We had a great Thanksgiving in KY! Nanny's on Thanksgiving Eve was great, which was a bit of a surprise - we had 15 adults and 8 kids in Nanny's tiny apartment (Karen used to be her next door neighbor so I think all of you who read this probably have seen the size of those apartments!) to eat pizza and put up her tree. Amazingly enough it was really nice and our boys even behaved well enough! Thursday was Thanksgiving dinner with Mom, Dad, Nanny, Tim, and Laura and their family then we did Christmas presents for the kids after dinner since we're not coming in for Christmas. Mom and I did some black Friday shopping like always. We went to Wal-Mart at midnight and were headed to Kohl's and K-Mart, but we ended up going home and sleeping for a while then going back out in the morning. Saturday we came home and it's been non-stop ever since. We've got a dinner and a movie night at church on Saturday and I'm having an open house for Thirty One on Sunday.

The boys have been driving me crazy lately with the whining and fussing. Trying to figure out how to deal with that. They are sleeping better now though for the most part. Corban doesn't nap all the time, but then he is READY for bed at night. Caden is the cutest little thing and has really gotten to be funny lately. Wish I could actually think of anything that he's done lately!

UGH and AHHH!

I am so not cut out to be a minister's wife. I know that this is where God put me and that He gives me what I need, but man, this is hard. People expect so much of their minister and his family and I am not a mercy giver, I am pretty selfish with my family's time, I have a hard time loving the ones who are asking for it. I am praying about this, I would like you to as well. It's just so hard to take care of everyone's needs. Ask every member every Sunday how they are doing with their sundry medical issues, or parenting issues, or family issues. If you ask too much, you're being a nag and being nosy. If you don't ask enough, you don't care. Heaven forbid you don't give the reaction they were looking for, or you're an unfeeling jerk. Don't even get me started on the bulletin! Everybody tells us everything and expects US to determine what does or does not go into the bulletin (and no, it doesn't matter how many times we ask them to WRITE IT DOWN AND GIVE IT TO JANETTE, NOT JOHNNY). And of course then they are upset when it's not right, or not in there at all. Ugh, I know I'm griping too much, and I'll stop soon. This is just a safe place for me to voice my frustrations among friends who care and understand. We're just feeling so tired of it all. I feel like we're doing so much but it's never enough.

On a brighter note, we're headed to KY in two days! Tonight I'm helping Di with kids at church, tomorrow I've got Tanner all day and I'm hoping to wash clothes and pack. Tomorrow night we're going to see Harry Potter on the IMAX and have dinner with Craig and Di. Tuesday morning we're headed out and we'll be in KY until Saturday. When we get back it's going to be crazy busy until Christmas, but I'm really looking forward to this Christmas because the boys are both getting older and have more of an idea of what's going on. Corban has already said that Santa brings presents. I can't wait until he starts understanding the real story of Christmas!

These are some pictures from our vacation. I only really remembered or was able to take my camera to the beach one time - the time we were wearing regular clothes and flying a kite. They still got wet. Imagine that, two little boys who were incapable of staying out of the water!

Yes, we were wearing jackets on the beach - and we were still cold. The boys got to see the ocean and play in the water some, so it was worth it!

Caden is in a big boy bed! For right now we've got it pushed up against the wall with a closet until we figure a better room arrangement. It's going OK. We took his pacifier away this week, so he's just not been sleeping great anymore. I think Corban really likes to have Caden in the room with him and we can see that in a few weeks when they've gotten used to it, they will both really enjoy sharing a room.

In other news, Caden has a bit of a cold. Snotty nose, sore throat, slight fever. I stayed home with him today and sent Corban to church. I've been babysitting a 7 week old a few days a week and I still have Nina - kind of. I just pick her up from her house and take her to dance two days a week. I also think I'm going to become a consultant for Thirty One. It's a faith based company that sells purses, gifts, and organizational items at home parties. It's a big thing at home right now, but it's not up here, so I'm hoping I can get it going and hopefully make a little extra cash as well.

The boys are finally both asleep and I think I'm going to follow! Hope everyone has a good Sunday!

I had orders

Johnny informed me that I needed to update the blog. He was right. Since vacation we've come home and have been very busy. We've gotten into the swing of things with preschool. Corban goes to class Tuesday and Thursday from 9 until 11:30. On Mondays at 11:30 his class has swimming lessons with the 4 year old class. We had missed his first class and came in late for his second because we had just gotten back from vacation. When he got in the pool he FLIPPED. I don't know what happened because he loves the water and loves school, but he did not do well. Last week he was fine. Fickle boy. I also started taking care of Nina again. This year she rides the bus to her house and all I do is go to her house and pick her up and take her to dance. We do that on Monday and Thursday. It's not a big deal, but every little bit of money helps. I'm also going to be keeping a 6 week old baby boy this week. It will just be two days a week, but I think the days might move around. So. Busy.

Last Sunday we took the boys to a pumpkin patch. We didn't get a pumpkin - we still don't do Halloween - but we did pick apples and do all of the fun stuff there. The boys had a great time. Today we went to a park and walked the hiking trails for an hour or so. We figured we needed to get out of the house while the weather was decent.

Vacation Blues

So we're on vacation in the Outer Banks. It's raining. A lot. It's been warm and we've been able to be on the beach at least a little every day but yesterday, but it's just been dreary and WINDY! Last night the winds were reaching 51 mph. The house was literally shaking.
Today was supposed to clear up, but the clouds have rolled in and it's been raining again. We leave Sunday, so we're hoping for a good day tomorrow! The boys have enjoyed the beach and the ocean and that has been fun to see.

1st day of preschool

It's finally here - first day of preschool! He's been talking about it for so long, I don't think he understood that it's actually happening! Johnny is taking him today and he gets to stay with him during class today. It's only two days a week, Tuesday and Thursday, from 9 til 11:30. He'll also have swim class on Monday at 11:30. Johnny is having a really hard time seeing him go. I thought I was doing great until he walked out of the house with his backpack on this morning (BTW, I got the backpack at Wal-Mart for $3 and had it monogrammed - LOVE it!). I'm sure I'll have a harder time next year when they both are going and I'm sure it would be harder if I was looking down the road two years and seeing him walking out the door to get on a school bus. Since that's not going to happen, this is just exciting! I'm not even going to try to caption the pics, there's not a whole lot to say. It was red day at school, so he and Johnny are both sporting their red shirts. Just for the fun of it I dressed Caden in red too! Well, I've got to get ready and run some errands while I've only got one child to drag in and out of the car! I have got to remember that the pics upload in the opposite order of what you pick them! Oh well, you can see that Caden is none too happy to have Daddy and Corban both leave the house together!

Ephesians 6:11

"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes" Ephesians 6:11