the supplexations in them.  I knew that having misalignments certainly wasn't good for you, but when a friend said to me, "It's the way that your brain talks to the rest of your body.  If those nerves are hindered in any way, how can your brain send the correct signals to the rest of your body"  It was a like a total lightbulb moment for me.  And if I can get my kids healthy and off the medications that they are currently taking by keeping their spine aligned and feeding them a healthy diet, then I am all for it!  After our chiropractic recommendations on Wednesday, we have completely eliminated the following from our diets:  cane sugar, gluten, hormones, dyes, and preservatives.  I know that sounds crazy-but you wouldn't believe the difference in our children!  And I feel really good!  It's not as difficult as I thought it would be, either.  We are eating lots of fruits and veggies and lean proteins and also cheese and yogurt and mostly all organic.  The price for a box of cereal that is gluten free and sweetened with molasses and honey and not cane sugar is pretty much the same as the price of a box of crazy sugary cereal.  Bread was a little tricky, but we found a really good one that the kids love.  I'm very proud of them for not complaining.  They both have told me how much better they are feeling, so I know that it's the right decision.  (And don't worry-I consulted their pediatrician before I did any of these things and keep in touch with her constantly.  She also wants what's best for them!)  

Thursday was a pretty quiet day for the kids and I.  Jeff was at Castleton all afternoon and evening.  They had workshops and a production of "A Chorus Line" to try and recruit some students.  They all really enjoyed the show.  

Friday was a crazy trip.  The kids had chirpractic appointments early in the morning and then we had to take off to Burlington so that I could start my venom immunotherapy.  I was a total nervous wreck.  I got there and had to have two shots and wait 30 minutes and then have two more shots.  Which I guess is going to be the norm once a week for at least the next three months.  One hour and four shots.  Thankfully, I didn't have any adverse reactions.  After that, we went to Costco and the kids helped us pick out healthy snacks for themselves.  I was really proud.  They chose lots of fruits and veggies and hummus and beans and cashews and string cheese.  I tasted some dark chocolate covered acai berries at Costco.  They were SO YUMMY!  I wanted to get a bag of them, but they were $10 and I was afraid I would eat them constantly and totally defeat the purpose of a healthy snack....maybe next time!

Saturday we celebrated dad's birthday.  Roni and Jim joined us for lunch.  We had a surprise visit from our pastor and his wife.  They wanted Jeff and I to be in the play that our church does for Good Friday.  This year, the story is about Pilate and his role in the conviction and crucifixtion of Christ and how he deals with the aftermath of that within his personal life.  Jeff and I agreed and then Hayden later got roped in as well, so I guess we will be on stage!  I'm a little nervous about it because it's been years since I've acted in anything....but I'm sure it will all be fine!

Sunday we went to church and came home and cleaned house and did laundry.  Nothing terribly exciting.  

Monday I had a house full of daycare kids all day and Hayden and Cebelle had chiropractic appointments in the afternoon.  It was a bit of a crazy day.  Hayden and Cebelle are doing so terrific in their school work, despite our busy schedules and the fact that there are other kids here two days a week.  I'm very proud of them for maintaining their focus and working hard on their schoolwork.  

This morning, I had a follow-up appointment from my ER visit a couple of weeks ago. I went to and OB/GYN because the CT scan showed a large ovarian cyst. The doctor examined me and went over the causes and such of these cysts.  I have to have an ultrasound in the next few weeks or so to see if I need more follow-up.  AND-he thinks that the problem may not have only been a cyst, but also my gallbladder.  I'm still having pain (which I actually did not know until he poked at me...and then I sweared very inappropriately.  Thank God he thought it was humorous instead of being offended) and so I have to ALSO have an ultrasound on my gallbladder.  Which from my understanding...if that is the case...I will have to have my gall bladder removed.  Also-to add some more icing to my already scrumptious cake...the only way to keep my ovarian cysts from eventually causing issues is to have my tubes tied.  So-more dr appointments, more testing, probably more needles in my near future.  I knew things started going downhill at 30-I didn't realize that everything was going to go to complete crap by the time I turned 35...oh well, here I am, rolling with the punches....

The days from here on out look pretty much the same....appointments, rehearsals, daycare, homeschool....somewhere in all of that comes my 34th birthday.  (Honestly, until about two days ago, I thought it was my 35th...that's how much I care about these things...)  But-I am still extemely thankful for all I have been blessed with and I know that God will not give me something that I cannot handle.  I am in His hands and therefore I am not scared or worried.  I am too busy to be either of those things, anyhow!  But I love it and I wouldn't have it any other way!  Until next time.....God bless!

