Brittanie's cheerleading pictures

Here is Brittanie's cheerleading pictures. Of course she didn't get to cheer the first game because of the coach but this squad picture is in all of the football programs. I love it! I think her individual picture came out great too! If it is too small to see, just click the picture and it will get a little bigger.

Happy 15th Birthday, Brittanie!!!

Today is Brittanie’s 15^th birthday and I can’t believe she is that old already. Seems like just yesterday she was in that nursery window holding her head up and looking around while even a doctor passing by couldn’t believe a newborn could do that. Now she is 15 and beautiful, intelligent, talented, and such a joy. I also can’t believe I am old enough to have a teenager! I never pictured myself this old. I guess I thought I’d be a teenager forever. But Brittanie is so different than I am but that is a good thing in many ways. She is so grounded and has her head on straight and I just didn’t. She got a phone call from her orthodontist yesterday and it was the staff singing Happy Birthday to her. This morning, my niece called to wish her a happy birthday as well.

Brittanie met the youth pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Swansea Friday night and he invited her to go to church today. So we went. She actually wanted to go to Sunday School. We are not Sunday school people. Tom dropped her off at Sunday school and came back to get dressed and we went and met her for service. Everyone is so nice there. I swear 90% of that church came up and welcomed us and introduced themselves to us. The pastor and his wife were so nice. I especially liked that people dressed modestly but comfortably. There was a wide range from suits and ties to jeans and a pull over shirt. I love that because I hate feeling like I have to put on a fashion show to go to church. To me, as long as you are covered up and not wearing clothes that are skin tight, you are ok. Church is for worship, not to look at what everybody has on and making sure the women dress like Little House on the Prairie. Anyway, Brittanie was asked to sit with the youth for service, so she did. The church was having a spaghetti dinner after church to raise money for a mission trip to Romania. She came up to me after service while Tom went to get Katie from the nursery, and asked me if she could stay for the spaghetti dinner. She said Sunday school was the best she has ever been to and everyone was so nice and welcomed her with open arms and she wanted to stay for the dinner. Well the only problem was that the dinner was $5 and we had no cash on us. We had planned on taking her to O’Charley’s after church to celebrate her birthday. Well the pastor told us not to worry about that at all and even offered that he and his wife would take her home. We said it was ok but when we got in the van realized that we had four dollar bills and change that added up to a dollar in the van. So Tom ran it in there to her and gave her my cell phone to call us since she had left hers at home. She sat across from the pastor and his wife and talked to them and really loves it. She wants to go back Wednesday night. So that’s the plan.

Tom and Brittanie are going to Wal-Mart right now to buy “Fever Pitch” and “The Longest Yard” on DVD and she wants us to watch them with her for her birthday. So I’m just waiting for her to get home and we will do that. Tom and Katie were disappointed that there was no birthday cake but Brittanie has lost 30+ pounds. She didn’t want to blow it with birthday cake. You have to admire her resolve! So they bought a cake with the type of icing Tom likes just so he and Katie can have cake and Brittanie can have candles to blow out. Here are the pictures.

What a week!

