Tom's toes

This morning, Katie made us laugh and I just had to share it. Tom was getting ready for work and was dressed but without his shoes and socks. The only time you ever see Tom's feet without at least socks is when he first gets out of bed. Well Katie looked down at his feet and said "Ewww Daddy! I HATE your toes! *YUCK* They are nasty!" She said she liked her toes and me and Brittanie's toes better than Tom's. I think the hair on his big toe grossed her out. hahaha But she was thoroughly disgusted. It was so funny.

Our Honda

There is no damage on the hood. I just wanted to show the debris that fell from the basketball goal, which is fiberglass. It is all over the hood.

Katie's sick

After only three days of being in K3, Katie got sick. She has been getting progressively worse with each passing day. I took her to the doctor this afternoon and one of her tubes has come out of her ears and she now has an ear infection in that ear. Well Katie has never been able to tolerate oral antibiotics. It tears her stomach up. So I have started insisting on injections. Well she was NOT happy with that today. She told me that she never wants to go to the doctor's office ever again because they hurt her. I tried explaining it to her but she isn't feeling well and is sooooooo grouchy! She was mad at the nurse for giving her the shot and on our way out of the room, she told the nurse "Next time I come here, get some batteries for the toys!" hahaha She is so bossy!

For those of you who have heard Tom cracking on me about cooking....have I got a story for you! Tonight he was going to fry french fries while our chicken fingers were in the oven. Well he moved the pot of grease and the handle was loose and splashed alot of grease out of the pot and onto the burner....grease fire. Katie was in there watching him and freaked out! He had to bring her to me because she was just so upset. She must have told him 4 times after that never to do that again. hahahaha

I'm very happy to report that Brittanie is seriously considering going to USC. Tom came home with stats about West Point that worried her....like only the top 2% go on to medical school right after graduation and only the top 5% go at all....the other 3% that don't go right after college actually spend up to 5 years in the Army first. That doesn't appeal to her at all. She is still going to apply just to see if she would be accepted. Texas A&M is still in the running but behind USC now. She likes the idea of being able to live at home and commute. I like that idea as well. She was going to apply to the Citadel but I won't allow that now that I have read the report on WLTX.com about 20% of Citadel female cadets reported being sexually assaulted. No thanks! She doesn't have school September 15th. So I suggested she get some of her friends who may be interested in doing ROTC at USC and tour the campus and observe the classes that day. Randy would love to go but he is going to work with his dad that day because he needs the money to "make Brittanie's birthday the best one she's ever had." He's a sweetheart! He isn't lazy. That boy worked hard all summer and he works on his days off of school as well. He's one of the good ones. He has been going to church with Brittanie....Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday nights. He really likes it. Everything is going great!!

I did get misty last night when Brittanie brought in her class ring packet. My baby is getting her high school ring!! The ring ceremony is in November. I will have my camera and camcorder charged and ready to go. I think I will feel much better about her graduating high school when I hear from her that she is definitely going to USC.

So far so good

Katie is doing GREAT at Grace. She came home yesterday telling me her days of the week. This morning she was so happy to go to school that she said several times, "Yay! We're going to school!" Her teacher, Mrs. Barnes, is very nice and they use the ABEKA program so I know she will definitely be learning alot more before the year is up.

Showing her rotten teeth has really done the trick. This morning she brushed her teeth without a problem! We have always had a problem with breakfast. She always says she is hungry then never eats what we give her. She never wants milk in her cereal. She has to have it in a cup and eat the cereal dry and drink the milk. We thought this is a great solution to the begging her to eat thing because she can take it with her and there is nothing to do in Daddy's truck but ride and eat. Well she still wasn't eating it. Yesterday I gave her something to drink (The child drinks like a camel!) and sent her without cereal....why send it if she doesn't eat it, right? She didn't care. But this morning she told me she was hungry and I told her that I would send her with some cereal but if she doesn't eat it, daddy won't let her take cereal with her anymore. So I fixed it and gave it to her and when she was leaving with Tom, I reminded her that she better eat that cereal or daddy wouldn't let her take cereal with her anymore and she said "Yeah yeah. I heard that already!" She is 3 going on 30. Such a mouth! lol Of course she gets that from Tom because you know I'm very meek, quiet, and shy and not at all mouthy. hahahaha

GREAT weekend!!