"Too many days to count...in 10 minutes or less."

When I started this blog, it was with these good intentions:
1.  For my kids to look at and know how much I love spending everyday with them
2.  For my Missouri family to read and get a look at our daily lives
3.  To remind myself of how special and unique everyday with kids is
I forgot to take into account the follwing:
1.  Everyday with kids, while special and unique, is also wild and crazy
2.  At the end of these days, I am so tired I forget what happened all day
3.  Finding time to sit at the computer, even for 10 minutes is very rare for me

There have been so many blog-worthy, crazy, wild happenings around here and I end up too tired and exhausted to sit down and tell the story.  So I'm going to try to sum up the highlights of the last 10 days or so.  I have realized that I don't have 10 minutes to sit down every day, so I'm going to aim for twice a week or so!
The last 10 days have gone somewhat like this:
For the first 2 or 3 days, I was highly medicated on pain pills.  I managed to teach school, go to our church marriage class, and do things around the house.  I did NOT drive, operate heavy machinery, or get out of my pajamas for most of those days.  Also, I'm pretty sure that more stuff happened then, but I don't remember it.
By Thursday morning of last week, I was finally out of my pain/medication haze and I was able to get a bunch of stuff in the house cleaned and organized.  Unfortunately, I remember most of that.  I went Thursday afternoon and picked up some donations for the regional drama festival and chatted with the head cook about the stuff I would need in the school kitchen to cater.
Friday was a round of appointments.  Hayden and Cebelle went to the chiropractor for the first time.  I'm very happy with how that turned out.  Turns out, both of them had some pretty severe misalignments and once they were adjusted, they both felt great!  We met mom and dad that day at McDonalds and had some lunch.  Jeff was busy with festival prep and he didn't get home until really late that evening.
Saturday morning was the start of the festival that Jeff was in charge of.  He woke up at 4:00am that morning and couldn't go back to sleep. Pretty rough, considering that we had to be at the school until almost 11 that night and he hadn't gone to bed until after 11pm Friday night.  We headed out around 7:30 am and he ran the festival and I catered the lunch and the dinner along with a host of some really terrific parent volunteers.  Jeff's students won which means they get to advance to the state competition which will take place over April 8 and 9.  Mom and Dad brought Hayden and Cebelle to eat dinner at the school so we could see them.  It was really fun to sit down and enjoy a meal with them.  Hayden was fascinated that I could cook dinner for that many people at once. (There were about 150)
Sunday morning, Jeff and I had nursery duty at the church.  We took care of 4 kids under the age of 2, which was tons of fun, but exhausting.  We came home and cleaned up our backyard some, cleaned up the driveway, fixed my van, cleaned house, and did the laundry.
Monday morning I had daycare kids start arriving at 6:30am and I had a house full of kids from 6:30 to about 5.  Hayden and Cebelle did all their schoolwork.  They have been running through all their schoolwork with ease and learning lots.  I am very proud of the both of them for all their hard work and dedication.  They both ended up having some major meltdowns Monday evening.  I expected it at some point because it has been such a crazy couple of weeks-and there doesn't look to be an end in sight as of yet.
So far today, we have finished our schoolwork.  I had a couple of daycare kids arrive at about 1.  They will be here until after dinner when we meet their parents at our church marriage class tonight.  Jeff will be home this afternoon early, so it shouldn't be too much trouble.  Hayden and Cebelle are wearing a little thin.  I think they could use naps, but they are refusing to take them.
Planned for the rest of this week:  chiropractic appointments Wed, Jeff taking a group of kids to Castleton and being gone until really late Thu, I have my first venom immunotherapy injection on Friday which requires me to take a trip to Burlington, birthday lunch for dad on Saturday, church on Sunday.  Possibly getting together with friends Friday evening.  And then Monday starts again with a house full of daycare kids.  Like I said, no end in sight!
That's a small summary of what I haven't blogged about lately.  There's been so much going on in our world as well and I don't really have the time to go into all of that!  I am, as every day, grateful for my family and wonderful friends,  thankful that I have another day on this earth,  hoping that people can change, and praying that they will.  God bless!

March 10-13 or "Holy crap! What a crazy few days!"