This has been a rough week. Monday Katie started preschool and loved it and Brittanie had rifle team and I was trying to type as I am sooooooooooo far behind still. Tuesday, Katie went back to preschool and it didn’t go as smoothly as the first day but they are so wonderful there that I’m sure she will make the transition just fine. But Brittanie had rifle team that afternoon as well as an orthodontist appointment where they significantly tightened her braces, giving her an instant headache that progressed into a migraine that night and continued into Wednesday. She missed school on Wednesday and stayed home while Joanie came to watch Katie because I had an appointment with my sleep doctor and knew I wouldn’t make it back in time to get her from preschool so I let her stay home with Joanie. Well I didn’t realize that I would be gone so long. My appointment was at 9:15 and they want me to take part in a research study to test a new form of Provigil that may help with my daytime sleepiness. Plus she is trying to help me get off Afrin because I have been on it for 3 weeks now since I got sick and when I stop using it, my nose stops up tight. Well she also increased my CPAP pressure and added a heated humidifier to it. To do this, I had to go by the place I got my CPAP from and have them do it. Then I had to pay a bill, go to the bank, pick up something for lunch and then go home. I didn’t get home until 1pm. By then, I was too tired to type. Thursday, I took Katie to get her allergy testing done. She has repeat testing in a couple of weeks. Friday morning, I got up early to type and my computer had no sound. When Tom got up he looked at the wire and said that it had been cut. He thought since the wire ran behind the drawer of the bookcase, Katie must have slammed the drawer (as she is famous for doing) and cut the wire. Brittanie had a football game to go to last night and then went to an after party at First Baptist Church of Swansea, which is where Katie goes to preschool. It was so cute that she recognized it and asked “Why is Sissy going to a party at my school? I want to go!” Well I went home after dropping Brittanie off at the church. I put Katie to bed and was hoping Tom would be home (as he was working late) by the time I had to pick Brittanie up from the party. Well I was on the phone with Tom around 10:45 and he was telling me he was on his way home and that’s when I heard scratching coming from the bookcase. Tom and I had been hearing it for about a week on and off. Well while I was on the phone with Tom, a RAT…NOT a mouse….a RAT….came out on the bookcase, right next to my computer. I screamed like I was on fire, ran in Katie’s bedroom, grabbed her up and ran out of the house. I had no shoes on even and Katie was in her PJ’s. I left the house. No way in the world was I staying in the house with a rat. I called Tom on my cell phone and headed to the church to sit and wait for Brittanie. Well she was coming outside to call me as I pulled up….good timing. I went by the gas station and filled up my car, went to Wendy’s and got Brittanie something to eat since she hadn’t eaten all day. Then drove home and sat in the garage in the van. I was NOT going back in that house until that rat was gone. Tom hunted the house over and couldn’t find it. So now every noise we hear makes us jump. He convinced me to come inside and stay the night with him because I was going to a hotel with the girls….he refused to leave. Needless to say, it was a restless night. By the time we got into the house, it was after 1am. Brittanie had to be at school for rifle team competition at 6:45 because they were pulling out at 7am. Well she overslept and we didn’t get there until 7am. We didn’t think to go to the old gym where they shoot. We assumed since the bus wasn’t at the school that they must be on their way to the competition. So we headed to the competition. Well we got there and didn’t see any buses. After riding around for ten minutes, we saw her school’s bus. I talked to First Sgt. and explained the situation. He told her that she wouldn’t shoot because she missed the bus but she could stay and support her team. After he walked away, she told me she didn’t want to do that but I told her she better do it to show him she supports her team and try to make it up to him. Well they took 3^rd place and after the competition was over, they let the alternates shoot even though it wouldn’t count…..that was Brittanie. Well I think that made it worse because she hit 6 bull’s eyes in a row. First Sgt. was not happy because he told her that if she had just showed up on time we could have gotten 2^nd or even 1^st place and she let the team down. He told her she is on his hit list and that is strike 1. 2 more and she is off the rifle team. I thought she was going to cry. She came home and went to bed. I was supposed to take her and a special friend to O’Charley’s and a movie tonight and that got cancelled. Tomorrow is her birthday and it is turning out to be a horrible weekend. Hopefully tomorrow will be MUCH better. She met the youth pastor from Faith Baptist Church in Swansea at the party last night and liked him and wants to visit there in the morning. So that is what we are going to do. Tom is going to study her driving book with her tomorrow afternoon because Monday I’m taking her to get her driver’s permit because she is going to be 15 tomorrow!!!

On the hurricane front, my mom got no damage and didn’t lose power. She said the wind made a mess in her yard and she was out there cleaning it up and hosing the porch and car port this afternoon. Today is my niece’s birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TAMMIE) and she has no power but no damage either so that is good. But we haven’t heard from my brother or sisters. I will update when I hear something.

GREAT day!

