Happy New Years!

One of my friends asked me if I had New Year plans, ha ha! I haven't done anything on New Year's Eve since I got engaged, I might stay up to see the new year come in, but that's all.  I tell you, these past two weeks have been so busy. Yes, I know I have been off for the past 13 days, but out of those 13 days, I have only spent 2 of them at home all day not going anywhere.  It's been crazy busy and so full of sickness as well. 

1. Before Christmas break Kevin's Uncle Buck was diagnosed with cancer and was sent home from the hopsital under hopsice care.  (He is currently still with us; he has good days and bad days)

2. The weekend of the 16th Madalyn began to have a runny nose and coughing (which she still has to this point) Sunday, Dec.16th: We had Christmas with Kevin's Grandmas and family.

3. Tuesday, Dec. 18th: Kevin's grandma Thelma fell and broke her hip-she had surgery on Dec.20th to which this past weekend we learn that she has Merca now, Pray for healing for Grandma Thelma!

4. Wednesday, Dec.19th: Kevin's grandma Kitty wrecked her golf cart and hit a stump so hard she was thrown out of the golf cart and we to the hospital thinking she had broken ribs (thankfully she didn't, she's just very sore)

5. Thursday, Dec.20th: My mom is once again sick with bronchitis (5 years ago on this day Kevin proposed :0)

6. Friday, Dec.21st: My mom is running a fever of 102 and is thinking about having to cancel our Christmas weekend.

7. Friday, Dec.21st: My Dad's birthday and Madalyn turns 21 months old :0) Christmas with my mom's side of the family.

8. Saturday, Dec.22nd: Madalyn is really feeling bad now and I am starting to feel bad. Christmas with my dad's side of the family

9. Sunday, Dec.23rd: I realized I had a sinus infection and we had Christmas with my parnets.

10. Monday, Dec.24th: we had dinner with Kevin's parents and I helped his mom wrap parents. (With all the things and sickness with Kevin's family she had not had time to wrap presents)

11. Tuesday, Dec.25th: We had Christmas quickly, Kevin went to work, then we had lunch at Kevin's parents house.

12. Wednesday, Dec.26th: We had Christmas dinner at Kevin's parents house and opened presents with Kevin's family.

13. Thursday, Dec.27th: Madalyn and I do some shopping, looking for after Christmas deals.  Madalyn started running a fever and still has a runny nose and conjestion, coughing, etc.

14. Friday, Dec.28th: I take Madalyn to the doctor and she has an ear infection. That night her fever went up to a 102 and she threw up. I started feeling bad again.

15. Saturday, Dec.29th: Madalyn is starting to feel better, but I start coughing etc. Then Saturday when giving Madalyn her bath, I notice she has broken out in hives on the back of her arms. I call the doctor, they have to see her to give her a different medicine.

16. Sunday, Dec.30th: We go to church, then after lunch Madalyn and I go back to the doctor, she had an allergic reaction to her antibodic, so they put her on another one. We spent 2 hours at the doctor. By the time we get home, I am achy from head to toe and feel horrible, but I'm not running a fever.  However, I put myself to bed while Kevin took over with Madalyn.

17. Monday, Dec.31st: Madalyn and I both just lay around all day because neither one of us feel great. (Also, the doctor said that Madalyn's gums were swollen meaning she's getting her 18 month molars, so that adds to her not feeling well and not eating)

I have 2 days left before I go back to school on Thursday, at least I will only have to teach for 2 days and then get another 2 days off because I tell you, I am ready for summer break! Ha Ha! It's been so busy and then the few down time we have had, I or Madalyn or both of us have been sick.  No fun at all.

I hope to begin 2013 with being healthy and getting rid of all this sickness.  2012 was a good year over all but there have been many down times during this year, it began with 10 days into the year we lost our dear Abby, our poodle, and to the lost of love ones this year like my aunt Ann, and other things that I know are just life and just some things you have to go through.

 Some happy highlights of 2012 was that our baby girl celebrated her 1st birthday, Kevin and I both celebrated our 31st birthdays and 4 years of marriage.  We hope and pray that 2013 will be a lucky year, not unlucky since the number 13 is normally a bad sign.  We are prayerful of good things for this year. 