So on Thursday, Jeff's One Acts opened at Otter Valley.  The kids and I spent the day doing school and then watching a movie.  Mom and Dad were supposed to make a trip to White River, but the weather was going to be bad around those areas, so they decided to stay home.  Thursday was actually pretty uneventful.  I was able to read some of my book and do a little knitting while the kids were watching their movie.  We had dinner and mom and dad went to the one acts and I stayed home and put the kids to bed early and stretched out on the couch and watched "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" while I waited up for everyone to come home.
Friday was also fairly uneventful.  The kids actually woke up really early, which kind of backfired on me.  I had put them to bed early to help them catch up on a little sleep, and they only ended up losing some more sleep.  They were both quite cranky.  We managed to finish our schoolwork by 10am, though.  Which was nice, because I had an appointment.  Mom kept the kids for me while I ran to town and I got back around lunch time.  The kids were exercising on the Wii so I made them some lunch and I ate my lunch.  I got around and fixed dinner and put it in the crock pot to keep warm.  I actually picked up my friend, Angela and she and I went to the one acts on Friday night.  We had a really great time.  While we were doing that, the kids stayed home with Ninny and Papa and ate grilled cheese and french fries and ice cream and lots of other stuff.  And they got to watch a movie and stay up late.  It's a rare treat for them, so they really enjoyed spending time with mom and dad like that.  Jeff and I got home around 11 and had some macaroni and cheese and watched a show and then we headed to bed.
Of course on Saturday morning, the kids woke up early.  It never fails that on the days that we are able to sleep in, the kids get up early.  When I woke up,  I noticed that I was having some pretty bad pain in my abdomen.  Starting from right at my chest all the way down to my pelvis.  I didn't really think much of it because I have been doing Pilates exercises which are specific for toning my abs.  Except it was really hurting.  And it didn't really get better.  At lunch time I took a couple of ibuprofen and it helped.  Mom and Dad headed out to go to Jim's birthday party in Colchester around 4.  Jeff headed out to his last night of shows around 5.  I fed the kids some dinner and noticed that the pain in my abdomen was returning.  Then I took them upstairs to shower and get ready for bed and I noticed that the pain was much more severe than before and this time, it was centered on the right side of my body slightly above my belly button.  Knowing that is where my appendix is, I looked it up online and checked the symptoms.  I had three of the five.  I was a bit worried and a lot in pain, but I didn't have anyone to watch the kids and I figured it wasn't really an emergency.  So I planned to wait until Jeff got home around 11 and then head to the emergency room.  But then the pain was terrible.  So bad that I could barely take a deep breath in without breaking into a cold, clammy sweat from the pain.  And I knew I had to go to the hospital.  So I called Jeff and he met me and picked up the kids and took them to his show where he could keep an eye on them.  And I called mom and she and dad met me at the hospital so  that I wouldn't have to be there alone.  Luckily, the ER was pretty quiet and I got in and was seen by the Dr. right away.  She felt that it was either my appendix or ovaries.  I was immediately hooked up to an IV and had blood work drawn.  Then I had to drink 3 bottles of contrast so that my insides would show up on a CT scan.  And since the pain was so horrible that it was making me nauseous, they had to inject anti-nausea medication.  The blood work came back with an elevated white count.  The doc felt that it was very likely that I would be having emergency surgery to remove my appendix.  Then the CT scan came back, and lo and behold, it was not my appendix, but a cyst on my right ovary that was over 3 cm. in diameter.  Yes...3 CM not MM.  It's huge.  I was very thankful that I did not have to endure an emergency surgery after I had already spent almost 6 hours in the hospital.  And I was unbelievably grateful for the pain medication that they gave me.  I am prone to these cysts but the pain from this one  is unlike any other.  Now I just have to go back for a follow-up ultrasound or two to make sure that it goes away.  Until it shrinks or ruptures, I have some good hefty doses of pain meds to help me out.  So-I went to bed highly medicated at about 3 am.  Right about the time we 'sprung forward'.  The kids didn't go to bed until after 11 last night because they were with Jeff and he had to stay and clean up the school and put everything away after the shows.  We all got up shortly before 10am.  I would have liked to not moved all day as I am still in a considerable amount of pain.  But next weekend, I am catering a regional one act festival that Jeff's school is hosting.  And today is the only day that Jeff and I could travel to Burlington to pick up all the supplies.  So after my breakfast and pain meds, we set out to Costco.  The car ride up and shopping weren't so bad, it didn't take me very long to gather everything I needed.  Hayden and Cebelle were big helpers.  But on the ride home, my pain meds started to wear off and I didn't  have any more with me because we were picking the prescription up on the way home.  So every little bump in the road was torture.  I was never so thankful to bed home and put on my pajamas and crash on the couch.  I am also unbelievably thankful for my mom. Because in addition to hanging out with me at the hospital all night last night, she made us a delicious dinner and I didn't have to worry about cooking.  I'm getting ready to put the kids to bed and curl back up on the couch.  Hopefully, the pain won't last for long.  It's crazy how these things always happen at the most inconvenient times.  Please say a prayer for me.  I have a really busy week ahead and I need to feel better soon!