Brittanie got her first report card as a high school sophomore. She has really turned the heat up on her school work this year. She has all A's.....two 97's, a 98, and 100. She REALLY wants to get into West Point. Just click on the picture of her report card and it will enlarge so you can see it, as it is kinda hard to see as is.

She has also lost a total of 30 pounds so far. I'm so proud of her! She is improving herself in mind and body. She has always been beautiful inside and out but now she feels better about herself and she is just glowing. She found out today that she will be shooting at this weekend's rifle team competition. She is still considered one of the top 5 shooters on her team. She had her report card in her back pocket during rifle team competition and they practice in an extremely hot gym and it was 94 degrees here today. So her report card got wet and folded so that's why it looks like this. Sorry about that. But I was so proud of it that I wanted to show it off.

Katie started preschool at Swansea First Baptist Preschool today and had a great day. They were impressed at how quickly she adjusted and had no first day jitters. Katie has always been a social butterfly. She had a great day and is looking forward to going back tomorrow. They have very clean and updated facilities and the staff is so nice. I'm so glad we found out about it.

Well I'm going to bed early tonight so I can get up early and type. I want to get my typing under control. G'night yall!

Only my family!

My dad's older brother is a convicted child molester. He served jail time (not nearly enough) for molesting his sister's grandchildren, who also happens to be his step grandchildren. This happened in 1988. "Allegedly"it wasn't the first time he did such a thing but it was the first time someone in our family stood up for the children and prosecuted. Well he has always nauseated me but after this, I have despised him and wouldn't let him near Brittanie, not even a handshake at my dad's funeral. He's never seen Katie and probably doesn't even know I had another baby, which is fine with me. Anyway, he died this week. This is going to sound harsh but I was relieved because now I KNOW he can never molest another child ever ever again. Well the funeral home allows you to do video tributes to the person who died and my family, who doesn't take child molestation as seriously as I do, actually made a video tribute to him. Only in my family would someone who molested children be given a tribute. Anyway, I watched it just to see what it contained (hoping to see him in that orange jail jumpsuit) but I was treated to a picture of my parents leaning against a car and pictures of my dad's youngest brother, Uncle Elmer, who is my favorite, as well as other family members. In case anyone is interested, here is the link to the video: Click here

The picture of the man leaning against the car with his arm around the brunette with the knockout figure is my mom and dad. I miss my dad so much. He was so handsome as a young man. I was amazed at the way my mom looked in this picture. She looked so tall with those pretty legs and that tiny waist. I love this picture and will definitely have an enlargement made of it.

We got it!!!

Well, we officially have a new vehicle. Tom and I traded in our 2003 Jeep Liberty for a 2005 Town and Country Touring minivan. It is brand new and with the employee discount, we couldn't resist. It has a 6 disc in-dash DVD/CD player, a single CD player, a tape deck, very nice stereo system, and rear video screen and two wireless headphones! It can play through the headphones or through the speakers in the van. It also has input plugs so Brittanie can use her Playstation. It has a switch that lets you move the gas and brake peddle up and down for shorties like me to pull up and long-legged people like Tom to lower down. The key is a keyfob too and it opens and closes both sliding doors and the lift gate in the back. It was exactly what I wanted...right down to the color. I called all over Columbia looking for it and couldn't find it. But I did find one out in Johnston, SC at Jim Satcher Motors. They were so nice to us and gave us an incredible deal on our Jeep. It took an hour to get there but it was worth the drive. They also are a Ford dealer so next year when we start shopping for Brittanie's mustang, we are going there first.

I'm including some pictures of Katie enjoying the van today. She LOVED being able to watch Toy Story while we rode around last night. This is going to make going to Louisiana so much better. There are plugs all over the van so we can plug our phones as well as Brittanie's MP3 player and she can watch a movie on her portable DVD player while Katie watches her movie on the built in screen in the van. I LOVE IT!!!