We had such a great weekend!! Saturday, Frank and Lynn and their kids (not really kids since Will is 18 and Rhiannon is 15 but you get the picture) came over for dinner and Pictionary. It was alot of fun. Tom and I won the first game and then we played men against women and Lynn and I kicked their butts. It was GREAT!! We look forward to our get togethers with them. They are so much fun to be with. They are going to be helping us chaparone Brittanie's sweet 16 party next month. Frank is not afraid to bounce out any trouble makers....he was an umpire and that's the mentality we need at a teen party.

Sunday afternoon, we had a BBW social at the Collard Kitchen and we had 6 people from the Greenville area come as well as 2 from West Columbia. We ate pizza and donuts and played Pictionary. My team won one game and the other team won the other game. It was alot of fun. I'm going to the Meet and Greet for their BBW group this Friday up in Greenville. It was so great finally putting a name with a face because I have been talking to them for a couple of months on the yahoo group but never met them in person. So I really enjoyed meeting them in person.

I do have a Katie story to add. This morning I had Katie totally ready for school and told her to go brush her teeth. She went in the bathroom, turned on the water, then came back 2 seconds later smiling at me wanting me to look at her teeth. I told her I knew she didn't brush her teeth because she didn't bring me the toothpaste to put on her toothbrush. (I was typing at the time.) She tried to argue that she did brush them. I refused to believe it. So she went back in the bathroom then came back and told me she couldn't reach her toothbrush and tooth
paste. I said "Hmmm didn't you JUST have it when you supposedly brushed your teeth?" She had no answer. I told her to get the stool and get it. So she brought the stool in there, then came back with a wet toothbrush telling me she had brushed her teeth. Again, I didn't put the toothpaste on the brush so I KNOW she didn't brush her teeth. So that time I went in the bathroom with her (is it any wonder I stay behind on my typing????) and loaded the toothbrush and stood there and watched her brush her teeth. She was so angry and told me she didn't like brushing her teeth. So I took her to the computer, looked up a picture of periodontal disease....the worst one I could find....and told her that this is what her teeth will look like if she doesn't brush and then it will start to hurt when she eats. She said "Awwwwwwwwww ALRIGHT!!!" lol Such attitude. But I have one kid that hates brushing her teeth and the other brushes her teeth 100 times a day and flosses after every meal. Brittanie wants to be a dentist. So her way of thinking is who wants to go to a dentist with yucky teeth??? But anyway, this is the picture I showed Katie.
This picture is of a senior citizen who never got dental care and had a nasty case of periodontal disease. But tonight she didn't fight brushing her teeth.....whatever works!

Update on Katie's first day of K3

Katie got in my car and had a mad look on her face and wasn't happy at all! I asked her what the problem was and she said that her teacher let "the girl with the ugly clips in her hair" say ABC's and not her. I told her "Well it just wasn't your turn. I'm sure you will get a turn later." She said "That school is gay! I hate it!" Before anyone blames me for that....let me just say that Tom is the one who says that all the time....not me. I told her that it was just the first day and it will get better. She said "My friends are all nasty!" I asked her why she said they were nasty and she said "At snack time, they were nasty. They were eating like pigs!" I was trying hard not to laugh so I didn't pursue that conversation any farther. She's so opinionated and mouthy....just like me and Tom. But 15 minutes after we left school, she said she was happy now because she was going home and wanted to call her maw-maw. So we called my mom and she has been fine ever since. She doesn't adapt easily to change. I think once she gets used to the routine, she will be fine.

Katie's first day of school

Last night, Katie went to open house and met her teacher and saw her classroom. She said that there were too many people in there but her teacher was very nice. Today was her first official day of K3. Here are the first pictures I took:After I took these pictures and looked at them on the camera, that's when I realized she had a chunk of hair sticking up. It is remnants from her cutting her own hair at Christmas time. It still hasn't grown out all the way because she basically cut it to the scalp. So then I redid her hair, which she wasn't happy about and took this one:
Is she a ham or what? Tom is taking her to school but that means he has to get up earlier than he had been. He hasn't had to take anyone to school since the end of May. So this getting up almost an hour earlier was rough. Take a look for yourself.....
I laughed at Tom while he was rubbing his eyes and trying to wake up so he and Katie made the mean face at me.She was so excited to go to school today that she got up at 6am!! I was up typing so she got in bed with Tom. I got her up at 6:45 and gave her breakfast and got her dressed and she just couldn't stop smiling. I hope she keeps this enthusiasm for school!