March 9 or "My very accomplished day"

Today I made about 15 phone calls that I had been putting off.  Made appointments that I had been putting off.  Cleaned out stuff that I had been putting off.  Went to the store...because I had been putting that off.  The problem with procrastination is that it eventually catches up with you and mostly in a big way.  I was supposed to have one of my three year olds today, but she may or may not have croupe and since Cebelle has asthma, I was hesistant to have her here.  Instead of sleeping in, I got up early and started getting stuff done.  I even had time to start a new book and exercise and teach school!

The kids did pretty great in their school work again.  Cebelle is experiencing some frustration with the letter x and remembering the /ks/ sound that it makes.  It makes her blending a little difficult, but she only learned that letter on Monday, so I'm sure she will get it.  It's the first letter she has had trouble with, so it's doubly frustrating for her.  Hayden had a spelling test today and he got a 91%.  Most of the mistakes that he makes are from getting in too much of a hurry.  He is learning in math how to turned mixed numbers into fractions to multiply them.  He has done very well with that concept so far.  School is still lasting about three hours a day for us, which I think is a good amount of time to be studying diligently.

One of my other main daily occupations is breaking up kid fights constantly.  My kids are constantly arguing about playing.  It all centers around the two of them playing what one wants to play and then refusing to play what the other wants to play.  Or agreeing to play with each other and then one of them deciding they don't want to.  It has gotten so ridiculous that by 4 pm today I was threatening to lock them in their rooms and forbid them to speak or look at each other except when it is necessary for school work.  Honestly, I have no idea what to do with the two of them.  I think they just like to argue.  I assume they must be getting some kind of fun out of it...otherwise, why the heck would they do it all the time?

The only thing I didn't manage to accomplish today was crafting.  I had planned to work on my cross-stitch and get a lot more of it done and complete some squares for a baby blanket, but that was the thing I ended up putting off today.  Which I suppose is fine.  Because now that I have all that other stuff that I had put off finished, I have more time to craft tomorrow. 

Hayden accidentally squeezed my hand in a manual can opener today.  I was handing it to him by placing it on my palm and reaching my hand over to him.  He grabbed both handles and squeezed them together.  A big chunk of my palm got squeezed in the part that actually opens the can and I started screaming and he panicked and squeezed harder.  Ouch. Painful.  It's a miracle that it didn't slice through my hand.  When he finally let go, I had tears running down my face and he was so upset.  I was grasping my hand and trying to reassure him that everything was okay.  Of course he didn't mean to do it!  He ran and got me a cold washcloth to hold against it and before too long, it wasn't so bad.  It didn't break the skin, but I am sporting one heck of a bruise just underneath my left hand ring finger.  Poor little guy.  I felt so awful for him.  He has been apologizing ever since and telling me how much he loves me.  He has so much empathy that it just broke his little heart to have hurt me. 

I am getting ready to tuck my sweet little monkeys in bed.  They got in bed late last night because of our marriage class and both of them got up early today.  I'm hoping to get them tucked in and get them some good rest tonight.  Maybe the result will be less fighting tomorrow.  Or maybe it won't....

Then I plan to curl up on the couch, catch up with my hubby, and watch a couple of shows before I head off to bed.  I plan on sleeping very well because my mind will not be filled with how much I need to accomplish tomorrow!  

March 7 & 8 or "Let's talk about what a slacker I am....or not"