When we got home from the dealer, we got additional good news. The candidate I support for Lexington County Council, Jim Kinard, won the Republican primary last night. I was supposed to work the polls but I'm not over the junk I have been sick with all weekend so I didn't want to risk getting everyone sick so I didn't go. I couldn't wait to hear the results. When Jenny called to give me the news, I was thrilled. Now he faces the democratic candidate and if he wins, he will be on the county council. I'm going to continue praying that God will keep blessing his campaign. He has taken the high road and never responded to less than kind remarks that were made. He didn't trash talk about the other candidates he was running against because he truly respects everyone who is running. He really cares about the people of our community and does alot for us. Our community has been so fortunate to have him as a school board member and hopefully by October 4th, we will be fortunate enough to have him serve us as county councilman. I'm going to keep praying!!

Things are looking up

I'm getting better with each passing day and hopefully by next weekend I'll be completely back to normal. I had to cancel my lunch date with Samantha for today because the last thing she needs is for me to give her something that could settle in her lungs the way it has in mine. We have rescheduled for Friday and I'm pretty confident I will be back to normal by then.

Katie is back to normal. No more runny nose or cough. I'm still taking her to the allergist today because she obviously is allergic to down and who knows what else. I want to find out and get it fixed because the reaction to the down lasted 2 weeks after the down was removed from her room.

Tom wasn't a happy camper yesterday as his beloved Panthers lost to the Saints by a field goal. We are very sympathetic to everything the people from New Orleans are going through but the announcers mentioned it 100000000000000 times during the game. Ya know if that football game was supposed to take their minds off their troubles, the announcers didn't help by bringing it up everytime they opened their mouths. I understand the commercials during the game because we need to raise as much money as possible to help everyone who lost so much because of this hurricane. But the announcers were down right annoying.

I'm very proud of Brittanie. She has matured to the point where she realizes she needs to keep her options open when it comes to college. Just because she has wanted to be a dentist since she was 5 doesn't mean she HAS to be a dentist. Her life doesn't have to be carved in stone.....especially not at 14!! Here is an snipet from her blog that she created last night:
Well, my presentation in JROTC class about the uniforms went extremely well, I was impressed with myself. And that NEVER happens. I realized that I really have a nack for teaching. My mom told me to keep my options open in the career field, and that is what I intend to do. To tell you the truth, I honestly don't think I'm smart enough for medical school. And I can tell that my parents have their doubts also. So maybe this is where I am suppose to be, I don't know. But it feels good to have that option. Before it was medical or ....?... I didn't know what to put there. Nothing felt right so I was kinda hopeless if I couldn't make it in medical school. But now I have something to fill that blank spot and it's comforting.

Brittanie is smart and talented. She will do well in life no matter what she chooses. But I do see this love for ROTC and she is most happy after a day of teaching the Let 1's. I don't see her as an elementary teacher. She and I both lack the patience for that. But I can certainly see her teaching military instruction in a college or university.

One piece of big news is that Tom is considering buying us a 2005 Grand Caravan SXT. Chrysler has that employee discount promotion running right now and it makes having a top of the line van affordable. We were planning on buying one a couple of years after Brittanie got her Mustang (which will be next year) but with this super deal and the better gas mileage, less expensive tires, and more room we would get with a Caravan, we had to consider it. If this is in God's will, He will make sure we get top dollar for our Jeep as well as find the van we want as, from what I have read, since this promotion started in July, the inventory has been seriously depleted. I'm not going to settle on anything. I am somewhat flexible on color, although I don't want white. But we are going to shop around until we find exactly what we want. So everyone pray that if this is God's will, that it will work out and if it isn't, stop it cold.

Busy, busy, busy

Tom got sick the Friday before Labor Day. He stayed sick through the weekend but still went to work on Labor Day to do the upgrade he had scheduled. By Wednesday he was better and I was sick. Fortunately, Katie has been with her grandparents so I didn't have to worry about her because I just don't think I could have handled it. I spent much of the day in bed Wednesday and Thursday. I went to the doctor on Friday and he did a nasal swab and told me I have the flu....in September???? Leave it to me to be get an off season flu. But I was most disappointed that I can't go to Brittanie's rifle team competition today and the Collard Festival last night and today. I look forward to this festival all year and am so bummed that I can't be there. I do think the Tamiflu he started me on is helping because I was able to get out of bed this morning and take Brittanie to school early so Tom could sleep in a little later. But now that I'm back home, I am going to have to get back in bed for awhile. That wore me out.