My New Year's Resolutions

I have made my New Year's Resolutions as I am sure many of you have as well.  One that I will share with you is actually one for Kevin and myself...to have more date nights.  Our last date night was, no lie, our anniversary date which was in June or at least that's the last one that I can remember having. We never go out during the week because we don't live close to anything and it's just too much going on and on the weekends, Kevin works every Saturday and by the time he gets home, he's tired and doesn't feel like going anywhere.  Which most of the time I don't either because I'm tired from school and have school work, house work, and have taken care of Madalyn. If we do go out to eat, Madalyn goes with us, which isn't that often either. So I told him that surely at least once a month or at least once every two months, he and I can have a "Date Night".  So, we will see how this works out, so babysitters....get ready for a phone call! :0)

My Top Resolutions

1. Deepen my spiritual relationship with God

2. Spend more time with my family (Madalyn and Kevin) Date Nights with Kevin

3. Find a better way to balance work and family

4. Get healthier

5. For the farm to continued to be blessed and grow

And there may be a few others, but those are the top 5.  So, here's the hard part, keeping these resolutions, which some of these are out of my hands and they all revolve around what God's plan is for myself and my family in 2013.  Happy New Year!



Christmas Continued...

We celebrated Christmas with Kevin's family on the 26th as we do every year, and yes I know I am late posting this, but it has been busy and filled with sickness too since that night.  Here's some pics of Madalyn with one of her favorite gifts that she got from her Uncle Nick, Aunt Tracey, and cousins Autumn, Taylor, Layla, Holden, and Carleigh (Thank You!).  She has had the best time playing with her house!

Kevin put the house together, which it only had to be connected at the roof with one of his stocking stuffers, Carolina duct tape, and it was black and white and I painted it for her.

Madalyn loves her house as you can see.  I am surprised that it is still standing, she can be rough on toys at times.  Madalyn was very blessed this Christmas, she received so many nice things and thank you to all our family and friends for loving our baby girl!

Merry Christmas!

This past weekend we went to Greer to have Christmas with my family.  We had my mom's side of the family Friday night, my dad's side of the family Saturday night, and we did Christmas with my parents and us Sunday morning.  My poor mom is sick, running fever, coughing, can't talk or breath due to the coughing, and she has bronchitis but despite her sickness she cooked and went along with a smile on her face.  Along with Madalyn and her runny nose, cough, and congestion.  Then Saturday, I started getting sick with a sinus infection. It was a nice weekend despite all the sickness.

Madalyn decided that her presents from Nana and G-Dad made a comfortable seat.

Today, Christmas Day....went a little differently that planned.  First, Kevin was up all night, sick. He finally went to sleep at 3:00am, but then he had to get up at 4:00am to check on the chickens. Then when he got back he slept until 7:00am.  At 8:00 am he came and woke me up telling me that he had to go to work because one of his workers didn't show up.  She didn't call or anything, just didn't show. So he wanted us to go ahead and do Christmas so he could leave.  He got Madalyn up and ready and I was running the video camera.  It took a few minutes for Madalyn to realize what was going on and to see everything.  She loves her kitchen! She has been cooking all day.  When she's not cooking, she is sitting in her Minnie Mouse chair. 

Madalyn's Christmas 

 

 

Madalyn loves her Minnie Mouse chair and book!

 

She is also enjoying a chocolate Santa! Madalyn got her Minne Mouse slippers from Nana and G-Dad and except for bath time and going outside, they have not been off her feet.

 

My Christmas present from Kevin

I looked at the window and what should my wondering eyes see? A shiny red golf cart just for me!

 

 

 

The golf cart story

I had been wanting a golf cart for myself and Madalyn to have to use around the house.  So about two months ago Kevin decided on what he wanted to get me for Christmas. He found this plain, white golf cart for sale.  He completely fixed up the golf cart with new paint, a seat on the back, new fancy wheels, and jacked it up.  I can't wait for the weather to warm up so we can use it.  I was very impressed  with all the work that Kevin did on this golf cart. He showed me a picture of what it looked like before and that was taken on his phone and Kevin doesn't have a Smart phone so there's no way to put the picture on the blog, but he has been very busy these past 2 months.  Thanks, Kevin!