Sunday evening, while Jeff was on the computer looking at fun apps we could get for us and the kids,  (Macs have apps now that transfer to iPad, iPhone, and iPod-you can share all of them between devices and it is wicked cool!)  I was struggling with how to go about losing weight.  To be honest, I have tried nearly everything.  I had some terrific success with Weight Watchers a few years ago-I lost almost 50 pounds.  Then I went through a four month period where I gained and lost the same 5 pounds about fifteen times.  And that isn't an exaggeration.  No matter what I did (how much extra I exercised, how much less I ate) I could not break through that plateau.  Eventually, I ended up gaining all the weight back even though I tried really hard not to.  So I had decided Sunday that it was time to get my butt in gear and do something about it.  I am not getting any younger and as I get older, I know this struggle is only going to get more difficult.  So-I found an app for it!  I downloaded the Calorie2 app to my computer (I had to pay for it) and I have been using it to keep track of my diet and exercise.  It's really simple.  I just type in what food and when I ate it or what exercise and the app tells me: the breakdown of my intake (carbs, protein, fat), how many calories I need to consume, how many calories I burn by the exercise I do.  Then it goes even further and has things like weight loss graphs, breakdown of nutrients and vitamins consumed based on the foods you eat, and a lot of other neat things.  So I got on the ball with eating healthy and exercising.  As it turns out, I was once again eating about half the food I needed to consume.  Essentially my body is starving, so it stores everything as fat when I eat.  Over the last three days, I have consumed the amount of calories that my body needs and I have lost 6 pounds.  I'm sure a lot of that is water weight-but I don't care.  I'm just praying that I can continue to do well.
In other news, Sunday night and all through Monday we got a massive snow storm.  It was coming down about 2 inches an hour.  So of course, there was no school Monday morning.  I was supposed to have a house full of daycare kids.  We spent the day doing school work and then a couple of hours in the afternoon shoveling.  I burned a ton of calories....shoveling is great exercise!  We ended up with over two feet of snow.
Tuesday was sort of a nutty day as well.  I had daycare kids, which doesn't normally happen.  Jeff has One Acts opening this weekend, so the missed day of school and rehearsal messed up his tech week.  We signed up for a marriage class at our church which was meeting Tuesday night. So it was a pretty busy day.  I had the daycare kids all day, Jeff had school, rehearsal, p/t conferences and then we met up at marriage class.  When we got home it was time for bedtime for the kids and we watched a couple of shows before crashing ourselves.
It's been a crazy couple of days and I haven't actually had the time to sit down at the computer.  I did finish reading a book on my NOOKcolor yesterday that I borrowed from the library.  We also watched "Let Me In" which I actually really liked.  I put the book on my NOOKbook wish list because I am positive that since I liked the movie, I will love the book even more.
I don't mind all this snow at all.  But for the first time in several years, I am really looking forward to Spring.  I love taking my morning cup of coffee out on the deck with a book and enjoying the morning sunshine before anyone else gets up.  I love letting my kids play outside for half an hour before we start school.  I'm looking forward to puttering around in my flower beds and putting in the new one we planned this year.  But for now, there is still snow on the ground and things to be accomplished inside.  I guess I should get back to work on accomplishing them!  Have a great day!

March 4-6 or "The weekend we got everything done....mostly"

We had a very good weekend!  Jeff came home Friday afternoon and I was able to get a bunch of my cross-stitching worked on while he and the kids played games.  I didn't really feel very much like making so we had some Mickey Mouse Chicken Nuggets and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.  Not my finest nutritional moment-but I was exhausted and pretty much done for the week.  I was so looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday-and of course, Hayden got up at 7:15.  I find it perpetually annoying that he sleeps AFTER 8 on the days that I get up at 5:30 and on the days I can sleep until 9 or whenever I want- he is up with the sun.  It's just one of nature's cruel jokes, I guess.  Jeff and I tell him that we can't wait until he is a teenager and wants to sleep because then we are going to roll him out of bed every morning at 5:30.
Saturday we just hung around the house.  I did a bunch of stitching and knitting, the kids got to play their video games, Jeff played with his phone...we all watched "The Wizard of Oz" together because the kids have never seen it.  It was really funny because they kept asking what was the matter with the color for the first thirty minutes of the movie.  Then when Dorothy arrived in Oz, Hayden said, "Oh, there it is!  It finally fixed!"  Which of course, we all found pretty funny.  Mom decided to make some cinnamon rolls that evening so I made some orange cream cheese frosting to go on them.  Then I scrambled some eggs and cooked some bacon and that's what we had for dinner on Saturday.
Jeff and the kids and I got up and went to church Sunday morning.  I'm always excited for our Sunday services.  Even though the weather was really rainy and nasty.   Jeff and I are starting a marriage class through our church and I'm really looking forward to that.  It's always nice to spend time with people who help lift you up.   After church, we had to make a run to Rutland because Jeff needed some last minute stuff for his one acts this weekend.  We picked some stuff up at Wal-Mart.  I got a new workout dvd.  It was only $6 and it has three 10 minute workouts for abs and cardio.  I did one of them after we got home and it was really awesome!  We also stopped off at Home Depot and ate lunch at Burger King and filled up the van with gas.  All the while, the weather was deteriorating rapidly.  The loads of rain started turning into a nasty mix of sleet and freezing rain and snow.  The temperature dropped, so the water that was on the roads started to freeze.  By the time we got home, there was about an inch of snow and it has kept going all night.  We are supposed to have two feet when its all said and done.  It's pretty much a mess.
However, because we were home and tucked safely away we were able to get SO much accomplished!  The kids cleaned their rooms, we cleaned the whole rest of the house and vacuumed all the rooms, the dogs got dry baths and their teeth brushed, and all the laundry got washed.  We even had time to watch a movie at the end of the night.  We had "Case 39".  It was creepy, but pretty good.  Or, I guess, not as awful as I expected it to be!  So, despite the nasty weather, we had a really great weekend!  I'm hoping that it moves over into the week because Jeff has his shows this weekend, so there are still many things to get done!