I can't wait to hear how Brittanie did today. I'll update when I find out. Tom took the camcorder to record her shooting and hopefully I can talk him into transferring it to his laptop and uploading it so I can put the link on my blog so that everyone who wants to see it will be able to. I'm so proud of her. Here is the picture I took of her this morning before we left. She looks half asleep and that's because she is half asleep. We are definitely not morning people.

I love my father-in-law

I know I have said this before but I think it bears repeating. I have the best father-in-law on the planet. I truly believe he loves our girls....and us of course but our girls are the most important thing. I had horrible grandparents and I wanted better for my girls. My dad was so close to Brittanie but he died when she was 10....2 years before Katie was born. My father-in-law was wonderful even before then but he has really stepped up to bridge that gap left by my dad's death. I mentioned on my previous blog that I was having childcare problems this week. I asked Tom if it would be ok to ask his parents to keep Katie this week. He said that was fine so I called his dad and he sounded genuinely happy I asked....almost excited to have her. In fact, he actually took off work this morning to meet me in Clinton to get Katie from me and he is taking off work tomorrow to keep Katie because Tom's mom is working all day tomorrow. That's a huge deal to me because he and Tom are both alike....work-a-holics. Today when I met him in Clinton he thanked me for letting them keep Katie.....like I was doing them a favor when really they are doing me a huge favor. He is wonderful. Tom is sooooooooooo blessed to have him for a dad. I know that's where Tom gets his paternal instincts from. Tom is a wonderful husband and father. Men like Tom don't grow on trees. They are taught by equally wonderful daddies. I'm so blessed!!!

Brittanie was supposed to have promotion board yesterday and once again it was cancelled. They can be so unorganized! The good news is, Brittanie had her shoot off today and made the cut so she will be shooting at the Rifle Team competition Saturday. When I talked to my father-in-law this week, I found out that he used to be able to shoot a quarter in the air. I've always said Brittanie got all of her talents from Tom's side of the family. Just add marksmanship to that list.

Tom is feeling better but I made him go to the doctor this morning anyway. He had been sick since Friday and I worry about him when he stays in bed like he did because that is just not Tom. Well now I have caught it. I'm running fever today and struggling to stay up to type. But I HAVE to get my stuff done because I have Brittanie's rifle team competition and the Collard Festival this weekend. I won't have time to type this weekend. I want to be able to enjoy this weekend as I LOVE the Collard Festival, and not have to worry about my typing. Also I'm working the election Tuesday so I want to be caught up for that day. I just hope this cold goes away soon. Pray for me!!!

One step forward and two steps back

Katie is now down to 4 medications. She finished her antibiotics and her liquid Prednisone. Now she takes Albuterol, Zyrtec, and Singulair, as well as cough syrup when she goes down for her nap or to bed at night. She made me laugh this morning when I was giving her the meds. She pointed to the cough syrup and said "This one makes me grouchy?" It definitely does that. She really only coughs when she lays down so there is no need to give her cough syrup when she isn't coughing. She was so sweet Friday. I called my mom (since she can't call me due to the phone situation in Louisiana) to give her an update on how Katie is. Well mom HAS to talk to Katie everytime I call her. So I gave Katie the phone and had the speakerphone on. Katie took the phone and said "Maw-Maw, I'm sick. You need to pray for me." So my mom started praying for Katie and the whole time my mom was praying, Katie had her little head bowed and eyes closed. When mom said "Amen," Katie said "Amen. I feel better already." It was soooooooooo cute!!! That is the biggest regret I have in taking Katie out of Grace. She has learned so much. When they put her in time out (which they had to do often), they would pray with her and ask God to help her stop doing whatever it was she was in trouble for. She is much better behaved than she was when I put her there. Mrs. Julie is wonderful. Brittanie loved her when she had her for after school care in elementary school. But we will be putting her back there next year for K3.