 

And our Christmas isn't finished yet...tomorrow night we will get together with Kevin's side of the family.  We have celebrated all week long, so much fun!

Merry Christmas!

Zambia, Africa

Last night, my mother-in-law called to inform us that she received an email about the shoebox that we sent for Operation Christmas Child and our shoebox went to Zambia, Africa! I was so excited to find out where it went.  I know that a special little girl will be very excited when she opens her box.  Hopefully, she will find more than just the toys and things inside our box.  We place a New Testament Bible inside and the Operation Christmas Child placed a track in her language inside as well.  So, we pray that through this shoebox she will receive the ultimate Christmas gift this year if she hasn't already and that is coming to know Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.  Merry Christmas!

Speechless to a Degree

It's hard to find the right words to describe the tradegy at Sandy Hook Elementary...however, being a teacher and a parent there are no words, expect that I hope I will never have to be able to imagine what this school and community has lived through in the past 48-72 hours.   I did not learn of the events that took place on Friday until that afternoon when I was on my way home from school.  It was an instant sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and watching the news, the sick feeling just grew and grew.  I watched Friday night and I watched Saturday, until the information started to repeat itself and I had to turn it off.  I couldn't bare to watch or listen to it any more.  When I decided to be a teacher there were many things that I knew I would have to encounter and there are many things that you knew you would have to protect your students from; like keeping them from getting hurt on the playground or help soothe hurt feelings, but never, this, never this was even a thought in my head.  However, over the years this thought of this could  happen at any time and any day has crept into my head.  You pray for your students that they will learn, be successful, and have protection on their way to school and going home, but you don't think to pray that they will be safe during the school day from someone coming in the school to harm them.  School is suppose to be a SAFE place.  For so many students, home isn't the best place to be, but they feel safe at school.  Now that, that has been taken away, where are these children suppose to feel safe?  I am sure that my students will bring up at some point tomorrow the events that happened on Friday because it is a very real thing that can happen anywhere.  It's scary to think that when you drop your child off at school one morning and watch them go into the building that it could be the last time you see your child alive.  Or that you tell your family good-bye and you are on your way to work at school and have no idea that you won't be going home the same way you got to school.  This is just a horrible reminder to us all to live each day and each moment to our last, because in this crazy world we live in we are not promised the next breath.  Friday night, Kevin and I sat on the couch with Madalyn in between us snuggled together watching "Tinkerbell: The Great Fairy Rescue" and was so thankful to be there with them but I couldn't help thinking of how many parents wouldn't be able to do that with their child.  Or those adults that were killed trying to save the children, that their families were hurting as well.  This school and community is in my prayers as I am sure you have been praying for them as well.  I pray that tomorrow being a school day, will bring hope and comfort to Newtown, CT and that for the rest of us we will trust in God to keep us safe.

Christmas Pictures

Here are some Christmas pictures of Madalyn.  These were a challenge..every time I put Madalyn in the rocking chair, she would laugh and get up and run away.  Then the challenge of getting her and Wingo in a picture together. It took my mother-in-law, Mrs. Katie, my sister-in-law, Tori, Lily Kate, Kevin, and myself to make these pictures happen, but we got them finally.

Madalyn and Wingo (I tried to get a picture with Wingo wearing some reindeer antlers, but he kept on shaking them off.)

 

 

Madalyn and Santa

Madalyn went to visit Santa when we were in Greenville over Thanksgiving.  At first she wanted nothing to do with Santa, but there was a professional photographer there, and she was wonderful! She had Madalyn as quick as a wink sitting in Santa's lap, smiling and happy as could be. (My dad and I both had our camera so we took our own pictures of Madalyn and Santa, but the photographer was a big help to get Madalyn in Santa's lap because at firs there was no way that was going to happen.)

 



 

 

Lights of the South

Saturday evening, my parents, Kevin, Madalyn, and I went to see the "Lights of the South" in Grovetown, GA.   I had heard about this place from some teachers at school and they said it was wonderful.  The traffic wasn't that bad considering they said there was over 5,000 people there Saturday night.  Once you buy your tickets you can ride a hayride to see lights of all kinds of characters, the Christmas story, American history, etc. You can roast marshmallows and make S'MORES, eat at Mrs. Claus's Kitchen, and see Santa and more.  It was a perfect night to go weather wise and we all enjoyed it.  Madalyn really enjoyed seeing the lights on the hayride, she was saying "ooohhh" and "aaahhh" on the ride.  We plan to make this trip again next year!