March 3 or "Playdate mania"

Cebelle woke up at 7:20 this morning.  She was so excited about her playdate this afternoon that she had to get up and tell me how excited she was.  She got in bed with me and snuggled up and was almost back to sleep....when Hayden came in at 7:35.  Hayden is anything but quiet in the mornings.  He has this thing where he shouts.  Constantly.  Even if you are sitting right next to him.  Or even if your ear is right by his mouth.  I have had his hearing checked multiple times, but there is nothing wrong with him.  He only has one volume:  obnoxiously loud.  So of course Cebelle did not go back to sleep.  It was mostly impossible, considering that Hayden was shouting at her about the book that he is reading ("Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief") and that she can't read and then he proceeded to tell her about everything he had read thus far.  Cebelle was not thrilled.  She is very much like Jeff and she is NOT a morning person.  She said, "Hayden!  I don't care!  Stop shouting and trying to be smart and leave me alone!"  Which then caused a fight because Hayden felt the need to explain that he wasn't TRYING to be smart because he was IN FACT, smarter than most adults and he was DEFINITELY smarter than Cebelle because mommy said yesterday that age brings wisdom and he was almost two years older than Cebelle.  So, I diffused the fight and got into the shower, hoping to brighten my day a bit.  Turns out I had to shower with my eyes open while staring at the light/vent fan in the shower because a wasp was in there and trying to get out.  In case you have never tried it, showering while keeping eyes open and tilted upward is not an easy task.  You are, in fact, more prone to get shampoo, conditioner, and face wash in your eyeballs while showering this way.  Even when your head is tilted upwards.  I don't know how it's possible, I only know that it is.
So we had our breakfast and did our school work.  Cebelle had a phonics assessment and a math assessment, both which she scored perfect on.  Hayden had a Language Arts test, which he scored 87% on and a Penmanship test, which he scored a B+.  That's the first time he has gotten above a C on Penmanship and I'm very proud of him.
After lunch, I was able to work on my cross-stitch.  I actually finished 3 sections of it and started the next section up.  I was really excited.  Cebelle played "Eye of the Tiger" very loudly on the stereo and danced and sang.  My favorite part is when she sings the lyric "rising up to the challenge of our rival" because she says, "raisin up to the chillin of our rye-ho"  I have no idea what that even means, but I find it hysterical.
It was finally time at 2:30 to pick up Cebelle's friend from school.  The kids who are here during the week are all younger than Cebelle, except for the boy who is Hayden's age.  So, Cebelle ends up playing either tiny girl stuff or big boy stuff if she wants to play with someone.  She doesn't really have someone her age to play Barbie or Littlest Pet Shops or Zoobles with very often.  Of course, she was unbelievably excited to have her friend come over. They have been doing girly-girl stuff all afternoon.  And Hayden has been...complaining.  I tried to explain to him that Cebelle doesn't really like to play all that other stuff like LEGOS and Bakugan, she only does it so she has someone to play with.  He just doesn't really get it.  So I had him do homework and his reading for his book report while the girls played.
We are getting ready to have some pizza for dinner and then we are running our friend home.  Hopefully, I can get my kids in bed a bit early because they got up so early.  Jeff has been texting me all day that he isn't feeling very well, which is very unfortunate because he has parent/teacher conferences tonight until 8.  I hope that he isn't coming down with something.
Once I get the kids down, I will either watch some Netflix until Jeff gets home (probably "Secret Life") or I will read my book ("The Queen of Attolia").  I haven't really decided.  Not sure what I'm in the mood for.  Whatever it is, I will most likely be curled up on the couch with the dogs at my feet and enjoying the life that I have.  Despite the daily ups and downs, not a moment goes by that I am not thankful.