Now we are back to having child care problems. I'm having to type today without a sitter because my sitter wanted her to go to her house so she could clean her house. Nope. She smokes and has a cat and Katie has enough allergy problems. Tomorrow she has a funeral to go to. Thursday, her husband has a colonoscopy so she has to drive him home. Friday she is cleaning a house. So basically I have no sitter all week. This is sooooooooo frustrating.

Anyway, today is Brittanie's promotion board. It was supposed to be last week but it was rescheduled to today. I'm sure she will do fine. She studied her hiney off. I'll update when I find out.

Katie update

Katie has been sick since June and it has gotten progressively worse until now she has a chest and head full of mucus and she is coughing and sneezing constantly. Well I think we may have figured out what the problem is. When Tom and I were first married we got sick like this and after a couple of months we figured out it was a down pillow we were sleeping with. Since then, we haven't touched anything down. Well that was almost 17 years ago. I forgot about that and I bought Katie a down comforter in May. My mom and I were talking about Katie being sick and she brought up the down pillow and that's when it hit me about her comforter. I took it out last night and she was a different kid this morning. Now I feel REALLY guilty. She still is coughing and sneezing but not nearly as bad as she had been and she woke up this morning happy, smiling, and ready to play. That's a huge change because she has been getting up hung over and clingy. I'm hoping getting rid of the comforter will fix everything. Wednesday I took her to the ER in Swansea for a chest x-ray and they said she didn't have pneumonia. But there was a hyper brat in the Emergency Room who wouldn't leave Katie alone. I tried not to make eye contact with that kid or his mom because I didn't want them to start talking to us because the kid was getting on my nerves so bad. Finally Brittanie said "mom that kid has pink eye." I looked at him and sure enough, he had pink eye in both eyes. Now Katie is crusty stuff around her eyes. I don't see redness yet so I'm hoping this is still part of allergies.

We have decided to take her out of daycare. With gas prices right now at $3.41, driving 48 miles a day just for daycare is costing me over $40 a week in addition to the $120 I pay in daycare tuition. We just can't go that anymore. So Joanie is going to be coming over Tuesday through Thursday to take care of her for me so I can type. That will cut my daycare fees in half and no gas. I hated to take her out because she loved it but you do what you have to do. I will put her in the K3 program in the fall of 2006 at Grace and then move her to Ben Lippen for K4. That's the plan.

Katie says the funniest things for someone not even 3 years old. Right now she is pretending her teddy bear is being bad. She put the bear to bed and came in here and told me "Oh that teddy bear makes me so nervous!" She went back in the room and told the teddy bear to be quiet and go to sleep. She told me again that her teddy bear was making her nervous and asked me where the paddle was. hahaha Day before yesterday, I painted her nails with that bitter polish that stops nail biting to keep her from putting her hands in her mouth. She kept telling us that her mouth had bubbles. Well Joanie had just taken her outside to do bubbles so we thought maybe when she was doing the bubble pipe she swallowed some. Later on we were watching her when she put her hand in her mouth and said "EWWWWW Bubbles in my mouth." I bought that stuff from Amazon.com and it seems to be better than the stuff you can get at Wal-Mart. Joanie decided to taste it to see if it really was as bad as Katie was making it seem. She ran to the bathroom to rinse her mouth out. She said that she would drink a gallon of bubble water before she would taste another drop of that stuff. Finally we may be able to break her of putting her fingers in her mouth!

By the way, please pray for Tom. He came home from work last night with high fever, body aches, and a headache. I think he has the flu. I gave him Ibuprofen and Tamiflu and he felt better this morning but he just e-mailed me that he is deteriorating fast. He is such a work-a-holic that he will try to work through the flu. I demanded he come home early. But you know how men are. If it is truly the flu, he will come home soon. I've had it before and it isn't fun.