Cadet Sightler

Brittanie has color guard duty tonight and had to wear her Class B uniform. I had to get a picture of it. She is so decorated that it was pulling her uniform sideways. This is not the best picture of her because she refused to smile and it is blurry. But I caught another picture of her from the side that shows her awards clearly. I am so proud of her.

Romania???

Brittanie absolutely LOVES her youth group. They have dinner together on Wednesday nights before church and their youth leader, Mr. Mike, is wonderful. He is actually the one who invited her to visit Faith almost a year ago. She has loved it ever since. This weekend, they are going white water rafting in Tennessee. That's scary for me knowing that she is going to be a couple of states away but I can (and will deal with that). But last night, she came home all happy and smiley, like she always does after church, and announced that her youth group is going to Romania next summer for church camp and wants to go. My first instinct? An emphatic NO! I told her there are plenty of church camps in the US and she said she is NOT wearing "little house on the prairie clothes." I told her that she doesn't have to go to an independent Baptist camp. She can go to a Southern Baptist camp where they don't dress like that. I went to Acadiana Baptist Center in Eunice, LA every summer and LOVED it!! There is also Camp Pearl in Kinder, LA. I hated it the one summer I went but I had no friends there. I didn't go with a group. My nephew went and loved it but he makes friends easily. So the problem with Camp Pearl was probably me. But she immediately got mad and started to go upstairs, which is what she does instead of mouthing off and arguing like a normal teenager. I don't know which I prefer. That going up and hiding reminds me of my brother. Whenever there is conflict he has always clammed up and retreated. I hate that! But Tom got home while we were talking about it and he is more logical and open minded than I am. He asked why Romania. Our church has some fascination with that place...they go every summer. He is actually thinking about it. He is the head of the house and the spiritual leader in our home so he gets the final word. I am going to be praying that he says NO! I tried deterring her by telling her she will probably need shots to go there. She said "So?" After her nasty case of tonsillitis earlier in the year when she had a shot every day for 6 days, she is no longer afraid of needles. So that didn't work. I told her that the only country she is allowed to go to besides the US is Canada. But she told me when she joins the Army she is going to be going everywhere.

I'm horrible with geography. I don't even know where Romania is. I have heard of it but all I keep thinking is about that movie "Hotel Rowanda." I know that is in Africa but still! I know I'm being irrational but the thought of my baby going wayyyyyyyyyyyy over there scares me ALOT. I hated for Tom to go to Ireland....and I KNOW where that is!

On a positive note, she has had a great week at school. She actually came home happy, smiling, and bubbly yesterday. She is enjoying her classes and happy to be able to eat in the Jr/Sr. Dining Hall for the first time! That was the forbidden room for two years and now it is no longer forbidden. It made her feel like a junior!! lol Little things mean alot.

That's our update for today. Yall have a good weekend!

Brittanie's first day of school

Today is Brittanie's first official day of school as a high school junior. It was sad for me to watch her walk out the door to drive herself to her first day of school for the very first time. For 12 years now, we have taken her to her first day of school and now she doesn't need us for that anymore. Those apron strings are slowly but surely being cut and, as a mother, I'll never be ready for that. But I am proud of her. She is a great teenager. She doesn't give us an ounce of trouble.

I took some pictures a few days ago and meant to post them here but never got around to it. But everyday from the minute Tom walks in the door, Katie is glued to him. She absolutely adores him and she shows it by kissing him all the time! The first 10 times is cute....after that Tom gives me these "Help me" looks. He doesn't want to hurt her feelings but too much of a good thing is still too much! lol Here are a couple of pictures from one of her kissing tirades on Tom.

I'm caught up!!!

After almost a year of being up to 14 days behind on my typing, I'm completely caught up!! I had Denise praying for me all weekend that I would get it done. I spent all weekend and all night Sunday night typing, took a nap Monday morning, then back at it and finished it all up at 11pm last night! Of course I got another dictation this morning but at least I'm back to doing them the same day I receive them. I've got Denise praying with me that I never get backed up ever again. That was horrendous for me and my doctor. I'm blessed with a boss that is soooooooo understanding. He is an outstanding doctor and a wonderful boss.

But anyway, I better get to work. I don't want to get behind again! Yall have a good week!