(It was hard to take pictures of the lights on a moving hayride, but I got a few pictures to share of the lights.)



The entrance to the light park on the hayride.

Kevin and Madalyn on the hayride.

 

The hayride began with John 3:16 and telling the story of Jesus' birth.

Noah and the Arc-telling of the beginning of mankind.

The next section was American History

 

 

Then you went through a section of your favorite cartoon characters and ending with Santa and Christmas.

 

 

 

 

The ride ends with a castle and Cinderella's coach.

 

 

 

Madalyn and her Prince Charming...her Daddy.

 

Kevin, Madalyn, and Me

G-Dad, Madalyn, and Nana

 

 

Madalyn's Christmas Program

Saturday morning, The Creation Station, Madalyn's preschool had their Christmas Program.  Madalyn's group were called the "Angel Band" and they played instruments for about 43 seconds in their musical debut. I was proud of the fact that Madalyn stayed on the stage and didn't cry. However, she had been practicing with bells and for the performance they gave her a tambourine and she didn't know what to do with it.  She has the saddest look on her face during the performance.  But she did well.

Poor baby, she didn't get to ring her bells.

She did hit her tambourine a little.

Madalyn was glad her 43 seconds of fame was over.

Here's Hunter ringing his bells.

Painting a Little "Joy"

So, Friday night was "GIRLS NIGHT OUT" for me, my mother-in-law, and two of my sister-in-laws.  There is a new ART Studio that has opened in Barnwell where you can go and paint a picture with guidance from an art teacher.  We all had a good time.  It was nice to be out with just the girls and no husbands or children for a few hours.  Not that we did a lot of talking, we were fairly quiet, there was a lot of detail to this painting.  If you want to check out what is available to paint here's the website  http://www.theartstudio.us.com/ or you can find The Art Studio on facebook. 

Here we are hard at work

The Four of Us: Katelyn, Mrs. Katie, Tori, and Me with JOY!



 

The Whole Class was full of JOY! :0)

My Little Reindeer

Here's Madalyn in her reindeer pj's and reindeer antlers. I think she's the cutest reindeer I have seen.

Our Thanksgiving Break

Whew! This have been a super busy past 4 days. We left on Wednesday to come to Greer, and Wednesday was a mad dash for me to prepare to come. Wednesday evening, we cooked, Thursday morning we cooked. Thursday we went to my uncle's house to eat, (like we have always done, but my aunt's presence was missed.) Then we came home and planned what we had to cook for the next day and we discussed where we would go shopping. Friday morning about 9:00 am, we went to a few stores around Greer; Target, Belk, Hobby Lobby, we didn't go more than ten minutes from my parents house.  I had no desire to get into the mall traffic of cars or people.  And the few places we did go, it wasn't crowded at all.  We came home and put Madalyn down for a nap.  I slipped out the door for some "ME" time, meaning a 35 minute break and  I was back with a fresh pedicure.  I so needed those 35 minutes to myself. I haven't had a pedicure since July.  That's the one thing that I have always treated myself to every month normally, but now that I have Madalyn I can't go because she wouldn't sit still for me to take her, but one day I'm sure she will join me.  Then we actually went back to Target, and came home and started cooking again.  We headed to Anderson last night for my aunt and uncle's house, this time it was my dad's side of the family we were having Thanksgiving with.  Today, we started our morning off  with a visit to see Santa (those pictures will come later), lunch at my other aunt's house, then finally a much needed afternoon nap.  Now, my dad has a roaring fire going in the fire place and Kevin's watching football waiting on the big game CLEMSON vs. CAROLINA.  And I'm like, boy where has the time gone, it's time for school again, yuck! It's been busy, but I've gotten a good start on my Christmas shopping and I've had the chance to see a lot of family which has been nice.  Tomorrow, we will head back home after a Sunday lunch..that is if I can possibly eat any more.

 

 

Friday- We don't have leaves around our house that we rake up; we have little leaves, so seeing big piles of leaves was knew to Madalyn.  She had the best time playing in them.